Chapter 915 M883 Engine Upgrade Plan

88-3 Engine Upgrade Plan

Although it had just experienced a round of economic crisis, the 2001 Paris Air Show quickly demonstrated its huge influence.

On the one hand, due to the superposition of various factors, the financial crisis originating from Asia in this timeline did not expand to the level of sweeping the world in the previous life. Three years or so was enough for some countries with strong resilience to catch their breath.

More importantly, due to the sudden occurrence of the Allied Action and the dramatic results that followed, many medium-sized countries realized that -

Although the Cold War has ended, for small countries, the end of the Cold War is the beginning of danger.

Moreover, it is really useful for national defense construction.

In the Balkan Peninsula, the anti-aircraft guns in the 1950s can shoot down a B2. If more advanced equipment is used, I dare not imagine what can be shot down.

Although the starting point and thinking path of this idea are actually biased, after all, the results of the B2 have little to do with anti-aircraft guns.

But the final conclusion is correct.

As for the arms race, once one country starts it, other countries that originally had no idea will also follow suit.

Therefore, even before the end of the public open day of the air show, the news of the first order had already been spread.

Some media broke the news that a North African country purchased a large number of improved Su-27SM and Su-27UBM from Sukhoi, and a detailed supply contract has been signed.

Compared with the basic models exported to China, India, Indonesia and Annan in the past, these two new models have greatly improved in avionics equipment, ammunition load and maneuverability.

Even the radar has been replaced with a flat slot antenna that is more in line with the requirements of the times.

This news was quickly confirmed by both Algeria and Sukhoi.

And the former also stated that this round of purchases not only involves the Air Force, but also includes 6 battalions of Beech air defense missiles and two F22A frigates from China.

It can be seen that this country, which has just recovered from civil strife for a few years, has become much more generous by relying on the nationalized oil and gas fields.

As if this was a switch, in the next less than half a month, more than a dozen countries officially announced new equipment procurement decisions, or at least plans with clear timetables and selection ranges.

Austria and Norway said they would purchase EF2000 as their new generation of main fighter jets.

Morocco signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to purchase 25 F16C/D fighter jets from the latter to deal with air threats from neighboring countries.

The Greek Air Force did not specifically state the update plan for aviation equipment, but decided to upgrade some 5V55R missiles mixed in the S300 air defense system to 48N6E.

In this way, only the S300 needs to be deployed on Crete, and the range can cover the entire southern Aegean Sea and Cyprus.

The Turkish Air Force is constrained by the cooling of relations with the United States and cannot further purchase more F16s, so it can only respond with a strong protest temporarily.

Saudi Arabia has included F15, EF2000 and Rafale in the selection range at the same time.

The Thai Air Force has publicly stated that it has inspected Sweden's JAS39C/D and China's J-10E, and believes that the latter is more in line with its tactical needs, but has not yet decided whether to continue to purchase 24 or reduce the number to 12.

Brazil has announced an armament renewal plan involving 36 aircraft and more than 1,500 pieces of various ammunition, and will also choose between JAS39C/D and J-10E.

South Korea has determined that its F-X plan to replace the F4 and F5 fighters will not be publicly tendered, but will directly finalize the model as F15K.

Even China, whose international image has gradually changed from an equipment importer to an exporter, has quietly signed the third batch of S300PMU2 procurement contracts for a total of 12 battalions...

In short, everyone eats meat and drinks soup, and even the poorest can get a taste of the bottom of the bowl.

But there is only one exception.

That is France, the host of the air show.

After the air show was postponed for two months and the operation was fierce, let alone eating meat and drinking soup.

I didn't even smell the fragrance.

Of course, Airbus still made a lot of money as usual.

But this is obviously not the same thing.

Is the focus of arms procurement the money?

Of course not.

It is to expand influence!

Why did Thailand actively consider the J-10E?

Performance is only secondary.

The core reason is that in 1998, China became the mainstay of Asian finance, while Japan, which has stronger economic strength, fell at a rapid speed.

Although the core reason for the former to do so was to protect Hong Kong Island, it objectively prevented Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, which was the first to bear the brunt, from sliding into a more uncontrollable abyss.

And this kind of equipment procurement will obviously enhance China's influence among countries of the same size.

For example, the choice of the Brazilians was obviously affected by this.

However, many countries that were originally equipped with the Mirage series of fighters, such as Morocco and Saudi Arabia, decisively abandoned Dassault's subsequent models in this round of equipment updates.

This is obviously not a good tendency.

In short, watching others successfully make deals at their own air shows, the French have truly experienced the feeling of being NTRS.

So, after the air show ended, they naturally started a round of review.

First of all, the EU’s development momentum in these years is absolutely unsatisfactory, and it even (thinks it) shows signs of overtaking the United States.

France has always regarded itself as the leader of the EU, so its international influence must have been stronger than in the past.

So the current situation is definitely not because France is failing.

Well, it must be a product problem.

Of course, Dassault itself recognizes this.

After all, at the air show, the performance of the Rafale was indeed inferior to that of the EF2000 next door.

Therefore, except for the French Navy, which is eagerly waiting for the dumplings to be cooked, and has purchased a batch of 12 mass-produced Rafale M aircraft in F1 technical status, the rest of the orders will be delivered after being upgraded to F2 technical status.

The most important one is naturally the power upgrade that Ed Steiner had already thought of on the day of the air show.

The sea level thrust of the M88-2 is only 7.6 tons. In order to reduce its own weight, the ejection nozzle further reduces the working condition adjustment range.

Compared with the EJ200, which has a thrust of 9 tons in the basic model, it really pales in comparison.

So much so that he was beaten even in the low-altitude and low-speed maneuvers he was best at.

Therefore, Dassault learned from the painful experience and quickly put the pressure on Snecma.

For the latter, Party A's request is like a reminder.

In this case, the Chinese happened to have an M88-3 plan that was almost ready.

You don’t even have to worry about which choice to make…

…

So, early September.

Just when Chang Haonan had arranged his work for the next month in advance and was waiting to see whether the big news would come as scheduled, he suddenly received a request from Liu Yongyuan to come to the capital to report to him.

"Mr. Chang, Snecma suddenly expressed yesterday that it hopes to speed up the work with us and put the next improved version of M88 into mass production as soon as possible."

Liu Yongquan said and put a memo of the meeting on Chang Haonan's desk.

According to regulations, this kind of international cooperation needs to be submitted to the group headquarters for approval at startup and major milestones, but the intermediate process can be independently decided by each secondary unit.

However, Chang Haonan is the chief designer of Turbofan 10 after all, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the founder of China's aerospace industry in the new era.

Therefore, Liu Yongquan was accustomed to asking him for instructions and reports.

"So urgent?"

Chang Haonan took the folder with some confusion and then opened it:

"Didn't M88-2 just go into mass production? Isn't Snecma ready to familiarize itself with the production process?"

According to what China calls it, the current progress of M88-2 is similar to that of Turbofan 10. Both have completed the design and finalization but have not yet reached production finalization.

Logically speaking, we should not consider further upgrades so soon.

And there's one more thing.

Chang Haonan has basically arranged the technical solution for the M88-3. In addition to performance upgrades, the most important thing is to use this improved model to help China test some technologies, and to use the design of special-shaped air film holes to make turbine blade outlets. Business.

But the problem is that the annual production capacity of nearly 200 engines at Liming Plant is "planned production capacity."

It hasn’t landed yet.

Currently, only the prototype machine in the Torch Laboratory is undergoing trial production.

After the ultra-short laser processing equipment is finalized, Liming Factory will set up the production line. Optimistic estimates will not take until the second half of next year to the beginning of the next year.

Therefore, the original timetable was for the M88-3 to be put into production after mid-2003.

Then Snecma would discover that new turbine blades were being built too slowly.

At this time, China came again as the savior.

Perfect.

However, looking at the eagerness shown by the French now, it feels like the entire progress will be at least a year ahead of schedule...

But Liu Yongquan didn't think so much about Chang Haonan, he just answered whatever he wanted:

"I guess it was after the Paris Air Show that I found out that there were no orders coming in, so I became anxious."

"No order received?"

Chang Haonan briefly recalled the news he heard during this period, and found that he seemed to have never heard the part related to Dassault:

"It seems that there really isn't..."

But then, Chang Haonan changed the subject:

"But to be honest, this actually has little to do with the performance of the aircraft... The main reason is that there is a problem with Dassault Rafale's promotional strategy, and the other is that it does not target the right market. You are like South Korea, where it is obvious that only American aircraft are available. No matter how hard you try, you can't win..."

"Hmm... But I heard from comrades who came back from the air show that Rafale and Typhoon are flight performances performed by the front and rear legs, and the performance gap is quite obvious."

Liu Yongquan said.

Although the Aviation Power Group did not send a delegation to participate in the exhibition, as an old man from the head office, Liu Yongquan had many acquaintances in the aviation industry group next door, and it was inevitable that he would interact with them at work.

"What kind of maneuverability can be seen in the flight performance..."

Chang Haonan couldn't help but complain:

"They are all fancy moves at low altitude and low overload. At most, it only depends on the power level and agility. As for Typhoon..."

At this point, he suddenly paused.

Chang Haonan originally wanted to say that the EJ200 of the Typhoon actually had design flaws. Although the data on paper was top-notch, because there was a lack of a support point in front of the engine fan, when flying a large overload action, it might cause the casing to deform too much and damage the compressor blades, so the actual maneuverability could not reach the design level at all.

However, this defect was not even known to the British army at the moment. It was not until later that the Typhoon repeatedly gave incredible and catastrophic performances in many simulated air battles that it was exposed.

He knew the defects of the M88 before he had contact with it, and this performance was already very outrageous.

However, it can be barely explained, saying that it was a reasonable deduction from the problems of the CFM56 core engine.

But the EJ200 is a new design from the inside out, and it is a bit scary to be able to point out detailed problems thousands of kilometers away.

Therefore, Chang Haonan had to change his statement:

"For a multinational joint research and development project like the Typhoon, there is a lot of room for wrangling in the later upgrade and maintenance. You will regret it when you buy it back..."

Liu Yongquan did not doubt him and just replied:

"But after all, the Typhoon has received several orders now, and it is inevitable that the French are anxious..."

"Okay..."

Chang Haonan did not say anything more:

"You should have received the technical proposal I wrote to you before?"

Liu Yongquan nodded:

"I got it. Use a three-position dustpan-shaped air film hole similar to the turbofan 10 to improve combustion The atomization capacity of the fuel nozzle in the chamber, further increase the temperature before the turbine, and then redesign the outer edge of the high-pressure compressor blade to control the boundary layer separation..."

"Just do it, the air film holes and fuel nozzles are ready-made, you just need to re-adapt the compressor situation."

Chang Haonan closed the file again and put it back in the drawer next to him:

"However, we can't help the French work overtime for nothing, remember to increase the intensity of Dassault and ask them to quickly bring out the gyro-stabilized platform of the optoelectronic pod and the technology of the uncooled thermal imager..."