In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 373 Imperialism is still determined to destroy us. They came right after the maiden flight of the 10th.

"Whoa whoa whoa~"

When the fighter jets landed safely on the runway, applause erupted from the crowd.

Lei Qiang sat in the cockpit for a while before he felt his strength returning.

"Success! Our fighter jet has successfully completed its maiden flight! From now on, my birthday will be July 1st!"

With tears in his eyes, President Song gave everyone around him a tight hug, and then excitedly announced his birthday.

"These are real fighter jets!"

The moment the plane landed safely and came to a complete stop, Lei Qiang, who had remained calm and composed, collapsed instantly from exhaustion.

After getting off the plane, he hugged President Song tightly, and said excitedly while tears streamed down his face, "Even though Director Xie had told me to parachute if things got irreversible, I thought that even if the engine ran out of power, even if I crashed, I would crash it onto the runway!"

After flying the prototype of Project 10 in the air for more than ten minutes, even though it was just a regular flight and the engine was not even turned on, Lei Qiang felt that the previous J-7 and J-8 were just tractors!
Thanks to the fly-by-wire control system, this fighter jet is not only easier to operate, but also more flexible.

He tried to make a maneuver many times.

Considering this is a crucial maiden flight, a smooth flight and a safe landing are paramount.

I had no choice but to suppress my strong feelings.

There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Seeing the prototype come to a stop, the exhausted Chief Commander Yang struggled to his feet, shouted "Good!" several times, and walked towards the prototype. As soon as he took a step, he collapsed to the ground.

"Mr. Yang..."

"ambulance!"

The people around immediately became anxious.

"The factory has ordered that ambulances be parked at the factory gate..."

"What time is it? Get an ambulance in here right now! He needs to get to the hospital!"

Qi Hongyu, the head of the medical team who had been waiting on the sidelines, said angrily, "We've asked him to go to the hospital many times before, but he never did... Now..."

"Send our men in with an ambulance."

Just as the person in charge at the scene was about to give the order, Li Rui spoke up.

Confidentiality must never be neglected.

Soon, the ambulance arrived.

"Immediately send the fighter jets back to the workshop for a full inspection and record backup data..."

After the initial excitement, General Manager Song and his team got back to work.

"President Song, congratulations! Our own fighter jet has successfully completed its maiden flight!"

Long Yaohua and the others then stepped forward to congratulate the research and development team.

"Thank you for your hard work! Because of your hard work, the Air Force will soon be able to fly its own third-generation fighter jets in the blue sky! At the celebration banquet tonight, I want to toast all of you!"

Chief Wang looked excited.

The Air Force produces its own third-generation fighter jets without importing any parts. This not only saves precious foreign exchange but also eliminates concerns about being held hostage by foreign countries.

"Sir, let's skip the victory celebration banquet."

General Song shook his head, "We need to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the fighter jets' condition, analyze the data, and prepare for the upcoming adjustment test flights and type certification test flights. Especially the improvements to the 04 and 05 prototypes currently under manufacturing..."

Having just successfully completed its maiden flight, there is still a long way to go before the fighter jet is finalized and deployed to the armed forces.

They had no interest in attending the victory celebration banquet.

At this moment, President Song and the rest of the R&D team all shared the same thought.

"Boss, let's postpone the celebration banquet until the plan is finalized."

Xie Wei knew how significant the successful maiden flight of Project No. 10 was, but it had only taken off; various flight tests had not yet been conducted, let alone tests on the flight envelope boundaries.

Unlike Xie Wei's original world, where some key equipment such as control machines, simulators, and high-precision acquisition systems were purchased from abroad, and experimental application software and some subsystems were developed domestically, everything in Project No. 10 was developed domestically!

This made Project No. 10 several times more difficult than it was in Xie Wei's time.

Celebrating now?

It's a bit early.

"Yes, yes! Let's continue with test flights and inspections, and strive to finalize the design as soon as possible!"

Li Rui also spoke up.

The US is watching closely, and they've already started preparing to sell the F-16/79, which is garbage, to the Air Force, with even a lot of leaders supporting it.

Only by finalizing and putting our own fighter jets into service as soon as possible can we at least let the Air Force and military leaders see the progress; otherwise, it will become a troublesome matter.

"What a great success!"

Commander Wang understood, "People used to say that we couldn't build advanced fighter jets on our own, but now we have. It's the result of the hard work of countless scientists and workers..."

He hoped that the celebration would allow everyone who had worked hard to rest and relax.

"There are quite a few people in the Air Force and the military who want to introduce fighter jets."

Li Rui said something.

Commander Wang was immediately furious. "We've already developed our own fighter jets, why are we importing more? Are we trying to stick our heads into the noose of the American imperialists?"

Li Rui and Long Yaohua exchanged a glance, but neither of them said anything more.

Inside the workshop, the intense inspection process began once again.

Mr. Song and his team have been working for two days and two nights without rest, and they are still waiting for the test results.

"Go and rest for a while. Staying here won't change anything. After a good night's sleep, the test results will come out, and you'll be refreshed and ready to continue your treatment..."

Qi Hongyu escorted Commander Yang outside, where he was taken over by hospital staff, before returning to the workshop to persuade General Manager Song and the others, who still refused to rest.

As a result, nobody listened to her.

Left with no other option, they turned to Xie Wei for help.

Xie Wei didn't come often, but Qi Hongyu knew that Xie Wei's words carried far more weight than his own.

"Xie Wei, could you please help me put in a good word for me?"

I regretted it as soon as I said it.

Xie Wei, standing before me, also had bloodshot eyes and looked exhausted. He had been guarding this place for the past two days, only going to the edge of the workshop when he couldn't hold on any longer, where he would find something to lay down on and sleep for a while.

The cots next to the workshop are used for resting 24 hours a day. Everyone in the workshop takes a nap when they are tired and then continues working when they wake up.

There's simply no place for someone like Xie Wei, who isn't often here.

Some people were generous and offered Xie Wei a cot, but Xie Wei was too embarrassed to take up the cot that the staff could only use for three or four hours.

"President Song, go and rest first. The successful maiden flight is already a stage victory. There will be more problems in the subsequent adjustment test flights and type certification test flights. Not resting well will only affect the progress."

To Qi Hongyu's surprise, Xie Wei immediately urged President Song to get up, then turned to the others and said, "The maiden flight has been a success. Except for the maintenance personnel, everyone else should go back and wash up and get some rest..."

After saying that, Xie Wei said to Qi Hongyu, "Talk to the hospital and have everyone get a full physical examination."

"We'll have a lot of test flight missions coming up, where will we find the time..."

President Song became anxious.

Gu Haiyun, who was standing nearby, hurriedly spoke up, "Director Xie, the unit conducts physical examinations every year, but we have too many tasks and time is too tight right now..."

“If you don’t do as I say, the funding will be suspended.”

Xie Wei remained calm. He knew very well that this was even more intense than the development of Project Ten in his original world, and that many people were likely already experiencing health problems.

Get it checked early so that any problems can be resolved sooner.

Don't wait until after the final review to go, or it will be too late.

"..."

Everyone stared blankly at Xie Wei.

The Harbin Institute of Technology's Dalian branch members have had their funding withheld and cannot get it back. If the funding for Project No. 10 is really cut off, or if the progress of supporting projects is delayed, they will all become the culprits of the entire project.

"Gentlemen, I know you're all anxious and eager to get it done as soon as possible. I understand that you all worked day and night, neglecting your health, to expedite the maiden flight. Now that the maiden flight is successful, Project Ten has taken a giant leap forward… Good rest is essential to maintain good health and avoid affecting the flight test schedule… Besides, even after the finalization flight test is completed, further improvements will begin…"

Xie Wei knew better than anyone how crazy defense science and technology workers were when they worked these days.

Especially when learning about the level of technology abroad.

We always hope to work day and night to narrow the gap with the international advanced level.

Under Xie Wei's combination of threats and persuasion, everyone in the workshop who wasn't maintenance personnel went back to rest.

Xie Wei also went to the guesthouse, but he didn't care about anything else and slept soundly until the next morning.

"woke up?"

Li Rui didn't know how long he had been in Xie Wei's room. When he saw Xie Wei get up, he spoke, which startled Xie Wei.

"How did you get in here? Don't you care about people's privacy at all? What if I have a boyfriend? As a boss, is it appropriate for you to come into my room like this?"

Xie Wei was furious.

The old man is still as shameless as ever, even after all these years.

It shows absolutely no respect for people's privacy.

"If you have a boyfriend, I'll wait until you wake up, no matter how urgent the matter is!"

Li Rui rolled her eyes at Xie Wei.

Xie Wei immediately fell silent.

He's already considered an older single man, and now he doesn't even want to go home for the Lunar New Year because his mother will pressure him to get married.

He didn't even plan to go home this time he returned to Chengdu.

They didn't even inform Xie Jianguo and Liu Mei.

"The people from Pakistan will arrive tomorrow."

"What are they here for?"

Xie Wei frowned.

Aside from the initial $8000 million investment in the development of the third-generation tank, Pakistan expressed its intention to cooperate in multiple areas, but these were all just empty words.

The only thing they paid for was helping the CIA procure disposable rocket launchers, 40mm sniper grenades, and other weapons. Even when Xie Wei tried to sell them the H-150 long-range rocket launcher, they only showed great interest.

Now tell Shewe that the Pakistanis are here!
The timing of their arrival makes it hard not to have some suspicions.

"They're after the fighter jets?"

Xie Wei frowned and asked.

"We don't know yet, but we can't afford not to prepare... Logically, it's unlikely they're coming for fighter jets; they have F-16s provided by the US..."

Li Rui's face was serious. "As for the fighter jets, after communicating with the school, they proposed the 'Sabre II' project to Factory 132, and Grumman became the general contractor..."

"That?"

Xie Wei looked puzzled.

She didn't understand why Li Rui was waiting for her in her room without saying anything.

"Project No. 10 may have been leaked."

"That's your business."

Xie Wei was not surprised at all by this.

Historically, the Thunderbirds flew in China in 1987, but that was when Project 10 had just started in 1986. The other side wanted to prevent China from developing its own fighter jets and include China in their large arsenal plan.

In the early 80s, the Soviet Union's military strength reached its peak, which even the United States found difficult to handle.

After China proposed to introduce advanced fire control radar and avionics systems, the Americans showed great enthusiasm—the reason being that they wanted China to contain the Soviet Union in Asia and share the pressure in Europe.

The core of the entire "Great Arsenal" plan was for the US to export E-3 early warning aircraft to China, and then for China to purchase US fighter jets, electronic reconnaissance aircraft, aerial refueling tankers, Patriot air defense missile systems, artillery, tanks, and so on...

They provide technology to build maintenance factories for main battle tanks and heavy artillery in China, among other things.

They even proposed helping China establish manufacturing plants for low-end fighter jets like the F-16/79, as well as engine production lines.

The terms seem incredibly tempting: the entire plan appears to be a comprehensive upgrade of China's defense industry, from advanced weaponry to its overall defense capabilities. Once agreed, China's defense technology level could almost catch up with the world's advanced levels.

Ultimately, the goal is to make China, like Western countries, stop developing its own weapons and equipment and become a direct buyer of American weapons.

This is inconsistent with China's long-standing national defense strategy of "introducing, absorbing, and developing independently in small quantities".

China's goal is to build a self-sufficient defense industry.

Rather than having the initiative in the hands of other countries.

Xie Wei has never left the school in the past few years, but he is still well-informed.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about. Project 10 has just completed its maiden flight, and secrecy must be maintained... Meanwhile, Factory 132 has always been very interested in the 'Sabre II'..."

"Now that Pakistan has stopped participating, isn't it?"

Xie Wei was speechless.

Factory 132 has its own technical department and has been continuously improving the J-7. In order to produce the J-10, in recent years, not only has the production line been upgraded, but the management methods have also been strictly implemented in accordance with the national military standards, which has greatly improved the quality of the J-7.

"Factory 132 is collaborating with Grumman on the Super-7, and now Singapore has shown great interest... We are worried that they will take this opportunity to visit the production line and speculate on the specific level of Project 10."

"Why not just stop it?"

Xie Wei was even more puzzled.

"If only it were that simple. If we stop it, wouldn't that further prove the existence of Project Ten? Unless Factory 132 gives up on this matter itself, or Grumman gives up... it would be best if you went to persuade them."

Li Rui finally revealed his purpose.

Xie Wei wanted to refuse, but he thought that the technical department of Factory 132 and 611 had always been in competition until they were integrated after 2000. In particular, the technical department of Factory 132 had been improving the J-7 all along, and the 26 letters of the English alphabet were almost not enough.

The modified J-7 model did not receive any foreign trade orders.

Aside from training the team and cultivating talent, it's a complete waste of funds.

Developing and modifying the J-20 will provide more advanced technology and better training for our personnel.

"I'll talk to them once the follow-up test flight plan for Project 10 is finalized. I can't guarantee the outcome, since I'm not very familiar with them after all."

Xie Wei was telling the truth.

He was more familiar with Factory 112, perhaps because the two were so close.

Previously, Factory 112 had always wanted to obtain the production task of Project No. 10, but Xie Wei strongly advocated that it be provided to Factory 132.

Shen Huoyi.

Cheng Luoma.

This cannot be changed, otherwise where will the Air Force and Navy get twin-engine heavy fighters, aerial bomb trucks, carrier-based aircraft and the like?

(End of this chapter)