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

Chapter 528 Is a Grassland Fire Imminent? Quick, upgrade our trainer aircraft!
Li Tuo.

"What? The Easterners actually refused our request?" The colonel's face was extremely grim. "How could they be so ungrateful? We are the customers, and the customer is king! How can they not even understand this basic principle!"

The colonel was furious.

"Yes, they went a bit too far, but they still know we're not to be trifled with, so they decided to provide us with the JL-10. Although it's a trainer aircraft, it has advanced performance, a first-class aerodynamic layout, and a high-thrust engine. In critical situations, it can be used as a fighter jet..."

"Really? Then have them fly the plane over so we can take a look. If its performance meets our requirements, we'll keep it. If not... well, forget it. We at Lituo don't want junk!"

"Well... alright, we'll go and make our demands to them right away. They have to fly the plane over to us after the airshow!"

This isn't much of a detour, and the Easterners will surely agree to this request! Said thought to himself.

United States.

"The East stole the show at this airshow!" Harris said angrily. "The audience is already tired of our F-15s and F-16s! Our more advanced fighters can't even participate in the airshow..."

The United States never holds air shows, and its advanced fighter jets are displayed in Europe, which naturally makes it easier to sell aircraft to Europeans.

just now……

Actually, besides the F-15 and F-16, there's also the F-117, which was, after all, the world's first stealth fighter to enter service, but...

Having lost its mystique after being shot down several times, they were embarrassed to send the F-117 over.

Now, the entire airshow has become a stage for people from the East to showcase themselves!

"Our aircraft didn't steal the show at the airshow, but... our fighter jets are never meant to be shown off. They are meant to be used in actual combat. Why not prove the performance of our aircraft through a thrilling battle!"

"Swift, what are your thoughts?"

"Operation Prairie Fire has been in preparation for so long, it's time to put it into action and let the whole world know how strong our fighting power is!"

Everyone was delighted.

Yeah, what's the point of a performance-style airshow? We wouldn't even bother participating. The battlefield is our real stage!

"That's right, it's time to act. We must create a classic example of surgical warfare in the history of modern warfare!"

"That's right, let's carry out a decapitation strike!"

The colonel wants to buy another plane?
We'll take you to catch a plane!
The massive war machine was quickly put into operation.

Indian.

If you were to ask who in the world is the most unhappy, it wouldn't be the French, nor the Americans, but the Indians!

"Hmph, this airshow is all about praising those Easterners!"

"Yes, what's so great about the East? We Indians are much better than them!"

"That's right, we have the LCA, and our LCA will be equipped with the most advanced EJ200 engine!"

The Indians got excited again when the project was mentioned.

Why didn't we showcase this project at the airshow?

"If our LCA goes there, the whole world will be amazed by India's aviation achievements!"

Everyone started daydreaming again, and the air was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"Next year, when we go to the Farnborough Airshow, our LCA fighter jet must be able to take off!"

The Indians' mental victory strategy had a huge effect, and they all became full of confidence.

At the airshow venue, near a bar.

"No, no, impossible! We didn't do that!" Wei Jingmeng gritted his teeth. "How could we possibly leak such a confidential matter, let alone to the Easterners? There must be a problem on your side!"

Gobert shook his head: "We have already investigated, and it couldn't be our problem. In short, the plan has been leaked, and headquarters, for various reasons, has decided that the blueprints cannot be provided to you."

"Damn it, how could you do this? Just because of pressure from the East, you're going to abandon us? And you're making up such a lame excuse?"

"No, no, you guys completely messed this up. How can you blame us?"

Gobert was also angry.

Click!

A crack has appeared!
Click!
The crack is getting bigger and bigger!

Wei Jingmeng's eyes were filled with anger. Dassault Systèmes not only disagreed, but also had to resort to such shameless means to shirk responsibility!
Do you think we're fools?
I will never work with Dassault Systèmes again!
Wei Jingmeng staggered out of the bar, feeling the French night was incredibly cold.

It feels like the whole world has abandoned us!
Our domestically developed fighter jets have all sorts of problems, and we can't even buy them through procurement!
The world is so big, there is no place for them!

He just wandered around aimlessly, and then...

A man in black, wearing a leather vest and shirtless, walked towards them. A tattoo was visible on his arm, which Wei Jingmeng could see was the Chinese character for "East" under the dim streetlights.

痣？
No, no, hemorrhoids!

This...this is so uncultured!
Deeply affected by the blow, Wei Jingmeng finally felt the beauty of the world upon seeing this word, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

"Hey, are you laughing at me?"

"No, no, I didn't..."

"You're laughing at me, you damned bastard!"

The other person took a few steps forward and grabbed Wei Jingmeng's collar, veins bulging on his arm.

Wei Jingmeng's feet were dangling in the air, and his expression changed drastically. This black guy was really strong!
He tried to pull the other person's hands away, but he couldn't. His breathing became more and more rapid, and his face turned red.

"Let, let me go!"

"Hand over all your money!"

This is a robbery!

Two more people jumped out from the roadside and began groping Wei Jingmeng's entire body.

Finally, the three of them left.

"Hey, you can have the money, but leave me your passport!"

Do these robbers even know the rules? You can rob people of their money, but you can't rob them of their identification!
"roll!"

These trolls were clearly working as a gang, and this wasn't their first time. They were enraged when they saw that Wei Jingmeng dared to resist.

Wei Jingmeng didn't let go, continuing to grip the other person's arm tightly.

One of the men in black turned around and pulled something out of his clothes.

Biubiubiu!

Wei Jingmeng opened his eyes wide, unwillingly falling into a pool of blood. He stared at the sky with his innocent eyes.

We've been abandoned, abandoned by the whole world!

However… it seems that this is no longer his concern; he is about to leave this world…

Wei Jingmeng's world was plunged into utter darkness.

A new day begins at the airshow.

"The public security in France is really terrible. Last night, someone was actually killed on the street nearby!"

"Yes, I heard he was a robber who, not content with just stealing money, actually killed someone!"

"It was Hei Zi who did it!"

Everyone was still shaken. These past few days, they'd often been drinking late at night; they absolutely couldn't do that again. (Eastern booth)

Today is the last day for professional clients. Tomorrow is the public day, and then it will be purely a performance.

Under the bright sunshine, Qin Liang sat next to the C929 passenger plane, basking in the sun and listening to the introduction from the person next to him.

"Principal Qin, it was so wise of you not to stay outside. Europe is really not a peaceful place."

Qin Liang smiled and said, "The current public security is already very good."

"That's good?" Everyone was somewhat incredulous.

How many black people are there in France now? Will you know how many black people there will be in future generations?
They came from Africa, talking about integrating into European society, but actually doing business with no capital, and they're incredibly prolific!

In just a few years, they'll be able to use procreation—the most basic human instinct—to gain more than half the votes and elect a black president! At that point, France will be completely...

Ha ha ha.

There are also so-called experts who, seeing that we in the East lack labor, keep saying they'd spend money to import labor from Africa, preferring to spend money on Africans rather than spend money to solve their own problems!

"Principal Qin, it's already the fourth day of the airshow, when... can you help us get some business?"

Qin Liang looked up at the person who had spoken.

"Old Wu, don't worry, we'll definitely get customers..."

As they spoke, a group of people walked up to the Eastern booth and looked at the rocket models.

"You Eastern countries can launch geostationary satellites?"

Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear!
Qin Liang looked at the people who were walking over and said, "Of course, our launch price is the lowest, and our launch accuracy is the highest in the world. Your AsiaSat 1...Westlink 6 can be launched by us!"

This is the opportunity Qin Liang has been waiting for!
In the 1980s, the Americans vigorously developed the reusable space shuttle in an attempt to reduce launch costs. In reality, the space shuttle was a disaster. Not only did it not reduce launch costs, but it actually made launch costs even higher because of the extensive preparation work required for each launch!

Due to a shift in research focus, and the unreliability of their own expendable rockets (Hercules, Delta, and Europe's Ariane rockets all experienced launch failures), while Russia, another major spacefaring nation, was unwilling to undertake foreign launch business, many satellite users had to wait in line for rockets to launch their satellites.

Therefore, the 1980s was the best opportunity for China's aerospace industry to enter the international market.

Of course, the best time was in 1986, when the US Space Shuttle Challenger crashed. After the accident investigation, the Americans announced in 1988 that the Space Shuttle would be withdrawn from the commercial launch market. It was at that time that AsiaSat 1 made the decision to ask Dongfang to launch it.

This is a geostationary communications satellite manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Company in the United States. It was originally called Western Union 84 and was launched into space by the Challenger spacecraft in February 2, but it failed to reach orbit.

This is inherently a very difficult operation, since the space shuttle flies in low Earth orbit, only two or three hundred kilometers above the Earth, while a geostationary satellite is 36,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. This requires multiple engine ignitions and a transfer via an elliptical orbit.

The launch of the space shuttle is merely a means to get it out of the atmosphere and reduce air resistance. In fact, the space shuttle has many unsuitable aspects as a satellite launch platform.

So Western Union 11 failed to launch. However, in November of that year, the Space Shuttle Discovery successfully located the spacecraft and brought it back to Earth for repairs.

This also highlights the advantages of the space shuttle: in peacetime, it could capture friendly satellites that failed to launch, and in wartime, it could capture enemy satellites. It didn't even need to capture them directly; a robotic arm could simply strike the satellite's outer shell and destroy it.

The space shuttle was originally designed for military purposes.

After repairs, Western Union Satellite 6 was usable. However, the original customer did not want a used product, so Asia Satellite Corporation bought the satellite and named it AsiaSat 1. At this point in time, the two parties should still be negotiating the sale, so Qin Liang had to change his mind.

Upon hearing this, Steinhauer, the engineer from Hughes Aircraft Company opposite him, widened his eyes: "Principal Qin, your information is really in place. That's right, we are negotiating with Asia Satellite Company and we should be able to sell this satellite to them. Now, we just lack a launch unit. Internationally... Eastern space launches may be a new option."

"no no."

Hearing his words, the other person was a little curious. What do you mean by denying it?
"It's not a possibility, it's a certainty. Our space launches from the East will be the best choice in the world!"

The opportunities in the 1980s were rare. By the 1990s, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and Russia could also help launch satellites. In order to suppress the progress of the East in the space program, the Americans introduced the infamous Wolf Clause, under the guise of national security, prohibiting NASA from engaging in any form of space cooperation with the East.

As a result, the attempt to undertake commercial launches for external clients came to an end, and we returned to the situation of developing our own technology for our own use.

but……

This bill didn't work either. Whatever the Americans restricted, we broke through. The Americans ended up being trapped by this bill. For example, because of this restriction, we couldn't give them the lunar soil that we collected from the moon landing in the East!

This is a rare opportunity, let's quickly show our strength!

Qin Liang's words left the Hughes Company guests speechless for a moment. Well, you really aren't afraid of biting off more than you can chew!
"Come on, let's talk about how much it cost to launch the Challenger?"

“Twenty million dollars,” Stanhall answered frankly.

"Then we'll offer eighteen million US dollars."

While we can say the price is low, it can't go down indefinitely, otherwise it will make it difficult for other businesses to operate. Besides, we also need to make money.

Even if it's two million dollars less, that's still money.

"Hmm, the client should be satisfied with this launch price, but... are you sure you won't lose money?"

Space launches are highly dependent on latitude, and the United States has a significant advantage in this area. In contrast, Eastern countries are currently launching satellites at very high latitudes, resulting in greater fuel waste.

"We'll do it even if it means losing money. This is our first battle to open up the international space launch market," Qin Liang said with a wave of his hand.

Wu Keli and the others were very excited.

What do you mean by losing money? How could we possibly lose money? We can at least make half of it!
"As for launch accuracy, we dare not promise how high it will be. You will see after it enters orbit. We are confident in our technical capabilities."

We've launched more than one! The first generation of Beidou has global coverage. Although high-latitude regions are still unserved, it's still a large network that can cover billions of people. All of them are in geostationary orbit, and none of them have failed to enter orbit.

This is strength!
Of course, compared with other rockets in the world, the Long March 3 has a relatively small carrying capacity. The early models only carried 1.45 tons, which was upgraded to 2.6 tons by the Long March 3A and 5.5 tons by the Long March 3B. In contrast, American and Soviet rockets could push payloads of more than 10 tons into geosynchronous orbit.

However, Asia No. 1 is not large, weighing only 1.25 tons, which is exactly what Long March 3 is suited for!

"Yes, we have confidence in your technology. Next, let's discuss the issue of launch liability..."

Back then, because it was the first launch, the negotiations lasted for three years!
just now……

With Qin Liang around, everything can be negotiated in an hour!

Qin Liang spoke very professionally about technical safety, launch liability, trade terms, and so on. Even the final insurance was handled by the financial company affiliated with Northwestern Polytechnical University, which was essentially a safety net from Northwestern Polytechnical University. What else could he not worry about?
"Okay, when we get back, we'll talk to the client. If everything's alright, we'll leave the commercial launch to you!"

Business is coming in!
Wu Keli and the others were extremely excited. Sure enough, there were benefits to be had by following Northwestern Polytechnical University!
"Principal Qin, thank you for your support!"

Qin Liang smiled and said, "This is all I should do. It's thanks to the capabilities of our aerospace department! When we get back, we must make thorough preparations. Success is the only option; failure is not an option!"

If it succeeds, there will be a continuous stream of launch missions! If it fails... then international clients will no longer trust China Eastern Airlines!

They know how serious it is.

"Okay, let's go back now."

With the launch mission underway, they couldn't stay any longer and went back to prepare!

Qin Liang smiled as he watched these people hurriedly leave.

The rockets from the East still have many problems. A welding slag in a cable or a missing lead seal can lead to launch failure. However... the current Long March rockets have made extensive use of the advanced electronic technology from Northwestern Polytechnical University!

Reliability, number one in the world!

Before the 1990s, the goal was to secure about ten satellite launch contracts, which would provide the Eastern aerospace sector with ample funding.

As these people left, a man walked up.

"Principal Qin, we just received news that Lituo has requested that our instructor 10 be sent to Lituo to perform after the airshow."

Qin Liang nodded: "Okay!"

"However, we've noticed some unusual circumstances: three US Navy aircraft carriers are all converging there, likely preparing to take action against Li Tuo..."

Qin Liang's eyes lit up: "Great! This is wonderful news! Let's take advantage of the last few days of the airshow to upgrade the software of the airborne radar, match it with our export Lightning-10 missiles, and then carry the missiles along during the performance..."

This... Principal Qin is really not afraid!

(End of this chapter)