In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 262 Overweight Fighter Jets? How About Canceling the Cannons?
General Ahmed and his entourage were genuinely pleased to hear that Xie Wei would continue to purchase at the original price.

They had found out the purchase prices in Iraq.

As for why the price was 50% higher than the original price, Ahmed and his associates knew better than anyone: their offer to the CIA had been leaked.

After Shewe agreed to the price, fearing that he might change his mind, Ahmed immediately signed the contract according to the previous procurement terms.

After their request for priority supply of rocket launchers to the school was refused, they could only urge the school to transfer production technology as soon as possible.

"Transferring technical data is easy, but we lack all the necessary supporting equipment and technical personnel! Now we're facing two different clients..."

After the school signed a technology transfer contract with General Ahmed, the leaders of Jiangbei Machinery Factory finally arrived at the school.

When I first learned about the situation, I felt like the sky had fallen!
The mass production process in the factory is not yet mature. The 5000 rocket launchers ordered from Thailand have not yet been delivered, and Pakistan also had an order for nearly 1000 rocket launchers.

Now, another 6600 rocket launchers have been added, and the manufacturing process is quite different from that of the rocket launchers produced before.

How could the Jiangbei plant not be under pressure?

"Director Ning, General Manager Tian, ​​Dispatcher Ma, I reminded your company from the beginning that these rocket launchers have a great market internationally. The total order has reached 12500 units, and it may continue to increase at any time... Large-scale production is necessary... In order to meet the delivery deadline, the school will provide 1200 million yuan in advance."

Xie Wei didn't care about any of that.

The research and development is complete.

The order has been received.

It's definitely not acceptable to say that mass production can't meet delivery requirements right now.

“If it were just production, there would be no problem. But we need to help Iraq and Pakistan build production capacity, and the already strained technical staff is now even more strained.”

Ma Yuan hurriedly explained.

It wasn't that they weren't cooperating, but rather that these orders came too suddenly, completely beyond their expectations.

"The technology transfer will be handled by Jiangbei Machinery Factory sending technical personnel to the two clients' territories to help build factories, understand their supporting facilities, and if the facilities are insufficient, order equipment and related production technologies from relevant domestic factories... The school will also pay an additional US$300 million in local currency. You will need to apply to your superiors for the required foreign exchange yourself."

Xie Wei never imagined that the school would pocket all the profits from the technology transfer.

The $2400 million technology transfer fee was almost entirely profit.

The equipment needed for production is not expensive.

It's not an automated production line, so this can still allow the supporting factories to make money from customers through their technology.

$300 million, equivalent to 450 million RMB, is just for sending technicians to help build the production line and train them; it doesn't cost that much at all.

Previously, because no contract was signed, Xie Wei asked Jiangbei Machinery Factory for a 300 million yuan joining fee in order to solve the funding problem, and Jiangbei Machinery Factory gritted its teeth and paid it.

To my surprise, the money was returned in just a few months.

The entire order will bring Jiangbei Machinery Factory a net profit of over ten million yuan!
"Xie Wei, how long is the production cycle?"

Tian Guirong asked Xie Wei.

"The first batch of 500 units for Iraq will be delivered within three months, and the rest need to be delivered within 18 months; the first batch for Thailand also needs to be delivered in three months... As for Pakistan, the total order has increased to 2500 units, with 300 units to be delivered within three months..."

Xie Wei also mentioned the previous orders.

Originally, delivery was not required at the end of the year, but since the other party did not cause any more trouble in the cooperation, Xie Wei stopped delaying the delivery period and said that deliveries would continue and all orders would be completed within 18 months.

"Does this mean we have to deliver 1300 units by the end of the year?"

After considering the matter for a moment, Ma Yuan said to Xie Wei with difficulty, "Our production line won't be upgraded until November!"

"Then let's separate the parts and find sister companies with the relevant equipment to manufacture the various components, while the Jiangbei plant is responsible for the final assembly! Otherwise, these orders cannot be delivered within the delivery period!"

Xie Wei told the other party the solution without even thinking.

As reform and opening up gradually accelerated and military spending was continuously reduced, orders for various military factories became fewer and fewer. This led Jiangbei Factory to plan from the beginning to transform its production lines and control the production of all parts.

Xie Wei naturally wouldn't stand for the fact that the supporting factories couldn't keep up with the development.

"Okay, let's discuss it with the school leaders first."

Ning Juntao did not object.

The funding of tens of millions was something they had never dared to dream of before.

If conditions permit, delivery must be completed on schedule; if conditions do not permit, conditions must be created to complete delivery within the specified period.

Otherwise, if Harbin Institute of Technology doesn't include them in future business dealings, it would be a loss for them.

"Have you reached an agreement with Jiangbei Machinery Factory? They've agreed to subcontract the processing business to other affiliated units?"

Several leaders from Jiangbei Machinery Factory were discussing matters with relevant school officials when Liu Debao entered Xie Wei's office as soon as they left and asked them a question.

“Previously, business wasn’t much, and given that they paid a 300 million yuan joining fee, it’s understandable that they were unwilling to share. Now, with tight delivery schedules, the current orders alone can bring them tens of millions of yuan in profit. If they are still unwilling to share business with their partner companies, then they are not suitable to cooperate with us.”

Xie Wei calmly said, "Schools are places for cultivating talent, and at most they can do research. It's impossible to put energy into production. Besides, if you want to improve your technology, it's basically impossible if the supporting facilities don't keep up."

Liu Debao and others were aware of this.

Perhaps it's because everyone here is a cadre and has reached a certain position, so they always have to consider personal relationships with each other.

Li Rui had previously spoken with Ning Juntao and others, but without any results.

This time, the school leaders directly handed the matter over to Xie Wei to negotiate with Jiangbei Machinery Factory; otherwise, the other party wouldn't have agreed so easily.

"Everyone is having a tough time. If we have business and can help some other companies develop, we will. Only when everyone's skills improve can the supporting issues be resolved."

The long-range rocket artillery received orders for 36 launch systems and more than 1700 rockets, but the school simply did not have the capacity to complete production within the delivery period.

Rocket-related matters were a major business of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry. Several units under the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry were responsible for the special vehicles used in the launch system. Xie Wei directly asked the school to talk to the relevant units.

Before the top contributor paid his party dues, the military had received orders for strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles, but no orders for conventional rocket artillery or missiles.

Few of the units under the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building were doing well.

This time, Xie Wei didn't help the ministry sell other weapons. Instead, he directly distributed the orders that the school had received to relevant units for production, which also allowed the higher-ups to see the benefits of the policies given to the school.

"Is the fighter jet project really a collaboration with Northwestern Polytechnical University? Although their aerospace engineering has some advantages over ours, the advantages are not many."

Liu Debao did not bring up the business orders again.

The school's relevant team has developed it, and Xie Wei has sold it. Even if the school doesn't arrange the production, the ministry will get involved.

Orders exceeding $2 million all belonged to the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry!

"The school is under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry."

Seeing that Xie Wei remained silent, Liu Debao took out a cigarette, tossed one to Xie Wei, lit it himself, and exhaled a cloud of smoke before saying seriously, "When the school was working on the fighter jet project before, many leaders at the higher levels were dissatisfied."

"The school belongs to the nation!" Xie Wei fiddled with the cigarette in his hand, took a deep breath under his nose, and casually put the cigarette on the table before speaking, "The aerospace program at Northwestern Polytechnical University is ultimately more professional than ours."

With the sale of the school's rocket launchers and long-range rocket artillery, the tank project also secured $1.7 million in funding, both in terms of technology investment and orders.

It is impossible for all of this money to be spent in the short term.

In the past few days, Xie Wei has been considering whether to continue poaching people from other institutions to the school, or for the school to cooperate with other institutions.

After much thought, I still feel that cooperating with more organizations is more in line with future development.

One of the biggest problems is that as school funding becomes more abundant, research on related technologies is being conducted ahead of schedule, which will affect the future development of related fields.

The simplest example is the current school's fighter jet project. Xie Wei has put forward the general plan for the J-10 and continued to develop it based on the technological achievements of the J-9. When the country approves the J-10 project, the foundation will be much better.

The technical team trained for the J-10 will be different from those in the past.

Xie Wei's biggest fear is that the chief designers trained by Northwestern Polytechnical University, who have enabled China's domestically produced fighter jets to stand proudly on the world stage, will have their career paths altered after the project is transferred to Harbin Institute of Technology.

For example, the chief designers of the J-20, J-40, J-50, and subsequent J-50 were all graduates of Northwestern Polytechnical University, and most of them participated in the research and development of the J-10 after graduation...

Xie Wei originally planned to lure all the future chief engineers to the school.

After thinking it over, I realized that this was not a good thing.

The final decision was to accelerate technological research through collaboration.

"The Third Ministry of Machine Building doesn't have any funding support."

Liu Debao complained.

“We have money now, but it’s almost used up. The university-enterprise cooperation office should be able to provide more funding. When we achieve certain results, even if the higher authorities don’t provide support, we can still find investment or cooperation in the international market. What the university needs is the cultivation of talent and the accumulation of experience in the process of technological research and development.”

Xie Wei looked at Liu Debao and spoke.

"How much funding do you think should be allocated to fighter jet research?"

"Let's give you 1200 million first, that's four sub-projects, that's only 300 million each on average..."

Xie Wei sighed.

Fighter jets are too expensive; the school simply cannot afford to support them.

It's not that we don't want to give more; Liu Debao is right. After all, the school is under the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry. No one in the higher-ups would object to it investing in rocket and missile-related technical research projects.

However, the fighter jet project was a project of the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry.

The Seventh Ministry of Machine Building was already short of funds, and the projects of the Third Ministry of Machine Building were squeezing out the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building's project funds. Which leader would be happy about that?
Liu Debao's lips moved as if he wanted to persuade Xie Wei, but after thinking about it, he decided against it.

Tanks fall under the purview of the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry, and Xie Wei also raised $1.7 million through tanks, so perhaps it's unnecessary to be so clear about the details.

"Then go and talk to Director Song."

Liu Debao stared at Xie Wei for a long time before finally saying this.

After luring the aviation R&D team to the school, Li Rui almost always avoided them. Director Song, who was in charge of the project, didn't contact Xie Wei either, as he didn't believe Xie Wei could solve the problem of lack of funding.

Xie Wei did not go directly to General Manager Song, but instead went to Qu Hongtao, who was in charge of logistics. Qu Hongtao had always been the one liaising with the fighter jet development team.

"Xie Wei, what brings you here to see me?"

Qu Hongtao was surprised, then, like a serf longing for the Red Army, said, "The school has raised several hundred million yuan. Why don't you talk to the school leaders and ask them to allocate some to the fighter jet project? I'm being besieged at the door by President Song and his men every day, demanding money!"

As the director of logistics, he was actually unaware that Xie Wei had a significant influence on the school's funding allocation.

He couldn't very well try to take advantage of the money from the school-enterprise cooperation program.

The current fighter jet project receives 800 million yuan in annual support from the university-enterprise cooperation office.

"That's why we came. I was the one who suggested Principal Li invite Director Song and the others to the school... Although the school's funds are not as tight as before, they are not very abundant either, so we need to understand the situation..."

Xie Wei knew how much the project was short of funding.

Although it was based on the J-10 design, apart from the quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire operating system which was developed from scratch, other technologies were improved based on existing domestic technologies. With the cooperation of relevant departments at the university, the progress was actually quite fast.

This has led to an even greater shortage of funds.

"We now need to build a full-size wind tunnel model..."

Qu Hongtao told Xie Wei everything he knew, but he didn't know the more detailed information.

Finally, he took Xie Wei to see President Song.

"...The progress on the quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire control system is not significant. The photosensitive elements are not sensitive enough, and the control precision of the central processing unit does not meet the requirements... The biggest problem now is that electronic technology and manufacturing processes cannot keep up with the design, and the improved radar is much heavier..."

When Xie Wei came to inquire about the situation, President Song did not hide anything from him.

Qu Hongtao, who was standing to the side, was afraid that Director Song did not know Xie Wei's purpose, so he hurriedly spoke up, "Xie Wei came to find out which area is most in need of funding."

“Every aspect is lacking. The overall plan has been proven to be sound, but the avionics and radar systems are too large. We either need to modify the aerodynamic layout or we can only continue to wait…”

"I said with a bitter face."

Principal Li had previously said that they would cover the funding.

The results of it?
"The radar and avionics systems are overweight?"

Xie Wei knew that during the fighter jet design process, the designers calculated and recalculated the weight of every component and every system. Reducing the weight by even one kilogram was no easy task.

Before the WS-10 engine was developed, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the WS-6 engine, which was used to power the J-9 fighter jet, was only 6. Even with the high-temperature alloy materials provided by Xie Wei "intentionally or unintentionally" in the school's metal materials laboratory, it would be difficult to significantly improve the thrust-to-weight ratio.

"Yes, to achieve the desired functionality, many components were overweight due to inadequate manufacturing technology. After the design was completed, the overall weight was 287 kilograms overweight..."

Director Song gave Xie Wei a more detailed explanation.

"What if we cancel the machine gun?"

Xie Wei realized that modern air combat is all about beyond-visual-range strikes, and even short-range air-to-air missiles are not very effective anymore.

Dogfighting in the air with machine guns?

That was used in World War II.

"What?"

President Song stared at Xie Wei in astonishment, then found himself at a loss for words.

Cancel the fighter jet's machine guns?

As expected of a young person who knows nothing and is too presumptuous!

(End of this chapter)