Chapter 745: Planning for Carrier-Based Aircraft

Chang Haonan finally decided to put aside the matter of finding bargaining chips with Turkey.

After all, now Torch Group alone has spread its business to at least a dozen countries in Europe and Asia, with dozens of directly related patent authorizations and cooperation projects. If we consider the indirect connections, it will be even more inefficient for him to think about it alone.

It would be better to let Song Jingming go to the archives room to check systematically after returning.

If it can be found, it can be used directly during the negotiation.

If not, it is necessary to consider whether it can play a hand of void card making.

After all, compared with the previous life, China is now stronger in national strength and has a closer relationship with the European Union.

In the late 1990s, Turkey generally had a dog-licking mentality towards the European Union.

Therefore, the latter point is very important.

Ding Gaoheng naturally didn't know that Chang Haonan had been thinking about what would happen a few months later. He just took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, then sat back in his office chair and continued:

"An aircraft carrier is not just a big ship. To exert its combat effectiveness, the core is still the carrier-based aircraft."

"Our navy is developing relatively slowly. Even for ship-borne helicopters, the experience of using them is very weak. Not even all destroyer squadrons have the ability to operate them, let alone fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft. The use, maintenance, and dispatch are all new topics."

"So, at present, the above means to make preparations for both situations. If the domestic models can catch up, If the aircraft carrier itself is undergoing transformation, then we can use domestic models. If not, we can also consider importing a batch first and let the troops practice the relevant subjects first. "

Here, he paused for a moment, straightened his upper body and looked at Chang Haonan on the sofa:

"Xiao Chang, do you think that given our current situation, are the conditions ripe for developing carrier-based aircraft alone?"

Chang Haonan has limited knowledge of shipbuilding and the navy, but when it comes to carrier-based aircraft, he is not sleepy:

"Mature, of course mature!"

"Imported carrier-based aircraft are nothing more than the Russian Su-33, and now we have our own On our side, the first prototype of the J-11B has begun production, and the WS-10 has also entered the final stage of twin-engine installation testing. It can be said that the two major obstacles that restrict my country's third-generation fighter jets from achieving complete autonomy, structure and power, are only a matter of time before they can be solved. As long as these two areas are solved, at least there will be no major problems in terms of basic flight safety. "

"As for combat effectiveness, the Su-33 is just a standard third-generation aircraft with the technical level of the late 1980s. The onboard equipment is not much different from the Su-27SK we imported before. The Russians' own Kuznetsov can only be out for a few days a year. Hong Kong, there is no motivation to upgrade according to the standards of Su-27SM, so it is impossible to compare with the J-11B after the major modification. "

Hearing Chang Haonan's affirmative answer, Ding Gaoheng showed a satisfied expression:

"But there are still some differences between carrier-based aircraft and land-based aircraft, and more importantly, since our army has never been in contact with carrier-based aircraft in the past, the users are not very clear about the specific differences, so in terms of progress..."

While speaking, he took out a notebook from the drawer next to him, opened it and made a look as if he was ready to record it.

Obviously, this question was not what Ding Gaoheng wanted to ask Chang Haonan, but the former was prepared to use it to respond to inquiries from higher-level leaders.

In fact, this is indeed a very practical concern.

For such a brand-new topic as carrier-based fixed-wing aircraft, the biggest trouble is not how the aviation industry system should solve the problem, but that the navy has no aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft in its hands, and has no concept of the entire shipboard aviation operation, and does not know what problems will arise.

If we force the launch and produce an immature model, and then find many problems in use and need to rebuild it, more resources will be consumed.

In this regard, even the United States, which has been operating aircraft carriers since before World War II, has only formed relatively stable and mature design and use specifications after entering the jet age, after iterating five levels of aircraft carriers from Midway to Nimitz, and four generations of carrier-based aircraft from F9F to F18.

In this process, countless carrier-based aircraft have been crashed and pilots have been lost.

The Chinese Navy has neither resources nor time to waste.

This is why, in the original timeline, in addition to the upgrade of the airborne weapon system, the technical status of the initial version of the J-15 was closer to the T10K-3 prototype. After entering mass production, it gradually began to move closer to the later domestic models in batches.

By the time of the two-seat model of the J-15S, it was closer to the J-16 in terms of pedigree (the Su-33 does not have a tandem two-seat model).

However, this is all before.

Now, Chang Haonan naturally already had a plan:

"If what was towed back was a complete aircraft carrier that could be put into use immediately, it would be impossible to produce a highly complete carrier-based aircraft in a few months. But I heard Lao Wu talk about the situation of the Varyag a few years ago. The ship is currently only 60% complete, and the boilers and steam turbines inside have been dismantled. Even if all the technicians and technical data from the Nikolayev Shipyard are brought over, it will be difficult to complete it in three to five years."

His tone was very firm. After taking a sip of water, he continued:

"As for the problem of the navy's lack of operating experience, on the one hand, I asked Lao Wu to pay close attention to the situation of the Nitka aircraft carrier training base. He has established a good relationship with the management personnel of Ermao. Although the fixed facilities cannot be moved, the design drawings and data can be bought back. In addition, the Ermao Navy only has a few small boats, and there is no room for naval aviation to play. The instructors in the base can also be introduced to China through the Friendship Plan to help us with training."

"On the other hand, I was in When helping Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation design the J-9, we considered the possibility of it being put on board ships, so we reserved enough strength margin for the rear fuselage and landing gear, which can simulate the shipboard dispatching operation to a certain extent, so that the navy can have a general concept of carrier-based aircraft operation. After discovering problems through land-based simulation, we will optimize it to the official carrier-based aircraft model. "

"With this two-pronged approach, the three to five years of warship construction are enough to iterate several versions of technology verification aircraft."

"In addition, my main business is the aero-engine. The aero-engine of the carrier-based aircraft needs to be further improved in salt spray resistance. This only requires applying a new coating on the fan and compressor blades. The ion plating production line that was replaced before has been put into production. There is no big problem in this regard. In addition, when the ship is touched and taken off, there may be an emergency thrust greater than the afterburner thrust. This requires modifying the parameters of the afterburner combustion chamber..."

"..."

"Since you said so, I feel relieved."

Ding Gaoheng nodded while writing furiously.

"In fact, I think it would be best to have a medium-sized fighter equipped with dual medium thrust as a carrier-based aircraft, just like the MiG-29K and F18. However, our financial resources are still thin, and we really can't afford to have three types of third-generation aircraft in service at the same time. This can only be discussed when we develop the fourth-generation fighter in the future..."

Chang Haonan's plan obviously does not stop at the next few years.

"You mean... the medium-sized one has a better chance?"

Ding Gaoheng raised his head with some curiosity.

"For carrier-based aircraft, this is the case." Chang Haonan explained: "For land-based aircraft, since the dispatching space at the airport can be considered to be close to infinity, under similar technical levels, heavy aircraft naturally have stronger comprehensive performance and are more advantageous." "But aircraft carriers are very expensive in terms of hangars and decks. Although heavy aircraft have better performance after takeoff, they occupy too much space during the preparation process, which will cause trouble for dispatching and is not conducive to improving the dispatch rate. So in theory, for aircraft carriers of different sizes, there will be an optimal solution for the size of carrier-based aircraft." "From this perspective, it is best to determine the optimal solution for the size of the aircraft carrier. After the basic design, we will develop the corresponding carrier-based aircraft to achieve the best ship-aircraft matching effect, but this is definitely not the focus we need to consider at present..."

Ding Gaoheng also followed Chang Haonan's answer and completed the record, then closed the notebook and gently dusted the cover:

"If General Liu saw this plan, he would be very happy. Before he retired from the leadership position, the last document he signed was about the development of naval aviation..."

Old Liu is known as the "Father of Chinese Aircraft Carriers" and has made outstanding contributions to the modernization of the navy, including aircraft carriers.

It's a pity that in his previous life, he didn't see the day when China's first aircraft carrier was put into service.

But according to the current schedule, that should be more than enough.

Not to mention seeing it, maybe I can take advantage of the old man's good health and go out to sea with him...

"After all, the plan is just a pie in the sky. When Old Liu sees our country's aircraft carrier, he will definitely be happier..."

Chang Haonan also answered with a smile.