Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Amos almost jogged all the way over. When he went around the machine blocking his view and saw the entire plane, he exclaimed in surprise, "Three-wing configuration?"

Modern fighter jets often only have triangular main wings, with nothing else. Adding a wing in front creates a canard configuration, while adding a wing in the back creates a conventional aerodynamic configuration. If wings are added both front and back, it's a three-wing configuration.

This configuration is rare. No aircraft currently in service uses it, except for the later Russian carrier-based Su-33 and the fighter-bomber Su-30.

Having only seen the nose earlier, Amos thought it was a canard configuration. Now that he could see it clearly, he was astonished by the unique three-wing design. How could he not be surprised?

Amos shook his head. If Mossad couldn't do it, how could the Orientals?

"This is our ultimate modification of the J-7," Qin Yang explained. "The biggest problem with the J-7 is the nose air intake, which makes it impossible to install a radar in the nose. So, we changed it to a ventral air intake, which also improves high angle-of-attack maneuverability. However, after this change, the nose became too heavy and couldn't be balanced, so we added a wing in the front. This wing not only provides lift and balances the nose weight, but it also acts as a vortex generator to improve the performance of the wings."

The model in front of him had undergone a major overhaul of the J-7's nose, adding hundreds of kilograms of weight. There was no way to balance it with counterweights, so they could only add a canard to the front to provide lift. If positioned correctly, it could also act as a leading-edge extension, drawing out vortices to improve the aircraft's high angle-of-attack and takeoff/landing capabilities, as well as vertical climb, low-to-medium altitude steady turns, stall speed, and other performance aspects.

This was different from the Soviet's approach.

However, completing this kind of improvement was not simple. It required a solid foundation and strong aviation research and development capabilities. The East's technology was quite strong!

Natalie's gaze was drawn to the underside of the wing. This model wasn't just an aircraft model; it also had missiles hanging underneath! The inner pylons clearly had two pointed missiles, shaped like Sparrows. Could it be that the Orientals had independently developed a medium-range air-to-air missile?

"Alright, everyone has seen it. Next, let's go eat," Qin Yang said.

A few glances were enough. Continuing to look would be unwise; what if they spotted a flaw?

Amos reluctantly left, but as he reached the door, he turned back and took another look, suddenly realizing something. "There's a serious flaw in your fighter jet. It's impossible to develop it successfully!"

Tu Lao and the others' expressions changed. What did he mean?

"Mr. Amos, that's a bit much," Qin Yang retorted, equally impolite. Damn it, we showed you our classified project, and after seeing it, you're not convinced and even curse us? Believe it or not, we'll ditch you, cancel the wind tunnel testing project, and not even give you a refund?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I just realized that after your modifications, the aircraft's drag will increase significantly. It's impossible for the original engine to allow this aircraft to reach its original performance. Not to mention Mach 2, I'm afraid it won't even reach Mach 1.5!"

Nie Xiaoqian looked at Qin Yang with a complicated expression. We went to Israel to trick the Jews into saying their plane's speed wasn't up to par, and now they're cursing our fighter jet in return. How do you respond?

"We've done a lot of wind tunnel testing, so how could we not know that the drag would increase? The original engine certainly wouldn't be enough, but we have advanced engines that can compensate for this deficiency."

"Oh."

Tu Lao and the others breathed a sigh of relief. President Qin had bluffed his way through. If they really wanted to make these modifications in the future, they would definitely need an advanced engine! This still depended on President Qin. He heard that President Qin tricked foreigners into bringing over the F404 last time; he wondered if it worked out.

The group headed towards Factory 132's cafeteria.

They could smell a fragrance from afar. Natalie recovered from her thoughts and sniffed the air.

"I heard that Eastern cuisine is very good. I finally have the chance to taste it," Natalie said, feeling an itch in her nose.

Achoo! Another sneeze.

"It seems you've caught a cold. Go inside and eat something; you'll feel better once your body warms up."

"Mm." Natalie looked up, facing forward.

The cafeteria was a two-story structure, occupying a large area. The central part protruded, with a huge plaque erected, two stories high, with powerful characters written on it: Chengdu Aircraft Corporation Blue Sky Restaurant. On both sides were rows of windows, which looked like an airplane from a distance.

In a private room on the second floor of the cafeteria, dishes were brought up to the round dining table one after another. It was Natalie's first time in the East, and her first time eating Eastern food, and she was full of curiosity.

When a large dish basin was placed in the center of the table, with the white, green, and red colors complementing each other, she couldn't help but ask Nie Xiaoqian beside her, "What is this dish?"

"The highlight of the meal, Water Boiled Fish. You see the white part inside is fresh fish slices, the long strips are tofu skin, and the green, tadpole-like things are bean sprouts."

"Then what are the red things sprinkled on top?"

"Something that warms the whole body when eaten in the cold winter."

"Really? Then I want to try it." Natalie had already noticed that almost every dish on the table had that red thing, which looked very bright and made people's mouths water.

She clumsily picked up chopsticks, then put them down, using a fork to pick up the red thing from the Water Boiled Fish and put it in her mouth.

The moment her tongue touched it, a violent stimulation came, and she felt like a ball of fire was burning on her tongue! Even the highest proof vodka wasn't this intense!

"Ah... what is this taste?" She covered her mouth, wanting to spit it out.

"Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, these are our Eastern five flavors. Only by tasting the five flavors can you taste the myriad aspects of life," Nie Xiaoqian said from the side, then skillfully picked up a small chili pepper with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.

Watching Nie Xiaoqian chew on this thing, as if it were very delicious, Natalie couldn't help but want to try it too. Her tongue rolled the fiery thing to her teeth, and then she bit down, crunch! The chili pepper was crushed.

Natalie instantly felt the flames burn onto her teeth. Not only her gums, which had sensory nerve endings, but even her teeth seemed to have been set on fire.

This, this, this is delicious?

Natalie watched Nie Xiaoqian pick up another chili pepper and put it in her mouth to chew, but she dared not try it again.

"Come, everyone, let's eat together," Tu Lao greeted. "Little Nie, you're a female comrade, take care of Ms. Natalie."

"Mm, Natalie, come, eat fish." Nie Xiaoqian picked up a piece of fish and put it on the plate in front of Natalie.

Israel relied on the sea, so of course they ate fish, but they had never seen this strange way of preparing it.

Water Boiled Fish? Italy also had Water Boiled Fish, but they only boiled a large piece and put it on a plate, which looked similar to grilled fish. She had never seen this kind of sliced Water Boiled Fish before.

She used a fork to put the Water Boiled Fish in her mouth. It was a bit tender, a bit numb, and still a bit spicy, but perhaps because the chili pepper she had just eaten had already made her mouth adapt, she felt that her taste buds could accept it when she ate the Water Boiled Fish again.

She ate two more pieces, feeling sweat breaking out on her forehead, and her whole body seemed to be sweating.

"Natalie, how does it taste?"

"Very good. I also want to try what's next to it?"

"Spicy Chicken."

"Mm, good, good. I didn't expect chicken could be made like this? What about the square blocks over here?"

"Mapo Tofu."

"Tofu?"

"That's right, this is unique to our East. Try it."