Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Chapter 227 Aero Engines, 3 Years Behind?

bang bang bang

Fireworks went off in unison, deafeningly loud.

"Good work begins!"

Zhao Ruilong swung his shovel and took the lead in scooping up a shovelful of soil.

Cai Xiaohua, who serves as the general manager of Longguo Commercial Aviation Engine Group, followed suit and shoveled soil into the foundation pit.

Subsequently, many leaders and academicians attending the groundbreaking ceremony also began shoveling soil.

This symbolizes the official groundbreaking of the Luzhou aero-engine research and manufacturing base.

After a while.

After the ceremony, a large number of construction machines began construction with a roar.

Under the bright sunshine, many guests had already left, but Cai Xiaohua remained motionless.

After seeing the convoy off, Zhao Ruilong came to Cai Xiaohua's side.

Cai Xiaohua, who is over fifty years old, graduated from Jingzhou University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He later went to Yanjing to continue his studies and became one of the first batch of doctoral students specializing in aero-engines in China.

Later, he joined China Aviation Industry Corporation and worked on the research and development of military engines for many years.

Zhao Ruilong knew.

Today's groundbreaking ceremony is of great significance to Cai Xiaohua.

This means more than just that he has returned to Handong Province, which he had left many years ago.

It also symbolizes that a new chapter has begun in his career in aircraft engines.

In many people's minds.

To meet national defense needs and ensure that we are not held hostage in wartime, there is a shortage of military engines available.

Over the past few decades, China has developed several military engines through independent research and development and technology import.

Although compared to foreign engines, the thrust-to-weight ratio is very small, fuel consumption is very high, and reliability is poor... for military aircraft engines, as long as they work, that's fine.

If it's really war, who cares about fuel consumption?

Even if the engine's stable operating time is only two hundred hours, it doesn't matter.

Because the fighter jet might be shot down before it even reaches the end of its engine's lifespan.

however……

Civil aircraft engines are a completely different story.

Civil aviation companies purchase aircraft to make money and generate profits.

Therefore, the engine, the most important core component of an aircraft, naturally has extremely high requirements.

The thrust needs to be large enough so that the aircraft can carry more cargo, but the fuel consumption also needs to be low enough, because fuel costs are directly related to profitability.

At the same time, it must be highly reliable, able to adapt to harsh climates and working conditions, and not break down while flying, so that the aircraft is not frequently grounded and unable to operate.

In addition, the noise level during operation must be low enough to ensure comfort for passengers, as well as residents around the route and airport.

In addition, the maintenance cycle should be long enough so that the aircraft has to be shut down for maintenance after only a few flight hours. Moreover, maintenance should be convenient and quick, and the cost should not be too high.

all in all.

The military's requirements for military engines are relatively simple: as long as the performance is strong enough, other aspects are secondary.

However, civil aviation companies have extremely high requirements for civilian engines, demanding excellence in every aspect.

While China has developed many military products, it has never independently developed a civilian high-thrust engine.

This initiative is ultimately aimed at providing supporting components for domestically produced large aircraft.

If the development of civilian engines does not go smoothly, the development progress of domestically produced large aircraft will also be delayed.

If the civilian engine is not good enough, it will also affect the overall performance of the domestically produced large aircraft.

This makes it even more difficult.

So much so that when the domestic large aircraft project was restarted, many people suggested taking a two-pronged approach.

In other words, while developing domestically produced engines to support the technology, efforts were also made to import existing advanced engines from the West.

Even if the development of domestically produced engines is not smooth and their performance is not good, the development of domestically produced large aircraft using imported foreign engines will not be delayed.

Crucially, established Western aero-engine companies possess extensive experience, advanced technology, and mature products. Suppliers of engines widely used in the market from them can guarantee performance and reliability.

Even if the price is much higher and the production capacity is controlled by others, it will give people more peace of mind. Moreover, it will help the domestically produced large aircraft to obtain airworthiness certification in the West after its successful development, thereby opening up sales in the international market.

however……

The "two-pronged approach" had many advantages, but it was vetoed by Zhao Ruilong.

Zhao Ruilong's reason was very simple.

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is already competing with Boeing and Airbus in the West for market share. How could the West be so kind as to provide good and inexpensive existing engines?

Even if we were to supply them, we don't know how many years of negotiations would be required. Once an agreement is reached, the price, production volume, and supply cycle would all be determined by others.

Each aircraft needs to be equipped with two engines. Do you want to produce hundreds of large aircraft every year?

But they can only provide you with a few dozen engines, what can you do?

When asked, they always gave various reasons such as poor material supply and excessive production.

Moreover, they don't offer the most advanced or fuel-efficient models.

They promised to help us obtain airworthiness certification in the West, but took no concrete action.

They make a fortune off you without helping you at all. What are you going to do about it?

Having your own parents is better than having your own.

How can we allow ourselves to be controlled by others when aircraft engines are such an indispensable and crucial component?

Moreover, cutting off the route of importing from abroad allows us to focus more intently on the path of independent domestic production.

Otherwise, if we keep thinking that it's not good to develop things independently, we can always import them from abroad.

They wouldn't have the courage to fight a desperate battle with their backs to the wall.

of course.

This was merely the reason Zhao Ruilong gave when he vetoed the motion.

There's another reason, which Zhao Ruilong didn't mention.

That is, as a time traveler, he was well aware of the usual Western practices.

In the world before the time travel, the domestically produced large aircraft project was tricked.

From feasibility studies and project approval to the successful maiden flight and subsequent commercial operation, a significant amount of time and money was spent.

After small-batch production, production capacity has been unable to increase, and airworthiness certification abroad has also progressed slowly.

Even though many aircraft have been produced and have operated safely and smoothly for many flights, transporting a large number of passengers.

However, many core components and systems, including engines, are dependent on others.

Not only are they expensive, but there is also a shortage of supply, which makes it impossible to reduce costs and increase production capacity.

Obtaining airworthiness certification abroad and opening up the international market seems a distant prospect.

and so……

Having transmigrated to this world, Zhao Ruilong naturally wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

In particular, he spearheaded the restart of the domestically produced large aircraft project and provided most of the funding himself.

Whoever pays is the boss!

Zhao Ruilong naturally has veto power.

With Zhao Ruilong footing the bill, the higher-ups are naturally happy to let the domestically produced large aircraft use domestically produced engines.

Moreover, military engines have been developed for many years, and there is already some experience and foundation in various aspects.

How will you know it won't work if you don't try?

This put Cai Xiaohua under tremendous pressure.

Although both military and civilian applications involve aircraft engines, it doesn't really mean crossing industry boundaries.

Moreover, Zhao Ruilong somehow obtained a particularly detailed research and development plan.

However, these are engines used in different fields, with different focuses and vastly different user needs.

“Engineer Cai, there’s no turning back now. It’s too late for you to worry. Just do it. Even if it doesn’t turn out well, I’ll be the one who loses money and takes responsibility, not you.”

As soon as Zhao Ruilong finished speaking, Cai Xiaohua turned her head and said to the side:

"Spending so much money, hiring so many people, organizing and coordinating so many organizations, and now even starting construction on the R&D and manufacturing base... If I felt no pressure, wouldn't that be incredibly irresponsible?"

Zhao Ruilong nodded slightly.

Since the large aircraft project was restarted, it has been burning through money every day.

Because a modern jet airliner has such a large and complex technological composition.

They must not only adapt to harsh and complex climates and working conditions.

We also need to ensure that it is economical, comfortable, safe, and reliable...

Therefore, even something as simple as the cockpit and passenger cabin windows requires meticulous design, repeated testing, and continuous improvement...

An airplane has far more technically challenging components than glass, and there are more than a thousand of them.

Therefore, a great many organizations are needed to participate in the research and development.

With a single order from the top leadership, numerous universities, research institutions, and large state-owned enterprises would participate in the research and development.

But we need to do design work, conduct experiments, purchase equipment and supplies, and pay salaries and bonuses...

All sorts of expenses combined don't just amount to money; they're burning money.

On average, tens of millions are burned every day.

This is only the initial design stage.

Numerous components, including engines, landing gear, and avionics systems, have entered the experimental stage.

After assembling and manufacturing the first aircraft using tens of thousands of parts, it began an intensive flight test and verification phase.

At that time, the spending will be even more intense, at least 100 million yuan per day.

Even a single test flight consumes tons of aviation fuel, not counting personnel costs, aircraft wear and tear, airport takeoff and landing costs, command and dispatch costs, etc.

To fully test the safety and reliability of an aircraft and to obtain a type certificate for mass production and delivery, several test aircraft need to be built and thousands of test flights need to be conducted.

There are also many test flight subjects, which require flying to airports in extremely cold, extremely hot, high-altitude, and island environments. It's not just about flying around a few times; there will be a lot of assessment subjects.

therefore.

The bustling construction site in front of us is hardly an engine research and development base.

It's clearly a giant incinerator being built, where huge sums of money will be burned in the future.

"Don't worry, Engineer Cai!"

"Our country, China, has a good industrial base and talent pool, has accumulated certain technical expertise in developing military engines, and possesses a strong national will!"

"Even if one day in the future I, Zhao Ruilong, run out of money to burn, our Dragon Country will still tighten its belt and develop a first-class domestic aero engine!"

Cai Xiaohua looked at Zhao Ruilong with some surprise.

"Are you so confident?"

"Of course!"

Zhao Ruilong said with a broad smile:

"Our military engines can reach world-class standards, so why can't our civilian engines?"

Cai Xiaohua was taken aback.

"Mr. Zhao, you must be mistaken. Our military engines are far from world-class. They're at least thirty years behind!"

"Have you forgotten that the world's first stealth fighter jet, developed by the United States, successfully completed its maiden flight four years ago?"

"That was not only the world's first fifth-generation fighter jet, but the engine it used also had a thrust-to-weight ratio as high as 10.5. What terrifying performance parameters that are!"

"It's no exaggeration to say that it's the most powerful aircraft engine on Earth. Compared to ours, it's like alien technology—it's so advanced and powerful!"

Zhao Ruilong smiled faintly.

The thrust-to-weight ratio is indeed crucial for military engines.

It is the ratio of the engine's thrust to its own weight.

The higher the value, the stronger the engine performance, the higher the efficiency, and the more advanced the technology.

For the same weight, an engine with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio can generate more thrust, enabling the fighter jet to have stronger flight performance.

For the same thrust, the engine with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio will naturally be lighter, and lighter weight means lower fuel consumption and stronger flight performance.

and so……

Countries capable of developing military aircraft engines have always placed great importance on the thrust-to-weight ratio parameter.

Many people believe that China's military aircraft engines are 20 to 30 years behind the world's advanced level.

It was because in the 1970s, China finally developed a military aircraft engine through technology import and imitation innovation, but the thrust-to-weight ratio was slightly lower than 3.9.

During the same period, the thrust-to-weight ratio in the United States had exceeded 7.

If the two sides were to engage in aerial combat, the United States would easily crush China based solely on the performance difference of its engines.

Countless military industry workers began to work frantically, hoping to close the gap as soon as possible.

however……

China's military engines have made rapid progress.

But Americans are just too 'fierce'.

In 1997, the United States successfully completed its maiden flight with an engine that had a thrust-to-weight ratio of 10.5.

Upon learning this news, many aero-engine experts, researchers, and military industrial technicians in China were stunned.

The difference is just too big!

In addition, there were several high-tech local wars.

The United States' repeated surgical-precise air strikes easily crushed its opponents and also awakened hundreds of millions of Chinese people.

The "backwardness invites aggression" gene flowing in their blood was completely stimulated and awakened.

The military is strictly prohibited from engaging in business and has begun to fully target modern high-tech warfare.

Naturally, no one doubted that Americans would fabricate evidence.

Everyone was focused on the possibility that the United States, as the world's most advanced and developed military power, might actually develop a super-powerful engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of over 10 for its fifth-generation fighter jets.

Therefore, envy and jealousy are useless; we should only strive to catch up and increase our scientific research efforts.

to this end.

The Dragon Kingdom mobilized its best troops and generals, and swiftly approved the project.

Special procedures were implemented, and the new generation of turbofan engines was listed as a major national defense scientific research project at rocket speed.

but……

Even after years of effort, countless people racked their brains and exhausted the limits of domestic technology, materials and other aspects.

The new generation of military turbofan engines, after ground testing, was found to have a thrust-to-weight ratio of only 7.5.

Although it is already remarkable compared to other countries.

However, military experts like Cai Xiaohua still felt it wasn't enough.

What does everyone think 7.5 is?

The Americans developed an engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio as high as 10.5 many years ago.

With a difference of 3 in thrust-to-weight ratio, how can you say you're not 30 years behind?

Therefore, the vast majority of military industry workers still need to make further progress.

We must strive for the next generation of engines and develop engines with a thrust-to-weight ratio exceeding 10.

now.

The development of the second-generation domestically produced military turbofan engine has been basically completed, while the third-generation project has not yet been initiated.

Cai Xiaohua was tasked with leading a team to shift their focus to the field of civil aviation engines.

With Zhao Ruilong's strong support, Cai Xiaohua was naturally very confident in developing a civilian engine with good performance.

But to say it has top-notch performance...

Of course he didn't believe it.

What is Zhao Ruilong supposed to say about this?

As a time traveler, Zhao Ruilong was naturally very familiar with the deception and fraud of Westerners.

Any product performance parameters can be inflated.

Many so-called advanced weapons are actually just gimmicks to get Congress to allocate funds.

But in today's world...

Information is not readily available, and the West has not self-declassified or leaked information.

In the minds of Chinese people, Western high technology is advanced and stronger.

So, without evidence, how can we say that China's military aircraft engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 7.5 was already world-class in the early 21st century?

Without concrete evidence, and given that the Americans won't admit it voluntarily, how can Cai Xiaohua be convinced that the American engine's thrust-to-weight ratio is not even 7, let alone 10.5?

"Prejudice in people's hearts is indeed a mountain that cannot be easily changed!"

"But this is good too. Only by always keeping in mind that we are not as good as others and need to catch up can China's technology advance rapidly!"

"Electromagnetic guns, electromagnetic catapults, hypersonic missiles, dual-pulse air-to-air missiles, autonomous drone combat clusters... It's fine if the Americans brag a lot."

"The more they boast and the more beautiful their PowerPoint presentations are, the more hardworking the Chinese, who like to overestimate their opponents, will become, and they will strive to realize every single boast the Americans have made!"

Thinking of this, Zhao Ruilong decided to stop wasting time talking.

“Engineer Cai, I don’t care how powerful the American military engines are.”

"Anyway, if you need people, I'll provide them; if you need money, I'll provide it; I'll even give you a detailed plan."

"Two years from now, I must see a domestically produced turbofan engine that meets my requirements!!"