The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

A few days later, Liu Tao set off for Guifei Group.

Indeed, the Y-20 strategic transport aircraft has completed the detailed design task!

Currently, China's military transport aircraft are both domestically produced and imported. The imported aircraft mainly include the IL-76, An-22, An-225, and An-12 models purchased from Polar Bear and Ermao, among which the IL-76 is the main one.

The An-12 is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, codenamed "Young Fox" by NATO. It first flew in 1956 and entered service in 1957. The transport aircraft has a crew of 5, can carry 90 passengers, has a load capacity of 20 tons, is 33.10 meters long, has a wingspan of 38.0 meters, is 10.53 meters high, has a wing area of ​​121.7 square meters, an empty weight of 28 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 61 tons, a maximum speed of 777 kilometers per hour, a cruising speed of 670 kilometers per hour, a range of 5700 kilometers, and a full load of 3600 kilometers. This is a relatively old transport aircraft. China imported 30 of them at a relatively cheap price as a supplement to its transport aircraft. It is expected that all of them will be retired by 2015.

The An-22 is the largest turboprop aircraft ever built in human history. It began to be developed in 1962, had its first test flight in February 1965, was put into mass production in 2, began to be delivered in 1966, and was discontinued in 1967. This transport aircraft is 1974 meters long, has a wingspan of 57.92 meters, a height of 64.40 meters, a wing area of ​​12.53 square meters, and a cargo compartment size (length × width × height) of 345 meters × 33.0 meters × 4.4 meters. It has an empty weight of 4.4 tons, a maximum load of 114 tons, a maximum fuel capacity of 80 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 96 tons, a cruising speed of 250 kilometers per hour, a maximum level flight speed of 680 kilometers per hour, and a range of 740 kilometers at maximum load. China imported 5000 aircraft at a preferential price that year as a supplement to military transportation, and it is expected that all of them will be retired by 15.

An-225 is a super-large military transport aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It has a take-off weight of 640 tons and is the largest transport aircraft in the world so far. It was developed in the Soviet era as part of the Soviet space program for the transportation of the "Buran" space shuttle. It made its first test flight on December 1988, 12 and entered service in 21. The Soviet Union built only two An-1989s in total, and China imported its only An-225 from the Chinese in the 90s. In recent years, spacecraft and large satellites have been transported by An-225.

Il-76 is a large transport aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It was tested in March 1971 and entered service in 3. The Il-1975 transport aircraft was the main transport aircraft in the Soviet era. It was used as a combat support transport aircraft to transport infantry and light armored forces. It can take off and land at simple front-line airports. At the same time, the Il-76 can also perform parachute missions and can carry empty cargo or properly packaged military vehicles.

As for domestically produced transport aircraft, there are three models: Y-8, Y-13 and Y-10. All of them are used as dual-use military and civilian transport aircraft, and there are also civil aviation models.

The Y-8 was once China's largest military transport aircraft. It has also developed civil transport and regional passenger aircraft. Based on the Y-8, tankers, early warning aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, command and control aircraft, and maritime patrol aircraft have been developed. After so many years of continuous improvement, the Y-8 has surpassed its prototype, the An-12. China has a total of 75 Y-8 series transport aircraft and exported 42. At present, the annual output of the Y-8 is about 12, mainly for production and export.

Yun-13 is the main force of China's regional airliners. It has a maximum take-off weight of 40.5 tons, a maximum operating altitude of 11900 meters, and a maximum range of 3700 kilometers. In the past ten years, China has produced a total of 399 Yun-13s, including 293 regional airliners, 50 civil transport aircraft, 19 military transport aircraft, and 37 business aircraft. 42 aircraft were exported, including 28 regional airliners, 5 military transport aircraft, and 8 business aircraft. Yun-13 is also the star model of China's Zhuhai Air Show, and is deeply loved by customers in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. After all, it is much cheaper than European and American regional airliners, and its super high cost performance makes it increase orders every year.

Y-10 is a large aircraft independently developed by China. It has a wingspan of 44.42 meters, a length of 46.61 meters, a height of 12.92 meters, a wing area of ​​268.6 square meters, a maximum take-off weight of 150.59 tons, a maximum fuel capacity of 72.5 tons, a maximum commercial load of 30.72 tons, and is equipped with four turbofan engines with a thrust of 4 kilonewtons per engine. It has a maximum cruising speed of 85 kilometers per hour, an economic cruising speed of 980 kilometers per hour, a maximum climb rate of 895 meters per second, a take-off distance of 20 meters, a landing distance of 3250 meters, a maximum fuel range of 1900 kilometers, a maximum load range of 12000 kilometers, and a crew of four people.

So far, Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation has produced a total of 82 Y-10s (including prototypes), including 50 civil passenger aircraft, 10 military transport aircraft, 10 civil transport aircraft, 10 business jets, and 2 early warning aircraft.

Unlike the Y-8, Y-13 and Y-10, the Y-20 was positioned from the very beginning as a strategic military transport aircraft, specifically for military use!
The Y-20 strategic transport aircraft is also one of the pillars of China's strategic air force! The detailed design review is a very important node in the model development.

Because after passing the review, you can start making the prototype!
All technical conditions have been basically frozen, which is a remarkable achievement.

Because there are only a few countries in the world that can independently design and develop strategic transport aircraft, and they can be counted on one hand.

It is precisely because of the importance of this strategic transport aircraft that the military organized a large team of experts for this review, including pilots who have in-depth research or rich experience in using Il-76 and An-22 transport aircraft. The large team of experts came to Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation to conduct the review.

Liu Tao is also a member of the expert group. After all, in the field of aviation, whether it is aircraft engines, avionics systems, structures, materials, etc., Liu Tao is undoubtedly the top expert. In terms of professional level, who can compare with Liu Tao?

Guifei Group has specially arranged a large conference room for this review.

The person in charge of the review meeting was the head of the Air Force Equipment Department. The expert group consisted of 59 people from various disciplines. At the meeting, the host first expressed his gratitude to the development team for their hard work, and at the same time emphasized that this review was very important. If the experts found any serious problems, they would have to rework.

This is the strictness of military aircraft models. If it is a model developed by Liu Tao, he usually completes the design work, produces a prototype, and conducts a test flight to show its performance. The Air Force will see if it is satisfied. If not, the Air Force will not purchase it and will export it. If the Air Force is satisfied, then we will discuss the purchase order and the purchase price.

However, if Liu Tao is not the host or participant, it will basically be carried out according to a unique procedure.

Of course, the Air Force will pay part of the development funds, rather than all of it being borne by Guizhou Aircraft Group. This can also be considered a risk-sharing. For example, the Air Force paid half of the development funds for the Y-20, and the other half was paid by Guizhou Aircraft Group. (End of this chapter)