Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Missouri, St. Louis, an airport.

As the cabin door opened, several people in suits were already waiting below. Shen Hua almost ran down the ramp and shook hands with one of them.

Mr. MacDonald, we are truly flattered that you would personally greet us here.

Mr. Shen, we are of course happy to extend a warm welcome to your delegation's visit to our company." McDonnell Douglas CEO John McDonnell said, "Oh right, I heard that General Qin also came with you?

People fear fame like pigs fear fattening! The head of McDonnell Douglas actually knows me! Qin Yang didn't know whether he should be proud or just proud?

He took his wife's hand and slowly walked off the plane. Facing the expectant gazes, Qin Yang walked at a leisurely pace, a stark contrast to Shen Hua.

General Qin, come, let me introduce you, this is..." Seeing Qin Yang finally come down, Shen Hua quickly made introductions.

"I know, this is Mr. MacDonald. I've heard so much about you." Qin Yang shook his hand.

"Yes, the theaters are packed every showing. This year, Navy recruitment has been much smoother. Many people are holding Top Gun brochures, specifying that they want to fly Tomcat fighters." MacDonald was very moved. "General Qin, you are a genius!"

Shen Hua was completely confused. He didn't know about these things! He didn't expect General Qin to be so famous here? Is he going to be a supporting character this time?

"Come, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Zhang Zhongzhen, our company's vice president. He is an American-born Chinese and also very young. You will definitely get along."

Next to MacDonald, a young man extended his hand and communicated with Qin Yang in fluent Chinese: "General Qin, welcome to McDonnell Douglas."

Zhang Zhongzhen, a legendary figure, learned martial arts from a Shaolin master at the age of 3, opened a martial arts gym in the United States at 16, and even introduced the famous Bruce Lee to the screen. At 28, he took over as vice president of McDonnell Douglas.

"Mr. Zhang, it's a pleasure to meet you."

MacDonald personally introduced Qin Yang to his assistants, and Shen Hua was completely neglected, which shocked him: General Qin's influence abroad is so great!

After the introductions, the group went to inspect McDonnell Douglas.

"General Qin, do you know about our McDonnell Douglas?" MacDonald asked.

"Of course, in 1928, the elder MacDonald established McDonnell and Partners in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It went bankrupt a year later due to the outbreak of the economic crisis, but he was not discouraged. In 1938, the elder MacDonald re-established the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. This time, it caught up with World War II and developed rapidly. Since then, it has been developing military aircraft. A series of famous fighter jets, including the F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, and F-18 Hornet, are McDonnell Douglas's most famous products."

Qin Yang gave a run down of McDonnell Douglas, but didn't mention Douglas at all.

McDonnell Douglas was formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft. The founders of the two companies, James Smith McDonnell and Donald Wills Douglas, were both graduates of MIT and had both worked at Martin Aircraft.

Douglas founded his company in 1920 and had smooth sailing until 1967, when he suddenly faced the risk of bankruptcy. The reason was surprisingly the overwhelming number of orders, which led to a break in the capital chain due to production bottlenecks!

McDonnell Aircraft's merger of Douglas laid the groundwork for its failure: McDonnell Aircraft was a military aircraft leader, but it used the original military aircraft management methods to manage civilian airliners, and failure was inevitable.

In the process of opening the door to the East, Boeing did not need to rush to the East to obtain large numbers of purchase orders, but McDonnell Douglas offered a series of preferential conditions, even allowing airliners produced in the East to be resold to the West. Why? Isn't it because McDonnell Douglas was already in crisis?

"It seems that General Qin knows our military aircraft very well." MacDonald said, "Do you know our airliners? For example, our most advanced MD-82 airliner."

At this time, the group had arrived at the production workshop, where the advanced MD-82 airliner was being assembled. The fuselage was slender, and the two engines were arranged at the rear of the aircraft, tightly attached to the fuselage.

Qin Yang shook his head and pointed to the airliner: "I really don't know about this. Can its range reach 10,000 kilometers? Can it fly directly from our East to the United States?"

Shen Hua frowned.

"If it can't reach that, 8,000 kilometers will do, but the maximum take-off weight must be over 100 tons."

"General Qin, what you are talking about are the technical standards for trunk airliners. The MD-82 that we are about to introduce is a regional airliner. It is suitable for our domestic routes, such as flying from the South to the North, from the East to the West." Shen Hua could only explain.

Although General Qin is very familiar with the military industry, he is a layman when it comes to airliners. He's just here for tourism, why is he interfering in these matters?

"That's right, General Qin, it is not easy to have an advanced civil aviation industry. For your country, starting with regional airliners, mastering advanced international airliner standards, and then gradually transitioning to trunk airliners is the most suitable plan." Zhang Zhongzhen also spoke.

"That's right, I don't know much about the civil aviation industry, but after we introduce the technology and produce it, not only will civil aviation use it, but our military will also use it. We need to develop early warning aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft, and electronic warfare aircraft, etc., all of which require this imported technology airliner as a platform. If it doesn't have a large enough range and a high enough payload, then it simply can't be used." Qin Yang said, "I rejected the Y-10 at the Air Force conference because I hoped to import advanced large airliners from McDonnell Douglas for military use. If the MD-82 airliner does not meet our needs, then we will change to another model."

Shen Hua's face changed instantly: "General Qin, what early warning aircraft and aerial refueling aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft are all things for the future. You can't get fat with just one bite. We have to take it slow."

"What take it slow? We are introducing airliners to replace the Y-10, aren't we? Old Shen, what will our military do if you bring back a small plane? If the imported McDonnell Douglas airliner cannot meet our needs, then wouldn't we have to continue the Y-10 project?"

MacDonald's face also changed. What's going on? Is there going to be another twist in the middle? The MD-82 model has already been determined, and now they want to change it?

Changing it won't work either. An airliner is an airliner. How can it be used for military purposes?

Besides, the only one that meets the requirements is the DC-10 airliner, with a maximum take-off weight of more than 200 tons and a maximum range of 10,000 kilometers. The indicators are enough, but this is a three-engine airliner. There is also an engine on the vertical tail. Aerial refueling aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft are no problem, but how can an early warning aircraft be modified? The big dish on the back will definitely affect the operation of the engine at the tail!

DC-10, with a third engine installed on the vertical tail, the three-engine curse.