Dominate South Asia

Next generation aircraft!

Now, China has just successfully developed a third-generation fighter, the J-10 fighter. At this time, the West has been equipped with third-generation fighters for nearly two decades, and the next-generation fighter in the West is about to end the competition for prototypes. It will be developed by Lockheed. The company won.

Therefore, although Chengdu Aircraft has just successfully developed the third-generation fighter, Mr. Song plans to leave subsequent improvements to young people while he develops the next-generation fighter.

In later generations, this fighter aircraft will be the black ribbon in the eyes of military fans. After the No. 10 aircraft was just finalized, Mr. Song and a large number of technical personnel continued to invest and study hard.

Now, the history is still surprisingly similar, but the progress has been advanced by nearly ten years.

After hearing President Song's talk about conducting pre-research on the next-generation aircraft, Hamad immediately showed great concern: "Really? What are the technical indicators of your next-generation fighter aircraft?"

Due to the advance of more than ten years, the F22 fighter jet, which will be the world's number one in the future, has not yet been tested at this time. Everything is on paper. Although the Americans have put forward various technical requirements for the aircraft, they need to be carefully distinguished. After all, some It was to fool the Soviet Union.

"Low detectability, excellent maneuverability, dual-engine heavy air control." Mr. Song said.

The United States has declassified the F-117, and the whole world knows that the Americans have an advanced low-observable aircraft. Although it is an aircraft the size of an F-16, its radar reflection area is only the size of a helmet. Therefore, this low detectability is very critical. Obviously, the distance at which the enemy's radar detects such an aircraft will be greatly shortened, and the safety of such an aircraft will be higher, which also means that it can sneak attack enemy aircraft.

For our own next-generation fighters, it is obvious that they must also have low detectability! This requires a redesign of the appearance and good maneuverability. It also needs to greatly reduce the radar reflection area. This is almost a contradictory combination, and more difficulties need to be overcome.

Mobility has always been the goal pursued by the Chinese Air Force. China's various aircraft, such as the J-6 and J-7, are all known for their mobility, such as the improved J-7. Its close combat capability can match that of the F-16.

If you want to have excellent maneuverability, you need strong power. Therefore, this new fighter must be dual-engine.

Mhamad listened to what the other party said, these were good, but there was still something missing.

"The technical performance of the next generation fighter aircraft is proposed by the United States. In addition to these, there is another aspect that is very important." Mhamad said: "It is supersonic cruise!"

Supersonic cruise! For ordinary fighters, if they want to fly at supersonic speeds, they must turn on afterburner. And afterburner, to put it bluntly, is to inject more fuel into the combustion chamber of the aircraft engine to accelerate combustion and obtain greater thrust. This method is very simple and the effect is obvious, but. One sequelae is that the fuel consumption is too great! An ordinary flight can last for an hour of fuel, but once the afterburner is turned on, it won't even last ten minutes before it is all used up.

Therefore, although a fighter jet can fly up to Mach 2 in terms of performance indicators, an aircraft is still flying during its entire life. There is only a very small amount of time spent flying at supersonic speeds, most of it is subsonic.

In later generations, the American F-22 once entered supersonic cruise during a fight with other fighter jets. That would declare the air war to be over, because. Other aircraft simply cannot keep up with the F-22. Even if they catch up, they will run out of fuel within a few minutes.

Therefore, supersonic cruise may not sound like much, but in actual combat, this ability is more important. Moreover, supersonic cruise means that it can quickly reach the theater during an interception mission, and can quickly evacuate after completing the mission.

Hearing Mhamad's words, Mr. Song had a trace of embarrassment on his face. He scratched his bald head and said, "We have discussed this target before, but we found that if we want to achieve this target, we need to It’s too difficult for us.”

It is indeed too difficult. In later generations, the United States can produce the F22, which can cruise at Mach 1.6 supersonic speed without using afterburner. This is achieved by relying on the abnormal technology of the United States and engines with ordinary alien technology. There is no With an engine with a high thrust-to-weight ratio, it is impossible for a fighter aircraft using a conventional aerodynamic layout to perform supersonic cruise.

For China, the engine is the biggest constraint. The No. 10 machine can complete the process thanks to the TF41 engine, which is a high-thrust engine that China can mass-produce. After replacing the F110, the mobility immediately went to a new level. Unfortunately, this engine is too expensive, and Pakistan's production capacity is limited. It is mainly used by Pakistan's own air force and cannot be equipped for China on a large scale.

Based on the existing technology, improvements and additions based on the TF41 will not meet the needs of supersonic cruise. Therefore, it is inevitable that this indicator will be cut off.

"If the engine power is insufficient, we have to find it from the aerodynamic shape." Mhammad said: "It is actually not very difficult to achieve the goal of supersonic cruise based on existing technology."

If the engine is not powerful, it can only be compensated by aerodynamics. The J-10 with a canard layout is the product of this idea. None of the American aircraft have a canard layout because their engine performance is excellent enough. Even Western Europe has adopted the canard layout without exception because of the defects of the engines.

Mr. Song nodded. It was indeed true. He thought so too. Therefore, the development of new fighter aircraft was still based on the existing canard layout plan. After so many years of development, this layout has been thoroughly understood by Chengfei. Yes, but with a canard layout and no high-thrust engine, it is impossible to achieve supersonic cruise.

Thinking of this, Mr. Song suddenly woke up: "President Hamad, are you talking about other pneumatic layouts?"

"Yes, as long as the resistance is reduced, it will be easier to enter supersonic cruise." Mhamad said: "What do you think?"

"You mean the variable sweep wing?" Mr. Song understood completely.

Variable swept wings will allow the fighter to have excellent aerodynamic performance in various conditions, allowing it to fight at close range and sprint quickly. The Tomcat fighter currently equipped by Pakistan is such an advanced fighter.

After being replaced with the F110 engine, the Tomcat fighter's maneuverability has been greatly increased. Hamad knew that when the U.S. Navy began to propose NATF, the Navy's advanced tactical fighter plan, Grumman immediately made a bidding plan, code-named Tomcat 21, which is actually a major improvement of the F-14, using A large number of composite materials are used to reduce radar reflection signals and weight, and also enhance ground attack capabilities. Furthermore, it is planned to install F110-GE-129 high-bypass turbofan engines to reduce fuel consumption and increase range. Grumman did the math. Prove that this fighter can have supersonic cruise capabilities.

As long as we understand all the technologies of the F110 engine currently produced by Pakistan, further increase the thrust, and improve it to the level of F110-GE-129, we can give the Tomcat fighter jets the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds! Not to mention that the Soviet Union will disintegrate in a few years. If the Soviet Al-41 engine can be obtained, it will have better supersonic cruise performance.

In addition to increasing the thrust of the engine, the large-scale use of composite materials can effectively reduce the weight of the aircraft. At the same time, all weapons are built-in. It can also reduce resistance, so a fighter aircraft that meets the characteristics of a fourth-generation aircraft is developed based on the Tomcat. It's totally okay.

After listening to Hamad's explanation, Mr. Song's eyes slowly shone with light. He knew that theoretically speaking, using variable sweep wings could more effectively achieve supersonic cruising capabilities!

In later generations, when Chengdu Aircraft was developing the J-20. The biggest problem encountered was also the lack of a qualified engine, which resulted in a beautiful-looking fighter plane, which was called the Black Ribbon by netizens. It did not have the ability to supersonic cruise. The engine it used was still the AL-27 used on the Su-27. 31 engine, insufficient power. Supersonic cruise is not possible.

Mr. Song has led the development staff and has begun diligent exploration. The current main plan is still the duck layout, now. To hear Mhamad tell it, it's asking them to give up their existing technology. Using variable sweep wings?

This change is so big that it’s almost like starting over from scratch. The challenge we face is also the biggest.

"We have already started pre-research on the modified Tomcat in our country." Mhamad made no secret of his progress. After all, although Pakistan has high scientific research capabilities after years of hard work, it still wants to develop It is still difficult to produce a qualified fourth-generation mobile phone. Compared with Hua Xia technicians work together to develop new fighters, which can not only reduce investment and technical risks, but also make up for technical defects. Moreover, after the development is successful, the two countries can jointly equip equipment and reduce development costs. In this way, for It's a good fit for both parties.

Therefore, after Mhamad heard that the other party was developing a fourth-generation aircraft, he immediately made a decision to jointly develop his own fourth-generation aircraft with China!

Nowadays, joint development of military aircraft has become a trend. After all, the development of advanced modern fighter aircraft costs a lot of money. European countries have embarked on the development path, such as the Tornado fighter aircraft and the later Eurofighter fighters. This is the idea.

Pakistan has conducted in-depth research on aerodynamic shape and has sufficient stealth capabilities. However, engine research and additional thrust are not that simple. The United States is now very wary of Pakistan and it is absolutely impossible to output more. Advanced engines for Pakistan.

The only way we can speed up the progress is by recruiting people from China to work together.

After Hamad finished speaking, the entire conference room fell into silence. The second hand was ticking. Mr. Song was thinking rapidly in his mind. These fourth-generation machines are related to the future of the motherland and are originally the most confidential. project, however, if it is developed by oneself, it will take a long time. If it is combined with Pakistan, the progress will be greatly accelerated. The two parties have already had a lot of cooperation in the past. However, the plan proposed by Pakistan is a variable swept wing. This is an improved plan from the Tomcat. Does China want to overthrow its own plan?

Mhamad is also sitting quietly. If China does not agree, Pakistan will develop on its own. Now, with the continuous advancement of aviation technology, large side strips and wing body fusion are becoming more and more developed. However, there are no new models of variable swept wings. Therefore, there has always been a voice in the aviation industry, It’s just that variable sweep wings are obsolete!

Is it outdated? In later generations, the retirement of the Tomcat in the United States represents the end of this classic variable-sweep wing fighter. However, that is because the United States has been invincible all over the world. If the Soviet Union still exists, the United States will never eliminate this advanced fighter. No matter how advanced the Hornet is, it does not have the long-range interception capability of the Tomcat fighter with six Phoenix missiles.

"We need to report to our superiors." Mr. Song finally spoke: "If we can jointly develop with Pakistan, we can greatly speed up our development speed. I personally agree with this. However, we need to further demonstrate whether to use our current canard layout or your variable-sweep wing." (To be continued ~^~)