Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

The demise of the Tomcat was a tragedy.

It wasn't eliminated due to poor performance; its replacement, the F-18 fighter, wasn't superior.

When loaded with missiles, it couldn't even break the sound barrier, let alone use the Phoenix missile, a powerful weapon, earning it the derogatory nickname "Big Bug" from the U.S. Navy.

The Tomcat was disliked by Congress due to its high cost, with the intention of replacing the F-14 with the cheaper F-18.

However, once the F-18 was finalized and put into service, its price wasn't any lower than the F-14.

The maintenance costs were indeed lower, but its performance was significantly worse.

In the end, Congress simply didn't like the Tomcat, and the Big Bug had the last laugh.

Now, Qin Yang was saying that the F-18 was much cheaper than the Tomcat, leaving McDonald speechless.

He didn't know how much Grumman had quoted the East, or why the East found it expensive.

If he quoted an even higher price, it would only further displease them.

As he remained silent, Qin Yang continued to speak incessantly.

"You should know that while our civil aviation department is independent, it still has close ties with the air force.

As long as we cooperate on military aircraft and your fighter jets are approved by the air force, that relationship will be established.

It will then be much easier for you to promote your civil airliners."

McDonald nodded.

That was indeed the case.

If they promoted military aircraft… wait, Congress hadn't authorized it yet.

Was McDonnell Douglas even qualified to sell F-18s to the East?

The resistance would be much greater than with the Tomcat.

"We, we probably can't sell F-18 fighters to you," McDonald said with difficulty.

"You must be joking.

To help us counter the Red Empire, you can export many of your fighters to us.

Our relationship with you is no further than Europe's."

Qin Yang shook his head, then continued, "Even if you can't export complete aircraft, the F404 engines used on your F-18 fighters are quite good.

They happen to meet our domestic J-7 and J-8 upgrade requirements.

You can act as an intermediary to help us purchase a batch of F404 engines.

Once we start cooperating, we'll become familiar with each other.

We Easterners never mistreat our friends."

Since the people from McDonnell Douglas were here, he had to try to deceive them.

What if they got carried away and sold advanced engines to them?

The country was lacking in everything, and aviation engines were also very weak.

The advanced J-10 fighter needed a high-thrust engine with an afterburning thrust of over twelve tons to be sufficient, while the existing J-7 and J-8 needed a medium-thrust engine.

The best medium-thrust engine in the world was the F404 engine.

The F404 engine, developed by General Electric, had a maximum afterburning thrust of 85 kilonewtons and weighed only about one ton, giving it a thrust-to-weight ratio of 8.

It was also very small: a maximum diameter of 0.89 meters and a length of 3.91 meters.

It had a wide range of applications, not only the Hornet but also the famous F-117, Sweden's Saab JAS39, and even France's Rafale used this engine during its test flights.

It could be said that when mentioning medium-thrust engines, this engine had to be mentioned.

The best medium-thrust engine in the world, without a doubt.

In the historical Peace Pearl project, it wasn't just about installing advanced radar and fire control systems on the J-8, but also about replacing the J-8's engines with advanced F404 engines.

Even if the high-altitude, high-speed performance was a bit worse, the increased range and takeoff thrust were still worth it.

As for the J-7, there was originally a plan to replace it with the F404 engine.

This was the Saber II project proposed by Old Ba, which, after several twists and turns, eventually stumbled and developed into the JF-17 fighter.

Under the unique U.S. defense policy, it was difficult to purchase an engine separately, but if there was a general contractor, it would be much smoother.

"You need F404 engines?" McDonald's eyes lit up.

Shen Hua was hiding in the United States and refused to come to the East.

Seeing that the project to co-produce the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was about to fail, the executives of McDonnell Douglas had to come in person.

However, after coming to the East, they found that the situation was not optimistic.

Because of Shen Hua's matter, the Easterners had a great resistance to cooperating on the MD-82 airliner.

They came to find Director Qin just to vent their anger and protest, not believing that there would be any progress, after all, Director Qin was the mastermind behind the scenes.

But now, Director Qin's proposal really made their hearts flutter.

If it could really be done, perhaps it could really bring the two sides closer and then continue to promote the MD-82 airliner?

"Director Qin, are you sure that your air force needs this engine?" McDonald continued to ask.

Qin Yang nodded: "If the air force doesn't want it, then our 960 factory wants it.

We've long wanted to get involved in the aviation industry.

We'll use this engine to modify the J-7 fighter and let it continue to serve for another twenty years."

Coming with anger and leaving with harmony, Qin Yang sent McDonald and his party to the luxury car parked at the gate, waving goodbye to them.

"Yangzi, we're a gun factory, what do we need aviation engines for?" Zhang Chao asked curiously, watching the motorcade drive away.

"Chaozi, you have to have ideals.

Do we only make guns?

We also make cannons, missiles, and tanks, and we will inevitably make airplanes in the future.

We must introduce advanced Western aviation engines to help our domestic aviation engine level improve by twenty years.

No matter how much money it costs, it's worth it," Qin Yang said.

"Now it depends on whether the Americans are willing to give it to us."

In the car, McDonald was also thinking about the conversation he had just had with Qin Yang.

To continue promoting airliners, he had to impress the Eastern Air Force.

To impress the Eastern Air Force, he had to either provide affordable fighter jets or help the Eastern Air Force modify their fighter jets and provide engines.

What should he do next?

What should he do to work with the congressmen after returning?

"Mr. McDonald, the content of the conversation just now has been recorded, but it seems that there is no room for us to play a role in it," said a subordinate beside him.

They came to find Qin Yang with another idea, which was to bribe Qin Yang, record the process, and then expose the matter to bring Qin Yang down!

If their business failed, they couldn't let Qin Yang have a good ending.

However, the conversation was quickly diverted by Qin Yang.

"What else is there to play?

That Director Qin is very shrewd," McDonald said.

"How could he leave us a handle?

However, I am really interested in the suggestion he put forward.

Do you have any ideas?

"The East does want to improve the J-7, but this MiG-21 replica is meaningless to us.

If we want to modify it, we might as well help them improve the J-8.

That kind of aircraft is an interceptor similar to the Su-15 that they developed.

It is a type of aircraft whose technical performance we have not mastered.

If we take the name of improvement and figure out the performance of that kind of aircraft, I don't think there will be any resistance in the country."

"Okay, then use this name," McDonald nodded.

"We must open up the Eastern market, which is related to the future of our McDonnell Douglas."