Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

When you don't know what to do, just see what the Americans are doing, and follow the path the Americans have taken, so you won't step into pitfalls. This is called 'crossing the river by feeling the American's stones'.

The Americans shout every day that large aircraft carriers are useless, but don't listen to their nonsense. Just watch them develop large aircraft carriers, and then we will develop them too. It's definitely right.

The Americans play with stealth aircraft, then we will play with stealth aircraft too. They develop the F22, we develop the J-20. They develop the B2, we develop the H-20. Following the Americans across the river is really great.

In terms of naval carrier-based trainer aircraft, we can of course also cross the river by feeling the Americans.

The United States has more than a dozen aircraft carriers and nearly a thousand carrier-based aircraft pilots, so of course there must be a suitable training mechanism and suitable carrier-based trainer aircraft.

In the past, the U.S. Navy used the T-2C "Buckeye" and TA-4J "Skyhawk" carrier-based trainer aircraft. However, as time went by, these trainer aircraft became more and more outdated and unable to train pilots for modern fighter jets. Therefore, in 1978, the U.S. Navy launched the Future Carrier-Based Trainer Aircraft Training System project, wanting a brand-new carrier-based trainer aircraft to replace these old models.

British Aerospace immediately realized that the opportunity had come. After all, they had the advanced T-45 trainer aircraft on hand, which was almost the NATO standard trainer aircraft. It seemed like a matter of minutes to improve a carrier-based trainer aircraft based on this trainer aircraft.

But in reality, this improvement was not simple. It took a full thirteen years from the project's start to its entry into service!

The airframe needed to be strengthened, the front and rear landing gear needed to be improved, and an arresting hook needed to be added to the rear. These improvements were all obstacles. After all, to become a carrier-based aircraft, it needed to be able to take off by catapult and land with arresting gear.

British Aerospace was very lucky at the time. They did not develop it themselves, but chose McDonnell Douglas as a partner. The latter had good experience in developing carrier-based aircraft. As for bringing in McDonnell Douglas, it was because the U.S. Navy required that this carrier-based trainer aircraft be produced in the United States.

Many problems were encountered during the development process, the most difficult of which was the 'phantom dive'. After the fighter jet dived downwards and pulled up, it was discovered that it simply did not have the ability to pull up, and the plane crashed directly.

Various problems made McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace suffer unspeakably. It was not until 1991 that it officially entered service with the U.S. Navy. However, this was because it was modified from a land-based trainer aircraft. What if it was directly a carrier-based trainer aircraft? If the needs of carrier-based aircraft were considered in the design stage, would it be much easier?

From the appearance, the K8 trainer aircraft made by Factory 320 is very similar to the T45. It has a small nose, a cockpit that is low in the front and high in the rear, air intakes below the cockpit, a small wing sweep angle, and a high vertical tail at the rear.

From the beginning, it should be designed as a carrier-based aircraft, strengthening the airframe, reinforcing the landing gear, and installing an arresting hook, striving to create a suitable carrier-based trainer aircraft, and then supplying it for land-based use.

The conventional approach is to modify land-based fighter jets into carrier-based aircraft. The Old Maozi (Russians) and the Orientals (Chinese) have both taken this path. The later Sea Mountain Eagle was also modified from a land-based trainer aircraft. However, there are also cases of going the other way, such as the American F4 Phantom, which was originally for the Navy, but the Air Force later thought it was good, so they also used it. However, the Air Force was also very aggrieved, their fighter jets were completely the Navy version, and the arresting hook was retained.

As for trainer aircraft, strengthening them is better. After all, you don't know what kind of students you will encounter. If the Navy's trainer aircraft is used by the Air Force, it will be more sturdy.

"Find Lao Ba (Pakistan) for cooperation? That's a good idea. Are you sure Lao Ba will join?" Old Liu became interested.

"I'm sure."

Over the years, Lao Ba and the Orient have forged a deep friendship. Lao Ba's main equipment is from the Orient, and they even set up production lines in their own country. Taking the Air Force as an example, Lao Ba has a major overhaul plant for the J-6 in their country. Lao Ba also tried to produce more advanced fighter jets, so they cooperated with Chengdu Aircraft Corporation on a Super-7 project. Unfortunately, this project experienced many twists and turns, and it was not until the twenty-first century that it was successfully completed.

Lao Ba also has a need for trainer aircraft, and this investment is not much, so Lao Ba can completely provide funds, and even find suitable engines from the United States.

The K-8 in later generations used imported engines, which was okay for export, but not for self-use. Therefore, the country developed another engine to replace it, although the power was weaker, it could be used.

"President Qin, Factory 320 is currently working on the J-11. Do you think they still have the energy to work on this kind of trainer aircraft?"

If it weren't for Old Liu's words, Qin Yang would have almost forgotten that Factory 320 is no longer the Factory 320 it used to be. This factory is producing the most powerful fighter jet!

Although the J-11 has already been put into production, they still need to thoroughly understand the technology and improve it, especially to develop stealth aircraft. Therefore, their task is very heavy, and it is obviously not suitable for them to develop trainer aircraft.

"Change to another place, let Base 011 do it."

Base 011 also has an aircraft factory, which used to be an important third-line base. However, in the 1980s, they struggled. If it weren't for the J-7 project, if it weren't for the investment of Factory 960, the entire base would probably have been finished. Anyway, they are engaged in trainer aircraft, so it would be good to hand over this new trainer aircraft to them.

Old Liu nodded: "That's right, when we have trainer aircraft in the future, we will use trainer aircraft for training and save the fighter jets. But now, we still have to use fighter jets. Our landing experiment is very important, President Qin, do you have any suggestions?"

Arrested landings are more meaningful and more difficult than ski-jump takeoffs. Qin Yang thought for a moment and said, "Provide sufficient insurance for our test pilots."

Although everyone is looking forward to success, accidents can happen at any time. If that kind of situation occurs, saying anything else will be useless, and the warriors must be given sufficient financial compensation.

If the troops don't want to spend money, then they can only use insurance to compensate. In the 1980s, there was only one People's Insurance Company in China, which was relatively reliable and would not have clauses that would not compensate for this or that.

Old Liu's mood also suddenly became heavy.