Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 270 Phantom 4000 Suffers Setbacks Everywhere
With a roar, the plane slowly landed and taxied back onto the tarmac. Its sharp nose, the side air intakes with their conical cones, and the wide wings didn't look so bad anymore.

A group of people surnamed Sha crowded around, clearly showing that they were much more interested in the aircraft than before.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the design of our aircraft is very advanced..." Marcel Dassault wanted to talk about the benefits of computer-aided manufacturing, but then he gave up, remembering his earlier setback.

In the pause of his speech, Prince Sultan spoke up: "Open the nose of the aircraft and let us see the radar equipment."

what?
Marcel Dassault was slightly taken aback and quickly said, "Gentlemen, this is a prototype for test flights and it doesn't have radar installed yet. However, we can install a pulse-Doppler radar provided by Thomson at any time if the customer needs it..."

He became more and more relaxed and confident as he spoke.

"Because of the large nose, the diameter of our radar antenna can be increased to over 800 millimeters, which will allow the radar to search at a greater distance..."

Is it a planar slotted radar antenna?

Marcel Dassault was stunned again. What a joke!
To this day, Europe has not overcome the manufacturing difficulties of this antenna, and the Tornado fighter jet is still using radar provided by the East, while its own...

Are we going to be outdone by the East again?

"Ahem, let me introduce the weapon system to everyone. It can be used in conjunction with the Matra air-to-air missile..."

"Is the range fifty kilometers? Note that this is the actual range, not the theoretical range."

Marcel Dassault felt he was speechless; every word he uttered was met with a retort!
"The recent battles have made us realize the importance of medium-range air combat," Prince Sultan said. "While the maneuverability of fighter jets is important, medium-range dogfighting performance is also crucial. Your French-made weapon systems are far too outdated!"

He paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something: "Right now, your aircraft doesn't have radar or fire control systems installed. Could we do this: we just buy the bare aircraft, then install avionics equipment made in the East, and pair it with Eastern missiles..."

"No, no, absolutely not!"

France's weapons systems are independent; they can tinker with everything themselves without relying on other countries' help, which is what the French are most proud of.

Now, they're producing fighter jets equipped with Eastern weapon systems and missiles? Are you kidding me? No way, absolutely not!
The French have dignity!

"In that case, then..."

“Our aircraft is very powerful; after all, it is a heavy fighter…” Marcel Dassault continued his pitch: “You just saw how powerful its maneuverability is. This aircraft can fully meet your needs and is the best alternative to the F-15!”

Prince Sultan pondered for a moment: "Alright, how much are you planning to sell this plane for?"

"Not expensive. As Dassault's most outstanding fighter jet, its price matches its performance, costing only $1.02 million..."

What the hell!

Prince Sultan turned around immediately and said, "Let's go, disperse, disperse!"

France's defense is independent, and everything has to be done by itself. However, this also leads to very high research and development costs and low sales, resulting in exorbitant costs per aircraft.

The Mirage 2000, when it was marketed to the East, cost as much as 60 million US dollars! So it's reasonable that the larger version of the Mirage 4000 was priced at 1.02 million US dollars. In the eyes of the French, this was a fair price, and they didn't intend to make much money at all.

However, this quote had a different meaning to Sha. Yes, Sha may have a lot of money, but he's not stupid!
The price of an F-15 is around $25 million for the Americans themselves, and even if the export price doubles, it's only $50 million. Your price for one Mirage 4000 is equivalent to two F-15s! It's even equivalent to eight JF-17 Thunders!
Even if we can't buy F-15s, we can't let the French rip us off with their Mirage 4000s!

“Wait, Your Highness Sultan, the price of our fighter jets… is indeed a bit high, but it’s absolutely worth every penny!” Marcel Dassault quickly stopped Prince Sultan. If these people left, this sales pitch would fall through again.

"Look here, our engines use a lot of titanium alloy! And over here, the fuselage uses a lot of composite materials. During test flights, our aircraft even reached an overload of 9.3G..."

Prince Sultan looked at the plane again, gave him a complicated look, and then said, "Alright, let's put the offer aside for now. Could this plane be manufactured here by us, Sha?"

"Of course... I'm sorry, Dassault's most advanced fighter jets cannot be manufactured in other countries... Prince Sultan, don't go, please don't go!"

Prince Sultan strode away and never looked back.

Chengdu, in the East.

"The Mirage 4000 fighter jet actually has many problems." Qin Liang immediately started to criticize it when he heard Prince Khalid mention this.

"Really? Could you analyze it for me?"

"First of all, there's its engine. The M53 is a unique single-rotor turbofan engine in the world, with an extremely low pressure ratio and extremely high fuel consumption. A single flight of a Mirage 4000 can cost over $20,000 in fuel alone. Although your side doesn't care about fuel costs, the overall price of this aircraft will definitely not be cheap..."

"French products have always been expensive and of low quality. A heavy aircraft like the Mirage 4000 is even less likely to be cheap. If I'm not mistaken, the price of this aircraft may exceed 100 million."

Prince Khalid's eyes widened: "What? Over a hundred million? Those Frenchmen are really ripping us off!"

"Yes, the price is high. If the performance were strong, that would be fine too. The key issue is that the Mirage 4000's performance is also quite poor. This aircraft is a twin-engine improved version of the Mirage 2000, and the Mirage 2000 is a fly-by-wire modified version of the Mirage 3. The overall technology is still stuck in the 1960s and 70s. Just look at the air intake. What era are we living in? They're still using air intake cones!"

The others listened quietly.

Denigrating others' products to elevate one's own is actually a very common business practice. However, most technical personnel are simply not good at doing this. Now that Qin Liang is here, he naturally has to say a few more words about this matter.

Dassault shouldn't blame themselves; the Phantom 4000 was never sold, and Dassault's wish was destined to be in vain.

"Their thinking is outdated; they have no idea what future air combat will look like." Qin Liang continued his charade: "Stealth aircraft are the key. Coordinated with AWACS, they don't even need to turn on their own radar; they can just sneak up and ambush their targets..."

The biggest flaw of the French was their lack of independent ability to develop early warning aircraft. As a result, their weapons were not systematic. In particular, the Rafale's nose diameter was too small to accommodate a large-diameter radar, and it could not work closely with early warning aircraft. The data link was not established. In air combat, it would be strange if they did not suffer losses.

"Yes, we absolutely cannot do without AWACS aircraft, our AWACS aircraft..."

"It's under development, so please rest assured. Once the JF-17 Thunder fighters are gradually being deployed to your units, early warning aircraft will definitely be installed as well. Our Eastern technology is world-class!"

"Okay, then we'll wait."

Qin Liang did his best. When Prince Khalid returns, he will definitely convey these words, and they will certainly play an important role in evaluating the Mirage 4000 procurement project.

Dassault wants to steal our orders? No way!

Marcel Dassault left the capital of Saudi Arabia with a sense of resentment. When he quoted a price of over one hundred million US dollars, their deal was completely off! There was no need for Qin Liang to try to persuade him; Saudi Arabia itself voted with its feet and would not choose this kind of aircraft.

Next stop, Yituo.

"To compete with heavy fighters, you need to have heavy fighters of equal strength. The Tomcat fighters from Langtuo are formidable. Only by purchasing our Mirage 4000s can your side match Langtuo."

Despite Marcel Dassault's eloquent presentation, Saddam Hussein remained unmoved. Their Mirage F1s had been disastrous in actual combat, resulting in their complete annihilation. Trying to convince them of the Mirage's capabilities again...

"What radar does your Mirage 4000 use? What missiles does it carry?" Hamid asked.

“Of course, it’s our most advanced French airborne radar. This radar has formidable performance, and it can be used with the Matra Super 530 missile…” Hamid shook his head helplessly: “This missile is too outdated. If it could carry our Lightning-20 air-to-air missile, and we could also transplant the radar and fire control system of the J-8 fighter jet onto it, then we might consider it…”

This is the second suggestion from the client!
Last time with Sha, they didn't accept it, but this time...

Marcel Dassault took a deep breath: "Alright, you guys are in charge of contacting the Easterners. As long as they are willing to hand over these products along with the technical data to us, we can complete the matching work."

Hamid frowned: "Giving you the product shouldn't be a problem, but the technical data... that might be difficult. You can leave the fighter jets with us, and the Easterners can help with the matching."

“No, no, that’s absolutely unacceptable! How can we allow others to match our fighter jets?” Marcel Dassault said. “Easterners are even less qualified!”

Actually, even if the avionics were completely transplanted, it wouldn't be a leak of secrets. The key issue is that it's embarrassing. The proud French were already making a huge concession by accepting avionics from other countries. Now, they actually want others to install it. No way, absolutely not!

"Then we can only say it's a pity."

Marcel Dassault's eyes widened: "Gentlemen, our Mirage 4000 is a twin-engine heavy fighter jet. There is no matching model in your equipment inventory! The J-8 in the East is just a second-generation aircraft, with a clear generational gap compared to our aircraft! The J-8 can only operate at high altitudes and high speeds!"

"For close-quarters combat, we have Super 7."

The J-8 is responsible for long-range interception, while the Super-7 is responsible for close-range dogfights. They cooperate with each other and fight in a well-organized manner.

"No, no, our Mirage 4000 can handle both high altitudes and high speeds, as well as close-range combat. Our aircraft can pull out 9.3G of overload! Only it can go toe-to-toe with the Tomcat!"

At this moment, Saddam Hussein spoke up: "How much does this kind of plane cost?"

"It's very cheap, only 90 million US dollars."

Having learned from his experience with someone in Sha, Marcel Dassault had no choice but to lower his offer, which he considered to be a very good deal.

"For the same price, we can buy two J-8s and four Super-7s. Is our combination of six fighter jets really not as good as a Mirage 4000?" Saddam Hussein glanced at Marcel Dassault. The Frenchmen always have such high prices!
“You can’t compare them like that. Do you use the same resources to train six pilots and train one pilot?” Marcel Dassault tried to sell.

“We have enough pilots; no training is needed. Those who flew the MiG-21 before can switch directly,” Saddam Hussein said. “If you quote forty million US dollars for this aircraft, we might consider it…”

Marcel Dassault's face darkened: "At this price, you can't even buy a Phantom 2000, let alone our twin-engine heavy-duty... Hey, Mr. Saddam, don't go!"

His sales pitch to Ito failed once again! Gritting his teeth, Marcel Dassault headed to his third target country with his Phantom 4000.

Indian.

"To date, your air force does not possess a single third-generation fighter jet, which has put you at a disadvantage in several conflicts..."

Before Marcel Dassault could finish speaking, he was interrupted: "Mr. Marcel, please watch your words. What do you mean by 'several times we were at a disadvantage'? Our Indian Air Force has never been at a disadvantage!"

Marcel Dassault was momentarily stunned; the other party was really... stubborn as a mule!
“I apologize, I didn’t express myself clearly just now.” Marcel Dassault could only force a smile: “Your side has the strongest air force in the entire region, how could you possibly be at a disadvantage? Your side is just…”

He couldn't find the right words.

"We were just giving in to them."

"That's right, we believe your fleet should be upgraded to better suppress your opponents. Our Mirage 4000 is your best option..."

"Hmm, this plane is really good!" Lafontaine's expression finally softened as he looked at the tall and powerful fighter jet in the airport.

India's situation is similar to that of Iran. Their main weapons and equipment are either Soviet-made or French-made, since these are the only options they have.

Want to buy the same item as them? They won't sell it to you!

"Our Mirage 4000 is a twin-engine heavy fighter jet. This aircraft uses two M53 engines and has a thrust-to-weight ratio of up to 1.13 in air combat..." Marcel Dassault introduced in detail.

"Yes, Not Bad!"

There is a play!

Sure enough, hard work pays off! As long as you put your mind to it, you can always find suitable clients!

Amid the roar of the engines, the air show began again. The Indians stared wide-eyed as the planes performed one high-G maneuver after another, all of them incredibly excited, some even exclaiming in surprise.

Beautiful, so beautiful!
Even if they have already ordered MiG-29s, they may not be as good as this aircraft. Moreover, its long range is an advantage that the MiG-29 cannot match!

India needs this kind of plane!
After the plane landed slowly, the two sides finally discussed the price.

"Our aircraft boasts top-notch performance at a reasonable price, costing only one hundred million US dollars per unit..."

Now it was time for the crucial price negotiation. While they were still at the airport, and the passengers seemed quite satisfied with the plane, they quickly presented their prices. Even if the other party wanted to haggle, they wouldn't cut the price too much for the sake of the plane.

"no problem!"

The other party actually agreed?
Marcel Dassault's eyes widened in disbelief. After a moment, he quickly forced a smile and said, "We knew that the Indian Air Force was the strongest and most insightful air force in the world..."

"Well, we'll pay a 20% down payment first, and we hope you can produce forty of them for us as soon as possible..."

"Great, great, great!" Marcel Dassault exclaimed excitedly. Forty aircraft! With this batch of orders, they could recoup the R&D costs, and any subsequent sales would be pure profit!

They have always dreamed of a heavy fighter jet, and now it has finally come true. Looking across all of Europe, only Dassault Aviation has successfully developed a fighter jet of this class!

At that moment, his heart was filled with pride.

"Do you have any early warning aircraft?" Lafontaine continued to ask.

"Well... not at the moment, but we can help with research and development if you need it."

Early warning aircraft are expensive to develop and can only be procured and deployed in small numbers. Only superpowers have the resources and the need for them. Even France, which has always valued independence and self-reliance, has never pursued early warning aircraft development. Its air force buys E-3s and its navy buys E-2s.
"Okay, we have an idea: to use our own transport aircraft, install radar equipment, and convert them into early warning aircraft..."

In fact, India has the An-12, a medium-sized transport aircraft that could easily serve as an early warning aircraft platform. However, India keeps talking about self-reliance and insists on using domestically produced aircraft platforms. So, they turned to their HS-748, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft about the same size as the E-2 platform. They decided to use this platform to develop an early warning aircraft, but with a platform that is disproportionately large for their airframe, the inevitable result is crashes!

After their previous failure, they realized that without early warning opportunities, they were at the mercy of others. However, after traveling abroad to investigate, they found that those products could not satisfy them at all. Thus, they were left with only the option of developing their own early warning aircraft. Moreover, in the 1980s, India's pride was high, and they had always been thinking about developing their own early warning aircraft.

"Of course, no problem. Dassault will do its best to help!" Marcel Dassault said with a smile. Using Indian funds to develop an early warning aircraft for India would allow France to have similar equipment once it was developed, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop!
The two clasped hands, smiling, but each was secretly plotting against the other.

　PS: I've looked up a lot of information about the price. Some say it's no more than $23 million, while others say it was $30 million in 1983. However... if the French were selling us the Phantom 2000 for $60 million back in 1982, then the Phantom 4000 would definitely be priced even higher. So, I found a figure of $1.02 million, and that's what I'll go with.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)