Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1137 Model Cooperation
"Comrade Zhendong, we will hold a planning meeting for aerospace work soon. Please attend it then."

The comrades working on satellites were very simple and made things clear in just a few words.

The origin of this meeting is actually not complicated. After the torrential rain in Haijiang, the leader said that "we should give full play to the functions of satellites", which means that more than just a real-time image remote sensing satellite can support it.

For comrades engaged in satellite applications, opinions should be listened to widely, especially the opinions and suggestions of comrades like Gao Zhendong, to which we should listen more.

After they left, the leader of the Defense Work Committee smiled and introduced: "This is Chief Engineer You from the Civil Aviation Commission. He has something he wants to consult you about."

The scale of civil aviation at that time was not large. Most of the airports were nominally civil and military airports, but in fact most of them were managed by the Air Force. The Civil Aviation Commission was still merged into the military system. Its actual status was roughly equivalent to that of a military branch, but it was far less grand.

After all, there are not many airports, not many planes, not many routes, and not many people working in the industry, so there is no need to set up such a big thing.

Chief Engineer You smiled and said, "Comrade Zhendong, I have heard of your great name for a long time. It was you who first proposed the cooperation with the Gauls this time. Now that things have made some progress, we urgently need to hear your opinion."

Chief Engineer You admired Gao Zhendong's suggestion very much. Not everyone has the vision and ability to choose the Gauls as a partner. Although it sounded outrageous at first, he did not expect that after so much going back and forth, there would be hope.

Although it may not necessarily be a sure thing, the vision alone, which combines multiple factors such as politics, military, technology, geography, and economy, is already very unique.

Before this, no one, even within the Civil Aviation Commission, had dared to consider fleecing the Gauls, and the key point was that it seemed that this was about to be accomplished.

That’s right, from our perspective, this matter is just fleecing the Gauls.

Gao Zhendong was polite again and again, and the leader of the Defense Work Committee took them to a meeting room and sat down.

After everyone sat down, Chief Engineer You took out a document.

"Comrade Zhendong, this is the initial idea that the Gauls proposed to us. You can take a look at it. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to raise them. I'm all ears."

Gao Zhendong didn't hesitate and took it and looked at it.

Without being modest, as long as he wants and pays a certain price, he can become the person in the country and even the world who has the most accurate grasp of the future development of passenger aircraft, without a doubt.

Being humble at this time would mean being irresponsible towards your work.

The Gauls are very interesting. They did not propose cooperation in the form of a joint venture, but rather cooperation on a model basis.

Simply put, the two companies come together, with the wealthy providing money and the capable providing manpower, to build a medium-sized regional jet, and then divide the profits based on the model.

Gao Zhendong knew why they made such a suggestion. After all, we could completely bypass the Russians and the company form didn't matter, but it couldn't be done with the Gauls.

Above them, there is now a half-emperor - the Citibank people.

In terms of models, this is almost the limit of what the Gauls can produce.

This actually made Gao Zhendong breathe a sigh of relief. He knew very well that the birth of Airbus was almost inevitable. Under the same route, geographical location and racial framework, their cooperation had a natural centripetal force. Moreover, our economic conditions and geographical relations in the short term might not have much impact on this trend.

If we wait until this really happens, it will be very troublesome to cooperate in the form of a company. It is not as clean and refreshing as model cooperation.

Moreover, the "joint venture" form will also encounter considerable resistance and bring great concerns in China.

As for model cooperation, there is no such problem. It is just a technical exchange and cooperation with international friends. We can even say that we have found a way to successfully introduce technology in the field of large passenger aircraft by taking advantage of rare opportunities and special methods.

There was little resistance to this argument.

"What do you think about this format?" By the position where Gao Zhendong turned the page, Chief Engineer You could judge where he was looking at. After all, he was very familiar with this document.

"I think it's very good..." Gao Zhendong nodded first. As for why it was very good, he did not elaborate. I think everyone can judge it.

"However, I have a suggestion, which is that we must demand technology sharing and not give up an inch in this regard." This is what Gao Zhendong cares about most.

He knew that the Gauls had limited experience in this area, and were not even as good as John Bull for the time being, but a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and they are definitely much better than us.

"Yes, that's right, we also think so. This is the thing we value most, and we are willing to give up certain interests for it." After a full meal, our comrades can still make a clear distinction. As for how to divide the specific interests, this is not Gao Zhendong's forte, and it is not clear at this stage. Gao Zhendong did not say much. I am afraid that the comrades in charge of the negotiations will still have a lot of wrangling with the other party on this matter.

"What do you think about their request that we promise to place an order for at least 60 aircraft after the aircraft is successful?" the leader of the Defense Work Committee asked with interest.

He knew that although Gao Zhendong claimed that he knew nothing about economics, he always had surprising remarks and brilliant ideas.

The Gauls were also cunning. They originally calculated that 50 planes would be enough, and these 50 planes should not all fall on us, but they ended up raising the number to 60.

Gao Zhendong calculated in his mind and decided that it wasn't a big problem.

Considering the current domestic situation and future development, when this aircraft is manufactured, we will really be able to consume it.

Originally, China was purchasing Il-18 and other aircraft from the Russians to open up domestic and some international routes. By the 70s, the scale of Trident, 707, Il-62 and other aircraft purchased from John Bull, Xiaoba, the Russians and the Americans exceeded this number.

That’s right, some of our Tridents were second-hand purchases from XBMs, and even though the Russians fought a big war with us in 69, it did not stop them from selling us Il-71s in 62.

The production of this cooperative aircraft will not be short, and these 60 orders cannot be taken in at once. To put it bluntly, the aircraft will not have such a large production capacity all at once.

"I don't think it's a big problem, but let's add one more clause. To achieve this goal, we need them to support us in building at least one or two aircraft factories, and we pay for it ourselves. Otherwise, their production capacity will be insufficient to supply themselves and Europe, and it will hinder our business."

Gao Zhendong knew that Delta Aircraft Company had built four factories at once for the Mercury 100, but the dismal sales made these factories almost useless in the early days. As for whether they played a role during the Airbus era, that was another matter.

"Can we really handle 60 planes?" The leaders of the Defense Work Committee were not familiar with civil aviation and were a little worried.

Chief Engineer You smiled and said, "Comrade Zhendong's grasp is still accurate. I also estimate that there will be no major problems by then."

Gao Zhendong added: "Not only that, but this type of aircraft can be used not only for civilian purposes but also for military purposes."

"Military?" The leaders of the Defense Work Committee felt that Gao Zhendong's imagination was a bit too big. This thing could only be used as a temporary transport plane, and it was not even a qualified tactical transport plane.

"Yes, in my opinion, the layout, structure, economy, and flight performance of this aircraft are quite suitable for use in some special aircraft."

Speaking of this, the leader of the Defense Work Committee was no longer sleepy: "For example?"

"For example, the early warning aircraft we are developing, the tanker I proposed before, and some special electronic warfare aircraft, this thing is really the most suitable. Just like the Citigroup 707, it is originally from the same family as the KC-135 tanker."

There is also the E-3 Sentry early warning aircraft, Gao Zhendong thought to himself, but the E-3 had not yet been released, so he could only talk about it in his heart.

As for the development of our own early warning aircraft at this time, that is another interesting story, which Gao Zhendong did not elaborate on.

Yes! It also has this function! Although this is a civilian aircraft, Comrade Zhendong still hasn't forgotten the equipment of the army. He has not forgotten his original intention.

Thinking of this, the leaders of the Defense Work Committee suddenly understood. What's more, with these uses, plus the usage in civil aviation, if this aircraft is really developed, it won't be a problem to take orders for 60 of them in a short period of time.

"Chief Engineer You, when you are negotiating with the other party, you must pay attention to one thing, that is, you cannot restrict the use of our aircraft. If the other party does not mention this matter, then pretend you don't know. If the other party raises it, you must firmly refuse." The leader of the Defense Work Committee turned happily to the comrades from the Civil Aviation Commission and said.

Chief Engineer You nodded solemnly: "Yes, I understand. We will definitely pay attention to this matter."

In this day and age, it is normal to try our best to meet the needs of the troops without affecting the interests of the masses, and everyone thinks it is natural.

At this time, Gao Zhendong had turned to the second half of the document. It could be seen that the Gauls, or to be more precise, the Triangle Aircraft Company, had a strong intention to cooperate this time. They even proposed the overall plan and parameters of the aircraft they were going to develop in the document.

The overall plan and parameters are very important. For civil aircraft, when these indicators are determined, the life of the aircraft has been determined.

The fact that Triangle Company put forward these things in the document shows that they really have ideas about this cooperation.

It’s a pity that when it comes to planning aircraft indicators, at least Triangle Aircraft Company’s own capabilities are very poor.

"Comrade Zhendong, I know you are also an expert in aircraft. From your perspective, do you think these ideas of the Gauls are reasonable?"

(End of this chapter)