Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

"Robert, according to the intelligence obtained by relevant departments, the Pentagon believes that the performance of the J-20 fighter jets that China is mass-producing has reached or even surpassed the level of the F-22."

"The current F35 is no match for them at all."

"In response to this situation, we have asked you, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, to work together to consider restarting the F-22 production line. How come it has been three months now, but there is no news at all."

In a meeting with a relatively high level of confidentiality, John looked at Robert and Muilenburg with dissatisfaction.

The presidents of these two American military giants are under great pressure now.

In the past two years, the American intelligence department has made a lot of moves, and some news has indeed been heard from China.

Of course, a lot of news was actually released by China on its own initiative.

But no matter which way it is, people now know that China's military strength has increased significantly, and there is already a strong sense of crisis.

So they started to act without waiting for the results of the new round of elections.

However, after a few months, the results are not ideal.

"John, as the world's first fifth-generation fighter to enter service, the F-22 fighter has a combination of stealth, agility, accuracy and situational awareness, combined with its air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, making it the best fighter in the world today. It is our trump card weapon to dominate the sky."

"It is hard for us to believe that the J-20 in China can surpass the F-22."

Robert did not want to discuss directly why the F-22 production line could not be restarted.

The story behind this is quite complicated and it is difficult to explain it in a short time.

In fact, many people actually agree with Robert's statement.

After all, the F-22 fighter was jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and continued to enter the United States in the early 21st century to replace the F-15 fighter.

It became the world's best fighter as soon as it came out.

Whether in terms of avionics equipment, maneuverability, or weapon configuration, it is ahead of other advanced fighters in the world.

Supersonic cruise capability and stealth performance are capabilities that most fighters have not yet achieved, and they cannot even be quantified and compared in terms of indicator statistics.

Because of this, the United States has issued a special decree to prohibit the export of F-22, which is only for the United States to use. After all, the number of F-22s used by the United States is limited, which is like cutting off Lockheed Martin's financial resources, and the manufacturing cost of F-22 is already high.

According to the "Air Power Progress Assessment Report" published by the United States itself, the F-22 still maintains a high cost of up to $150 million per aircraft when it enters the mass production stage and shares the R\u0026D costs, which makes Lockheed Martin a bit difficult to get off the tiger.

In addition, the F-22 integrates a large number of the latest technological achievements of the American military industry at that time.

For example, stealth coating, F-119 vector engine, APG-77 active phased array radar, etc.

Therefore, it requires a specific constant temperature and humidity hangar for careful maintenance, and the maintenance cost is quite expensive, costing more than $60,000 per hour.

In fact, even the maintenance cost of the next generation of stealth fighter F-35 in the United States is only 40% of that of the F-22.

With the F-22 being too expensive, the United States, which is under great pressure from its military budget, has also begun to consider reducing the number of F-22 orders.

"Your statement would have been completely correct ten years ago, when there was no news about the fifth-generation fighter jets of the Polar Bear and China."

"This even led to the F-22's lack of clear air-to-air combat missions."

"However, because the F-22 frequently encountered problems during flight training, the relevant departments began to have great doubts about the performance and value of the F-22."

"So on May 3, 2011, the relevant departments ordered the 165 F-22 fleet to stop combat flight missions indefinitely and limit training flights to an altitude of less than 25,000 feet until the cause of the accident was clarified and relevant improvements were completed."

John first affirmed part of Robert's statement, but soon stepped on it from another angle.

Otherwise, the relevant departments pushed for the suspension of F-22 production, and now they want Lockheed Martin to resume production of F-22. Isn't this a slap in the face?

John naturally doesn't want to do this kind of thing.

"John, actually before announcing the suspension of production, Lockheed Martin had already made full preparations to resume production one day."

"They sealed the relevant information, carefully preserved all kinds of tooling and molds, and even found professional cameramen to carefully record and properly preserve every process of the production line with video."

"However, what we never expected was that resuming production was not as simple as we imagined. Various reasons made our attempts become empty talk."

"This is also the reason why we have not officially reported to you."

Boeing's Muilenburg supplemented Robert's situation.

Although they are competitors at ordinary times, they are partners in this matter today.

"Resuming production has certain difficulties, which I can understand, but can it be so difficult that you can't resume production?"

John stared at Robert and Muilenburg unhappily.

Now the pressure from China on America is increasing.

"Let me explain it briefly."

Robert sighed. He knew that if he didn't explain the reason today, John would not let him go.

"There are three reasons why it is difficult to restart the F-22 production line."

"One is the change of suppliers, the second is the high cost of repair, and the third is that some of the F22's technology is a bit behind the times."

"The assembly line of fighter jets is like an assembly line for cars. Most of the parts are purchased from other suppliers."

"Many parts of the F-22 need to be specially designed. It was manufactured more than ten years ago."

"Since the suspension of production in 2011, some of our suppliers can no longer manufacture F-22 parts. Some have closed down, some have been merged, and some have changed the type of products or abandoned certain industries, so the F-22 parts cannot be bought at all."

"In this case, we can only customize it again according to the drawings at a high price."

Hearing what Robert said, John couldn't help frowning.

He had not considered this situation before.

According to his idea, Lockheed Martin's suppliers should be relatively stable.

Although the F-22 has been discontinued, Lockheed Martin still has other products in production.

But he did not consider the particularity of the F-22.

"As for the high cost of repair, according to our multiple calculations, restarting the F-22 production line will cost at least 15 billion US dollars, and from the information you have fed back, the demand of the relevant departments does not exceed 100 aircraft."

"If we follow the quotation of previous aircraft, we will definitely lose money. If we want to avoid losses, we can only increase the unit price of the aircraft."

"After comprehensive calculation, the unit price of the aircraft is several times more expensive than before, which is definitely not cost-effective for the relevant departments."

"Besides, even if we overcome these problems, there are still many problems that may arise."

"For example, when it is put into production, we will also face the problem of whether the personnel are suitable."

"Different fighters, equipment, production and assembly processes, specifications, etc. are different. Restarting fighter production means The company's workers need to be retrained and relearn the new process. "

"The aviation industry is a relatively professional industry. Practitioners need a long time to run in and accumulate work experience to ensure relatively stable work efficiency and quality. "

"What's more, in the past decade or so, what we lack most in the United States is workers with core technologies. Our real industry is actually gradually declining, especially in the aviation industry. Many workers seek other ways to make a living. Those who need to transform need to transform, and those who need to change jobs need to change jobs. This has caused a large number of experienced workers to leave and a difficult situation of shortage of reserves. "

"When these problems are solved, it is better to spend more time on the research and development of the sixth-generation fighter."

"Robert said this, and John was a little entangled.

"If the restart of the F-22 really faces such a big problem, it will not only be costly but also take a long time. It is really better to increase the research and development of the sixth-generation fighter.

For many years, the sixth-generation fighter project in the United States has been kept strictly confidential, making it difficult for the outside world to peek into its real progress.

But for Robert and Muilenburg, some relevant information is naturally known.

"The main features of our sixth-generation fighters include the use of stealth design to improve the ability to attack and survive."

"Equipped with advanced sensors and communication systems to achieve information sharing and coordinated operations."

"It has the ability to fly at hypersonic speeds and quickly break through the enemy's defense system."

"It is highly intelligent, can fly autonomously, and reduces the burden on pilots."

"These features give the sixth-generation fighters a greater advantage in future air battles, and can completely suppress China's J-20."

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are both participants in the development of this generation of fighters, and even Northrup Grumman is involved.

So Muilenburg is naturally aware of the relevant situation.

Since Robert has mentioned that John should promote and increase support for the development of the sixth-generation fighter, he will naturally help out.

"According to the timeline you gave for the progress of the sixth-generation fighter, the first full-scale demonstration will not be carried out until around 2020."

"The project will not be ready to transition to the engineering, manufacturing and design stages of the specific development of the product until around 2022."

"Even if a large amount of additional expenses are invested now, it is not so fast to advance mass production, right?"

John obviously knows everything about the sixth-generation fighter.

But Robert and Muilenburg naturally have their own opinions on the issue he mentioned.

"It is indeed like this under normal circumstances, but in the face of the rapid rise of China, we must adjust the plan as soon as possible."

"In fact, several of our companies have also been discussing the specific planning of the sixth-generation fighter during this period, and there are already some clues."

"In future combat operations, our sixth-generation fighters will generally not be used alone, but will be used in formations with each manned fighter paired with 5 drones."

"These drones will automatically follow the manned sixth-generation aircraft, each with its own duties, including signal relay, alert, reconnaissance and intelligence collection; strike and fire support; electronic warfare and interference; air interception and defense; logistics support and guarantee."

"When the enemy missile threat approaches, the drone can make a quick judgment, and if the interception fails, it will not hesitate to sacrifice itself to protect the safety of the sixth-generation aircraft."

"When the fuel of the sixth-generation aircraft is about to run out, the drone can immediately extend its refueling pipe to ensure the endurance of the manned fighter."

"In an emergency, when the ammunition of the sixth-generation aircraft is used up, the drone can even transform into a heavy missile to provide additional firepower for the fighter."

"Such an air combat scene will greatly improve the combat effectiveness and efficiency of the sixth-generation aircraft."

"The drones in the formation are like the shadow of the sixth-generation aircraft, omnipresent and omnipotent, making it difficult for the enemy to lock and shoot down this invincible sixth-generation aircraft."

Robert boasted about the sixth-generation fighter that was still in the PPT state.

Muilenburg also assisted and said: "We have learned from the previous generation of F-22 fighters that had a shorter range, and divided the sixth-generation aircraft into two types, namely E and C."

"The E type is used for operations in the European theater, and has a shorter range. This is because we and many allied countries have a large number of military bases and airports in Europe, so the performance requirements for the fighter's combat radius and range are not high."

"The C type is used for operations in the Pacific theater. To be more specific, military operations in the Western Pacific require shuttling across the first and second island chains, which requires the C type to have a long range and a longer combat radius."

"As long as it is developed, it can completely form an overwhelming advantage over China's air force."

Both Robert and Muilenburg are very confident about the sixth-generation fighter that is being planned and designed.

But John's words made them fall into entanglement.

"We are developing the sixth-generation fighter jets. Will China just stop there?"

"According to China's usual practice, they have already mass-produced the fifth-generation fighter jets, which means that the development of the sixth-generation fighter jets is already in full swing."

"Why am I worried that Venustech is also involved in the development of the sixth-generation fighter jets this time? This is a very worrying thing."

"You have all seen the speed of Chinese research and development. If they put all their efforts into the development of the sixth-generation fighter jets, they may be put into use earlier than us."

"How will we deal with the threat from China at that time?"

After John said this, he stared at Robert and Muilenburg with cold eyes.

He did not expect that one day the situation in the United States would become so passive.

When did China start to rise?

They all have the answer to this question in their hearts, but they don't have the answer.