Chapter 665 Typhoon’s Disruption
Hearing the name BAC Company, Qin Tao immediately realized: This is a deliberate provocation!
British Aerospace Corporation, referred to as BAC, was founded in 1960 through the merger of Hawker and Scottish Airways. It was once the largest aerospace manufacturing company in the United Kingdom and Western Europe.
This name is generally known by few people in later generations. In 1999, British Aerospace Corporation and Marconi Electronic Systems merged, and the new company was renamed BAE. This name became familiar to everyone in the system. The famous Sea Harrier, and later the Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets, all have BAE shares.
If you think that this company only builds airplanes and rockets, you are totally wrong.
BAE also has a surface ship division. It has two historic shipyards on the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland: Scowstoun Shipyard and Gowan Shipyard. Looking back at history, the two shipyards were established from 1834 to Now, more than 5,000 warships have been built, and later it became famous for building the Type 45 destroyer and the Queen-class aircraft carrier.
Building ships is enough to cross the line, but their company is obviously more than that. They also build tanks, yes, the famous Challenger 2 tank. Alves-Vickers Systems was acquired by BAE Ground Weapon Systems Division in 2004, so the Challenger 2 tank has become a star product of BAE Systems.
You should know when you see this, this company is simply an arms giant!
In terms of shipbuilding, the 052C built by Mingzhou Group has now attracted attention all over the world, making British Aerospace Corporation very unhappy. Even if their Type 45 destroyer is built and put into service, it cannot compare with the one from the East!
In terms of the air combat weapons that it is best at, British Aerospace is even more annoyed.
Due to the weakened national strength of European countries, they are unable to undertake the research and development task of a fighter jet on their own. They can only adopt international cooperation.
The Tornado fighter is an example of this. With the joint efforts of the three European companies, the British, German and Italian companies, this fighter-bomber jointly developed by the three European countries has finally entered military service in various countries. It uses a popular variable sweep wing layout and is divided into combat bombers. There are two types: type and air defense interception type. Although this fighter was discontinued in 1992, it is still the main force of various countries.
They continued their efforts and started the next-generation European Joint Fighter Project. However, the troublemaker Dassault joined in and then occupied the magpie's nest. If they wanted to dominate the entire project, whether it was aerodynamics, avionics, or engines, they had to Used by Dassault. After being rejected, the proud Frenchman's self-esteem was greatly hit and he started a new business.
Facts have proved that the cooperation between the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy was smooth. Later, Spain was added. The four countries came up with this European joint fighter, code-named EF2000. The first prototype was shipped out of the factory in 1992, and the first prototype was launched in 1994. It has been flying for four years now, and there are five prototypes under test flight.
Due to the huge investment in research and development, the British are also looking forward to promoting this fighter to more countries, and Saudi Arabia is the target of their strategy.
Now, they just want to squeeze out the J-31A project and then incorporate their own fighters, so that they can make up for their research and development expenditures.
When he learned that Qin Tao was coming here, Kelly, who happened to be promoting Typhoon to Saudi Arabia, immediately asked to come with him. The excuse he said at the time was to see the famous CEO of Mingzhou Group. Who would have thought that after coming, Started spraying.
Salman is also unwilling to be the boss, but the rich man’s magnanimity prevents him from losing his temper with Kelly.
Qin Tao smiled: "This gentleman is from British Aerospace? Are you trying to grab business in the international market like this? You are so shameless!"
"We are not trying to steal business, we just want to sell customers the most suitable fighter aircraft for them!" Kelly said: "This market is free competition. Whoever can get the customer's business is the one who has the ability. You think I am shameless?" Hou, this is an insult to us, you must apologize immediately!"
"Suitable fighter plane? Then you should know what the customer's needs are, right?" Qin Tao looked at this self-righteous guy: "The first requirement for the fighter plane our friends need is stealth. If your fighter plane has Invisibility, then I will leave now and leave the business to you. If you don’t have it, then stop doing useless work here.”
Useless effort?
"This is your lie! You are constantly promoting it all over the world, saying that future air combat belongs to stealth aircraft! In fact, stealth is just an indicator of future fighter aircraft. It is just an S in 4S performance. There are other As for the three Ss, your fighter planes are not advanced at all, and you have misled your customers!"
This is Kelly's tactic: Stealth is nothing. Aircraft with only stealth are not advanced at all. Therefore, your fighter planes are scum.
Qin Tao smiled: "Mr. Kelly, have you heard of the bucket effect?"
Seeing the other party's confusion, Qin Tao continued: "In other words, it is called the short board effect. To fill a bucket with water, each board must be flush and undamaged. If one board is shorter, then only It can fit as high as that board.”
"Of course I know, but what does this have to do with the fighter jets we are talking about now?"
"Stealth has a shortcoming effect. If a fighter jet does not have stealth, it will be useless no matter how good its other performance is, because the shortest piece of wood limits how much water the barrel can hold. The lack of stealth limits other capabilities. Ability."
“You are quibbling!”
"Quisy? Stealth fighters can form an absolute advantage. You don't even know this, right?" Qin Tao said: "Then let's talk about it. Among the other 3S in the 4S, supersonic cruise is the In order to reach the battlefield quickly or escape quickly, it has no impact on the outcome of the air combat. Moreover, we don’t know whether your fighter planes have supersonic cruise, so we won’t talk about it. Let’s talk about the remaining two.”
“Our fighter aircraft has supersonic cruise capabilities. At an altitude of 10,000 meters, it can fly to Mach 1.2 without using afterburner! We have confirmed this performance in test flights!” Kelly’s voice rose a bit.
The world's first fighter jet capable of supersonic cruise is the F-22, and the second is the Typhoon fighter jet. However, there are different opinions about its supersonic cruise capability. Some brag about it, saying it can fly to Mach 1.5 with six missiles. , can fly to Mach 1.3 with an auxiliary fuel tank. As long as you calculate the maximum military thrust of the two engines and the weight of the fighter, you can come to a conclusion: That is pure nonsense.
The EJ200 engine used in the Typhoon fighter jet is a masterpiece of Rolls-Royce. It has an afterburning thrust of 90 kilonewtons and a maximum military thrust of 60 kilonewtons, which is the level of the American F404, but the thrust-to-weight ratio has been increased to 9.
Two engines, which is a maximum military thrust of 120 kilonewtons, and its body is a full circle larger than the J-10, and the empty weight is more than three tons. Therefore, cruising at supersonic speed to Mach 1.2 is no longer easy.
"Mach 1.2 is also called supersonic cruise? By the way, there is a saying in the aviation industry called pseudo-supercruise. I wonder if it refers to you? I heard that you first turn on the afterburner to enter supersonic speed, and then turn off the afterburner. , cruising at a speed that only exceeds Mach 1? What is the difference between this speed and the high-pressure sound speed of our ordinary aircraft? If it does not exceed Mach 1.5, it cannot be called supersonic cruise."
Qin Tao's words made Kelly look ugly. He continued to explain: "Let's not dwell on this small issue. Let's talk about the other two Ss. One of them is super mobile. What is the advantage of our stealth machine? It cannot be detected. , approaching quietly, and then directly using its own radar to sneak attack on the opponent. The opponent did not know how he died until he was shot down. If you can directly kill the opponent from a long distance, why should we stay close and fight for maneuverability? Your Typhoon fighter jet is very maneuverable. It’s useless no matter how high your **** level is!”
"Let's talk about the last S, which is an advanced avionics system. Your fighter jets use flat-panel aperture radars, and we use the same. We are evenly matched. We can replace active phased array radars in at most two years. What about you? Which one has better performance?"
“Our planes are voice controlled!” Kelly yelled.
Seeing the 4 S's, the opponent was about to take full advantage, and Kelly was completely anxious.
“Voice control? This is very powerful, but I don’t know. How many versions have you developed? How many years will it take for the Arabic version to be developed? Can it recognize dialects?”
In fact, the Typhoon fighter jet has advantages in some aspects. For example, in a complex air battle, the pilot may not have the energy to flip the weapon launch switch, let alone operate it on the touch screen. Therefore, the Typhoon fighter jet has introduced voice control and speaks directly. You can notify the aircraft to prepare missiles and the like to attack the enemy at any time.
However, voice control is two-sided. If the recognition rate of this thing is too low, it will be a big trouble. What's more, there are different languages and dialects.
Kelly has nothing to say.
They did not consider Arabic. This thing is very complicated. It will take many years of testing before a brand new language is added.
In fact, the quality of Saudi Air Force pilots is very high, and many of them can speak English. However, this involves a kind of national self-confidence. If there is no Arabic, customers will definitely be dissatisfied.
“Everyone, is this farce over?” Qin Tao said.
As soon as I got off the plane, I was greeted by a chattering group of scholars, which made me very tired.
"Yes, Mr. Qin, I'm very sorry. Please come with me. The next step is to visit our base." Salman said.
"Wait!" Kelly shouted: "These don't count. These are just words. Do you dare to bring the plane over and let us have a confrontation? Our Typhoon fighter jets will defeat you in a confrontation exercise! "
If you say it’s too much to say, then let’s make it real!
This is Kelly's last chance.
"Confrontation exercise? Your Typhoon hasn't completed its final test flight yet, has it?" Qin Tao glanced at the other party: "Our aircraft are already in service status, so if we conduct a confrontation exercise now, it would be unfair to you. If If you ask for a delay of a few years, then there is no need to ask us, just directly compete with the Saudi Air Force fighters to see who has better performance."
"No, although we are still conducting test flights, the relevant systems have matured, and we can now fly the aircraft over for confrontation!" Kelly said, "Do you dare? If you don't, then don't show off here! The shell of a stealth machine is useless!"
Qin Tao stared at Kelly: "Are you sure? I advise you to forget it. When the test results come out, you may not be able to sell a single Typhoon fighter!"
Kelly was panicked.
However, it would be even more shameful to give in like this. Moreover, taking this opportunity, you can also test the real performance of the other party's stealth machine.
“Of course, we will defeat you, our Typhoon fighter jets are the overlords of this sky!”
“Okay, we accept your challenge!”
Among the people who greeted him, many showed excited eyes. Qin Tao knew clearly that the current situation was what they wanted to see the most. Although they didn't feel bad about spending money, they still had doubts about Dongfang's technology. Yes, if the stealth machine is not as good as the Mingzhou Group advertised, they might tear up the contract and invest in Europe.
Now, we just need a hearty aerial battle to completely slap them in the face!
“Mr. Qin, in this case, should we go to the conference room first to discuss the details of this confrontation?” Salman asked.
“Of course it’s no problem.” Qin Tao nodded.
In any case, it doesn’t matter whether you visit the base or not. Mingzhou Group is mainly engaged in shipbuilding. However, since it has reached this level, the details of the confrontation must first be determined.
There was a large group of people sitting in the conference room, including many officers and pilots from the base, who all rushed over after hearing the sound.
“Our Typhoon fighter jets can fly here within three days. Our maximum range is 3,000 kilometers. It only needs one mid-air refueling and can fly without interruption.” Kelly said proudly.
After all, for any aircraft, range is the first important indicator. The MiG-29 cannot be sold, and one of the reasons is the airport defender.
“We can also fly one over within three days.” Qin Tao said.
Our own side does not need to refuel in the air. It can be refueled at Lao Ba's place when it lands on the way. With the good relationship with Lao Ba, there is no possibility for the other party to refuse this request.
“Okay, then this air confrontation will be scheduled in three days!” Salman also became energetic.
“So, how about both planes landing at our air base here?” Salman asked.
Kelly nodded, and Qin Tao pondered for a moment, and then said: "Your Excellency Salman, our fighter planes are advanced fourth-generation aircraft. If you cannot provide us with a dedicated airport, we ask you to land on the plane." After that, confidentiality measures will be taken and no one is allowed to come near."
“Near the capital, the airport here is indeed the most suitable. If we build a field airport, we may not be able to make it in time.”
Hearing Salman say this, Qin Tao suddenly thought of something: "Then let's use a field airport. Our planes can take off and land on the nearby road."
Highway take-off and landing!
Many pilots present opened their eyes wide, they knew what this meant.
In the wars of the past few years, they were at the rear, so there have been no problems. However, if they face a more severe threat of war, their airport will be the first target to be hit!
So, if there is an aircraft that can take off and land at a field airport, that would be great, and it would be better to use the road directly!
Relying on the black gold in the ground, Saudi Arabia is rich and is also building infrastructure. Especially near their capital, there are many high-grade roads. If these roads are used to take off and land fighter planes, they can avoid attacks during war.
However, not all fighter planes can have the ability to take off and land in the wild!
This is especially true for air intakes in the belly of the aircraft!
When Qin Tao came up with this plan, he was deliberately targeting the Typhoon fighter jets again.
In order to pursue maneuverability with a high angle of attack, many third-generation aircraft choose belly air intake. This method places high demands on the airport. It is difficult to take off at a field airport because the belly of the aircraft may inhale some things on the runway, especially In Saudi Arabia, there is sand everywhere, and sucking it in is bad for the engine.
MiG-29 specially opens auxiliary air inlets above the wings for wild take-off and landing.
Typhoon fighter jets are air-intaken from the belly. Those two huge rectangular air inlets mean that this aircraft has no ability to take off and land at field airports. It can only take off and land at clean regular airports. Moreover, this kind of aircraft has no ability to take off and land at field airports. The air intake method also makes it less stealthy. The fan blades of the engine can be seen directly from the air intake. That thing is the strongest source of electromagnetic reflection.
"Humph, what's so great about taking off and landing at a field airport? Our Typhoon fighter jets can take off and land at short distances. When they arrive, we will show you how to take off and take off at a distance of 300 meters," Kelly said.
Their aircraft did not take into account the take-off and landing conditions of field airports, highways, etc., but they also considered the possibility of the runway being damaged during the war. Their solution was to take off and land in short distances, relying on powerful With advanced engines and excellent aerodynamic layout, their aircraft can take off within three hundred meters!
This means that if the runway is destroyed, they only need a length of three hundred meters to fly.
However, this also has limitations: the aircraft must be able to glide across. If there is a intact 300-meter-long runway in the middle, but it is interrupted on both sides, it will not work.
Qin Tao smiled and did not have too much entanglement with the other party in this aspect.
“We took off an E-3 early warning aircraft to observe and make judgments on the exercise.” said an officer at the base.
The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is special.
Let’s call it a bad relationship. They can get top-notch American fighter jets, whether it’s F-15 fighter jets or E-3 early warning aircraft. They seem to be a die-hard ally. However, if Saudi Arabia wants to buy ballistic missiles, the Americans won’t. Sell, Saudi Arabia wants to buy F-35, and the Americans will not sell, because there is only one true **** ally in the Middle East.
The Saudi Air Force has five early warning aircraft, and they are all the most advanced strategic early warning aircraft in the United States. In the last war, the early warning aircraft made great contributions. Now, if there is a confrontation, the early warning aircraft must also play a role.
“Can the opposing sides receive intelligence support from the early warning aircraft?” Qin Tao asked.
The biggest advantage of stealth aircraft is to turn off the radar and rely on the intelligence support of early warning aircraft to quietly approach the opponent. In the current confrontation, if the early warning aircraft is removed, the advantages of stealth aircraft will be greatly offset.
Of course Kelly knew this, and he immediately shook his head: "Of course not. We are fighting alone this time. Besides, your fighter planes cannot communicate with our early warning aircraft."
The United Kingdom also planned to develop an early warning aircraft before, but was unable to make a breakthrough. It simply purchased the E-3 directly. Of course, they also used the standard NATO data link, which meant that they could easily communicate with the early warning aircraft, even those of the Saudi Air Force. .
However, the fighters from the East will not work. This is also one of their advantages: the fighter aircraft system from the East is not compatible!
Any arms export will involve system issues, and modifications between different systems will bring about a series of problems.
So, from this perspective, Saudi Arabia can also be persuaded to give up its Eastern fighter planes.
"As long as we open the data interface, we can debug it at any time and communicate with the existing equipment of the Saudi Air Force. Of course, if there are difficulties, we also have our own early warning aircraft. In the future, the Saudi Air Force can arrange these aircraft in the north to respond to emergencies. In case of emergency, our early warning aircraft and our fighter jets can cooperate to ensure absolute safety."
Kelly's expression changed.
Qin Tao's meaning is very clear. The current Western system is not safe because there is another country in the Middle East that has always been hostile to them, but it uses the same system. If they really get into a war with each other, See, all the existing equipment in Saudi Arabia may become scrap metal, and the most appropriate approach is to introduce a new Eastern system.
“Yes, Mr. Qin is right!” Salman nodded.
At the beginning, they chose Eastern fighters without hesitation. On the one hand, they hoped to obtain stealth aircraft. On the other hand, they also wanted to have a backup plan.
“In our confrontation, the winner will be determined by one of the parties locking down the other first, right?” Qin Tao said: “This is the most fair.”
"No, no, this confrontation should be multi-faceted, including mid-range interception, close combat, and ground attack. It should be comprehensive!" Kelly objected.
If the opponent is locked to determine victory or defeat, non-stealth machines have an absolute disadvantage against stealth machines!
"I'm just surprised. Who said we have to fight in the air? Since it's a confrontation, it has to be close to actual combat. It's already locked. Can it still rush up and fight at close range? Is it a ghost fighter?"
“That’s right, it’s about getting close to actual combat and locking in the opponent determines the outcome!” Salman agreed.
(End of this chapter)