In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 309 Project No. 10 is funded by loans? And it even needs to be profitable?
"This doesn't do us any good!"

On the way back, Liu Debao was filled with worry. "To undertake such a huge project, they only give us 8000 million a year. We'll have to put in more than 8000 million to make up for it..."

"It's not just us who's paying! Factories 601 and 611 can't afford it, but factories 112 and 132 might be able to raise some money to provide supporting equipment!"

"them?"

Liu Debao curled his lip, "No military industrial unit in the country is doing well. You know this better than I do. Although Factory 132 has export orders for fighter jets such as the J-7 and JQ-5, its output is far from the designed capacity, so it is not doing well either."

It's not that he looks down on these military industrial units.

Factory 112 was originally producing J-5 and J-6 fighter jets and had a full production schedule. Later, when Factory 132 started production, along with a number of third-line factories such as Factory 130 and Factory 162 in Guizhou, the production of J-7 fighter jets at Factory 112 was transferred to other factories. The production of J-8 fighter jets had just begun, and the factory was doing much better than other fighter jet manufacturers.

"Isn't the higher-ups encouraging all units to leverage their strong manufacturing capabilities to venture into the civilian product sector? This would not only solve the funding needs for the unit's development but also fill the gaps in the civilian market and contribute to economic development and construction."

Xie Wei said with a smile.

The washing machines from Factory 132 need to be arranged.

Even though this era has its own way of doing things, and there's no need for Factory 132 to rely on selling washing machines to subsidize the development of the J-10 fighter jet, Xie Wei feels that if Factory 132 doesn't produce washing machines, something will always be missing.

"..."

Liu Debao couldn't refute the question Xie Wei was raising.

Compared to ordinary state-owned production units, military factories have a much stronger technological foundation and equipment, and their production of civilian products needed by the market is relatively higher in both quality and efficiency.

The school-enterprise cooperation office is precisely responsible for developing civilian products.

This stopped Liu Debao from complaining to Xie Wei, which made him feel much more at ease.

Xie Wei is relieved.

But Li Rui became even busier.

For several days in a row, I slept less than three hours a day.

To promote the formulation and implementation of the National Military Standards, there is a lot of preparatory work to be done. Even with the participation of all relevant departments of the military, the personnel allocation and preliminary preparations alone are enough to give people a headache.

Yu Lihua found Li Rui again.

"Have you not rested at all?"

Seeing Li Rui's bloodshot eyes and exhausted face, You Lihua was shocked by Li Rui's desperate spirit: Li Rui is not young.

"Take a break if you're tired. We need to work on the National Military Standards, but there are no precedents to follow. Although Xie Wei suggested using internationally accepted standards as a template and then developing standards based on our actual situation and military product requirements, just figuring out the actual needs and circumstances is already a headache. There are too many units that need to be coordinated..."

Li Rui's hands did not stop moving at all while he was speaking.

"How do you plan to arrange Xie Wei's position?"

"Ok?"

Li Rui was stunned. "Although he is still a student, he is also serving as the director of the Industry-University-Research Office and concurrently as the deputy director of the University-Enterprise Office..."

Thinking about the many positions Xie Wei holds, it seems like there are quite a few.

If he were to take up a temporary post at the soon-to-be-established Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the reaction from the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry would likely be enormous.

"Whether it's complex systems engineering management methods or the implementation of standards, Xie Wei understands them best. Chief Long Yaohua believes Xie Wei can participate in this..."

"He wants Xie Wei to join the army?"

Li Rui immediately looked at You Lihua warily.

"Don't overreact. If Xie Wei joins the General Staff after graduation, his career development will likely be better than in other units. It will be of great benefit to both him personally and the development of the military..."

"Pull him down!"

Li Rui was unhappy.

Even though he was currently severely understaffed, and knew that once Xie Wei worked under him, his pressure would instantly decrease by at least 60%, Li Rui preferred to work harder himself rather than consider temporarily transferring Xie Wei over.

Xie Wei's future development path was planned out while he was still in school.

“Old Li, it’s not that he absolutely has to come here; he can easily take up a temporary post. The country is implementing reform and opening up, and the military is also starting to prepare for reform. The old system is no longer effective. The military needs young talent to participate in its development. Xie Wei’s strategic vision and keen eye for cutting-edge technology are essential for the development of the military…”

Yu Lihua came to find Li Rui for this purpose.

Long Yaohua did indeed have designs on Xie Wei's career development within the military system.

Unfortunately, not only did the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building cherish Xie Wei terribly, but even Li Rui, who was transferred from the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, was very stubborn in this regard.

"A temporary posting is possible, but there's no way to transfer your organizational affiliation."

"why?"

Yulihua was puzzled.

"That's the president I've trained for Harbin Institute of Technology! Letting him stay in the fields of scientific research and education will be far more beneficial than developing him in the military."

Li Rui didn't hide his plans for Xie Wei's future. When Yu Lihua was about to explain, Li Rui cut him off: "Don't say that Xie Wei can have an impact on the construction of the entire army after entering the military system. Putting aside everything else, at his current age, even if he serves in the army for another ten or twenty years, will he have any say?"

"..."

Yuli Hua remained silent.

Li Rui's words hit the nail on the head.

Even in twenty years, Xie Wei will still be in his early forties. No matter how well he performs, he will not be able to reach the upper echelons, and naturally he will not have much say.

"Staying at the university is different. He can make suggestions on the development of the armed forces. Even if they are not adopted, if the military research results of the university can change the course of the war, can the armed forces still insist on not changing? If that were the case, there would be no such thing as the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense being established ahead of schedule, and it would be impossible for all relevant units in the armed forces to agree to develop military standards without any objection..."

Li Rui appeared relaxed, but his words forced You Lihua to think seriously.

Xie Wei, through just a few projects, made the military leadership see the shortcomings in the current development and construction of the military, thus prompting them to make changes.

Nobody has said that.

But now that Li Rui has brought it up, a little thought reveals that it is indeed the scientific research achievements of Harbin Institute of Technology that have led to these changes.

"Furthermore, with the emergence of the 150mm long-range rocket artillery, and the troops not yet equipped with it, have they already begun to study artillery combat plans with this range? Perhaps even longer ranges have been taken into consideration?"

Yuli Hua tried his best to deny it.

Top secret matters are not suitable to be discussed here.

Before he could deny it, Li Rui raised an eyebrow and said with a smirk, "I was just saying it casually. Anyway, the launch of Project Ten is a bit rushed. The J-9 was just canceled."

Yu Lihua looked at Li Rui with a helpless expression.

This old guy is really too shrewd; no wonder he was selected by his superiors from outside the military system to help establish the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

"Anyway, I think you should really think about it..."

"I will think about it."

Li Rui's casual reply made You Lihua feel that it was all just perfunctory, yet she had no choice but to accept it.

The person's organizational affiliation was within the school, specifically the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry. Even if they were forcibly transferred, many problems would arise.

"I'll go to the school..."

What are you going to school for?

Li Rui became even more wary. "Director You, let me tell you, this matter needs careful consideration. Rushing things will hinder Xie Wei's development..."

Seeing Li Rui's nervous expression, You Lihua simply smiled and left without offering any explanation.

"Director You, wait a minute..."

But Yulihua walked even faster, which made Li Rui very anxious.

Upon returning to the school, Xie Wei rejected Liu Debao's decision to convene a meeting of all middle and senior management personnel. "Although it's been named Project No. 10, didn't the higher-ups say it wasn't officially approved by the military? This is a project the school is working on with units like 611..."

"Whether it's funding or resources, they all need to be directed towards Project No. 10, right? If we don't hold a meeting to inform everyone, there might be problems with the subsequent work arrangements."

Liu Debao was extremely worried.

Without meetings, the true situation of the project will only be known to a few core personnel.

"Isn't this great? Other school projects also receive preferential treatment, and none of the school leaders are uncooperative or unsupportive."

Seeing Xie Wei's relaxed expression, Liu Debao wanted to remind him: the projects he had worked on before were either civilian products or within the business scope of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, but Project No. 10 did not belong to the aerospace industry.

The school leaders didn't care about Xie Wei's lies to Minister Zheng about building a space station and sending astronauts into space or even to the moon.

The pie was too big; the school leaders couldn't eat it.

"Problems only arise when things are made public. During the project's research and development, any shortfall in funding was made up through loans from the university-enterprise cooperation office and banks."

"what?"

Are major military research projects funded through loans?

Liu Debao was completely dumbfounded at this moment.

I always felt that Xie Wei was joking with me.

"Project autonomy, self-financing, independent operation, and self-responsibility for profits and losses... Secretary Liu, for any research project or project at the university that involves project autonomy, costs must be calculated. Only in this way can the university-enterprise cooperation office operate healthily."

Xie Wei has his own ideas about this matter.

If Project No. 10 can truly operate healthily in this way, other military industrial units can also learn from this path in the future.

This wasn't Xie Wei's own idea, but rather based on General Zhu's research process on the Type 99 tank. He used related technologies to transfer to other similar equipment to recoup his investment. Once the tank was developed, the 10 billion yuan investment would be fully recovered.

This approach not only effectively reduces the cost of developing new equipment technologies, but also allows the technological achievements to be provided to other entities, enabling them to reduce their investment in existing technologies and directly develop more advanced technologies based on the technologies already developed.

In Xie Wei's original world, after entering the third decade of the 21st century, China's various advanced equipment exploded like an geyser. No one would believe it if it weren't for the integration of all the country's advanced technologies, and even the development of the country's most advanced units.

Such operations place extremely high demands on the management methods of complex systems engineering.

"The military will receive 8000 million yuan annually starting after the New Year? And if that's not enough, will they agree to a loan?"

Mr. Song was somewhat bewildered.

Having worked on fighter jets for decades, always in the field of defense technology, I have never heard of any major military technology project being funded through loans.

Weapons and equipment are used to enhance national defense capabilities.

It's not for making a profit.

"Whether the higher-ups agree or not is not important; what is important is that we must do it this way to reduce opposition."

Xie Wei's words were very direct.

President Song is not unaware of this either.

"Investment requires loans. Even if there are results, the military may not make purchases if there is a lack of funds. Loans have interest payments, so how will we repay them? Are we going to default on the debt?"

At this point, President Song's gaze toward Xie Wei became strange.

"How could we do that! Even though the money belongs to the country, and no one will do anything to us if we don't repay the loan, we can't do that."

Xie Wei was speechless.

Am I the kind of shameless person?
"That……"

"Didn't we propose to Pakistan to develop the Super-7? The Super-7 was originally intended to test some advanced fighter jet technologies and reduce costs."

"You mean to pass on the costs through other projects?"

"It's not about passing on costs, it's about amortizing them. And it's not just the Super-7 that can amortize the costs of related technologies; military aircraft developed by research institutes like 601 and 603 can also utilize some of these technologies. In this way, everyone saves costs, saves research and development time, and can concentrate funds for more efficient use..."

"What if our technology isn't advanced enough?"

General Manager Song thought Xie Wei's suggestion was good, but the problem was that it was too difficult to implement.

"We'll use whoever has the most advanced technology, but of course, we'll pay for it. We can't just take the hard-earned results from other organizations for free just because we're all state-owned entities."

Xie Wei explained.

Even though Harbin Institute of Technology is not bad in scientific research, it is impossible for it to develop every technology, let alone the most advanced ones.

What Xie Wei needs to do is take this opportunity to integrate scientific research resources across the country.

Seeing the confidence radiating from Xie Wei's young face, President Song was momentarily speechless.

He could sense that Xie Wei was playing a very big game, but even President Song couldn't tell exactly what it was. Xie Wei had just picked up the chessboard and hadn't even set it up yet.

"Okay, let's start organizing the relevant data now, conduct another round of technical verification, and then begin manufacturing the wind-driven model after the verification is complete..."

President Song did not ask any further questions.

For research teams, as long as the technological research and development work can continue, researchers don't need to spend all their time running around for funding; they can focus all their energy on technological research and development.

“Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) focuses on aerospace technology, so we can cooperate with them more in this area. Although our school has aerospace majors, they can't compare with NPU’s specialized programs.”

The development of China's aviation technology cannot be separated from Northwestern Polytechnical University.

This school, which was formed in 57 by the merger of Northwest Institute of Technology and Xi'an Aeronautical Institute, was one of the top schools in China in the field of aviation, even before the entire aviation engineering department of Harbin Military Engineering Institute was incorporated into it in 70.

Northwest Institute of Technology was established in Hanzhong in 1938 by the merger of National Beiyang Institute of Technology, private Jiaozuo Institute of Technology, Beiping University College of Engineering, and National Northeastern University College of Engineering.

Xi'an Aeronautical Institute had an even more prestigious background: it was formed in Nanjing in 52 by the aeronautical engineering departments of Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, and Nanjing University, becoming known as East China Aeronautical Institute. In 56, East China Aeronautical Institute moved to Xi'an…

It possesses the strongest capabilities in the domestic aviation industry.

If Harbin Institute of Technology had gone to Northwestern Polytechnical University to ask for a collaboration on fighter jet technology projects, they probably wouldn't have been received and would have been treated as scammers and kicked out.

Now...

(End of this chapter)