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

Chapter 401: Bidding Begins for Three Fourth-Generation Fighter Jets

The roar of the engine began.

"Although our aircraft can only use trainer engines, after improvements, its performance is quite strong, with the maximum afterburner thrust increased to 4.5 tons, and the thrust-to-weight ratio in air combat can be increased to 1..."

Seeing the leader beside him looking completely bewildered, Huang Xiaozong quickly made an analogy: "In terms of overall performance, it's no less than the F-16."

"Yes, very good, very good. The work done by the Aero Engine Center is excellent. This way, we will have a modern fighter jet. If the United States won't sell us planes, we will develop them ourselves. Relying on others is never as good as relying on ourselves!"

"Yes, that's what we think too."

At this moment, Xing Youguang, who was standing to the side, was somewhat bored.

Relying on ourselves? Relying on what? We rely on the design power of mainland China!

What can we do on our own?
However, he didn't say that pouring cold water on things at this time would offend everyone!
His gaze fell upon the runway, where the fighter jets were beginning their low-speed taxiing tests. They swayed from side to side with remarkable agility, like a nimble monkey.

The landing gear for this aircraft was custom-made in the United States, since they can't produce the steel used for landing gear themselves. And it seems that the quality of this product is perfectly fine.

If the medium-speed and high-speed taxiing also goes well, then we can really make our maiden flight in a month!
Amidst the roar of the engine, countless people applauded and cheered.

The East, the capital.

"I heard that the first IDF fighter prototype has been built across the river. We can't let them catch up. After a period of development, the various design institutes should have a preliminary plan for this fourth-generation fighter by now. Next, we should select the one with the greatest potential through a bidding process and start detailed development!"

"Leader Duan, our Factory 320 has produced the first wooden prototype." Old Lu stood up first: "This wooden prototype has been sent to the compound of our Third Ministry of Machinery Industry. We would like to invite all leaders to come and take a look. We can refer to the wooden prototype to introduce the specific design plan to you."

"Great!" Leader Duan nodded in satisfaction. "Then let's all go and take a look!"

The other two design teams looked somewhat uneasy. The collaboration between Factory 320 and Grumman was the fastest!
Is there any hope for our side?
With mixed feelings, everyone went downstairs and came to the small square in the courtyard. Under the tarpaulin, the outline of the plane was visible, which made people look forward to it.

Old Lu walked up and forcefully pulled open the tarpaulin.

The nose of the aircraft was the first part to emerge.

The nose section is not the previously common diamond-shaped design, but more like a boat shape, with a triangle at the bottom and a slightly raised top. This design makes the nose look fuller.

On either side of the triangle below are two Garrett air intakes, located below the leading edge strip in front of the wing box. The wing box and leading edge strip are integrated to a certain extent, making the aircraft look more beautiful.

The upper part is a bubble-shaped cockpit with good visibility, and it appears to still be a two-seat layout.

The tarpaulin was pulled back further, revealing the wings.

Although it is just a wooden model, the variable sweep wing is still made to be movable. During transportation, the wing retracts backward, and once the cover is removed and the fixing device is opened, the wing can be manually rotated to the front.

The rear fuselage is still designed according to the Tomcat's design scheme, and it is very wide, with a distance of up to one meter between the two engines.

This design allows the fuselage itself to generate some lift, while the spacious interior can also accommodate bomb bays.

The tarpaulin was pulled down completely, revealing the outward-sloping twin tails and the fully movable horizontal tail.

"Distinguished leaders, let's begin with the nose section." Old Lu was beaming with excitement and radiance.

"After repeated and meticulous adjustments, the radar cross-section of the nose can be reduced to about 0.1 square meters. With the application of our radar-absorbing coating, it can be reduced to 0.01 square meters, meeting the requirements put forward by the leaders..."

"Behind the air intake, there is an S-curve, where side weapon bays can be arranged on the outside, and the main weapon bay is located below. Each side weapon bay can carry one short-range air-to-air missile and one medium-range air-to-air missile. The central main weapon bay can carry six medium-range air-to-air missiles or two 1000-kilogram bombs..."

This is the benefit of a wide fuselage; the bomb bay capacity is also quite large, enabling it to perform interception and air defense missions as well as tactical bombing, making it a multi-role fighter...

With its outstanding performance and ahead-of-plan schedule, this aircraft project is definitely worth supporting...

"The weight of this aircraft can be reduced to less than twenty tons if a large amount of composite materials are used..."

"What? This aircraft weighs twenty tons?" At this point, not only the visitors from the Northern Institute, but also many others, almost all exclaimed in unison.

Old Lu was somewhat helpless; there was nothing he could do about it!

It's important to know that the previous prototype, the Tomcat fighter jet, had an empty weight of over 18.2 tons. The circulating figures of 15 tons are pure nonsense. If it were truly the latter, then even if the Tomcat used the TF30, it would possess first-class vertical climb capability!
Now, with the change to a stealth design, the aircraft's shape has become even more bulky. Even with titanium alloy wing boxes, maintaining a weight of twenty tons is already quite impressive!
Qin Liang knew in his heart that this data was already the limit that Factory 320 could achieve.

After all, even the F-22 has an empty weight of over nineteen tons; their claim of sixteen tons is just a bluff. Our J-20 has an empty weight of seventeen tons, which is achieved by putting in tremendous effort to match their sixteen-ton figure.

All I can say is that we have to praise the Americans for their overstating claims; they've given us the motivation to strive harder.

Currently, the excessive weight is the biggest problem of the 320 Factory project. As a result, even if the WP-15 turbojet is still used, the thrust-to-weight ratio in air combat can only be maintained at 1 at most.

"As Comrade Qin Liang also said, under the current circumstances, our aero-engines are not performing well, and the thrust-to-weight ratio data is not very good. However, our aero-engine technology is constantly improving. In the future, as long as we have an engine with a maximum afterburning thrust of 15 tons, our aircraft will be able to meet all the requirements of 4S..."

The requirements for 4S are outrageous, but it's not something that can be achieved all at once. With the advantage of variable sweep wings, supersonic cruise is not a problem, but super maneuverability is still somewhat lacking. This depends on the engine and has nothing to do with Factory 320.

"Okay, that's enough about this aircraft. Let's go back and listen to the presentations from other organizations."

Back in the conference room, the people from Factory 320 were slightly disappointed. Clearly, the biggest problem with their project was that the empty weight was too high. But our maximum takeoff weight is also high!

With a maximum takeoff weight of 37 tons, it can carry a payload of 20 tons. With 10 tons of fuel, it can also carry 7 tons of weapons and ammunition. Isn't that incredible?
Old Song went up.

"Distinguished leaders, our project at Institute 611 is also a twin-engine heavy stealth fighter. According to our current calculations, our aircraft can reduce its weight to seventeen tons."

Twenty tons is too much; seventeen tons is more acceptable to everyone!
He looked radiant in everyone's eyes.

"A maximum takeoff weight of 37 tons means our aircraft has a payload of 20 tons..."

The maximum takeoff weight remains the same, but the aircraft is three tons lighter, which brings obvious benefits! With the existing engine thrust, the aircraft can also achieve good vertical maneuverability…

As Mr. Song walked and talked, when he got to the stage, a front view of the aircraft was displayed on the slide projector.

"Let's look at the nose. It uses a diamond-shaped cross-section, with a DSI air intake below and a bubble-type cockpit above. The canopy is treated with a gold-plated film. With these features, the frontal radar cross-section can reach 0.05 square meters without the help of a stealth coating. After using it, it can be easily reduced to below 0.01 square meters..."

This design results in a smaller radar cross-section!
Upon hearing his words, the people from the Northern Institute were astonished: "How is that possible? You're using a canard configuration, it's impossible..."

"Yes, the canard configuration cannot have such strong stealth capabilities. We struggled with this for a long time. Later, we decided to adopt the most complex aerodynamic configuration in the world. The canard is only used to provide positive lift, and the vortex is provided by the leading-edge extension. In this way, all the wing surfaces are on the same plane."

The second slide was shown, and everyone stared wide-eyed at the top-down view. Canards, strakes, delta wings… the world's first design scheme—the difficulty of this aerodynamic design… even experts know!
"This solution is far too complex. Programming the flight control system is practically hellish. Does your 611 team have the capability to do this?"

Old Song smiled and said, "Looking at the whole world, fly-by-wire aircraft crash during test flights. Our J-9 is about to complete its type certification. The entire test flight process has been very safe, and there have been no flight control defects. We have the best flight control experts."

Yang Wei is truly a treasure!
"Let's continue looking back. Behind the air intakes are the side-mounted bomb bays, each capable of carrying one short-range air-to-air missile. The central main bomb bay can carry four main air-to-air missiles. If the missiles are clipped, it can carry six. As for ground bombing missions... we will use stealth racks and external bombs. However, we believe that the main combat mission of this valuable heavy twin-engine stealth aircraft is to seize air superiority."

Old Song looked at everyone: "Whether now or in the future, stealth aircraft will always be expensive. They should be used for the most important missions: seizing air superiority and breaching the enemy's air defenses. After that, they can naturally be handed over to aircraft without stealth capabilities for bombing. Moreover, I've heard that Northwestern Polytechnical University is also developing a dedicated stealth bomber, so..."

For the Eastern Air Force, the most important thing is still to seize air superiority. If this is not achieved, everything else is in vain!
Now, the task of seizing air superiority falls on this twin-engine heavy stealth fighter. As for ground bombing... they haven't considered it for the time being. After the J-9 enters service, as a low-end aircraft, the task of dropping bombs will be handled by the J-9!
Half an hour later.

"Hmm, not bad. The design of this aircraft is quite impressive." Leader Duan nodded. "Next, please have the team from the Northern Institute present your proposal."

The schedule is very tight; the presentation will be finished in the morning, and we can start discussing it in the afternoon!
Engineer Li walked up, his expression somewhat complicated.

The two options above each have their merits, while their Northern Institute's solution is rather conventional...

"Distinguished leaders, our proposal is for a medium-sized twin-engine stealth fighter. We believe that heavy fighters are too expensive. Our proposal can serve as the lower-end fighter in a high-low mix..."

The attitude of the Northern Institute is rather humble!

Qin Liang was somewhat curious.

"Regarding the engine, we chose the domestically mature WS-12 turbofan engine, which is not only fuel-efficient and reliable, but also has decent high-altitude thrust. In addition, it can share engines with current fighter jets, which can save on logistics and maintenance costs..."

It seems the Northern Institute has finally realized the situation.

Historically, when bidding for fourth-generation fighter jets, the project that the North Institute put forward was quite peculiar. Influenced by the Russian triplane design, they also put forward a triplane design. The fuselage was as long and slender as the J-8, the maneuverability was extremely poor, but the frontal radar cross-section was as high as 0.4 square meters.

The internal weapons bay was also unique, but it was not suitable for the Air Force's needs, and ultimately, few people agreed with the project.

Of course, the deeper reason was the Air Force's distrust of the project. They had been developing the J-8 for so many years, and throughout the 1990s, they even tried to use the J-8-3 to steal the market from the J-10. In the end, the J-8-3 became a complete failure.

Who dares to trust Shenyang Aircraft Corporation? Chengdu Aircraft Corporation is much more reassuring!

Currently, the Northern Institute is not making any special exceptions, but... it wouldn't be right to say that they have no old traditions. What they are best at is developing mature solutions and not being rash!
The fuselage design features a normal aerodynamic shape, a diamond-shaped nose, parallelogram-shaped air intakes, a butterfly-shaped wing at the rear, and outward-canted twin vertical tails. The entire design looks like a smaller version of the F-22!

In this era, they certainly wouldn't have access to the F-22's design data; they probably just combined the plans that Qin Liang used to fool the Americans back then.

Well, the overall design is conventional, without much advanced performance. It's fair to say that the chances of success are high. Of course, even if it succeeds, it will only be a mediocre aircraft. However, the people from the Northern Institute have said since they took the stage that their design goal is to create a mix of high and low performance, making it a low-end aircraft for heavy aircraft!
"Good, not bad. The design from the Northern Institute has many highlights. That concludes this morning's meeting. Now, everyone, please go to the cafeteria for lunch, and we'll continue this afternoon!"

canteen.

Qin Liang had barely settled into his seat when Old Lu plopped down right next to him.

"Liangzi, you need to give us some advice. How can we further reduce the weight of our aircraft?"

He also knew that the biggest problem with his project was that it exceeded the weight limit! A weight of twenty tons was indeed embarrassing enough, but... when it came to how to reduce the weight, they had no idea. Even if they used a lot of composite materials, they could only reduce the weight by half a ton at most.

“Your design is fundamentally flawed.”

"What?" Old Lu exclaimed in surprise; there was a problem at the root of the issue...

"Think about it, why would your partners take this plane back?"

"NAFT."

In the 1980s, while the U.S. Air Force's ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter) program was in full swing, the U.S. Navy, not wanting to fall behind, also launched its own fourth-generation stealth fighter program called NAFT (Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter).

Grumman lost the bid for the ATF project, so they made the NATF project their top priority. They were willing to lower their standards and spend money to work with Factory 320 to develop this fighter jet as soon as possible. This fighter jet was designed to be used on ships from the design stage!

If it's going to be on board, then it needs to be upgraded.

The airframe needs to be reinforced to withstand the impact of takeoffs and landings on the aircraft carrier deck. The landing gear needs to be reinforced for both catapult takeoffs and arrested landings. At the same time, the aircraft also needs some modifications to adapt to the maritime environment.

Therefore, naval fighter jets are more than a ton heavier than land-based ones. The F-22 weighs 18 tons, and if it were converted to carrier-based, it would weigh 19 tons. And if you add the variable-sweep wing box, it would weigh 20 tons.
So... this is something you're born with.

Old Lu was dumbfounded: "So, in other words, all the design specifications of our aircraft are based on the requirements of naval carrier-based aircraft?"

Qin Liang nodded.

This is a real problem. If they want to adapt it for land use, does that mean they have to reduce the weight of the design? This is a huge undertaking with far-reaching consequences. Such a change is practically the same as developing something entirely new. They were originally the most advanced team, but now they've become the most behind.

"President Qin, what do you think of our Northern Institute's proposal?" Engineer Li also came over. Seeing the disappointed expression on Old Lu's face, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

"Well..." Qin Liang smiled, "I really didn't expect that you in the North would make such a change. This shows that you have shed your former big brother attitude and are willing to truly engage in market competition. This is a welcome improvement."

In the past, how could the Northern Aircraft Design Institute have been content with making low-end aircraft in a high-low mix? They were the leading force in the development of military aircraft in China!
just now……

"So that means you support our project?"

It's now clear that whoever gains Qin Liang's support will win the bid!
Qin Liang shook his head.

"why?"

"As you said, it's the lower-end model in a high-low mix, but right now, what our aviation industry lacks is precisely high-end fighter jets! Engineer Li, your project can continue to be researched. Once the high-end fighter jets are finalized and put into service, this lower-end model will also be put on the agenda."

Now, both Engineer Li and Old Master Lu were dejected.

So, does that mean only Project 611 has the chance to stand out in this bidding process?

Both of their organizations are hoping for new research and development projects, as this is a matter of life and death for the next twenty years!
"However, don't be discouraged. I have high hopes for your projects. Perhaps one day, all three of these projects will succeed!"

what?
The leader smiled wryly and said, "Comrade Qin Liang, we don't have enough funds to support the development of the three stealth aircraft projects!"

"Then let's do it the way of the market economy!" Qin Liang said casually.

　PS: The two fourth-generation fighter jets that competed for the contract in history are, on the left, the Snowy Owl from the Northern Institute, and on the right, the famous Black Ribbon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)