In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 299 The J-9 project has already been cancelled, so why insist on having canards?
"Don't worry about that. Chief Long knows all the projects the school has. He mainly wants to see the projects run by the university and enterprises, and the ones you already know about. After all, the school is a pilot project, and some of them involve military-civilian integration technologies..."

Li Rui was naturally unaware that Xie Wei was inwardly cursing Liu Debao's relatives.

There are some programs at the school that Xie Wei is indeed unaware of.

It's not that the school doesn't open up to Xie Wei, but that this kid is just too cunning. He not only forcibly suppresses his curiosity, but even when Liu Debao tries to tempt him, Xie Wei pretends to be completely uninterested.

"The problem is I don't understand it!"

Xie Wei was utterly speechless.

Is it necessary to target only one person?

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. What's important is that missiles now have a longer detection range than fighter jets. The 204 radar is still not finished. The radar project at the university is what the Air Force urgently needs..."

Li Rui explained.

Xie Wei finally understood why Long Yaohua had asked him to accompany him: the infrared detection range of the modified PL-4 was farther than that of the detection radar currently equipped on fighter jets. Just as Li Rui said, the pressure was indeed on the fighter jet's R&D team.

"Our pulse-Doppler radar has only just completed the most basic demonstration; the prototype hasn't even started production yet, we don't have the money!"

Since that's the military's plan, why not pay them?
Certainly not.

"That depends on the progress of the school's radar project. Isn't the school collaborating with 607?"

Li Rui's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Xie Wei was even more ruthless than him, always seizing every opportunity to ask for money.

The key issue is that they don't even have control over the allocation of funds.

"We'll have to ask Professor Wei Guosong."

Xie Wei didn't feel embarrassed at all about not knowing the progress of these projects; normally, he would avoid people involved in the fighter jet project.

If I don't hide, am I supposed to give them the opportunity to block my way and demand money?
"..."

Li Rui looked at Xie Wei with complicated emotions, wanting to slap him across the face. How did this kid become so slick?

It was very late when I got back to school.

Long Yaohua and the military leaders were taken directly to the Northern Building, while Li Rui went back to school with Liu Debao and others.

"This test firing was a complete success. Next, the project will allocate funds for technical improvements. At the same time, the medium-range air-to-air missile can move from the demonstration phase to the design phase; the surface-to-air missile defense system based on it will also move from the original technical demonstration phase to the design phase... The surface-to-air missile defense system can be based on the achievements of the original Counterattack series..."

For the next technical arrangements of the missile team, Liu Debao knew he was not as good as Xie Wei, so he simply handed over the task of arranging the next mission to Xie Wei.

Lai Guichang, Shi Hongwei, and others did not object to Xie Wei's arrangements.

"The Second Academy is in charge of the Counterattack series. Should we cooperate with them, or..."

Lai Guichang asked Xie Wei.

The Second Academy was a subordinate unit of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, mainly responsible for the research and development of surface-to-air and ship-to-air missiles.

The two sides had no prior cooperation.

"Let's cooperate. We'll handle everything. There's a huge shortage of manpower and equipment... Once we reach an agreement, we can directly integrate the technological achievements of the counterattack team with those of the PL-4... Currently, the PL-4 engine still needs further modification. Its maximum speed of Mach 3.2 is sufficient for most fighter jets. At longer ranges, if it's detected by fighter jet radar, it can take evasive action in advance and potentially evade detection..."

Xie Wei did not intend for the school's team to handle everything on their own.

The university is not strong in all aspects; only by integrating the research capabilities of relevant units can it develop more quickly.

Developing together is the only way forward.

"I'll trouble Secretary Liu and Professor Lai to go and communicate with the leaders of the Second Ministry of Machine Building about this matter."

Xie Wei looked at the two of them and immediately assigned them tasks.

Everyone was used to the current situation.

Just when everyone thought they could move on to the next question, Professor Lai Guichang spoke up: "Xie Wei, shall I not get involved in this matter?"

"???"

Xie Wei looked at Lai Guichang with a puzzled expression.

He was in charge of the PL-4 modified missile project. If he wasn't in charge of the new project, who would be?

Liu Debao's face showed dissatisfaction. "Comrade Guichang, let's discuss any dissatisfaction with the arrangements later! It's getting late, and Xie Wei has to accompany the military leaders to visit the school project tomorrow."

He believed that Lai Guichang was dissatisfied with Xie Wei's arrangements, so he was also dissatisfied.

Lai Guichang knew why Secretary Liu was dissatisfied, and explained with a wry smile: "Next, our project will be divided into three parts. We will not only continue to improve the performance of PL-4, but also develop a medium-range version and a surface-to-air missile project in cooperation with the Second Academy. Although it has many commonalities with air-to-air missile technology, it is also very different... During the demonstration process of surface-to-air missile technology, Professor Shi was in charge more. I suggest that Comrade Shi Hongwei be in charge of the surface-to-air missile."

"I?"

Shi Hongwei was completely unprepared.

"I have no opinion."

Seeing that Xie Wei did not raise any objections, Liu Debao spoke up directly, "Since no one objects, Xie Wei, tell me about the other arrangements."

"..."

Not to mention the people in the conference room who were familiar with Liu Debao, even Li Rui's expression became strange at this moment: You didn't even ask if anyone objected, you just said no one objected.

Have they abandoned all principles?

Xie Wei was also speechless. At least go through the proper procedures and ask everyone if anyone had any objections.

Everyone knows that no one will object, but the necessary procedures should still be followed.

Raising his wrist, Xie Wei saw that it was past midnight. Not wanting to waste any more time, he disregarded everything else and said, "The school's military research and technology will most likely shift towards fighter jets in the future. The school's existing technologies need to be accelerated..."

"Are you going to do a complete system design?"

Liu Debao asked, then a troubled look appeared on his face, "We should convene a meeting of the heads of the relevant technical projects for the fighter jet. There's no use in discussing it here."

"We'll discuss the specific arrangements after the military leaders visit the project tomorrow. However, the fighter jets are a project under the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry, so we need to communicate with the ministry about this, otherwise we might run into trouble."

Xie Wei reminded Liu Debao.

This matter requires Liu Debao to communicate with the department leaders.

Fighter jets were under the jurisdiction of the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry, while schools were under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry.

Previously, the ministry wouldn't have had any objections if there hadn't been large-scale investment. However, if funding and resources were tilted towards fighter jet-related technologies, even if the leaders of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry didn't object, there would be a lot of discontent within the entire ministry.

Especially when the school has hundreds of millions of yuan in funding while other affiliated institutions are struggling financially, some problems are more likely to occur.

"It's not just a matter of funding and resource allocation, is it?" Liu Debao rubbed his head, looking a bit of a headache.

"Yes, we will definitely increase cooperation with the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry. Currently, apart from the production of the 150mm long-range artillery, we are only cooperating with the institute on medium-range missiles and surface-to-air missile systems. We can use the PL-4 technology to negotiate with the ministry."

Xie Wei's words earned Li Rui's immediate thumbs up.

The military will cover the school's research and development expenses.

The military will also provide the subsequent research and development funding. At the current amount, it won't even require much funding from the school. Xie Wei can then negotiate with the military by presenting the technology that the military has already purchased, killing two birds with one stone.

This kid is getting more and more slick.

I didn't misjudge him!

At nine o'clock the next morning, Long Yaohua and several leaders of the Air Force arrived at the school on time.

"Let's go straight to where your fighter jet project is located."

Before Liu Debao and the others could greet him, Long Yaohua spoke up, "We don't have much time. We have to go to Institute 601 and Factory 112 this afternoon."

The school has been investing in infrastructure construction for the past two years, but due to funding issues, the scale of construction has not been large, resulting in insufficient office and teaching space. Many students have even had to rent houses outside to attend classes.

However, there are quite a few people involved in the fighter jet project, and it has been developing slowly over the past few years. Last year, the school built a small teaching building, which was assigned to the aerospace engineering major, and the fighter jet team occupied three whole floors.

“学校在恢复航空航天专业前，就已经跟601、607、611、410等单位达成了合作，目前主要是以歼-9的技术成果为基础……”

As Xie Wei walked toward the aviation building, he briefed Long Yaohua and other leaders on the school's fighter jet-related technical projects.

"J-9? Wasn't it completely discontinued because of high technical difficulty and inability to meet performance targets?"

“We had already reduced our investment in previous years.”

"The J-9 is a high-altitude, high-speed fighter jet. Nowadays, fighter jets have begun to abandon high-altitude, high-speed capabilities and instead pursue comprehensive combat performance. Is this the report you provided?"

Several air force leaders are familiar with the J-9.

Multiple technical discussion meetings and multiple revisions of technical specifications.

From the initial double 24 to the later double 25, and then to the double 26, the entire research process of the J-9 was full of hardships.

The design concept was very advanced from the beginning, but it faced problems such as the weak industrial foundation, lack of experience, and inadequate supporting facilities in China.

Under such circumstances, the J-9 was initially designed to achieve a flight speed of Mach 2.4, the performance limit for a single-engine fighter jet. Based on this, the Air Force proposed a dual-25 target, and the 611 adopted a canard aerodynamic layout to meet it. However, as the performance requirements of fighter jets increased, the Air Force aggressively raised the target to dual-26...

Internationally, the maximum speed of single-engine fighter jets has not exceeded Mach 2.4, while the dual Mach 26 target set for the single-engine J-9 in China is almost too demanding to achieve.

Of course, if a fighter jet with such specifications can be designed and manufactured, the J-9's performance will definitely be among the best in the world.

However, the lack of breakthroughs in core technologies such as the WS-6 turbofan engine and fly-by-wire control technology ultimately meant that the performance targets of the J-9 remained nothing more than wishful thinking!
The Air Force had conducted a detailed evaluation before terminating the development of the J-9.

Don't the people at Harbin Institute of Technology know this?

"The J-9's aerodynamic layout and design are all ahead of their time... The reason it couldn't meet the performance targets before wasn't because of design problems, but because the supporting fly-by-wire control system and engine couldn't keep up..."

Xie Wei explained.

"Moreover, our project didn't have any set performance targets from the beginning. Instead, we aimed to achieve the best we could based on our technical capabilities... And currently, the university only has one project, the Super-7, which is being jointly developed with Pakistan and is still in the feasibility study stage. They haven't yet confirmed whether they will cooperate..."

Xie Wei's meaning is quite clear.

Even if the fighter jet project in cooperation with Pakistan is completed, it will not require advanced technologies such as fly-by-wire control systems and turbofan engines with greater thrust.

Currently, the biggest cooperation with Pakistan is in the development of third-generation tanks.

Soon, the group arrived in front of the aviation building.

General Manager Song had only received the notification that morning. As soon as he arrived outside the aviation building, he saw Xie Wei and Long Yaohua's group.

"Although we do not currently have any complete aircraft development tasks, General Manager Song is in charge of all the fighter jet-related technical projects."

The two parties were acquaintances, so Xie Wei didn't need to introduce them.

"Is your school planning to merge with 611?"

An air force commander asked with a smile.

"Cooperation! Cooperation!"

Liu Debao quickly denied it.

This Air Force leader really had ill intentions. If these words were to reach the ears of the leaders of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, how would we explain it?

With so many technical projects in the aerospace system, why doesn't the subordinate unit focus on aerospace technology and instead develop fighter jets for the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry, aiming for space and the moon?
What a fuss!

"You're joking, sir. We only have some of the technical backbone from Institute 611 here; the main force of Institute 611 is still in Chengdu."

President Song hurriedly offered an explanation.

He actually hoped that the school could incorporate their Institute 611, so that funding would be easier, wouldn't it?

The school currently has hundreds of millions of yuan in funding.

It's entirely possible to develop a complete system project.

Currently, General Manager Song has a very clear plan for the development of the new generation of fighter jets, and is just waiting for the right opportunity to provide it to the superior authorities.

Harbin Institute of Technology is a university. If it were under the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry, it could have used its authority to directly initiate the feasibility study and design work for the third-generation fighter jet.

Unlike now, where the focus is on developing supporting technologies.

Only when the complete machine project begins will the investment in supporting technologies increase.

"This is the control technology team, which mainly focuses on the research of quadruple redundancy fly-by-wire systems. Simple mechanical transmission cannot solve the problem of using computers to control the control surfaces in real time and with precision in the design of the J-9 canard. The entire school's computer science, electronic engineering, optoelectronics and other majors have participated."

Upon arriving at the research area for quadruple redundancy telemetry operation technology, General Manager Song introduced it to everyone.

His envisioned next-generation fighter jet will feature a quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire control system as its core technology.

The school has also invested a lot in this.

"Why does it have to be a canard? It's difficult to control and has a complex structure... There aren't many advanced fighter jets in the world that use canards! The J-9 used canards to achieve better high-altitude and high-speed performance."

An air force commander asked.

The change in aerodynamic focus caused by the canard configuration makes the aircraft inherently unstable and extremely complex to control.

This places stringent requirements on the operating system: the mechanical transmission technology mastered domestically is not very proficient, and to control the canard, they even skipped analog fly-by-wire technology and went straight to digital signal fly-by-wire systems!
How difficult is it?
(End of this chapter)