Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"With our current capabilities, we can only modify the avionics and weapons. For the J-11, the biggest problem is still the engine, but unfortunately, this can't be rushed. Rushing won't help," Old Lu continued.

The limiting factor for the Tomcat fighter was the engine. Back in those days, there weren't any advanced third-generation turbofan engines, so they could only use the TF30 from bombers. Unfortunately, it didn't perform well on fighter jets because it couldn't adapt to the pilot's frequent and aggressive throttle movements. The engine would often surge, and the engine's thrust was also insufficient, only 9.5 tons. For a fighter with a normal takeoff weight of 27.7 tons and a maximum takeoff weight of 32.7 tons, even if it reached the combat zone, it couldn't achieve a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 1.

Therefore, when the F-14D arrived, it was equipped with the F110 engine, increasing the thrust to 12.7 tons, which brought about a radical change in the Tomcat's performance, truly making it a Super Tomcat.

China's engine technology was limited, and they didn't try to copy the surge-prone TF30. Instead, they used the simpler M53, designated as the WS-10, but the thrust decreased slightly, resulting in even worse air combat performance.

It can be said that the J-11 fighter relied entirely on the huge advantage brought by its variable-sweep wing to fight the enemy. The engine completely hindered the J-11's performance.

But what could be done? Rushing wouldn't help.

The WS-6 engine, after repeated setbacks in previous years, had already been deemed a failed project and abandoned. Even if the new third-generation turbofan project got back on track, its development was still a long way off.

For a long time, the J-11 could only fly with the weak TF30 engine. Even the J-10 was hampered by the engine, forced to use the same WS-10.

How would future aero-engines be resolved?

This approach wouldn't work, but another option, the Russian AL-31F, also known as the 'Flanker Engine' by Chinese military enthusiasts, had a much lower level of technology. The Russians focused on mass production, ruggedness, and ease of use in wartime, with little regard for lifespan.

Therefore, if the development of their own forward-engineered engine took too long, they could completely use the Flanker Engine to solve the problems for a period of time in the future. Of course, this would have to wait until the 1990s.

In later years, China used a large number of Flanker Engines. Before the WS-10 matured, the Flanker Engine supported the skies of the East. Some people questioned why they didn't reverse engineer the Flanker Engine.

In fact, there was no problem with reverse engineering it. China already had a mature overhaul line for the Flanker Engine. The overhauled Flanker Engines were even better than the original, and many parts could be produced domestically. Even manufacturing the entire engine was no problem.

However, the Flanker Engine was already outdated. After the WS-10 truly matured, its performance was much stronger than the Flanker Engine.

For example, the WS-10A had a thrust of 12.7 tons, similar to the Flanker Engine. The WS-10B increased the thrust to 13.5 tons, and the later improved WS-10C even reached a thrust of 14.5 tons. Because they had fully understood the technology, it was easy to improve. If it were the Flanker Engine, because they hadn't fully understood the technology, they could replicate the same thrust, but if they wanted to increase the thrust, it could affect everything.

It wasn't necessary in later years. What about now? If China couldn't solve the engine problem in the 1990s, could they import the Flanker Engine from the Russians? Or should they try to get a Flanker Engine in the mid-1980s and give it to China for reverse engineering?

This thought flashed through Qin Yang's mind, and he felt his heart beat violently a few times.

The AL-31F engine was developed by the famous Lyulka Design Bureau, starting in 1971. Before that, they had already developed the famous AL-21F engine, used on many fighter jets. However, developing this engine was still fraught with difficulties.

This engine began testing in 1974, and in 1977, it was installed on the prototype of the Su-27, the T-10, for flight testing. However, the performance did not meet the requirements. This engine not only had insufficient thrust, but also had a lifespan of only 70 hours. The Lyulka Design Bureau continued to work on it until August 6, 1985, when the completely redesigned Flanker Engine finally passed national acceptance, and then began its glorious life.

This engine was also one of the most advanced engines in Russia. It wouldn't be easy to get this engine from the Russians, requiring careful planning and waiting, after all, the Russians hadn't fully developed it yet.

At the same time, these data also show how difficult it is to develop an advanced third-generation high-thrust engine. The Russians took more than ten years, what about the East? More than twenty years!

Therefore, if they had to wait for the domestic third-generation high-thrust engine to come out, it would really be too long. So, a solution definitely needed to be found.

Looking at the changes in Qin Yang's expression, everyone didn't speak, waiting for Qin Yang to return to normal before Old Lin spoke: "President Qin, have you figured it out?"

Qin Yang was startled and looked at Old Lin: "Old Lin, do you think I'm a god? Just thinking about it can solve the problem of advanced third-generation high-thrust engines? Let's talk about this later."

"President Qin, what do you think about us reverse engineering the MiG-23's engine?"

Even now, some people still clung to the MiG-23's engine. After all, the R-35-300 afterburning turbojet engine was the only high-thrust engine that the East could access, with an afterburning thrust of up to 127 kN. If they had this engine, they could achieve the power level of the Tomcat fighter equipped with the F110.

However, this was, after all, a turbojet engine, which was completely outdated. Although it had the advantage of high altitude and high speed, the fuel consumption would definitely be high.

"If it has already been reverse engineered domestically, then of course it can be used, but if we start reverse engineering it now, then there's no need," Qin Yang said.

Reverse engineering an engine would cost a lot of money and effort. With the strength of China's aviation department, it would cost a lot of money and take a long time to reverse engineer it.

The reason why the M53 engine could be reverse engineered was entirely because Factory 960 participated. Although they weren't a private enterprise in the strict sense, they used a set of rules and regulations of private enterprises, so research and development was naturally very fast. There was also the cooperation of many units across the country. The most important thing was that Factory 960 provided the money. The fact that this engine could be developed was entirely due to money!

"Yes, there's no need to reverse engineer it anymore," Old Lin said. "Reverse engineering an outdated turbojet would be a step backward in history. We should think about how to improve the power ratio of existing engines."

"Well, let's talk about something else. Our J-11 still has a lot of room for upgrades," Qin Yang said.

Everyone was stunned. What else could be upgraded?