Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Replacing the H-6's engines was a major undertaking. In later years, the H-6 was retrofitted with the Russian D30K engine. This engine was originally designed for the Il-76 transport aircraft and had a bypass ratio of only 2.4. It wasn't ideally suited for transport aircraft due to its high fuel consumption. However, it was more suitable for the H-6 because its thrust exceeded 10 tons. In operation, it often didn't even require full throttle to maintain sufficiently high performance for the H-6.

However, that was a matter for the new millennium. At that time, the East imported a large number of Russian D30 engines, importing thousands in total to meet various domestic needs. But currently, they certainly couldn't rely on the Russians.

So, what engine should the H-6 be replaced with?

This was truly a difficult problem to solve.

Over the years, there had been plans to replace the H-6's engines, even starting as early as two years after the successful maiden flight of the H-6. The initial plan was to replace them with the JT3D-3B turbofan engine. Anyone familiar with this engine would know that it was the engine of the famous Boeing 707 airliner at the time.

The Boeing 707 used four of these engines, each with a thrust of 8.1 tons. However, this engine seemed awkward when placed in the H-6's engine nacelle.

If only two were used, the thrust would clearly be insufficient. Although the range would increase after the replacement, the bomb load would decrease. Using four would be too wasteful.

Therefore, after much deliberation, this engine was abandoned. Later, the Trident airliner was introduced, and the Spey 512 engine on it caught their attention.

The Spey had many models, and this Spey 512 was a non-afterburning civilian engine with a thrust of only 5.4 tons. However, if two were used, that would be 10.8 tons, not much less than the WP-8 on the H-6, which was just right.

Moreover, the Spey was small in size, with a diameter only half that of the WP-8. This meant that two engines could be placed side by side in the H-6's engine nacelle. Furthermore, the Spey was very light. Four of them together were 1.4 tons lighter than the original two WP-8s. As for the service life, it reached 6,000 hours, which was incomparable to the WP-8's 800-hour lifespan.

However, considering various factors, only two Spey engines were ultimately placed in the engine nacelle, with the remaining two suspended under the wings of the H-6, creating a unique power layout. This H-6 was completed in late 1977 and began its maiden flight in early 1978. The performance it demonstrated excited everyone.

For example, due to the reduction in fuel consumption, the range increased to over 8,000 kilometers, the normal bomb load doubled, and the climb rate also greatly improved. In fact, the performance of the H-6 with this engine was almost the same as that of the H-6 later retrofitted with the D30K engine.

However, the Air Force didn't want it, for a very simple reason: it was expensive!

The Spey engine was imported and expensive. Later, although they wanted to develop it independently, it experienced a lot of setbacks and eventually came to nothing. As a result, there was naturally no engine available.

At this time, upon hearing Old Lin's words, Qin Yang immediately asked, "The Spey is quite good, why didn't you continue using it?"

"It's expensive."

"The Air Force has a very strange idea. They always consider the procurement cost and never consider the overall cost. Although the procurement price of the Spey engine is high, it can be used for 6,000 hours. Although the WP-8 is cheap, its lifespan is only 800 hours. Even if we calculate it at seven times, is the price of the Spey engine seven times that of the WP-8?"

The Eastern Air Force only considered the procurement cost, which many people didn't understand. When Old Ba came to purchase, he emphasized the full life cycle cost every day. Hadn't the Eastern Air Force heard of it?

Hearing Qin Yang's words, Old Lin showed a wry smile.

"President Qin, you don't understand. Of course, our Air Force also knows the concept of full life cycle cost and has compared it before. However, our domestic system is like this. The money for our procurement comes from relevant departments and is different from the funds for the normal operation of our Air Force," Old Lin said. "Therefore, the procurement money is only for procurement. If the price is too high, the number of procurements will be less. No matter how much money is saved in the later operation, it can't be saved on the procurement of aircraft."

"The localization of the Spey must be carried out unswervingly. The Spey engine is very important to us," Qin Yang said.

Important?

Everyone stared at Qin Yang with wide eyes. When did you start supporting the Spey?

The best time to support the Spey was during the J-11 imitation. If the J-11 used the Spey as its engine, the Spey project would become a key domestic project and develop rapidly.

But Qin Yang didn't. Qin Yang firmly supported the reverse engineering of the M53 engine and threw the Spey aside.

The reason for his abandonment was understandable. The Spey's thrust was not only insufficient, but it would also be weak at high altitudes. For the J-11, which focused on high-altitude and high-speed performance, this was unacceptable. The M53's thrust was also insufficient, but it had plenty of power at high altitudes. Therefore, compared to the two, the M53 was more suitable. Moreover, the M53 had a simple structure and was easier to imitate.

Facts also proved Qin Yang's choice. The M53 had already begun flight testing and was highly reliable without any problems. However, the Spey was still a flower in the mirror and the moon in the water.

Now, Qin Yang actually supported the Spey again. What did this mean?

"The fighter-bomber being developed by our relevant units uses this engine," Qin Yang said. "If we don't complete the reverse engineering, what will happen when the stock of engines runs out?"

The JH-7 fighter-bomber of later generations was so embarrassed. Because the stock of engines was used up, they even had to buy second-hand engines from the UK to maintain production. However, after a long time, the domestically produced WS-9 finally matured, and the JH-7 fighter-bomber had a reliable power source. Even later, the British had no backup engines and closed the Spey production line. There were even rumors that the British were coming to the East to buy them.

If it isn't developed now, the JH-7 will experience the embarrassment of history again. However, Qin Yang's support for the Spey is not only for this. The Spey has more uses.

"When the Spey completes all of its localization, our eagles in the sky will have reliable power, and our H-6 and JH-7 can have qualified engines to use," Qin Yang said. "Moreover, the Navy will also solve the heart problem."