Chapter 756 Projects Mr. Lin participated in
So fast? Qin Tao was a little dumbfounded.
“Of course, ten thousand years is too long, just seize the day!” said Mr. Lin.
He really couldn't wait. After all, the strategic bombing capability has always been the shortcoming of the Air Force. Now the three White Swans can still hold up, but they have always been hidden in the darkness and cannot be seen. If a stealth bomber is developed, If it is publicly displayed to the outside world, it will definitely enhance national prestige and military prestige.
Mr. Lin is full of expectations.
"Then do we have to pass by Factory 172 and Factory 430? We have to see how their research and development is progressing." Qin Tao said.
In fact, he had just made a decision on the stealth bomber project. After all, his team could not be disbanded and he had to have a new project. If he could not build a twin-engine heavy aircraft, he could only build a stealth bomber. Now, everything has changed. He didn't make arrangements and took Mr. Lin there directly, which was a bit hasty.
But Mr. Lin can't wait.
"You want to know the progress of replicating the NK-32 engine of the Tu-22M bomber?" Mr. Lin said: "There is no need to go over there. They are all here. I will make a call and ask them to come over. Forget it, let's go over. It’s more formal to talk about this in the conference room.”
"Mr. Lin, we just drank several glasses of wine. Is it appropriate to go over to someone who smells like alcohol now?" Qin Tao asked.
"What's inappropriate?" Mr. Lin shook his head: "These few glasses of wine are just to moisten your throat. Are you afraid that I will drink too much and go crazy?"
After Mr. Lin finished speaking, he took a few more sips and put down the bottle: "Let's go now. The atmosphere is just right."
Qin Tao can only follow.
At this time, the meeting on the Air Force side had just ended. Everyone had received their tasks and filed out of the conference room. At this moment, a voice came from the opposite side: "Comrades from 172 Factory and 430 Factory stay, others People can leave!”
Leader Liu was still sorting documents on the rostrum. Hearing this voice, he quickly stood up and strode towards the door: "Old Lin, what can I do for you?"
"Well, I have something, and I want to find out about it from them." After Mr. Lin finished speaking, he rolled his eyes at Leader Liu: "What? Do I no longer have the power?"
"Of course." Leader Liu nodded quickly: "I will also stay and attend the meeting."
Although Mr. Lin has retired, he is definitely not a man who has just left the company. He is still very energetic. If he really dislikes Leader Liu, he can even get Leader Liu away.
Seeing Mr. Lin and Qin Tao together, Zhou Guozhen became inexplicably excited. He hadn't seen Mr. Qin for a long time. This time he came with Mr. Lin. He must have something important. Could it be that he wanted to find out about Hong Liu K Is there any progress with Todoroki SixJ?
Mr. Jiang from Factory 430 had a complicated expression. His throat moved a few times as he wanted to say something.
"Mr. Jiang, how are you doing lately?" At this moment, Qin Tao passed by Mr. Jiang and said hello to him.
“It’s very bad.” Mr. Jiang said casually.
"What's wrong?" Qin Tao was stunned for a moment. Mr. Jiang's attitude seemed very unusual.
“Mr. Qin, you promised us before to develop a 40-megawatt gas turbine based on the NK-32 turbofan sixteen, but as a result, you..."
Mr. Jiang was very excited at the beginning. They mapped out a copy of the NK-32 engine, which was related to the key bomber model of the navy and air force. Moreover, they also proposed to improve the gas turbine based on this engine.
The 430 Factory has wanted to build gas turbines for more than a day or two. When they were working on the GT-15000, they came to help and had this idea. What was the result? Mr. Qin said that we should copy Sibei first, so Factory 430 said goodbye to this gas turbine.
Then, there is the NK-32, which is a large turbofan engine. Based on this engine, it is enough to develop a 40-megawatt gas turbine. President Qin promised well at that time. What was the result?
Tianjiao Aviation and Ermao have cooperated to develop a naval gas turbine based on the D-18T engine! And here, because the imitation work of NK-32 has not yet ended, the development work of naval gas turbines has not yet begun, and it will definitely not be as fast as Tianjiao Aviation.
This means that the modification of the NK-32 gas turbine is considered a waste.
It is unethical for Mr. Qin to do this!
Mr. Jiang has always been a straight man, but now he told this matter in front of Qin Tao.
Qin Tao was also stunned for a moment, and then he remembered, yes, there was such a thing, how could he have forgotten it?
Both the NK-32 and D-18T are three-rotor engines. They are both advanced engines that were developed by the Red Empire a few years before its collapse. However, these two engines are still different. The NK-32 is used by bombers. It is still a supersonic bomber, so its bypass ratio cannot be too large, otherwise the windward area will be too large. The D-18T is for transport aircraft. In order to save fuel, its bypass ratio is very large.
Therefore, if the two are to be modified, the D-18T is more suitable. Whoever saves fuel should use it. Qin Tao agreed to modify the NK-32 because there was no other choice. Now that he has the D-18T, of course he has to use it after use. Moreover, by modifying the naval gas turbine, the D-18T technology can also be studied, so that if our own side needs a super Big Mac in the future, we can produce matching engines at any time.
Qin Tao didn’t think there was any problem. He was very happy when he communicated with Er Mao, but he seemed to have forgotten NK-32.
What now?
Mr. Jiang came to complain. What should he say?
Sorry, I forgot about it?
No, in this case, Mr. Jiang will not have to fight Qin Tao.
“Yes, I promised you at the beginning, what happened?” Qin Tao decided to ask a rhetorical question.
What's wrong? Needless to say?
“Mr. Qin, you are also developing a 40-megawatt gas turbine. Isn’t this the same model as the one we are developing?”
"What's wrong with being the same? You can compete." Qin Tao said: "Mr. Jiang, it's the 21st century soon. Isn't competition a normal thing?"
Mr. Jiang was speechless.
Mr. Jiang intuitively thought that the Mingzhou Group's project would beat his own project, but he seemed to have forgotten that there is a competition mechanism now!
Survival of the fittest through competition is cruel to the eliminated opponents, but it is beneficial to the entire industry. After all, only competition can develop.
Over the years, Factory 430 has always relied on funding from superiors, and the models were also given by superiors, whether it was Sibei or NK-32. Over time, they seem to have forgotten the competition mechanism. Now, thinking of this, Mr. Jiang’s face Somewhat ashamed.
“Yes, competition is competition, what do we have to fear?” Mr. Jiang said: “We have confidence in our products.”
Mr. Lin was walking in front and didn't care about these trivial matters. He knew that Qin Tao would solve them easily.
At this time, Mr. Lin and Leader Liu had already walked to the front and sat on the rostrum. Mr. Lin looked down and said: "Lao Jiang, first let's talk about your progress in mapping the imitation of NK-32."
Hearing Mr. Lin ask about this, Mr. Jiang finally got excited again.
"Okay." Mr. Jiang nodded: "With the help of the NK-32 prototype and the original engine designer Sobolev and others, the imitation of the turbofan XVI has been progressing very quickly. So far, we have A prototype of the core machine has been manufactured and is ready to be tested."
This is NK-32!
In various sources of later generations, this kind of engine was praised to the sky, saying that it was some old man's treasure at the bottom of the box, and not a single screw would be sold to the East.
This is of course nonsense. If Lao Maozi can't produce it himself, how can he sell it to the East? However, the technology of this engine does have many unique features. Especially in terms of maximum thrust, it is definitely the most powerful engine for bombers in the world.
Without an engine of this level, it is impossible to produce a large bomber. The Tu-160 has a maximum takeoff weight of 275 tons and relies on this engine.
"When we were copying, we found that many technologies of Lao Maozi's engine were backward, so we used our own technology to transform it. Therefore, the performance should be better than the original version of Lao Maozi, especially the lifespan. We don't expect it to be It will be less than one thousand hours, but it may reach more than two thousand hours after the car passes the long-term test run in the future.”
These are the strengths of the country, especially the 430 factory that imitates Spey. The life of their Spey is very long. Coupled with the development of domestic aviation technology, the performance of the copied products has been greatly improved, which is normal. .
At this time, hearing these developments, Mr. Lin nodded with satisfaction: "It seems that this engine should be mature within three to five years."
“Yes, we will definitely not delay the production of H-6K and H-6J.” Mr. Jiang said.
The 430 Factory and the 172 Factory are in the same city and have many connections with each other. Now with the bomber project, the two factories have become a close whole.
“If we make changes based on this engine, such as removing the afterburner and turning it into a non-afterburner engine, it shouldn’t be difficult, right?” Mr. Lin asked.
There must be new projects.
Leader Liu also cast his expectant gaze over. Mr. Lin has retired and would not come here under normal circumstances. Today he suddenly came and brought Mr. Qin with him. There must be something important. Could it be that Mingzhou Group is going to New project, using this kind of engine without afterburner?
What project is that? Must be some kind of bomber!
Thinking of this, he also became excited.
“Lao Zhou, how is the progress of your surveying and mapping of the imitation Tu-22M?” Mr. Lin did not answer directly, but asked Zhou Guozhen again.
"We encountered many difficulties when we were imitating them, but we overcame them one by one." Zhou Guozhen said: "After all, we have experience in producing H-6s, and we also have a lot of advanced technologies, such as the launch of aircraft. In the past, we needed to use welding to manufacture the landing gear. Now, as we have an 80,000-ton die forging press in China, we can already forge it as a whole. Coupled with our advanced CNC machining center, The quality produced is better than Lao Maozi’s.”
Last time during the development process of Coordination Yun-20, Qin Tao heard Tang Changhong talk about the problem of the landing gear. At that time, he decided that we should do it ourselves. The largest one in the world is 75,000 tons, so let's build one. Eighty thousand tons come out!
After all, if we want to build a large aircraft, we cannot do without this kind of thing.
Although it cost a lot of money at that time, it was of great benefit to the development of domestic large aircraft. Now, the benefits are reflected: when mapping the imitation Tu-22M, the landing gear of the aircraft can be integrated directly Forged.
Even Lao Maozi’s Il-76 is forged separately and then welded together. Our landing gear is finally forged as a whole. This will naturally have higher strength and longer life.
"As well as the overall girder of the aircraft, we can also use this die forging press to forge the entire frame. This process has been used on the Yun-Twenty. The same is true for our bombers. Many parts are pressed up and pressed, and the quality It can be much higher, but what we are most proud of is the wing box.”
Since Mr. Lin has retired and is no longer in charge of these tasks, he doesn't know much about these situations. Qin Tao is usually busy with work and doesn't pay much attention to it. So now, this is the first time Qin Tao has heard about these things. progress in the field.
All fighters with variable swept wings require a wing box. This wing box is like a sleeve that wraps the rotating shaft inside to avoid exposure and also plays an aerodynamic role.
Compared with other aircraft, this additional wing box has become a major contributor to the empty weight of the fuselage. Aircraft designers hope to reduce the weight of this wing box as much as possible.
The American Tomcat fighter jet uses a titanium alloy wing box, so much so that Grumman had to invent a new vacuum electron beam welding technology. In this way, it is said that the weight of the Tomcat's wing box has reached 800 kilograms, and Lao Maozi is more crude and uses stainless steel directly.
For a bomber of the Tu-22M level, the wing box must of course be made of stainless steel. Sometimes I am very generous, such as using titanium alloy to build submarines, but sometimes I am very stingy, such as the wing box of the variable sweep wing. Of course, this may not be because Lao Maozi doesn't want to use it, but because he cannot overcome the welding difficulties.
So, how did we solve it?
Qin Tao became curious: "How did we make that wing box?"
“We used 3D printing technology.” Zhou Guozhen said.
Qin Tao knew about this technology. He once helped Parthia manufacture a batch of Tomcat fighter parts. However, Qin Tao only thought that this 3D printing was used to make small parts. Can something as big as a wing box be 3D printed?
“Can our 3D printing technology be able to print large parts?”
“Yes, it can print parts up to 12 square meters.” Zhou Guozhen said: “We use titanium alloy to make the wing box, which is of good quality and light weight, even lighter than the Tu-22M.”
"We need to be cautious when making changes. We must first solve the problem of whether or not. After you have reduced the weight, do you still need to add counterweight?" Mr. Lin became serious.
The country has been imitating aircraft for a long time, and a problem has arisen: because the technology for imitating aircraft has not been thoroughly understood, imitation is possible, but improvements will have many problems.
For example, during the improvement process, the J-7 used Marconi's avionics to reduce the weight, but a cement counterweight had to be added to the nose, otherwise the aircraft would be unbalanced until it was improved into a double delta. The counterweight was only removed when the J-7E was launched.
The improvement of the J-11 has also repeated this process. Although it uses a domestic radar, the weight is much lighter than the one-ton N001. However, additional counterweight must be added, otherwise the flight control must be adjusted, but the flight control I didn’t understand it thoroughly!
Now, the imitation of the Tu-22M will encounter similar problems if it loses weight hastily.
“If it were in other places, there would be problems if the weight is reduced hastily, but the wing box part should be fine, because this part is at the center of gravity.” Zhou Guozhen explained.
Although Mr. Lin is from the Air Force, he is not an aircraft designer after all, so he is still not professional enough in many aspects.
For other aircraft, the center of gravity may be at any position, but for a variable-sweep wing aircraft, the center of gravity must be at the center of the line connecting the locations of the two wing boxes. Only in this way can the center of gravity be ensured when the wings rotate. The position of the center of gravity remains unchanged. Otherwise, it would be a disaster for a hydraulically controlled fighter aircraft, which may change from static stability to static instability at any time.
Therefore, if you want to reduce the weight of other parts, such as the nose or tail, it will cause the center of gravity to change, which will make it difficult to modify the fighter aircraft. However, if you only reduce the weight of the wing box, there will be no problem.
Hearing Zhou Guozhen’s introduction, Mr. Lin nodded to express his understanding.
“Mr. Lin, you have asked us so many questions. Do you have any new tasks?” Zhou Guozhen asked.
At this time, Mr. Jiang was also full of expectations. When he asked, Mr. Lin just ignored it. Now, Zhou Guozhen asked again, what kind of mission is this? Can Mr. Lin tell it?
“You have been engaged in military industry for half your life, have you forgotten the discipline of confidentiality?” Mr. Lin said: “Don’t ask questions that you shouldn’t ask.”
So, no one asked anymore.
Mr. Lin stood up: "Okay, let's stop here. By the way, is it time to eat? Go and eat quickly."
Watching everyone walk out, Leader Liu said: "Mr. Lin, is this a next-generation bomber project?"
Others cannot ask, but Leader Liu must know. After all, he has the final say in the Air Force now.
"Yes, Mr. Qin and I just discussed it." Mr. Lin nodded: "The Mingzhou Group will develop this stealth strategic bomber, which can fly to the opposite side of the Pacific and back again."
Leader Liu took a breath of air: "What is Mingzhou Group's next development project?"
“Yes.” Qin Tao nodded: “We will officially start this project after the development of the vertical take-off and landing J-31A is completed.”
“How much money does our air force need to invest?” Leader Liu’s words were trembling because of his excitement.
"I thought of two ways." Qin Tao said: "The first one is that our Mingzhou Group raises all the research and development funds ourselves, but after the research and development is completed, we have the final say on the selling price. At that time, we will sell it to the Air Force. The price must be shared with research and development expenses. If the Air Force purchases a small quantity, one aircraft may cost one billion."
The cost of the B-2 bomber is more than 600 million U.S. dollars, but if the research and development funds are allocated, it will become more than 2 billion U.S. dollars. Domestic R&D has a cost advantage, but even so, it is very expensive to develop. One billion bombers is definitely not too much, and it will even be higher in the future.
However, no matter what the final purchase price is, this arrangement can at least save the Air Force from spending money now. After all, the Air Force is still very short of funds. They have a large number of procurement plans, including J-10, J-11, and J-11. Sixteen, J-35, etc. Spending money in the future is a matter of the future. Just don’t spend money now. Later, when the country’s economic power is stronger, it won’t matter if you spend more money.
As for the Air Force in the future, will Mingzhou Group’s huge investment be wasted? This is absolutely impossible. This kind of killer weapon is what the Air Force dreams of. How could they not want it? If they don't want it, then Mingzhou Group can sell it. Apart from the United States, no other country has this kind of killer weapon, so users will definitely have it. If others don't tell you, the big dog owner will definitely want it.
"Another way is for the Air Force to fully intervene. From the beginning of development, the Air Force will invest. In this way, the future purchase price will be the production cost plus profit." Qin Tao continued: "If the Air Force is willing to invest, then the entire development process will , all air forces can participate, and you can always submit new ideas if you have them."
“Mr. Qin, is there a third option?”
Qin Tao was curious: "Leader Liu, can you tell me what the third one is?"
“Our Air Force provides part of the funds, but we also hope to be fully involved and follow up every process of development at any time.” Leader Liu said.
Qin Tao nodded: "Deal!"
This is the strategic bomber that the Air Force most urgently needs. Of course, the Air Force cannot stay out of the matter. They must join in and take the lead! In this way, they have to pay, but they can't afford to pay all the money, so they hope to pay only part of it.
Seeing Qin Tao nod, Leader Liu continued: "If nothing else happens, the engine used on this bomber should be the Turbofan Sixteen that we copied and mapped, right?"
“That’s right.”
“The Air Force has invested a lot of money in this project. Can we treat this as the funding we provide for this stealth bomber?”
"Of course not." Qin Tao refused directly: "Leader Liu, your calculation is too shrewd. The funds provided to us must be transferred to our account."
Leader Liu smiled and said: "Okay, let's let the Air Force think of a way. I dare not say if there are more, but we can still make up a few million."
In the outside world, millions are astronomical figures, but here in the Air Force, millions are just drizzle, only enough to pay for the gas money of an air force base.
"A few million in start-up capital is enough." Qin Tao nodded: "When the Air Force has money in the future, just don't forget about us. By the way, Leader Liu, does the Air Force need to send someone to keep an eye on this project?"
Leader Liu nodded: "Of course."
“So, please ask Mr. Lin to stay in our Mingzhou Group from now on?”
(End of this chapter)