Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

In the 1980s, besides the United States, no other country could produce flat slotted radar antennas. The initial models of the Mirage 2000 fighter jet used RDM radar, which also reached a leading performance level. It had multiple modes, including air-to-ground capabilities such as terrain tracking and mapping. If navigation work was prepared in advance on a ground computer, the data could be input into the computer after boarding the aircraft. After takeoff, the aircraft could fly to its destination on its own. It was that impressive.

But no matter how impressive, it was still a radar with a slotted antenna. It wasn't until 1995, when Dassault Aviation improved the Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet and equipped it with RDY radar, that it first possessed a flat slotted radar antenna. Looking at the United States at the same time, they already considered flat slotted radar outdated and were developing active phased array radar. That's where the generational gap came from.

Hearing Qin Yang's words, Pierre frowned slightly. "We paid you 200,000, and you kept saying you would speak well of us. Why are you always pointing out our shortcomings now? What are you trying to do?"

"French technology is in no way inferior to American technology," Qin Yang continued. "When Grumman came, they boasted that their Tomcat fighter could launch Phoenix missiles with a range of over 100 kilometers. Humph, I don't believe they are the best in the world. Our Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter can launch missiles with a range of 200 kilometers, Pierre, wouldn't you agree?"

Pierre was speechless. Qin Yang's ability to boast was impressive, but could these things be exaggerated casually? A simple experiment would immediately reveal the truth.

"Is it true?" Old Lin asked from the side. "If the Mirage 2000 has this kind of performance, our air force can place an order immediately. Humph, those Americans only know how to brag!"

"Ahem, Mr. Qin, did you read the document I gave you last time?" Pierre finally realized the problem: Qin Yang wanted to help them boast, but he hadn't read the specific information and was just making wild claims!

Qin Yang was taken aback, then continued to argue: "Of course I read it. Except for the engine being a bit lacking, we are better than the Tomcat in everything else, what's wrong with that?"

You definitely didn't read it! If you had read it, would you have said that? The technical data is all there!

Pierre helplessly said: "Mr. Qin, you must not have seen it clearly. The Mirage 2000 fighter's airborne radar is very advanced, with a detection range of 100 kilometers for targets with a radar cross-section of 5 square meters, reaching a world-class level. The fighter mainly carries Super Matra 530D missiles, which can achieve a maximum range of 47 kilometers."

Not only was the French fighter mediocre, but the missiles it carried were also poor. The maximum range of 47 kilometers was achieved at high altitude. At low altitude, the air is dense, and the air resistance is high, so the range would shrink to 20 kilometers. And that's the maximum range! Pilots usually have to halve it when using it, which is about ten kilometers. As a medium-range air-to-air missile, it can't even outperform the short-range Sidewinder. Only the French dare to boast about how great their technology is.

"What?" Qin Yang was shocked and blushed.

"Let's look at other things. The other performances of the Mirage 2000 fighter are still very advanced," Qin Yang said. "It just so happens that the pilot is back. I'll go up and take a look at the cockpit. Glass cockpits are becoming popular in the West. The Tomcat fighter that the Americans are promoting to us is equipped with two displays, and they are using this as a selling point. Our Mirage 2000 can also reach the same level, or even higher."

Pierre's face darkened again. Mr. Qin, you might as well not say anything.

That's right, the modern trend is to remove a large number of pointer instruments and use displays to show various data. However, this requires advanced electronic technology to achieve, and the French have not yet reached this level, so they only have one display in their cockpit.

Of course, the Tomcat's front cockpit also has one, and only the improved Super Tomcat, the F-14D, will have a glass cockpit.

But the French don't know that.

As Qin Yang spoke, he climbed up the ramp, took a look inside, and his expression changed. He looked at Pierre awkwardly.

"There's nothing to see in this cockpit. By the way, doesn't that aerial refueling tanker have our engines on it? Let's go take a look at the engines," Qin Yang pretended to be covering up for the French, then pulled Old Lin, who was planning to go up and take a look: "Leader, let's go look at the engines first!"

The aerial refueling tanker is definitely not a case where the entire cabin is full of fuel tanks. Calculating the density, you can know that an ordinary Boeing 707 fuselage has an internal volume of several hundred cubic meters, which can hold hundreds of tons of fuel. The maximum take-off weight of this type of aircraft is only over one hundred tons.

In fact, aerial refueling tankers only have fuel tanks in the wings and the lower half of the fuselage. The fuselage fuel tank occupies at most one-tenth of the entire internal volume, and the upper part is still empty. Depending on the needs, aerial refueling tankers can reduce a portion of their fuel load and load some cargo or people, which makes the execution of missions more flexible.

Similarly, ordinary transport aircraft can also install an additional fuel tank in their belly and install special aerial refueling pods on the wings to be used as aerial refueling tankers.

"That's right, in order to show our sincerity, we specially sent you two M53 engines for you to test. These engines are being unloaded, let's go take a look!"

Pierre and Qin Yang walked at the front of the crowd, discussing in English in low voices as they walked.

"Mr. Qin, are you helping us speak?"

"Of course, you guys keep saying that the Mirage 2000 is the most powerful fighter in the world. I estimated that it should be stronger than the Tomcat fighter. Who would have thought that all the data would be inferior? I sincerely hope that the Mirage 2000 can outperform the Tomcat. I'm not deliberately sabotaging."

"Mr. Qin, why didn't you familiarize yourself with the specific data in advance?"

"There's so much data, densely packed. I got a headache after looking at it twice. Forget it, I won't get involved in the engine aspect. You can introduce it."

The engine was placed in a wooden frame packaging box, and the entire packaging box had just been unloaded. Pierre regained his composure and introduced it to everyone.

"Everyone, our M53 engine uses a modular structure, which is convenient for maintenance and repair. The ground maintainability of the aircraft and engine is very good, and the engine replacement time is quite short. If you want to see it, we can show you. We can unpack a brand new engine and use a simple device to simulate field operations to replace the original engine on this Mirage 2000."

Old Lin also became interested: "Okay, let us broaden our horizons!"

Pierre had a smile on his face. Even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. The French had seen how the MiG-21's engine was disassembled, and even the entire rear fuselage had to be removed! If the Mirage 2000 wanted to gain the East's approval, it had to bring a strong shock to these country bumpkins in front of them!

RDY installed in 95