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

Chapter 522 J-35 Makes a Dazzling Debut
In the 1990s, those guys wanted to buy Su-27s, but it was just an idea at the time. Our influence has increased significantly since then, and the Russians wouldn't risk offending us by doing business with those guys.

It was the 1980s, and relations between the East and the West were good. The West was unlikely to sell them top-of-the-line fighter jets, but the French…

Thinking of this, Qin Liang said, "Keep an eye on the French. If they can't sell their outdated fighter jets, they might actively try to sell them to those guys across the river. If that's the case... then we need to put all sorts of pressure on the French."

Hearing his words, Roxanne asked curiously, "Principal Qin, are you saying that the French would actively promote it? This..."

Her big, watery eyes were full of questions.

"French products have always been expensive and of poor quality. With our high-quality, inexpensive, and high-performance weapons from the East, their products will definitely not sell. Therefore, they may take risks. We should keep a close eye on them."

"Yes. Principal Qin, is there anything else you need?"

Qin Liang shook his head: "No more."

Roxanne looked inside the plane: "Principal Qin, are you really planning to spend the night here?"

"Yes, that's what the higher-ups arranged. It's not convenient for me to move around outside, to avoid any unexpected situations. Overall, it's safer here."

"Um, Principal Qin, would you like me to stay..."

"Ahem, Roxanne, we Easterners, once we've chosen our other half, we're loyal and would never cheat."

This woman is so bold! Qin Liang was somewhat helpless. France is truly a romantic country. The so-called romance is that if you like someone, you can sleep with them and then not have to take responsibility. We in the East have never needed this kind of romance.

Roxanne smiled and said, "Really? I really want to find an Eastern man like Principal Qin..."

Watching Roxanne's coquettish manner, Qin Liang silently lowered his head, looked at the documents in his hand, and silently recited in his heart, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form..."

"Principal Qin, you're quite good. You passed President Yang's test. I knew it was all in vain. Alright, I'm leaving now."

What?
My wife is pregnant, so we can't do *that* anymore. She's afraid I'll be lonely and cheat, so she's arranged a test for me.

What do you take me for? Did you think I, Qin Liang, just return to the world to steal food?

joke!

Qin Liang was somewhat dissatisfied. "With you making such a fuss, how am I supposed to sleep well tonight?"

Many people still can't sleep that night.

Wei Jingmeng and his group waited in the hotel all night, and the next morning, they staged another chance encounter with the Russian in the restaurant.

“Mr. Kozlov, what a coincidence, we meet again. I wonder…”

After glancing at Wei Jingmeng, Kozlov continued eating his croissant and hot milk, and even took out a small bottle of liquor from his pocket and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

"Mr. Kozlov?"

Kozlov quickly finished his food before glancing at Wei Jingmeng: "Sorry, Moscow doesn't agree."

What? You disagree?
Such a good thing, how could you disagree?

How much profit would you make from a hundred fighter jets? Aren't you short of money?
Wei Jingmeng was dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at Kozlov for a long time, watching him get up and turn to leave.

"Mr. Kozlov..."

"Mr. Wei, can't you see the situation? No country in the world would be willing to go against Northwestern Polytechnical University for your orders. It's not worth it."

What?
Wei Jingmeng was stunned.

Northwestern Polytechnical University possesses world-class aerospace technology, which other countries need, including Russia!
and so……

Did I come all for nothing?
If the Soviets wouldn't sell, who would?

Wei Jingmeng stood there, his expression complex.

Judging from this, I... have no hope left!
Just then, someone who had been watching him from the side slowly walked over.

"Sir, I'm Gobert, a sales representative from Dassault Systèmes. Shall we talk?"

Dassault Systèmes!

Wei Jingmeng's face immediately lit up with excitement: "Great!"

The dinner table.

"Here is your breakfast, gentlemen."

The waiter brought over a tray, and under the cover of the tray, gently stuck a small square onto the back of the table with one hand.

"Thank you."

The two didn't notice anything amiss and continued chatting.

"Our Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet is a modern fighter jet..."

Wei Jingmeng's expression changed instantly: "That's just a plane from the 1960s, how could it be a modern plane?"

The Mirage family of aircraft typically features a delta wing configuration, with only a few exceptions, such as the Mirage F1, which is considered an outlier within Dassault Aviation.

This aircraft first flew in 1966 and entered service in 1970, so it has been 15 years since then.

After this experiment with fighter jets, Dassault returned to their expertise in delta wing design, using fly-by-wire and other technologies to create the Mirage 2000 fighter jet.

If Wei Jingmeng and his group wanted to buy one, forget about the Rafale, which is still under development. At least they'd need a third-generation Mirage 2000. This Mirage F1? Who wants it!
"No, no, you probably don't know, but our Mirage F1 is quite technologically advanced. Even with the Atar 9K-50 engine, this aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 2.2, making it a first-class interceptor. And after being equipped with our M53 engine, its performance will be even more powerful, and it can even cruise at supersonic speeds..."

Anyone can throw bricks with great strength!
The Gauls' experience in developing aircraft engines is also quite unique.

Back then, after World War II ended, they, along with Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and others, participated in the partition of Germany. Through their efforts, they obtained Hermann Oerstedt, a legendary figure in aero engines. He was in charge of developing the BMW 003 aero engine for BMW!

At that time, the French aero-engine team organized at the Dornier factory in Reckenbach, Germany, which was under French occupation, and quickly developed a more powerful engine based on the BMW 003, named Atar 101. It went into production at the French company Snecma in 1946.

The Atar 101 marked the beginning of French aircraft engines!
After several upgrades, it became the Atar 9K-50 engine. At the same time, it was fitted with an external bypass duct and became the M53 engine.

The two engines are about the same diameter! The former is 1020 mm, and the latter is 1050 mm.

Although the M53 engine is an anomaly among turbofan engines, with fuel consumption comparable to turbojet engines and a single rotor resulting in a very low pressure ratio, it is still a high-thrust engine!
Compared to the M53, the M53 has an increased thrust of approximately 1960 daN, a 10% reduction in cruise fuel consumption, and a length reduction of approximately 1 meter!
Therefore, as long as the Mirage F1 is equipped with a new engine, the aircraft's performance can be greatly improved!

"We've calculated that after the replacement, the Mirage F1 can cruise at supersonic speeds of Mach 1.2, and its maximum speed can reach approximately Mach 2.5. Frankly speaking, what's most crucial for you is air defense interception. With this fighter jet, coupled with our advanced Matra 530 missiles, you'll have a fighting chance; otherwise..."

Wei Jingmeng's expression changed.

The Mirage F1 is really outdated. Compared to the fighter jets they already have, it's not much better. Its only advantage is that it's newly built, while their existing aircraft will gradually age...

"Okay, so how much is your Phantom F1? And how long is the delivery time?"

"The price is not high, only 40 million US dollars per aircraft. The delivery time is six months later. As for the delivery method, we have to go through a third party to transfer the goods, so it cannot be shown that we did it."

The French are still quite cautious.

If the people of the East found out, it would cause a lot of trouble. The French wanted to make money but didn't want to break ties with the East, so they chose this method.

With the Mirage 2000 facing fierce competition from Eastern products, sales were very low. If such a plane were to appear on the other side of the river, it would undoubtedly be the French who made the move.

The Mirage F1 was different. It was produced from the 1970s until the late 1980s, with a total production of 731 aircraft. Apart from 246 for France, the rest were exported, and even some used by France were exported to other countries.

The export destinations included fourteen countries such as Greece, South Africa, and Iran. So, who sold the Phantom F1 that was found across the river? This has become a murky matter.

Moreover, the engine has been upgraded, with advanced performance and supersonic cruise capability, which is the biggest selling point. At $40 million a unit, it is absolutely worth every penny!
Wei Jingmeng almost vomited blood.

Forty million! In this era, the F-15 only costs around twenty million! The F-16 only costs a little over ten million! To purchase a single-engine, medium-sized second-generation fighter jet at such an exorbitant price? Are they just being foolish?

But... Wei Jingmeng knew they had no choice; they had the money, but they couldn't buy equipment anywhere in the world!
It's good enough if someone is selling it; no matter how high the price, I have to buy it!

“Okay!” He nodded: “Then it’s settled. I’ll send a message back home right away, and we can officially sign the contract before the airshow ends.”

“Great!” Gobert was beaming with excitement. With this order, Dassault Systèmes would have ample cash flow, which would cover the costs of further improvements to the Rafale…

"We have one more request."

"explain."

"Could you get us the information on the Eastern L-10 training aircraft from the airshow?"

The Trainer 10 is their two-seater IDF. Although they got the data from South Korea, they are still a little uneasy. It would be even better if they could get more data from the air show and make a comparison.

“Of course, no problem.” Gobert nodded.

Half an hour later, on the C929 passenger plane, Qin Liang listened to the entire recording of the conversation.

They were communicating in English, so there was no need for a translator; Qin Liang could understand the conversation.

"So, in other words, the Russians didn't sell, but the French did?"

Roxanne nodded: "That's right, this Frenchman is really bold! Principal Qin, what are your plans to do next in response to Dassault Systèmes?"

"Well... of course we have to react strongly, slap the French a few times, and let others know that daring to sell weapons to the other side of the river is tantamount to openly opposing us, and we... will absolutely not tolerate such a thing happening."

Qin Liang had already come up with a plan.

"Ah."

"Next, we will continue to follow them and gather more information."

"it is good."

After Roxanne left, a man in a green military uniform came out: "Principal Qin, do you need our intelligence department's cooperation?"

"No need. Our people who went undercover have had a tough time, we can't let them be exposed because of something so trivial. Next, we'll deploy our technical resources..."

France has already covered the CDMA mobile communication network with Eastern technology, and France's computer network system has also purchased a large amount of our Eastern switches and other equipment. We can use technical means to monitor them comprehensively!
Of course, this is just surveillance. When it comes to the final leak, we should try to conceal these methods to avoid arousing suspicion from the French.

Preparations for the airshow are still ongoing. After a busy day, the airshow will officially begin the next day!

The lively airshow opening ceremony featured not only enthusiastic French fashionistas, but also the Patrouille de France aerobatic team overhead. Their red, white, and blue livery and spectacular performance in the sky, along with the smoke screens in the colors of the French flag, symbolized the spirit of France.

Freedom, democracy, fraternity...

Qin Liang treated the broadcast's introductions as nothing more than a fart.

The opening ceremony had just ended when a large crowd had already gathered around the Oriental booth.

The reporter's camera flashed repeatedly as he photographed the uniquely designed fourth-generation fighter jet.

The only fourth-generation fighter jet in the entire venue!

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Dongfang booth. The aircraft behind me is the J-35 fighter jet developed by our relevant departments at Dongfang!"

What?
The last one was a J-20, and now it's a J-35?
So... where did models 21 through 34 go? Could there be many other models of aircraft?
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the ordinary-looking yet extraordinary airplane.

"We can see that the nose section is similar to our other stealth aircraft, which is a common nose layout for stealth aircraft. The Typhoon fighter jet we designed for Europe also has this nose layout. Looking at the rear, it has a conventional aerodynamic layout, a butterfly wing, an all-moving horizontal stabilizer, and two side-canted vertical stabilizers. In the middle of the two vertical stabilizers is an engine with an afterburning thrust of 15 tons..."

Fifteen tons!
The technology of the East is so advanced!

Countless people cast envious glances at them.

"Why do you choose to use a single-issue layout?"

"Yes, what are the advantages of this layout?"

Faced with a barrage of surprised questions, Qin Liang smiled and said, "That's because our aircraft is planned to have three variants. In addition to the conventional land-based version, there will also be a ship-based version and a vertical takeoff and landing version. Our aircraft can meet the needs of all users worldwide!"

The hype surrounding fourth-generation fighters is already enough, but now, there are even three variants of one aircraft!
Most national air forces choose the simplest land-based version, but some ambitious countries that want to acquire aircraft carriers will choose the carrier-based version. As for the vertical takeoff and landing version, it is the favorite of weaker countries. Even a small aircraft carrier with a displacement of 10,000 tons can carry this kind of fixed-wing fighter jet.

The performance of this fourth-generation fighter jet is impressive enough.

"One machine, three models? How did you manage to do that?"

"That's right, especially vertical takeoff and landing fighter jets. How come they maintain the same structure as conventional models?"

"This brings us to our unique lift fan structure, as you can see..."

As Qin Liang explained, the staff actually... opened a hatch on the back of the aircraft behind the pilot, revealing... something resembling fan blades.

what is this?
"The lift engine of the Yak-38?"

"This technology is immature; this lift engine will melt the deck..."

Everyone started to question it.

“That’s right. If it were a regular lift engine, it would definitely melt the deck. So we used a brand-new lift fan structure, with a drive shaft extending from the rear engine to drive the front lift fan. This not only solves the problem of melting the deck, but also does not increase fuel consumption.”

Essentially, this is equivalent to increasing the bypass ratio of the engine to drive an additional fan to provide more thrust, which does not affect the original fuel consumption and provides even greater thrust.

This uniquely Eastern technological approach instantly evoked waves of admiration.

"Northwestern Polytechnical University truly has the strongest expertise in the field of aviation."

"That's right, this technical approach is absolutely the most suitable."

"Although it's just a model, we can already see its potential."

Having one aircraft with three variants means that the aircraft will have high sales volume, the research and development costs will be spread out, the purchase price will be lower, and with more variants, the target audience will be wider...

It seems everyone can see the market potential of this aircraft!
"Impossible. If we were to directly bring in a driveshaft, how much power would that driveshaft have to output? In particular, what kind of structure would be needed to engage and disengage the power? From an engineering perspective, this is simply impossible!"

There were also professionals on site who immediately spotted the problem with the structure.

Are you kidding me? Can you even handle this driveshaft?

"That's right, no other company could build it, but... Northwestern Polytechnical University is different. We have advanced technology, and we can solve problems that others can't!"

Qin Liang rolled his eyes at the reporter who asked the question: "Next, we'll introduce the other structures of the aircraft. The internal bomb bays are located behind the lift engines, one on each side, and each bomb bay can hold a one-ton bomb..."

"Didn't you say that external hardpoints would work? Why are you designing an internal weapons bay now?"

"That's right, are you trying to fool us?"

"Gentlemen, if we are simply modifying existing fighter jets, then we can only use external stealth pylons and stealth missiles. Our aircraft is a completely new design, so of course it needs an internal weapons bay. Moreover, the internal weapons bay is not very large. If we want to enhance its attack power, we still have to use external pylons."

Qin Liang had anticipated the questions these reporters might ask, and he answered them fluently, retorting to those who wanted to nitpick!

It boasts top-notch stealth capabilities, decent maneuverability, and highly advanced avionics. Its only drawback is its supersonic cruise capability; however, it achieves three of the four "S"s, so the last one can be disregarded.

especially……

Looking at everyone present, Qin Liang continued, "Our fighter jet is inexpensive. The standard land-based version costs only 40 million US dollars per unit, the carrier-based version costs 45 million US dollars, and the vertical takeoff and landing version costs 50 million US dollars per unit!"

The price of this regular version is the same as that of the Phantom F1. Won't some people be so angry they'll vomit blood?

(End of this chapter)