Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"Hmph, in the past, there were countless examples of projects failing because the indicators were too advanced. It's not like shouting a few slogans will allow us to leap forward." Old Li said, "Over the years, we have only successfully developed one fighter jet model ourselves, the J-8. All other projects died in the womb, including the J-9."

Old Li's words were hitting 611 Institute's soft spot. When the country was developing advanced fighter jets, the J-8 was actually just an alternative. The main focus was on the J-9, but in the end, only the J-8 achieved success. Why? Because the J-8 was the simplest.

They don't even consider their own capabilities. What's the use of shouting slogans loudly?

"That's right, it was like that in the past, but times are progressing and developing. We now have Factory 960 as a strong backing. When we encounter difficulties, we look to General Qin. We believe we can definitely overcome all obstacles and complete the development of this fighter jet!"

"That's right, with Factory 960, our aviation industry can take big steps forward." Elder Lin expressed his support on stage, "During the process of imitating the J-11 fighter jet, all the key technologies were breakthroughs made by them."

Titanium alloy wing boxes, mature engines, airborne radar, etc., are all provided by Factory 960. Even the landing gear, once Factory 960 has a large forging press, they can help manufacture it.

In the past, failures occurred because there was no enterprise like Factory 960. Now that we have it, of course, we can take big steps forward!

Qin Yang felt a little embarrassed up on the stage.

"Currently, we already have advanced airborne radar, mature engines, and processing technology for tricycle landing gear." Old Song said, "For us, the main things we lack are the airframe and fly-by-wire control system. We have already completed wind tunnel experiments and found a suitable shape. We only need to overcome the difficulty of fly-by-wire operation. As long as we have the support of our superiors, we are confident that we can get this aircraft into the sky within five years!"

Earlier, Qin Yang was still saying that the development of advanced third-generation aircraft was difficult, often taking ten years. Here, Old Song gave a timeline: the first flight could be within five years!

Old Li's face was ugly, and he was thinking about how to turn the tables when he suddenly thought of something.

"Your wind tunnel experiments were finalized when you were helping Israel modify the Lavi fighter jet, right?"

"That's right."

"I heard that the canard layout is prone to causing huge transonic drag, affecting the aircraft's maximum speed?"

"That's right, there is this problem. General Qin pointed out the flaw. General Qin is truly a genius." Speaking of this, Old Song was also very emotional, "Moreover, the solution was also proposed by General Qin."

"General Qin is actually an aviation master." Elder Zou looked at Qin Yang with emotion.

"I was just guessing randomly. Old Song is the professional. Old Song, please continue."

"The canard has two functions." Old Song said, "It can provide control torque, allowing the aircraft to quickly raise its nose. At the same time, the canard can also generate vortices, greatly improving the performance of the main wing. However, these performances are mutually restrictive."

Everyone present was an expert, and they quickly understood what Old Song meant.

The Lavi fighter's canards are located far back, which is a close-coupled configuration. This method can better utilize the vortices, but the canards are very close to the air intake under the fuselage. Therefore, during supersonic flight, the shock waves from the canards and the lip of the air intake will interfere with each other, causing the aircraft's drag to increase sharply and preventing it from reaching its maximum speed.

The solution is to move them forward, but if they are moved forward, the vortices will be gone. The European Typhoon fighter jet is designed this way, with a long-range canard layout. The canards only act as control surfaces and hardly generate any vortices.

Typhoon, the canards and main wings are separated by a huge distance.

Is there a compromise solution?

Of course, there is!

"After a large number of wind tunnel experiments, we raised the position of the canards and also made the main wing of the wing exhibit a certain degree of anhedral. This solved the problem of supersonic shock wave interference."

When other designers solve problems, they use distance to experiment and seek the best solution. However, the East considers it more comprehensively. If front and back don't work, then adjust up and down!

By increasing the distance and having a height difference, a brand-new mid-coupled canard appeared!

This is the East's original creation!

Although IAI was forced to increase the price several times, spending millions of dollars in total, they were still relatively satisfied with the final shape that was blown out and happily took the shape back.

Many people are accusing the J-10 of plagiarizing the Lavi fighter, but in fact, the two only look similar. In reality, there are big differences. The Lavi fighter focuses on ground attack, using a close-coupled and swept-wing layout, while the J-10 is an all-rounder, using a mid-coupled and delta wing structure.

By 1999, after the J-10's first flight, IAI started developing the advanced air superiority version of the Lavi fighter. The appearance of this model has undergone a major overhaul. After the modification, it looks very similar to the J-10.

As for now, with Qin Yang's help and the 611 Institute's repeated research, they directly designed the air superiority version. The Israelis can go high-end right away.

But can it succeed?

The second-generation aircraft era pursued high altitude and high speed, with "double 2.5", "double 2.8" and so on constantly on their lips. But in the third-generation aircraft era, no one cares about the maximum speed anymore.

The F-16 can also reach a maximum speed of Mach 2, but because it uses a fixed air intake, the drag will become larger and larger as the speed increases. Therefore, at high altitude, when the speed exceeds Mach 1.6, acceleration becomes difficult, and the speed of Mach 2 is slowly reached.

The 611 Institute's design uses an adjustable air intake, which accelerates faster. After all, the Eastern fighter jets must have the ability to fly at high altitude and high speed.

The faces of a group of experts from the Northern Institute were ugly. Compared to the 611 Institute's project, their project was almost vulnerable. Could they still present it?

Old Song continued to talk about the design, eloquently. Time was slowly passing.

"The 611 Institute's program introduction has opened our eyes. Moreover, this project has done a lot of preparation work. It's almost all ready except for the last key element." Elder Zou said, "Next, please let the comrades from the Northern Institute introduce their plan."

Old Li was uneasy. Just as he was about to stand up, Leader Wang opened his mouth, "Old Song's introduction was too detailed just now. Unknowingly, this morning has passed. Should we eat first? After eating, we can continue downstairs?"