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

Chapter 535 The U.S. Navy's Super Tomcat

The East, the capital, CATIC.

"Manager Liu, we from Nigeria would like to purchase twenty JL-10 trainer aircraft from you, the same model as the Littor."

Looking at the guests coming from across the room, Manager Liu smiled broadly: "Of course, no problem. As long as you sign the order, we will immediately arrange production and deliver the goods within six months!"

These small airplanes are easy to produce, and the profits are not low!

After seeing off the Nigerian clients, Manager Liu hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath before the next wave of clients arrived.

"Manager Liu, our Angolan National Liberation Front hopes to obtain ten Trainer X aircraft!"

Manager Liu was stunned: "This..."

"Manager Liu, your side provided us with support in the 1970s. Now, we believe that as long as we use advanced weapons from the East, we will definitely defeat the enemy and win a bright future!"

The person on the other end spoke earnestly.

"Well, I'll have to call and ask."

After saying that, Manager Liu picked up the phone: "Hello, Principal Qin."

Qin Liang was getting annoyed that mobile phone networks had been built up in major cities across the country, making it too easy for anyone to find him.

At that moment, he was with his wife, shopping for clothes in Wangfujing, specifically for their child. They hadn't bought many items when his phone rang.

"Hello, who is this? Manager Liu from AVIC? If you want to sell fighter jets, you can report it to the relevant departments. Why are you calling me? What, you want my opinion? Of course, we should do business!" Qin Liang replied and hung up the phone.

"Honey, I think this tiger head hat is pretty good!"

In other families, the elderly would already be preparing clothes for the children. Unfortunately, Qin Liang's mother passed away early, and Yang Duo'er's mother had returned from abroad and wasn't very good at needlework, so...

It's still more convenient to buy it outside.

Yang Duo'er's eyes lit up: "Hmm, that's good."

After hanging up the phone, Manager Liu of AVIC (Aviation Technology & Testing Corporation) had a complicated expression. This Qin Liang certainly had no idea how turbulent Angola was right now.

In the 1960s, Angola, under Portuguese rule, began a war of independence. By 1975, the rulers had withdrawn from Angola, but three forces had emerged within the country.

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (PLM) was the most powerful of the two movements. With support from the Soviet Union and Cuba, they controlled the Angolan capital, Luanda, and most of the country, with a force of 70,000 men.

Another important force is the Angolan National Independence Union, which is supported by the United States and has a force of 60,000.

The National Liberation Front of Angola had the fewest members and the weakest strength. After the withdrawal of Cuba and South Africa, they automatically disarmed in 92 and became an ordinary political party.

In 1975, this organization received support from several countries, including ours, though the support was rather small, totaling only about four hundred tons of supplies.

Now, they have also seen the powerful performance of our trainer aircraft and hope to acquire a batch.

"We can sell you fighter jets, as long as you purchase them at the regular market price."

The guy opposite him grinned, his bright white teeth standing out in stark contrast.

"We hope you can provide us with support..."

Manager Liu was speechless. If he had known that this was what you were thinking, why would he have called Principal Qin?
I can reply to you directly on my own!

"We believe that with your support, we will surely defeat our opponents and control the entire country. When that time comes, we will definitely repay the East..."

"I'm sorry, CATIC is a technology company. We are only responsible for selling fighter jets. We canceled military aid several years ago. If you want to buy, please come up with the money. If you want assistance, I'm sorry, we don't have that capability."

"No, no, we Angolan people are waiting for your support. With your support, we will definitely defeat our opponents and win the victory. Angola needs you..."

"We in the East have always adhered to the policy of peace and independence. We will not interfere in the internal wars of any country. China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) will not do anything to disrupt world peace. Please go back."

Manager Liu, seeing that this guy was still trying to fool him, stood up first.

Are you kidding me? Military aid? We'll sell you weapons if you want them, but you want aid? Dream on!
"Wait, wait! We...we have a batch of diamonds. Can we use them to purchase fighter jets?"

Why didn't you say that earlier?

"We'll need to convert the diamonds into US dollars first. After all, CATIC sells airplanes, not jewelers. Of course, if you need, we can introduce you to some relevant organizations to evaluate your diamonds..."

The opposing team was unhappy, but they had to put on a smile. They saw the weapons from the East as their last hope for victory!

On that single day, CATIC sold over a hundred JL-10 trainer aircraft!
They were all smiles.

"I never expected that the Trainer 10 would become the most popular aircraft!"

"Yes, even the Super-7 isn't selling well anymore; it's become a thing of the past. Speaking of which, will this aircraft affect the sales of our JF-17 Thunder?"

"Probably not. In terms of air combat capability, the JL-10 is still inferior to the JF-17. The countries that purchased the JL-10 are all backward African countries. For them, a multi-role trainer is more useful than a pure fighter jet. However, any air force with even a little bit of standardization will still choose the JF-17."

This falls under the category of differentiated competition.

They were overjoyed, while across the ditch, a group of people gritted their teeth.

"Damn it, this plane originally belonged to us, but unexpectedly, it was sold to the whole world by mainlanders!"

"Yes, they also ruined our cooperation with Dassault!"

"However, this also shows that there is no problem with our IDF. As long as we follow the Eastern design exactly and copy it without making any changes, we can still produce this aircraft on our own!"

Hearing everyone's discussion, Hua Xijun nodded: "In other words, we can only have a two-seater version. However, that's fine too. Let's build the fighter jets first. Our air force can't wait any longer!"

After all that trouble, we're back to square one. Fortunately, there's no need for research and development; we just need to produce according to the blueprints!

Huang Xiaozong chimed in, "Yes, we will start production according to the blueprints. This time, we must complete the production of the advanced third-generation aircraft, and we can also export it in the future!"

If Asians can sell that much, so can they!
As long as they can sell the planes, their IDF project will be a complete success!

Coach 10 is already selling well, so they can too.

Meanwhile, the situation was quite different for the US naval fleet sailing in the Mediterranean.

Their two battles were a complete failure!
They are using their own failures to promote the fighter jets of the East!

"We shouldn't have used Hornet alone in our second operation!"

"That's right, if we had just sent two Tomcat fighters, the outcome wouldn't have been like this!"

"However... after these two battles, they have used up all their Lightning-10 missiles. From now on, we don't need to worry about anything anymore."

When Bumblebee goes up, it's entirely about using its own aircraft to wear down the enemy's missiles!

The Lightning-10 medium-range missile poses the greatest threat to them!
just now……

Swift took a deep breath: "Gentlemen, you haven't grasped the crux of the problem yet."

"What's the key?"

"When we arrived, the JL-10 also took off to intercept us, along with two MiG-23s. What does that mean?"

"Some leaks?" Snowden's expression changed; this was a serious problem!

They originally went to bomb the planes on the tarmac, but unexpectedly, the planes took off. The timing was so precise that it was definitely not a coincidence!
"But how was it leaked?"

"We are looking for the cause of the leak, but considering the intelligence leaks we have here, I think the attack mission should be handed over to the Air Force."

"What?!" Now, everyone was indignant.

In the United States, inter-service conflicts are enormous.

Back then, there was no air force at all, only the army aviation. As a result, the navy sabotaged the separation of the army aviation from the army and established an air force on its own.

Then, the Army and Air Force started to mislead people by separating the Marine Corps from the Navy.

After all, military spending is limited. If one branch of the military gets a larger share, the other branch will get less. This kind of conflict exists among the military branches of many countries around the world!
There are huge differences between the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force. Now that the Navy has failed, it wants the Air Force to help them regain their position?
After this, how can we ever hold our heads high in front of the Air Force again!
"No, absolutely not!"

"At this critical moment, we must demonstrate the strength of our navy!"

"Report, we've just received news from back home that Grumman has completed testing of the latest F-14D. They hope to deploy this aircraft to our aircraft carrier to participate in upcoming operations, not only for air superiority but also for ground attack..."

What bumblebees can do, male cats can do too! What bumblebees can't do, male cats can do!

New York, Long Island, Calvinden plant, a subsidiary of Grumman Corporation.

A beautiful fighter jet stands in the production workshop. At this moment, all the frames next to it have been removed, which means that the aircraft has completed all the assembly work.

"Great! Taking advantage of the Hornet's defeat, let's make our Tomcat fighters win the approval of the Naval Air Force again!" Jono Bryan looked at the plane in front of him, his face full of excitement.

“That’s right. With the test prototypes outside, we can provide the Navy with two F-14Ds at once. This variant has completely transformed the Tomcat!” Pellehark said with great anticipation.

When the Tomcat was first created, it won everyone's recognition with its top-notch performance, but... many problems also arose during its use.

The first serious flaw is its engine.

In the era when the Tomcat was born, there were no third-generation high-thrust engines, so they could only use the TF30 engine.

This engine was originally designed for bombers and worked fine on them. However, when it was used on fighter jets, the engine speed needed to be constantly changed as the pilot frequently pushed the control stick to make maneuvers. As a result, the engine, which was originally only suitable for steady flight, began to be unsuited to the new conditions!

If this engine is not properly maintained, it may experience surging!
Pilots complained that they had to handle this aircraft with the utmost care, like a virgin!
Now, we finally don't need it anymore!
"We replaced it with a brand new F110 engine, which not only solved the reliability problem, but also increased the thrust from the original 93 kN to 124.5 kN!"

In this way, the problem of insufficient thrust in male cats was greatly alleviated.

That's right, it can only be a mitigation. After all, even with various methods, the Tomcat with variable-sweep wings still has an empty weight of 18 tons. If it's filled with 7 tons of internal fuel tanks, that's 25 tons. Add 2 tons of ammunition, and the aircraft's thrust-to-weight ratio drops below 1.

Even on the battlefield, after some fuel is consumed, the thrust-to-weight ratio for air combat is only around 1.

It still lags behind aircraft like the F-15.

However, compared to our previous selves, our performance has definitely improved by a huge margin!
"That's right. In addition to the brand-new engine, we have also improved the avionics, especially the airborne radar, which will greatly enhance our combat capabilities!"

The Tomcat used the AWG-9 radar, which boasted a search range of up to 300 kilometers, making it stand out from the crowd. However, this radar, based on technology from the 1960s and 70s, still had many shortcomings.

At the time of its invention, many transistor components were still used, and many models were lacking.

Therefore, using the advanced electronic technology of the past few years to improve the original radar is a key upgrade task.

The APG-71 radar, which is a digital modification of the AWG-9, adds features such as monopulse angle tracking, digital scan control, beyond-visual-range target identification, and attack assessment. It is precisely because of the addition of this radar that the Tomcat gained ground attack capabilities in addition to air combat!

Your Bumblebee is all about boasting that it can fight in the air and attack ground targets, isn't it?
We tomcats can do it too!

"Report!" Just then, someone ran in: "We just received a message from the Navy, requesting that we immediately fly the modified Tomcat to the Mediterranean!"

"Alright, let's demonstrate the power of our aircraft with a long-haul flight!"

The brand-new Tomcat fighter jet was towed out of the factory and, together with the original modified test aircraft on the tarmac, took to the skies after completing all flight maintenance work, heading straight for the Atlantic Ocean. After stopping in Britain, it would fly to the carrier strike group!

East.

Qin Liang had just returned to his courtyard house after shopping with his wife when he saw the Air Force vehicles parked outside.

"Principal Qin, Elder Lin requests your presence."

"Ok."

Qin Liang was speechless. It seemed that it would be better for him to go back to Northwestern Polytechnical University, so that Professor Lin wouldn't have to fuss over him every day!
However... it really is time to go back. What's the point of me, the president of Northwestern Polytechnical University, staying in the capital all this time?

Airplane terminal.

"Liangzi, I just received news that Grumman's modified Tomcat is about to be deployed on an aircraft carrier."

"Oh." Qin Liang nodded.

It's just the F-14D, you know that yourself, Grumman's final masterpiece, Super Tomcat. Later generations added many more transformations, like Bomberman, Fast & Furious, Super Tomcat 21, and so on.

These improvements made the Tomcat fighter jet even more powerful, but so what?

The biggest problem with the Tomcat is its poor maintainability and extremely low serviceability. Pilots may be happy, but maintenance staff will be cursing it out every day!

and so……

"Aren't you worried?"

"worry about what?"

"Without our coach X, the Hornet would have won very well this time, and the US Navy might have completely switched to the Hornet, which is a useless asset. Now, if we eliminate the Hornet, and the US Navy continues to improve the Tomcat, wouldn't that cause us trouble?"

Mr. Lin, your thinking is truly visionary!

Qin Liang glanced at Old Lin and said, "This should be the Navy's concern, why is our Air Force so anxious?"

navy!

Old Lin smiled wryly: "Yes, when we have aircraft carriers in the future, it will definitely be the navy's responsibility. Right now... the Americans' aircraft carriers can sail right up to our doorstep, so of course it's our land-based air force's business."

Ultimately, it all comes down to our lack of strength!

"What do we mean by 'later'? In just a few years, the navy will have aircraft carriers."

Just then, Qin Liang's phone rang again.

"Hello, Navy Commander Zhang? What do you want? Super Tomcat? This..."

The navy is really getting anxious!

After a long flight, the two Tomcats wobbled and landed on the deck of the USS America.

That's right, it was wobbly and unstable. Because the two engines were too far apart, every adjustment the pilot made was a major one!
Every time it lands, watching the tomcat sway from side to side is really worrying!
After coming to a stop, the plane was towed to the parking area. Before the pilot even disembarked, a large group of people had already arrived, and the leader was... Swift?
As soon as the lead pilot, Johnny, opened the canopy, he saw someone climbing up.

Inside the cockpit, there are still some flight instruments, but the two displays on the front finally give this aircraft a modern feel!
"Hmm, this cabin looks pretty good." Swift nodded. "I just don't know how well it performs."

"Performance is definitely not a problem. It can fight in the air and bomb ground targets. It's an all-around fighter!" Johnny said, turning his head to look at the plane parked on the other side of the deck. "We believe that this plane's performance far surpasses that of the Big Bug!"

Below, some people looked grim.

Bumblebee, bumblebee! What did you say, "big bug"? That's awful!
“Alright, let’s prove the excellence of this aircraft in actual combat,” Swift said. “According to the plan, we need to carry out a bombing mission tonight. The Air Force’s F-111s will come from faraway America. By the time they arrive, it will be night, and then…”

"Report!" a voice rang out from below. "Revlon requests permission to carry out this flight mission!"

Johnny looked down and saw that the speaker was... a female pilot. Had this woman lost her mind? Why would she want to carry out such a mission?

"What men can do, we can do too!" As if knowing what everyone was thinking, the female pilot proudly replied, "We women are no less capable than men; gender equality!"

(End of this chapter)