In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 362 Another 33 billion to build 16 Y-10 transport aircraft? Are you kidding me!
"...With technological advancements, automation will undoubtedly increase, even to the point of intelligence... However, our first priority should be ensuring our availability, and only then should we consider improving performance..."

Xie Wei, Wang Zhiheng, and Ye Mingde walked and talked about the future direction of aviation technology development.

I was almost at the school building when I met Zhang Mingqiu, who was walking slowly towards me.

"Xie Wei, Principal Wang, Secretary Ye, what brings you here?"

An unnatural expression flashed across Zhang Mingqiu's face.

He had received news long ago that Yu Guofeng and Du Guowang, along with a group of technical leaders and the department head, were going to beat up Qu Hongtao, but he had been putting it off.

He hadn't expected to run into Xie Wei and two leaders from Northwestern Polytechnical University as soon as he stepped out of the school building.

I wonder if Yu Guofeng and the others knew to drag that bastard Qu Hongtao to a secluded place and beat him up.

Otherwise, if leaders from other units see this, it will become a laughing stock.

The department head and the academic committee members teamed up to attack the vice president...

This sets a precedent for universities worldwide; it is absolutely unprecedented and will likely never be repeated.

"Let's talk about collaboration..."

Xie Wei's expression remained unchanged, making Zhang Mingqiu afraid to meet his gaze. "Principal Zhang, where are you planning to go? If you're busy, shall we head back first?"

"No rush, no rush..."

Zhang Mingqiu quickly said he wasn't in a hurry.

Xie Wei led the two men from the direction of the school gate. The problem there should be solved, so he wouldn't have to pretend to help that bastard Qu Hongtao.

Zhang Mingqiu had a grievance about sending Qu Hongtao to coordinate affairs in the Pearl River Delta: not because of Xie Wei's personnel appointment, but because he knew that Qu Hongtao had made a serious mistake, betrayed the school's interests, and even almost affected the future development of the entire school. No matter what Qu Hongtao offered in exchange, he should not have been sent to the Pearl River Delta!
"Have someone inform Factory Director Wu and General Manager Ma that we should discuss the cooperation today!"

Xie Wei did not mention Qu Hongtao's matter.

This is not the right time.

"This kid, directly giving orders to his principal in such a superior-to-subordinate tone, doesn't he want to improve or isn't afraid of getting beaten up?"

Wang Zhiheng was taken aback when he saw Xie Wei speaking to Zhang Mingqiu in that manner.

If his students spoke to him, the principal, like that, he'd slap them across the face and tell them who's in charge.

Zhang Mingqiu must be embarrassed in front of me and Ye Mingde!

"Okay, okay, I'll arrange for someone to go right away."

To Wang Zhiheng's surprise, Zhang Mingqiu nodded in agreement quite naturally, as if he were receiving instructions from a superior.

"This……"

Wang Zhiheng was greatly shocked – he knew Xie Wei was very important and held a special position at Harbin Institute of Technology, but he never expected it to be like this!
It seems that the key to this cooperation lies not with the school leaders, but with this young man who is still a student.

He couldn't help but look at Ye Mingde standing to the side.

Just then, Ye Mingde looked at him, and the two saw the same thoughts in each other's eyes.

Miscalculation!
They don't understand Xie Wei at all, and it seems that Xie Wei's attitude is the most important factor in this collaboration.

"Gentlemen, how is the school's early warning aircraft doing?"

After arriving at the small conference room next to Zhang Mingqiu's office, Zhang Mingqiu had tea made and then called to inform Wu Quan and General Manager Ma to come over. He also notified Liu Debao and Tan Heping, who had been promoted to director of the admissions office less than a year ago.

Xie Wei's question immediately put pressure on the two of them.

Upon entering the school gate, Xie Wei stopped a group of big shots from fighting with just a few words, and then directly assigned Zhang Mingqiu a job.

At this moment, the two men's mindset had changed: although they did not place themselves under Xie Wei as Zhang Mingqiu and others did, they at least regarded Xie Wei as someone of equal status and position to them.

Little did they know that Xie Wei's opening remarks would immediately create a sense of pressure for the two of them.

This feels like I'm facing a superior.

illusion!

It must be an illusion.

"Sigh, don't even mention early warning aircraft. We currently lack funding. As for early warning aircraft, let alone the performance of the carrier platform, the gap in more advanced communication technology, detection technology, and computers is too large..."

Although he felt it was just a misperception, Wang Zhiheng still answered.

Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) initially had the best foundation in the domestic aviation field. The East China Aeronautical Institute, which was formed by the aeronautical engineering departments of Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, and Nanjing University, moved to Xi'an. Then, in 70, when Harbin Military Engineering Institute was being relocated, it was merged into the entire aeronautical engineering department of Harbin Military Engineering Institute, thus becoming the most professional aviation technology institution in the country.

Unfortunately, the school has never had sufficient funding.

After the resumption of the college entrance examination, this school had little reputation nationwide—which was directly related to the fact that the Air Force had never had much funding.

"Communication technology and detection technology?"

Xie Wei pondered for a moment, then looked at Wang Zhiheng, "The school is currently researching digital communication and active phased array radar technology. We should be able to increase cooperation in this area."

"..."

Wang Zhiheng was stunned.

It's not that Harbin Institute of Technology has any ongoing projects that can be provided to the early warning aircraft project.

When Xie Wei handed over the early warning aircraft to Northwestern Polytechnical University, he said he wanted to cooperate and support them.

The results of it?
To date, Harbin Institute of Technology has not even made an inquiry.

He was starting to doubt Xie Wei's nonsense.

"Well, Director Xie, Northwestern Polytechnical University can't compare to Harbin Institute of Technology. Although we also followed your school's example and established a university-enterprise cooperation office, the profits haven't been high in the year or so since its establishment. It's only a few hundred thousand yuan a year, which is simply not enough to support a project like the early warning aircraft... We've approached the Third Ministry of Machine Building, the Air Force, and the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense many times, but they all said they didn't have the money. So far, the entire project has only received 600 million yuan in funding..."

Ye Mingla tugged at Wang Zhiheng's sleeve, signaling him not to speak, and then explained the difficulties of developing the early warning aircraft project.

"..."

Wang Zhiheng was stunned.

Zhang Mingqiu was also stunned.

They didn't expect Ye Mingde to be so shameless: Xie Wei asked about the project's progress, and Ye Mingde immediately started complaining about not having enough money, clearly telling Xie Wei that other forms of support were irrelevant, the key was to provide some financial support.

That's just like that shameless old man Li Rui.

Seeing the sincere expression on Ye Mingde's face, Xie Wei had the same thought.

"The funding issue is easy to resolve. Our university's enterprise affairs office has some idle funds, which are specifically used to support projects and development of other institutions... However, those funds are special funds prepared by the university for the follow-up research and development of current projects, so they're just sitting there idle. If your university needs them, we can lend them to you first... Of course, the interest rate might be higher than that of a bank. After all, most of our university's projects are independently initiated and funded..."

Xie Wei had a big smile on his face.

"Let's talk about this later, later!"

Ye Mingde chuckled awkwardly. He hadn't expected Xie Wei to be so cunning, far superior to that shameless old man Li Rui.

If it were Li Rui, he would agree without hesitation to save face.

then……

There's no after that.

Even if someone comes to talk to him about it, Li Rui will make up all sorts of excuses. If he can't make excuses anymore, he will act like a rogue and will not even admit that he said it.

"If needed, repayment within three years within the range of two or three hundred million is not a problem. But after three years, it won't work. Judging from the current growth of the school's project funding, if the growth rate of the school-enterprise office's income is not fast enough, the lent funds will not be recovered, and we will have to beg for money everywhere."

Xie Wei gave a wry smile. Harbin Institute of Technology will not lack research funding for the next three years!

Wang Zhiheng and Ye Mingde were shocked. They were currently facing annual famine and desperately seeking funds to plug the financial hole.

They're both key national universities, so why is there such a big difference?
In particular, Harbin Institute of Technology is also undertaking the research and development of projects such as Project No. 10, third-generation tanks, and air defense missiles.

Why can't the university's industry-university cooperation office at Northwestern Polytechnical University get funding?
For a moment, the small conference room fell silent.

"Oh, Xie Wei is here too? Finished up with work these past few days?"

Liu Debao saw Xie Wei with a smile before even entering the room. After entering, he saw Wang Zhiheng and Ye Mingde. "You two have arrived?"

Their attitude was definitely much worse.

But the two of them showed no emotion whatsoever; they were completely numb.

Now they are even more aware of Xie Wei's influence on the school, and if they want to gain more benefits from the cooperation, they have to look at the attitude of this young man.

“We’ve been waiting here for two days. They only told us to come here to discuss cooperation, but they didn’t give any specific details about what we’re going to cooperate on.”

Wang Zhiheng looked at the group and said.

He didn't know whether to ask Xie Wei, Zhang Mingqiu, or Liu Debao; knowing it in his heart was one thing, but accepting it was another.

Y-10.

This time, Xie Wei broke his silence and said, "The Y-10 will be discontinued after completing its test flights."

"Oh? It only completed its maiden flight last year, and there are still many flight tests that haven't been conducted yet."

Both of them were stunned.

Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) is also a core research and development unit for the Y-10 project. The fuselage, wings, and other components used in the static strength tests were all designed under the leadership of NPU. Furthermore, the computer software used for the overall solution of the complex structure of the wing-fuselage docking area in the Y-10's strength structural calculations was designed and developed under the leadership of NPU.

The Y-10 just had its maiden flight successfully, and now it's being cancelled?

This news came as a bolt from the blue.

"The test flights will continue as planned, but the higher authorities are no longer planning to allocate funds for further research and development... The Civil Aviation Administration of China has made it clear that it will not purchase the Y-10, and is currently accelerating negotiations with McDonnell Douglas..."

Xie Wei didn't know whether they were genuinely unaware or pretending not to know.

In any case, I must express my understanding of the inside story.

Otherwise, just like Wu Quan and others misled Li Rui, making him truly believe that investing another two or three hundred million yuan would make the Y-10 a success.

在来到这个时代之前，谢威只能通过网上的一些不多的资料了解运-10研制的真实情况，他认为运-10下马就因为沈图等王八蛋被麦道收买才导致国家拥有百吨级大飞机的时间推迟了至少20年（运-10下马后20年，国产大飞机C919才开始）。

Only after understanding the true situation can we realize how significant the impact would be if the Y-10 continued to operate in this era: the funding demand would be like a bottomless pit, constantly being filled little by little, which would crowd out the funding for other projects; and such a large investment would be unsustainable for the entire country, let alone the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry and related units.

The Airbus A300 and the Y-10 were from almost the same era, with $25 billion spent on their research and development, and even more investment in subsequent improvements and the development of new models.

From its inception to its cancellation, the Y-10 project consumed a total of 5.377 million yuan, including 3.34 million yuan for scientific research, 1.747 million yuan for basic construction, and 2900 million yuan in working capital provided by the Shanghai Municipal Government.

The 1.84 million yuan invested in the research and development of the WS-8 turbofan engine, which is配套 with the Y-10, has not yet been included in the calculation.

These investments, converted at the exchange rate at the time, amounted to approximately $3.7 million.

China has many ways to save money, but given that its basic infrastructure is far inferior to that of the three strongest industrial countries in Europe combined, the difference in investment is so huge!
Is it really because all the R&D funding abroad has been pocketed by capital?

"..."

Wang Zhiheng and Ye Mingde were unable to answer Xie Wei's questions.

Northwestern Polytechnical University only participated in the research and development of a portion of the technology; how could they possibly know so much?

Soon, Wu Quan and Boss Ma and others arrived.

"The instructions from above are for us to cooperate and continue the research and development of the Y-10... I support this..."

After exchanging pleasantries, Xie Wei was the first to express his opinion.

"In February of this year, the Third Ministry of Machine Building requested instructions from the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group: an additional 1.7 million yuan in research and development funding and 90 million yuan in working capital were needed. They indicated that if the funds were in place, 1.6 aircraft could be delivered by 16... This means that an additional investment of 3.3 million yuan would be needed for small-batch manufacturing..."

Xie Wei's expression turned serious.

This was proposed by the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry in a report to the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group, just recently.

"Director Wu, General Manager Ma, I'd like to ask, if we invest another 3.3 million, can we guarantee that the Y-10 can be deployed to the civil aviation market to perform flight missions?"

Xie Wei directly passed the question to Wu Quan and President Ma.

"This……"

Wu Quan really wanted to say that there was no problem.

But Mr. Ma stopped him.

Mr. Ma looked at the young Xie Wei. Although this was their first meeting, he had heard Xie Wei's name many times before: Xie Wei's previous attitude had always been to resolutely resist Harbin Institute of Technology taking over the Y-10 project.

It's not quite accurate to say that Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) took over the Y-10 project. The real purpose was to have HIT's university-enterprise cooperation office invest in the project so that the Y-10 could continue to be developed.

"Director Xie, if there is sufficient funding and the supporting facilities can keep up, delivery should not be a problem."

Mr. Ma's expression was somewhat bitter.

Xie Wei was even more difficult to deal with than the leaders of the Third Ministry of Machine Building.

"for example?"

"..."

Mr. Ma fell silent. There were too many supporting components needed: a large compressor, an engine, a flight control system, an avionics system...

"Let's put it another way. The Y-10's main beams are currently manufactured using a segmented forging process followed by welding assembly. How does the design team plan to address this issue? If the process isn't changed, the Y-10's airframe lifespan, as it is now, probably won't exceed 300 hours, right?"

"what?"

Wang Zhiheng, Ye Mingde, and the others all looked on in disbelief.

"how do you know?"

Wu Quan suddenly stood up.

In order to continue the development of the Y-10, they did not mention the issue of service life to the ministry.

"Because our school also has an aircraft project! We use finite element analysis to calculate the strength of some structures..."

"You're fighter jets, not like commercial airliners!"

Wu Quan said urgently.

The questions Xie Wei raised were ones they were unwilling to ask, yet also ones they simply couldn't avoid.

"Really? Fighter jets can withstand 300 hours of airframe lifespan because without fighter jets, we can't gain air superiority, and ground troops would just be bombed like they were during the Korean War! But can civilian airliners do that? Based on the current proposals, not counting previous R&D costs or the additional investment needed for the WS-8 turbofan engine, the average price per aircraft is around 2000 million. Even assuming 400 hours of service, the cost of the aircraft alone would be 5 per hour... With an economical layout of 178 seats, what would the average ticket price be to maintain operations? And what about fuel and other expenses?"

Xie Wei remained calm.

These words, though spoken softly, were enough to silence the entire small conference room.

As long as the technological problem of segmented forging and welding of the main beam is not solved, the Y-10 will face enormous risks with every flight.

Even though Mr. Ma and his team were on the plane every time they test-flew!

(End of this chapter)