Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

The Scorpion drone burns oil and is not powered by lithium batteries.

In fact, most large drones do not use batteries.

Only small drones are powered by lithium batteries.

So where does the power of the Scorpion drone come from?

Those are naturally the two engines installed on the fuselage.

These two engines are not the jet engines that everyone is familiar with.

The twin-tailed Scorpion drone engines are turbocharged piston engines, each with a three-blade propeller.

The advantage of this is that it can greatly increase the power and torque of the engine without increasing the engine displacement. It can also reduce the exhaust gas generated, reduce the infrared heat source signal, and increase reliability.

Ensure that there is no immediate loss of height when one or both engines stall.

The engine business is the flagship product of Nanshan Group.

Nanshan Engine is definitely indispensable for Xingchen Automobile to gain a foothold in the luxury car market so quickly.

Even the rapid rise of China's own brands has a lot to do with Nanshan Engine.

So even if electric vehicles will become a future trend, Nanshan engines are still valued by Cao Yang.

On the one hand, there are still large diesel engines that need to continue to be developed. This product can be used in many situations such as heavy trucks.

On the other hand, future rocket engines, engines for drones and other products will also require the output of Nanshan engines.

For example, the turbocharged piston engine currently used on the Scorpion UAV is a bold attempt by Nanshan Engine in aerospace.

Directly engaging in jet engines is too big a span and too difficult for Nanshan Engine. Cao Yang has no intention of focusing on this in the short term.

But the working principle of a traditional piston engine suitable for drones is very similar to that of a car engine.

There is still a lot to be done to fully utilize the current technology of Nanshan Engine.

No, the appearance of the Twin-tailed Scorpion drone gave everyone a surprise.

"Mr. Cao, since the end of World War II, traditional piston fighter jets have reached the end of their rope."

"Faced with the ever-changing jet aircraft, the performance improvement of piston engines has reached its limit."

"Because since the 1950s, they have disappeared from the main fleets of the air force, navy and even the marines of various countries."

"Especially after the retirement of the American A1 and the British Dragon, any battle using piston fighters will be labeled as backward."

"However, there has always been a great deal of controversy over the widespread usefulness of piston fighters."

"If aircraft using piston engines can take on many low-intensity combat missions, it can save many countries a lot of money."

"After all, the maintenance and use consumption of piston aircraft are much lower than that of jet aircraft."

"Its performance is better than most attack helicopters."

"For buyers who are unwilling to spend too much on defense, such an aircraft is simply hard to put down."

"In addition, some private jets are still using piston aircraft."

"If we can produce a small private jet priced at around US$1 million, then the piston aero engine we develop will have more application scenarios."

Nanshan Engine's aero engines currently only have the simplest piston engines.

However, the demand for the Twin-tailed Scorpion drone is ultimately limited.

So you need to consider more usage opportunities.

There is a certain market for aircraft such as light fighter jets that do not have such high speed requirements.

What Cheng Tao is even more optimistic about is the foreign private jet market.

Nanshan Group has advanced carbon fiber technology, and avionics systems have also begun to be involved.

When the time comes to produce a small private jet by yourself, the cost can actually be kept at a relatively low level.

In time, this will also allow Nanshan Group to have a certain influence in the aerospace field.

In the future, when rockets and satellites are directly built, everyone will not find it so strange.

"If you think this market is good, then there must be other airlines involved, right?"

Cao Yang felt that if Cheng Tao could think of something, others must have already thought of it.

It is impossible for such a good thing to be left to Nanshan Group.

"That's true. Let's not talk about private jets. Many companies produce them."

"Even fighter jets equipped with piston engines are produced by companies."

"For example, Tucano fighter jets are equipped in many countries."

"I think we can cooperate with some domestic aircraft companies at that time. We will provide cheap piston engines and they will produce them."

Cheng Tao is very clear about Cao Yang's positioning of Nanshan Group.

All the products produced by Nanshan Engine are for "civilian use".

Therefore, direct production of fighter jets is definitely not something Nanshan Group considers.

But if we produce engines that can be used on fighter jets or patrol aircraft, there will be no problem.

As for private jets, they can be produced directly without any pressure.

"A piston engine alone cannot fulfill our competitiveness."

"If we don't develop jet engines first, we can still develop turboprop engines, right?"

"When the time comes, it will be able to be used whether it is producing large transport aircraft or other medium- and low-speed aircraft."

When Cao Yang said this, Cheng Tao immediately continued: "The working principle of a turboprop engine is actually similar to that of a turbofan engine."

"If we can make a breakthrough in turboprop engines, it will be easy to make breakthroughs in turbofan engines in the future."

Nanshan Engine supplies engines to the Scorpion UAV, so Cheng Tao also learned about the global UAV market.

For example, the Predator drone in the United States uses a turboprop engine.

Piston engines have natural flaws, and their power-to-weight ratio is far inferior to that of turboshaft engines.

The "Twin-tailed Scorpion" uses two piston engines, with a maximum take-off weight of 3,200 kilograms and a load capacity of 1,500 kilograms, but the flight speed can only reach 300 kilometers per hour.

The American Predator UAV uses only one turboprop engine, reaching a maximum takeoff weight of more than 4,700 kilograms, an external plug-in capacity of more than 1,760 kilograms, and a flight speed of more than 480 kilometers per hour.

If Nanshan Engine's turboprop engine can make a breakthrough and be widely used in various UAV models, then the "Twin-tailed Scorpion" can also achieve improvements in performance.

For example, changing the two piston engines to two turboprops and slightly changing the fuselage design can greatly increase the load capacity and flight speed.

At that time, it can even carry large missiles and fly to distant seas to perform missions.

This meaning is very different.

That's why Cao Yang mentioned the research and development of turboprop engines.

As for the turbofan engine, which is very difficult and is used by various advanced fighter jets, forget it.

The threshold is too high, so Nanshan Engine should not be involved for the time being.

Nanshan Group has made enough contributions to achieve some very big breakthroughs in unconventional fields such as drones.

After all, the future uses of drones will exceed everyone’s imagination.

Things that don't seem that advanced, but if there are enough of them and can become invisible, will have unexpected effects.

If Nanshan Engine wants to develop turboprop engines, it will definitely need to recruit some professional and technical personnel from outside.

Otherwise, even if Cao Yang could come up with some very advanced technologies, it would be completely unclear.

Nanshan Engine has a large team of engineers. When the time comes, recruiting a group of professional turboprop engine engineers and combining them with the original piston engine team should be able to achieve the expected results.

However, as soon as Nanshan Engine’s recruitment information for engineers related to turboprop engines was announced, it immediately attracted the attention of many people.

First of all, several manufacturers of drones in the United States noticed the news.

Due to the emergence of the Twin-tailed Scorpion drone, Nanshan Group has come into the sight of many interested people.

Whether it is General Atomics, which produces Predator drones, or Northrop Grumman, which produces Global Hawk drones, there are people who are watching every move of Nanshan Carbon Fiber, Nanshan Robot, Nanshan Engine and other companies.

"Print, the engine currently used by China's Scorpion drone is said to be a piston engine. I see that they are recruiting technicians for turboprop engines."

"If this drone is equipped with a turboprop engine, its performance will immediately exceed that of your Predator."

"I think this situation needs to be taken seriously."

As the vice president of Northrop Grumman, Kevlar now can be said to regard the Scorpion drone as a thorn in his side.

The more information he got, the stronger his fear of the Scorpion drone became.

If China relaxes its export business of Scorpion drones in the future, many countries will definitely be interested.

That will directly affect the Global Hawk drone business.

Cutting off someone's money is like killing one's parents.

One can imagine how much Kevlar hates the Scorpion drone now.

"According to the information we have learned, the performance of the Scorpion drone is now more advanced than your Global Hawk."

"This is absolutely bad news for us in America."

"Now that they are recruiting turboprop engine engineers, should we arrange some commercial spies to go in and see if we can grasp the opponent's progress?"

As the president of General Atomics, Printer is more concerned about changes in the drone market than Kevlar.

For Northrop Grumman, the Global Hawk drone is just an insignificant product.

They are the largest radar manufacturer and the largest naval ship manufacturer in the world.

Its most famous products include the B-2 stealth bomber, RQ-4 Global Hawk drone, and F-14 Tomcat fighter jet.

There are also E-8C early warning aircraft, T-38 training aircraft, EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, E-2C early warning aircraft, etc.

General Atomics is different. Their flagship product is drones.

If their flagship product is scrapped by Nanshan Group, their losses will be huge.

"It's possible, but the Nanshan Group is certainly not stupid. It's not that easy to succeed."

"It's better to find a way to sell some of the other party's employees. Maybe the effect will be more significant."

Kevlar is naturally also interested in knowing various intelligence about Nanshan Group in drone-related fields.

There's no harm in doing this.

"No problem, but we can't rush this matter. We have to take a long-term approach to catch the big fish."

…

"Mr. Cao, has Nanshan Engine started producing aircraft engines now?"

The news that Nanshan Group is recruiting technical personnel related to turboprop engines has inexplicably become a hot search topic.

This definitely aroused the curiosity of many people.

Wang Fu is no exception.

In recent years, most of BYD's engines have been supplied by Nanshan Engine.

In the past two years, it has begun to use some of its own developed engines.

But the overall performance is definitely not as good as Nanshan engine products.

Now seeing that Nanshan Engine has begun to enter the aviation engine industry, Wang Fu couldn't help but call Cao Yang.

"With the transformation to electrification, the engines of gasoline vehicles will definitely go downhill in the future."

"With so many technicians and workers at Nanshan Engine, we can't just lay them off when the time comes."

"So it is inevitable to look for other engines."

Cao Yang answered Wang Fu's words half truthfully and half falsely.

However, this answer made Wang Fu feel a little speechless.

Because you were worried about layoffs, why did you go across industries to engage in aviation engines?

Although they are both called engines, can this engine be the same as a car engine?

Especially today's turboprop engines, in Wang Fu's opinion, really have nothing to do with car engines.

"Mr. Cao, your span is a bit big."

"Some time ago, there were sanctions in the United States because of Nanshan Robot's production of drones. If Nanshan Engine produces more aero engines in the future, it may also be sanctioned."

Wang Fu kindly reminded him.

He is still a little worried that one day Nanshan Group will not be able to produce some parts due to sanctions.

No one knows how big the impact will be.

"We cannot stop researching the technology just because it may be sanctioned by the United States."

"The engines developed by Nanshan Engine are only products used on low-speed aircraft and are not very sensitive."

"If the United States can't even accept this, then there's nothing I can do about it."

Lice are not itchy if there are too many.

Several subsidiaries of Nanshan Group have been sanctioned by the United States.

The impact is not that big.

The current international environment is not that bad yet.

Besides, Nanshan Group has been promoting 100% localization of equipment and materials in recent years, and it is not without any achievements.

Even if they really encounter more stringent sanctions, they will not be unable to survive.

It's just that I can't live my life so well.

"There are a lot of discussions on the Internet about Nanshan Engine's production of aero engines, although everything is said."

"However, it is a good thing to increase the popularity of Nanshan Engine and enhance the brand power of Nanshan Engine."

Everything has pros and cons.

In Wang Fu's view, this is obviously the case for Nanshan Engine's aviation engines.

"This can be considered an unexpected blessing. The reputation of Nanshan Engine has increased, which is a good thing for all customers who use its products."

"When domestic consumers buy cars in the future, they will not think that the engines of models from international auto giants are better than those of independent brands."

Cao Yang chatted with Wang Fu for a while before hanging up the phone.

However, just as he ended his call with Wang Fu, Pan Jun came to his door again.

"Mr. Cao, do we have any specific direction for our turboprop engine research and development?"

When Pan Jun heard the name of an aircraft engine, his first reaction was that it was for military use.

There is no way, this can be regarded as an occupational disease.

"Representative Pan, our turboprop engines are mainly small products, used for drones."

"At least that was the plan in the early days."

There was no need to hide this kind of thing from Pan Jun, so Cao Yang directly revealed the research and development direction.

As for whether there will be changes in the future, that is a matter for the future.

Whether business jets or other aircraft, they are mostly used to enhance Nanshan Group's reputation or technical impression.

But where it really shines is with drones.

Whether it is a twin-tailed scorpion or some other drone, it can be studied carefully.

The market for this segment will be very large in the future.

At that time, a large drone that costs 2 million yuan can be sold for 2 million US dollars abroad. Is it not an exaggeration at all?

After all, the unit price of the Predator drone has reached 10 million US dollars.

This is still the internal price in the United States, and it will be more expensive if sold to outsiders.

In this case, purchasing products with good performance and low price from Nanshan Group will definitely become an important choice for some people.

Cao Yang is targeting this market.

He believes that the Scorpion drone will be allowed to be sold to the outside world sooner or later.

At that time, we only need to change the stealth function and avionics system, and continue to keep the shape and the name "Twin-tailed Scorpion".

"You can produce large diesel engines, and I think large turbofan engines should not be a problem for you."

"Since Nanshan Engine plans to enter the aviation engine industry, does it make sense to directly develop more promising turbofan engines?"

Pan Jun knows very well what domestic aero-engine technology looks like.

It can be said that there is still a big gap between high-end advanced turbofan engines and the international advanced level.

If an ordinary company wanted to study turbofan engines, Pan Jun would just listen and not want to say anything more.

Because there is a high probability that other private enterprises will not be able to achieve anything in this area.

But Nanshan Group is different.

Pan Jun has more confidence in Nanshan Group than in some other large central enterprises.

If Nanshan Engine really starts researching turbofan engines, then Pan Jun feels that maybe in a few years, they can really bring huge surprises to China's aerospace engine field.

This is a situation he very much hopes to see, and it is also an important achievement for him as a representative of Nanshan Group.

However, Cao Yang had no intention of doing so.

"The threshold for turbofan engines is too high, and it is meaningless to simply solve existing problems. We need to directly benchmark against world-class standards and develop competitive engines."

"We don't have any experience with it and we don't see any chance of success in five years."

“So it’s enough to think carefully about the aircraft engine of the drone.”

When Cao Yang said this, Pan Jun couldn't refute it.

After all, he was telling the truth.

I am also looking forward to the situation on the Nanshan Engine side, as well as DJI drones.

Although the production of new DJI drone products is very tense during this period, Wang Tao is still very concerned about the developments at Nanshan Group.

"Mr. Chen, we build small drones, and Nanshan Group builds large drones. Do you think this is Mr. Cao's layout in the drone industry?"

Wang Tao is a person who likes to think.

When Cao Yang invested in DJI drones, he was wondering what the other party was looking at.

Because there seemed to be no overlap between the drone industry and the business of Nanshan Group at that time.

Under such circumstances, Wang Tao is actually quite grateful that Cao Yang is willing to invest in DJI at a higher valuation.

Now seeing that Nanshan Group has produced large drones, Wang Tao slowly began to have some guesses.

"It's possible. After all, drones need to be made bigger or smaller."

“The big has the big effect, the small has the wonderful.”

“There’s no special market for those that don’t come out of nowhere.”

"The energy of a team is relatively limited. Allocating manpower and material resources to the research and development of the more important and sensitive large-scale drones should be something that Mr. Cao has already thought about before."

Chen Dajian now admires Nanshan Group more and more.

This is a company that can always bring surprises to you.

"Nanshan Engine previously produced piston engines, which were not very different from gasoline engines."

"Using it directly on the Scorpion drone is also a good way to reduce costs."

"Now they are starting to develop turboprop engines again, which are already very professional aviation engines."

"If it is really done by then, it will be amazing."

Wang Tao has always felt that he is a more powerful person, but compared with Cao Yang, he is not proud at all.

There's no way, the difference in performance is too big.

Maybe in another ten years, he would be able to communicate with Cao Yang with a more peaceful attitude.

"Turboprop engines are just a type of aviation engine. Maybe Nanshan Engine will develop more difficult aviation engines in the future."

When Chen Dajian said this, Wang Tao immediately couldn't help but said: "Isn't that true? If we do it again, it will be a turbojet engine. This is not an area suitable for private enterprises."

"No matter how much money you invest, nine times out of ten it will be wasted!"

I have to say that Wang Tao's view should represent the views of the vast majority of people in China.

Turbojet engines, except for a few specialized state-owned enterprises, are simply not suitable for other companies to develop.

"Mr. Cao often brings unexpected surprises to everyone. Who knows what will happen in the future?"

Wang Tao:......