The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 609: Single or Double Launch
Everyone couldn't help but nod their heads, looking heavy-hearted.

Because this is the most prominent problem of Project No. 10 at present.

The country is currently copying several aircraft engines, but it is not known when the copying project will be completed, perhaps in ten or twenty years.

There is such uncertainty that Project No. 10 now proposes a plan, which is to purchase aircraft engines from the Americans or the Soviet Union.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union have high-performance aircraft engines, and they can be said to be the most advanced in the world. The aircraft engines of the two countries each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

American aircraft engines have high processing requirements and long engine service life, but they are relatively expensive and require high maintenance and repair work. The price of an aircraft engine can easily cost millions of dollars.

Soviet aviation engines are combined with the Soviet Union's war concepts. They are often simple in structure, easy to mass-produce, and have strong engine thrust, but the engine life is often only 1000 to 2000 hours.

It is not a question of who is right or wrong here, because it is subject to each other's strategic objectives and war concepts.

Americans have never really thought about launching the S3 season because they were the biggest beneficiaries of the First and Second World Wars and reaped all the dividends. The post-war order was also jointly shaped by the United States and the Soviet Union. The two were the leaders of the post-war order, and the United States even had a greater dominance.

The United States is already a maritime hegemon, dominating the world's oceans, with military bases all over the world. The U.S. dollar is an international currency and the first choice for most countries' foreign exchange reserves. After the successful implementation of the 'petrodollar', the U.S. dollar has become even more popular.

The barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. America belongs to the people who wear shoes. How could it take the initiative to fight with the barefoot?

The Soviet Union was different. It faced the entire Western camp. Socialism had a voice that never ceased, which was to liberate all mankind. Whether it was because of the historical mission or the threat of the entire Western camp, the Soviet Union, as a fighting nation, was always ready for the outbreak of Season 3. Therefore, Soviet weapons would not be too expensive or high-end, but would be suitable for large-scale mass production so as to facilitate the explosion of troops.

Liu Tao knows that the S3 season will not break out in the next years, so he naturally hopes that the fighter's aviation engine will be more powerful and have a longer lifespan to reduce the cost of use.

Liu Tao hesitated for a moment. He originally planned to change the J-10 from a single-engine to a twin-engine, but then he changed his mind. The J-10 is positioned as a light fighter, and this engine belongs to the "low-end configuration" among the "high-low configuration" of fighters. It is also good for a light fighter to use a single-engine high-thrust engine.

这就有些像美国的F15、F16战斗机一样，不了解的人以为F-16比F15数字多一位，所以F16战斗机的性能比F15先进。

In fact, this is not true, because the F15 is a twin-engine heavy fighter, equipped with two turbofan engines, with high maneuverability and complete all-weather combat capabilities, that is, an all-weather, highly maneuverable tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority. It can use advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles to destroy enemy aircraft, mainly carry out air superiority combat missions, and has developed air-to-ground combat modifications.

The F16 fighter is a single-engine light fighter, and its performance is inferior to that of the F15 fighter. The reason why there is the F16 fighter is that although the F15 fighter has advanced performance, it is expensive. Even the wealthy United States can hardly afford the cost of purchasing a large number of F15 fighters. In order to solve the contradiction between funds and the number of fighters required, the US Air Force proposed the principle of "high-low matching", that is, a small number of high-performance aircraft are used in conjunction with a large number of aircraft with lower performance and price. Therefore, the F16 exists as a "low-end aircraft".

The same is true for China.

The J-10 is China's future fighter jet that will gradually replace the J-6, J-7 and J-8.

After the J-10 is successfully developed, we will then develop a twin-engine heavy fighter as a high-performance aircraft.

Liu Tao naturally knew the advantages and disadvantages of single-engine fighters and the fighters of both sides.

Single-engine fighters only need one aircraft engine, which reduces costs a lot. Compared with twin-engine fighters, they naturally greatly reduce the cost of procurement and maintenance. The disadvantage is that the reliability in actual use is reduced, and the single-engine layout limits the potential for improving the aircraft's range, load, and maneuverability. In other words, the improvement of single-engine fighters is generally concentrated in electronic equipment and weapon systems, and the room for improvement in engines is very limited, so the room for improvement in range, speed, etc. is very limited.

The two fighters are different, so there is a lot of room for improvement. Twin-engine fighters are not only safer, but also can be designed to be larger, with a higher thrust ratio, more fuel and ammunition, and stronger overall combat capabilities.

"The next is the avionics system. From what I know, the current avionics system of Project No. 8 is basically the same as that of the J-8II. This requires improvement. The avionics system of the J-II cannot meet the requirements of modern warfare for fighter jets." Liu Tao said.

As the avionics system of the J-10, it must be a multifunctional avionics system, and it must be advanced. The current avionics system of the J-8II is relatively backward among the second-generation aircraft in the world.

Not to mention compared with the third-generation aircraft.

The avionics systems of today's third-generation fighter jets often include displays, ultra-high frequency communications, tactical navigation systems and instrument landing systems, fire control radars, attitude/direction reference systems, electronic jamming pods, TACAN systems, inertial navigation systems, fire control systems, atmospheric data computers, central data computers, and so on.

It is clear that Panshan Group is already developing the Beidou Navigation System, and even now the Beidou Navigation System has been successfully networked in China, but the J-10 has not even considered satellite navigation.

As for the radar, the J-10's radar is currently very backward. The reason for this is that the country's radar research and development units have failed to develop an advanced fire control radar.

The others lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Because the radar-related indicators set by the J-10 are not even as good as the 'J-7A', not to mention the multi-functional pulse Doppler radar of the 'Eagle' advanced trainer aircraft.

If it were anyone else, they would still argue.

But in front of an expert like Liu Tao, arguing is useless and will only bring humiliation to oneself.

Liu Tao continued to talk about several issues. It can be said that in addition to the aerodynamic layout, the power system, avionics system, and weapon system all have to undergo major modifications to improve various indicators.

Even the aerodynamic layout requires minor modifications and optimizations.

Chief Designer Song Wencong had no dissatisfaction, only happiness and anticipation.

He has been engaged in aircraft design for his entire life, especially since he became the chief designer of the J-10. It can be said that he has put all his energy into the J-10 fighter. The J-10 fighter is like his child. He only hopes that the J-10 fighter is an advanced third-generation aircraft that can spread its wings and soar in the motherland's sky to defend the motherland's airspace.

As for other people's opinions, as long as they are conducive to improving the development of the J-10 fighter, he will only be happier and will not have any dissatisfaction.

Not to mention, the person who made the suggestion was someone like Liu Tao.

(End of this chapter)