In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 374 Stealth Project No. 20 with Movable Canards! Xie Wei's promise stunned the leaders of Factory 132.

"Abandon the Super-7 project? Or even abandon improvements to the J-7?"

Chief Engineer Tu Jida frowned and angrily retorted to Xie Wei.

Xie Wei nodded.

"Giving up would mean all the hard work and effort of so many people over the years would be wasted! Although Pakistan has withdrawn from the Super-7 project, Singapore has expressed great interest. In addition, many countries with insufficient military budgets have a high demand for replacing their fighter jets..."

Ma Jinchuan's brows furrowed.

"It's not a waste. For us, with our weak industrial base and insufficient experience in aircraft design, the J-7 is an excellent training project and a good project for developing our research team..."

Xie Wei shook his head, looking serious.

This is what he thinks.

"Since that's the case, isn't the current situation good? 611 can continue with Project 10, and we can continue to improve the performance of the J-7... Production and manufacturing will be handled by Factory 132..."

Zhang Rushan also spoke up.

Everyone was aware of Xie Wei's influence.

If Xie Wei gets involved, projects from the 132 Factory's technical department will likely face significant difficulties in the future.

Looking at the group, Xie Wei sighed silently. The control of the project!
Every organization wants to have control over its own resources.

"I personally believe that your ideas are correct. I even thought so before the maiden flight of Project 10."

Xie Wei first affirmed the improvements made to the J-7, "However..."

The group knew he would say "but," so they remained silent, letting Xie Wei pause. Under Xie Wei's gaze, the three of them remained calm and waited for him to continue.

"The J-7 is too outdated. No matter how it is modified, it will be difficult to meet the current standards of third-generation fighters. Unless the power system, avionics system, and radar system are completely replaced, but even if they are replaced, will the current aerodynamic layout of the J-7 be suitable?"

Several people were silent.

The current J-7 does not even reach some of the performance levels of the MiG-23.

“Continuously modifying this model will definitely yield results, but the problem is that the modifications will become outdated and waste the already limited funds…”

"You're talking about the J-7. The Air Force doesn't even have enough of these main fighter jets right now... With the technology, we can directly upgrade them. This is the best option for the Air Force, which is currently short of funds."

General Manager Tu was unhappy.

"The export of the J-7II is the most obvious example."

"General Tu, if there had been no Iran-Iraq War, and with further cuts to military spending, and the Air Force initially indicating it didn't want the aircraft, and without Jordan's procurement for Iraq, what would have been the outcome of these fighter jets modified from equipment imported from Marconi?"

"And there are also countries with insufficient funds, such as Bangladesh and Myanmar!"

Tu Zong did not agree with Xie Wei's statement at all.

Internationally, the J-7M still has a large market. Although it lost to the Mirage fighter jet when vying for a major customer, Egypt, two years ago, there are many poor countries in the world that need fighter jets.

"Xie Wei, if there's no convincing reason, even if the higher-ups give the order, we will continue to improve the J-7's performance!"

Zhang Rushan knew very well that Xie Wei's initiative to contact them was definitely not out of personal volition.

Neither Long Yaohua nor Li Rui showed up, and no one from the Ministry of Aviation Industry called for a halt; only Xie Wei was sent to intervene, which indicates that the higher-ups have not yet made a decision on this matter.

To be frank, or perhaps it's just the opinion of a few individuals.

"The secrecy surrounding Project 10 is one aspect. Once the Super-7, which you are cooperating on with Grumman and Singapore, officially begins manufacturing, Grumman will definitely inspect the production line at Factory 132. Even if you hide all the prototypes and parts of Project 10, the production line's capabilities far exceed what's required for manufacturing the Super-7..."

Xie Wei looked very serious.

"The production lines are all in different workshops! We only have parts..."

At this point, Ma Jinchuan fell silent.

It's impossible to hide all the components during the entire production process.

Xie Wei glanced at Factory Director Ma and continued, "Secondly, I personally feel that cooperating with Grumman is a complete waste of time and money..."

Seeing that President Tu was about to speak, someone said, "President Tu, please listen to me first."

"Go ahead."

General Manager Tu snorted coldly.

"The idea of ​​accelerating the improvement of domestic fighter jet design and manufacturing through cooperation with Grumman is good. However, from the initial selection of Grumman as the general contractor after Pakistan proposed the 'Sabre II' project, to Pakistan's withdrawal and Grumman's introduction of Singapore, let's not even talk about how much profit our Factory 132 can make in the cooperation process. In terms of core components and various key systems, will Grumman allow our people to access the core technologies and data?"

"..."

The expressions on the three people's faces immediately became complicated.

This is a fact that no one wants to mention.

Xie Wei had laid so much groundwork before unleashing this trump card, leaving the others with no way to refute him.

"Peaceful Exemplar, we sent a prototype and a 1:1 model to Bispeig, and quite a few people went there too, but the feedback from there is that they simply won't let our people access the core technology, not even the debugging parameters..."

Xie Wei's voice was very soft.

But it struck them like a heavy hammer blow.

This has always been a concern in their hearts.

Even though China had previously collaborated with Marconi and introduced seven avionics systems, including flat panel displays and airborne computers, Marconi still did not allow China access to the core technologies of these avionics systems, which were already outdated in the West.

Marconi took the lion's share of the profits from exporting the J-7M.

An eerie silence fell over the meeting room.

Xie Wei needs to give them time to process this.

Meanwhile, at the 132 Factory guesthouse, Long Yaohua and Li Rui were discussing whether Xie Wei could persuade the 132 Factory to agree to merge the technical department with 611 and devote all their energy to the next test flight of Project 10.

As long as there are no problems with each test flight, Project 10 will undergo intensive adjustment test flights.

Then came the final test flights after the addition of weapon systems and other equipment.

"He should be able to persuade Factory 132."

Seeing the worry on Long Yaohua's face, Li Rui, who was already somewhat dissatisfied, expressed his dissatisfaction directly, "This matter could be handled by either the military or the Third Ministry of Machine Building. Why do you insist on having Xie Wei come forward? Are you afraid that other units don't know enough about Xie Wei's situation?"

After all that planning, he got punched by Xie Wei at the entrance of the Seventh Machinery Department. And it's only been a few years?

Xie Weigang just graduated with a master's degree!
"It's different. If the higher-ups order a forced merger, it might actually slow down the progress of Project Ten..."

Long Yaohua sighed.

Xie Wei is the most suitable person to step in.

Factory 132 knew Xie Wei's influence at Harbin Institute of Technology and was also aware of the extent of his support for Project No. 10.

There's also the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry. Although it wasn't mentioned, they owe Xie Wei a huge favor—Harbin Institute of Technology is a subsidiary of the aerospace industry, and currently, aerospace-related technical projects account for 45% of their research, consuming more than 70% of the university's research funding.

Doesn't Li Rui know?

know!

"If the higher-ups really want to transfer someone, can you hide it? Or do you think they don't know the meaning behind the punch you took back in the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry? Old Li, sometimes, there's really no need to overthink things... The leaders above aren't so easy to fool."

Long Yaohua was giving Li Rui a hard time. Li Rui was hiding Xie Wei too well.

It was precisely because of Li Rui's mindset that many opportunities to train Xie Wei and allow him to further demonstrate his abilities were missed over the past few years.

Now, Li Rui still wants to hide Xie Wei.

"A person's ability cannot be hidden. Especially if you never intended for them to specialize in a particular technical field from the beginning. Can excellent management talent be kept secret?"

"I don't care. If the higher-ups want to transfer him, they have to make Harbin Institute of Technology the number one military industrial university in the country."

Li Rui, having his intentions directly pointed out by Long Yaohua, began to act like a rogue.

"It already is."

"What is this?! We haven't even caught up with the international advanced level yet!"

Li Rui became anxious.

Long Yaohua wanted to transfer Xie Wei to the General Staff Equipment Department, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense was also interested, and even the administrative system had its own ideas...

This made Li Rui very dissatisfied.

"..."

Seeing Li Rui's shameless face, Long Yaohua sighed and ultimately said nothing.

He really wanted to tell Li Rui that the one who most wanted to get rid of Xie Wei was the former Ministry of Machinery Industry, now the State Machinery Industry Commission which merged the Ministry of Machinery Industry and the Ministry of Ordnance Industry. The one who proposed to transfer Xie Wei was Shen Hong, the senior advisor of the State Machinery Industry Commission and the former minister!
"What are your thoughts on the funding issue?"

Long Yaohua took the initiative to change the subject.

"Previously, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense had set up a slush fund, which held a batch of funds for tackling key projects. Through years of frugality, cooperation between subordinate units and Harbin Institute of Technology, and the profits from their own industrial development, it's probably around 500 to 600 million yuan..."

"so much?"

Long Yaohua was shocked.

"What do you mean 'a lot'! If it weren't for the investment in a 6.5-ton die forging machine and a 1.5-ton free forging machine, it would have exceeded 10 billion!"

Li Rui complained irritably, "These days, it's not easy to save up any money."

"What? The 6.5-ton die forging machine and the 1.5-ton free forging machine were both invested in by the Ministry of Machinery Industry?"

Long Yaohua's lips twitched, and he almost couldn't help but attack Li Rui.

Damn it!
Can't this guy just consider the needs of the system he's working for?
When he was in the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, he was wholeheartedly concerned about the interests of the troops.

Once he arrived at the military base, he began to consider the Ministry of Machinery Industry again.

However, he also understood Li Rui's intentions—to establish the core support system that Xie Wei needed!

He then laughed, "Li Rui, Li Rui, you're so clever of you! I knew it! That's why the Ministry of Machinery Industry was so determined to transfer Xie Wei away..."

What the hell?

Li Rui was dumbfounded.

"Minister Shen Hong, does that sound familiar?"

With a smile, Long Yaohua told Li Rui that Minister Shen Hong had been planning to transfer Xie Wei to the Major Equipment Bureau of the State Machinery Industry Commission.

"Impossible! I'm helping them develop large-scale equipment, and they're turning around and poaching my employees?"

Li Rui jumped up.

Minister Shen is really being unfair!
"The design of all kinds of advanced equipment is fine, but you know how inadequate the supporting facilities are... You also know about the old man Xie Wei met in that park in Chengdu, and Minister Shen happened to be one of them..."

"..."

Li Rui became even angrier.

Lift your rock and lick your own feet!
That's how it is.

Meanwhile, Xie Wei chatted with the others for quite a while. He did most of the talking, while Zhang Rushan, Ma Jinchuan, and the others listened.

"Therefore, it's not that we've given up on improving the J-7. Rather, we're concentrating all our manpower, resources, and materials on completing Project 10. Once the technology is mature, we'll use the technology from Project 10 to improve the J-7's avionics and power system, thereby enhancing its combat performance."

Xie Wei then made a series of promises for Factory 132.

If they are not allowed to continue modifying the J-7, Factory 132 will likely have difficulty exporting its aircraft in the short term.

With further performance improvements, the international market will definitely be even larger.

None of them said a word.

"Furthermore, we want to concentrate our resources on Project Ten, not just for Project Ten itself, but also for Project Twenty that follows. Currently, our university has already started preliminary research on technologies such as stealth coatings, reducing radar cross-section, more advanced vector engines, higher-strength composite materials, faster signal transmission communication technologies, more powerful computer control systems, and movable canards..."

what?
The group of people suddenly widened their eyes and stared at Xie Wei in disbelief.

Project No. 20!
Stealth coating!

Reduce radar cross-section...

"That's right, Project Twenty is intended to develop stealth fighters... not really stealth, but making the fighter disappear from radar!"

Project No. 20 has not even started yet.

Xie Wei had Kang Yi's chemical engineering department conduct research on automotive paints under the guise of researching stealth coatings.

Xie Wei only told Kang Yi that European and American countries have very severe penalties for speeding, and that the cars designed by the automotive major at the school need not only to have strong power, but also to prevent users from being detected when speeding.

The university-enterprise cooperation office invested in the research and development of carbon fiber under the guise of preparing to export lightweight and high-strength carbon fiber fishing rods to the European and American markets!

No one knew Xie Wei's plan.

This is also thanks to Xie Wei's nationwide industrial survey, otherwise it would have been difficult to come up with various reasons that wouldn't arouse suspicion.

"We technologists can't just focus on the advanced technologies of Europe and America, otherwise we'll always be chasing after them... Only by overtaking on a curve can we possibly catch up with them. Of course, if you don't control it well when overtaking on a curve, it will result in a crash and death. In recent years, a large number of high-precision and cutting-edge weapons and equipment were all advanced enough that once they were developed, we could have overtaken them on a curve, but unfortunately..."

Xie Wei sighed.

All the cutting-edge military equipment projects that were cancelled in the 1970s and 1980s were highly forward-looking.

Unfortunately, the technical difficulty was too great and the basic infrastructure was too poor.

Xie Wei knew that if certain advanced projects were forcibly undertaken without adequate supporting infrastructure, the final result would be the same as that of the Soviet Union.

Therefore, we should first develop the various technologies separately and gradually improve the supporting systems.

Once it's almost done, start the project again, and you can easily drift through the corner.

"I agree to merge the technical department of Factory 132 into Factory 611!"

Suddenly, General Manager Tu stood up and said through gritted teeth, "However, I need to be involved in that project!"

Although Xie Wei didn't say much, the promise he made would be irresistible to any fighter jet designer in the world.

"agree!"

"I agree!"

(End of this chapter)