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

Chapter 457 Lockheed's U-2, let us convert it into a drone!
The Eastern Expedition, the final battle: Lockheed Corporation!

As a renowned American military industrial giant, the fact that an Eastern military inspection team came here to inspect the country was truly remarkable. At the same time... it was also a day that made everyone at Lockheed feel despair.

Instead of visiting Boeing or Grumman, they come to Lockheed Martin. They must have a grudge against our company!
Ben Richie was in charge of receiving guests; his facial muscles were stiff, and his smile looked more like a grimace.

"Lockheed is best known for developing special aircraft. From the initial U-2 to the later SR-71 Blackbird and then to the F-117, they are all masterpieces of Skunk Works. When it comes to innovation, Skunk Works is definitely number one. We are truly honored to be able to visit Skunk Works!"

"Yes, you are among the first foreign visitors since the Skunk Works was established in 1943. The security here is very tight, so we can only give you a brief tour of the exterior of our various workshops before you go to our office."

Ben Ritchie was a hundred times unwilling, but... since Calucci agreed, Skunk Works had to cooperate!

By this time, the car had arrived at the factory area. Each gate required careful inspection, and the personnel had to get out of the car several times for security checks to ensure that they were not carrying any photographic equipment before finally entering the factory.

"These security measures are really strict. Well, thankfully, I can't smell any stench," Qin Liang said with a smile.

In 1943, as World War II raged on, the United States urgently needed an advanced, high-performance fighter jet that also required high secrecy. Lockheed could only find a remote factory in Burbank, California.

Next to it was a chemical plant, which filled the air with a pungent odor all day long, similar to the smell of skunks. Engineers even had to wear gas masks to and from get off work, so the plant got its name, Skunk Works.

Now, there are no more chemical plants around Skunk Works, the sky is blue, and the air is fresh, but the whimsical name "Skunk Works," with its air of mystery, has been passed down through generations.

Hearing Qin Liang say this, Ben Richie smiled wryly: "Yes, the air in our factory isn't as smelly anymore."

But his reputation is ruined!

"Which factory produced the F-117?"

"Ahem, that's a secret."

"Then we have even less chance of going in to take a look?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Ben Rich, you guys are really not being fair. The other day when we visited the aircraft carrier, I even suggested that the U.S. Navy choose your F-117 as its carrier-based attack aircraft!"

Ben Richie smiled wryly. You think you're helping us? In reality, you're only increasing the contempt the US military has for us!

"Then I should thank you?"

"You're welcome." Qin Liang waved his hand with a smile. "It would be great if we could have more autonomy during our visit, Mr. Ben Rich. If I'm not mistaken, that factory over there produces the F-117."

"How did you know?"

“There are such huge air conditioning units outside the factory, they’re so conspicuous. F-117 production must be in temperature-controlled hangars, right? Let’s go take a look and give you some pointers.”

Lockheed develops specialized aircraft, but orders are few, resulting in slow production times.

Take the F-117 for example. Formal production began in 82 and continued until 90, with a total of 59 aircraft produced.

This is not much different from manually making an airplane!
Now, Qin Liang requested to visit the advanced F-117 production workshop, and Ben Richter's expression immediately changed. "This is a workshop you can visit? And you want to give us pointers?"

When our Skunk Factory was established, your Eastern countries couldn't even produce a car, let alone an airplane!
“The fixed-position production model is outdated. If we switch to a pulsed production line, the production efficiency can be doubled and the cost can be reduced by more than 20%. You... you don’t want to hear it, then forget it.”

Ben Ritchie's gaze fell on Calucci.

"Mr. Kalucchi, could you please grant us permission to open the F-117 production line to our guests from the East?"

Kaluch shook his head: "You don't need my approval. Your factory is your own business!"

He won’t take the blame for this!

"Ben Richie, my friend, don't worry, we'll just look, we definitely won't touch."

Ben Rich gritted his teeth: "Fine, then please come in and have a look around."

With Elder Zhang and the others remaining silent, there was no need for anyone to worry; they could simply wait. Qin Liang would handle everything.

Old Zhang knew that even if he personally requested a visit to such a confidential place, it wouldn't necessarily be as effective as Qin Liang's words. After all, one was just superficial flattery, while the other involved real interests. How could they be the same?

What exactly is this pulsed production line that Lockheed agreed to open it to visitors?
As everyone walked in, they saw a clean workshop with countless workers busy at their workstations.

Scaffolding was erected nearby, and workers stood on it at different heights, assembling the aircraft. Some were progressing slowly, just starting to install the main beams, while others were progressing quickly, with the aircraft almost complete.

“This production line is outdated.” Qin Liang began to give his opinion: “From assembling the main beam to the final skin installation, everything is done in one place. The allocation of various parts, the scheduling of production, the work of the workers, and so on are all cumbersome.”

"Yes, Qin, what do you mean by 'pulsating production line'?"

"Fixed-station assembly cannot realize the potential of a production line, but aircraft cannot be mass-produced, so a production line would be somewhat wasteful. After repeated research, we at Dongfang believe that a pulsed production line is the best approach. The aircraft also needs to move around, but it takes several days to complete the corresponding assembly work at each station before moving to the next station..."

The other air force leaders listened to Qin Liang bragging while watching the Americans produce their planes.

It must be said that the assembly here is very advanced.

Look at factories in China, they're filthy with oil and production management is chaotic. If the precision isn't good enough, they have to use sledgehammers to smash it. This is what a modern factory looks like!

When we get back, we'll make them study hard!

And this airplane, its design is truly unique!

Seeing the wide eyes of the Asian man, who seemed to have never seen the world before, Kalucci finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This shows that the East really had nothing to do with the downed F-117. If the East had intervened, things would certainly not be as they are now, with everything so new and exciting.

After the tour, we entered the conference room.

"Ben Rich, my friend, we have come here to humbly learn from you. Please tell us about your research and development model."

Almost all of America's advanced and unique aircraft were developed by Skunk Works, which naturally has its own unique research and development experience.

"This……"

"If you're not going to introduce this, then tell us about your research and development projects. With so many leaders here, we need to hear something meaningful!"

"Ok."

“Unlike the cumbersome multi-layered approval systems of other large enterprises, our Skunk Works employs a highly independent and flat management structure, giving engineers a great deal of autonomy. An innovative idea can be validated in a short period of time…”

This is indeed what they are most proud of.

"Take the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft as an example. From the start of the project to its first flight, it only took eight months, thanks to our efficient decision-making mechanism."

U-2 reconnaissance aircraft!
This idea caught Qin Liang's eye.

Today is the last day of my trip to the United States. The main purpose of this visit to Lockheed is to promote the friendly relations between the two companies, further sow discord within Lockheed, and make everyone in the military resent them. However… we can still offer some valuable items.

“We’re familiar with the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft; after all, we’ve dealt with them before,” Qin Liang said with a smile. “Old Lin in our inspection team once commanded the Air Force and used HQ-2 missiles to intercept a U-2.”

Old Lin nodded: "That's right, the pilot was also captured by us..."

He wanted to say a few more words, but then he felt that... this occasion was inappropriate, so he shut up.

"Yes, the concept of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft is actually quite good. It can stay at high altitude for a long time to obtain a lot of useful information. However... it is not very suitable to be manned. Once it is shot down, it will face all kinds of diplomatic problems. So, have you ever thought about upgrading this aircraft into an unmanned aircraft?"

The Americans present were all immediately impressed.

The U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was developed and put into service with the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s. It then went on missions around the world, conducting reconnaissance of many countries. At the same time, 15 of them were shot down during the missions.

This aircraft relied solely on its altitude to win, making it increasingly difficult to evade modern air defense systems. Therefore, its replacement, the SR-71 Blackbird, emerged, which not only flew higher but also had greater speed!

It is said that it flew at speeds of over Mach 4 in experiments. The Blackbird’s high-altitude, high-speed performance remains unmatched by any other aircraft to this day, and it has never been shot down.

However, the Blackbird, made of titanium alloy, is expensive and requires complex maintenance, so the Americans are also suffering from its problems.

In the 1980s, the Americans restarted the U-2 production line to continue producing a batch for emergency use. In the 1990s, the Blackbird was retired, but the U-2 continued to fight. As late as 2020, it even entered our no-fly zone for a live-fire exercise.

This demonstrates just how resilient the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft is.

However, having a pilot on board is a burden. If there were no pilot... then it could fly anywhere, and if it got shot down, it would just be a diplomatic protest!
"Autonomous? That's not easy!" Ben Rich frowned.

The U-2 was designed by Kelly Johnson, the chief engineer of Skunk Works, in the 1950s. He proposed using a jet glider as the design prototype, that is, taking the fuselage and tail of the XF-104 prototype as the basis, adding a wing with a wingspan of 21.54 meters, as the main structure of the new high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

The design is successful. It can take off in just eight months, which is enough to show how excellent the design is. The mission radius is as high as 3200 kilometers, and this is a range that can be achieved without aerial refueling!

However, the wing with an aspect ratio of 10 makes this aircraft very difficult to operate!

The F104 is already notoriously difficult to fly, while the U-2 is widely recognized as the most difficult aircraft to fly!
For example, its top speed and stall speed differ by only 18 kilometers per hour. Also, because of its large wingspan, the wingtips are the first to touch the ground during landing! It is also equipped with special auxiliary slides!

Converting a regular airplane into an unmanned aircraft is extremely difficult, let alone the U-2.

“Ben-Ritchie, my friend, I think you shouldn’t doubt Northwestern Polytechnical University’s capabilities in the field of electronics technology,” Qin Liang said. “Fighter jets require air combat, which we can’t yet convert into drones. This reconnaissance aircraft is only a bit complicated during takeoff and landing. Are you worried that Northwestern Polytechnical University can’t handle it?”

Qin Liang rolled his eyes at Ben Richie, clearly quite dissatisfied with the guy. "How dare you doubt the strength of Northwestern Polytechnical University?"
“If the U-2 can really be converted into an unmanned aircraft, then our military can purchase at least another fifty!” Kaluch made the decision on the spot.

Without people around, there's no need to worry about the whole series of problems that could lead to a pilot being captured! The military would love to have this kind of equipment!

Since there's no relevant technology in China, let's just hand it over to Northwestern Polytechnical University! Anyway... something is better than nothing!

Ben Rich almost burst into tears.

Ever since he started cooperating with Northwestern Polytechnical University, he has been subjected to a lot of disdain. Now, he has realized that it's not that he can't cooperate with Easterners, but that he can't cooperate with them privately; he needs the military's approval!
The military readily agreed to the Navy's attack aircraft project and the Air Force's U-2 reconnaissance aircraft unmanned transformation project.

"Okay, let's cooperate with Northwestern Polytechnical University to modify the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft!"

"Hmm, I see that your security here is quite high. It's not convenient for us from the East to send people over. Why don't you fly a U-2 over and send it to our flight test institute in Chang'an? We can modify it in Chang'an!"

Ben Richie was stunned again: "What? Send it over there? We..."

Our Skunk Works is really well-secret, but the U-2 is, after all, one of our aircraft. Flying it over there for modifications... what might happen?

"What, still worried about leaks? We in the East have plenty of U-2 wreckage. If we wanted to copy it, we would have done so long ago. What secrets could a plane with technology from the 1950s possibly have?" Qin Liang rolled his eyes at Ben Richie. "With the technology of Northwestern Polytechnical University, developing a plane like the U-2 would be a piece of cake!"

"No, Qin, the key point is that this aircraft is complicated to maintain..."

"Then bring the maintenance team. Oh, and the takeoff and landing data also need to be handed over to us. We need to input it into the computer. Also, give us an experienced pilot; we'll write the flight control code based on his experience... Ben Richie, my friend, why is your mouth so wide open? What's going on? Hungry? Come to think of it, I am a little hungry. Where should we eat later? You love going to the cafeteria at Northwestern Polytechnical University, so how about we go to the cafeteria at your Skunk Works?"

"Qin, does Northwestern Polytechnical University have any advanced reconnaissance aircraft projects?" Kalucci asked.

"Well... of course, but..."

"Could you tell us about it?"

"Okay, since this project is only in the planning stage and hasn't been implemented yet, I can give you a brief introduction."

Old Lin put down his coffee cup; he knew that Qin Liang was about to start his performance again.

"Our aircraft is planned to adopt a triangular lifting body shape with a 75-degree sweep angle. As for the engine, it will use a combined cycle engine. It is expected to be able to fly to an altitude of 40,000 meters and achieve a maximum speed of Mach 6."

Ben Richie's eyes widened.

"Qin, can you draw it for us? Like... like when we first went to Northwestern Polytechnical University?"

"Of course, no problem." Qin Liang nodded, then walked towards the blackboard in the conference room.

Soon, a uniquely shaped airplane appeared.

The entire aircraft is a huge triangular lifting body with a 75-degree sweep angle, and from the side, it is a huge streamlined body resembling an eagle's beak.

Two combined cycle engines are arranged on Kiev, extending along the direction of the aircraft and closely integrated with the delta wing to form a sloping curved surface layout.

"Our triangular body design serves as a lifting surface, allowing us to achieve a balance between subsonic, transonic, and hypersonic flight, while also providing strong stealth capabilities. However, the biggest challenge for this aircraft is still the engine."

Qin Liang continued his eloquent introduction, while a group of dumbfounded Americans stared at him.

Surprise, not unexpected?
This is the legendary Goddess of Dawn project!

The U-2 was the first professional reconnaissance aircraft project of the Americans. It had enough altitude, but not enough speed. So, the SR-71 Blackbird came into being.

It has a higher altitude and faster speed, but... it is complex to maintain and is not entirely confident that it can easily escape the interception of the MiG-25.

So, in the 1980s, the Americans began researching a completely new reconnaissance aircraft project.

Because Lockheed's Skunk Works was kept so secret, the project didn't come to light until the late 1980s. However, the Americans didn't acknowledge it, and the project never actually went into service.

No one knows the specific reason, but it is highly likely that the project's requirements were too high, and it ultimately failed to be developed.

However, there were already various rumors circulating, so it didn't stop Qin Liang from summarizing them all and sharing them with everyone, which shocked them so much that their eyes almost popped out!

Especially for Ben Ritchie, after losing several opportunities in succession, their last hope was pinned on this brand-new hypersonic reconnaissance aircraft. They had only just begun development when Qin Liang drew up the overall design.

This reminded Ben Ritchie of his first visit to Northwestern Polytechnical University, when he saw Qin Liang's blueprints for a stealth aircraft...

"To achieve speeds of Mach 5 or higher, you need to take off from a runway, which definitely requires a variable cycle engine. Moreover, to have sufficient thrust, it should be a turbofan on the ground, switch to a turbojet after takeoff, and then switch to a ramjet at high speeds. Furthermore, it should be a combination of subsonic and scramjet engines!"

If the Americans really fall for it, then let them throw money at developing this engine in the East!
(End of this chapter)