Siheyuan starts from a better life

Chapter 903, Restarting Bess

"My son, where are you going to be arranged?" Jiang Yan asked after seeing the door closed.

"How about XX Research Institute? It's you who built it up. You know what's inside. It's close to home, so if there are any problems, you can give me some guidance." Liu Xingchao said with a smile.

"It seems like you are killing two birds with one stone. You include me in it." Jiang Yan looked at Liu Xingchao with amusement.

"The more you work, the more you earn. You are not an outsider, right!" He said this with an embarrassed smile.

"Tell me! What's the matter that requires you to leave me alone?" Jiang Yan said after a while.

"Take a look at this." Liu Xingchao said and took out a file bag from the briefcase he was carrying.

"This is inappropriate! After all, I'm out now." Looking at the special mark on it, Jiang Yan asked.

"It's okay. I've reported to my superiors. Besides, your rank is higher than mine! The benefits have not been cancelled. I am quite confident in your superiors." Liu Xingchao said.

"Okay!" After Jiang Yan finished speaking, he took the file bag and started reading it.

"How about this? Is this okay?" Liu Xingchao asked after seeing Jiang Yan finish reading the information.

"It's feasible. The reasoning behind the Bess engine is better than the engine we're using on the Zhan-7 now. If the Zhan-7 with a lower chin intake is modified with this engine, coupled with powerful air-to-air missiles, it can almost be said to be a third-generation fighter."

Originally, the improved Z-7 aircraft with a chin-mounted air intake was the product of Jiang Yan's reference to the Phantom fighter and combining it with the Z-7 fighter, so there was no problem at all in replacing this engine.

"The country is preparing to restart the Bess engine project." Jiang Yan asked.

The Spey engine is a relatively advanced turbofan engine developed by John Bull in the mid-20s. Compared with the turbojet engines at that time, the Spey engine has significant advantages in terms of high thrust, low fuel consumption, good maintainability and long service life. Specifically, the Spey MK60 engine has a maximum thrust of 202 kN, an afterburner thrust of 54.5 kN and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 91.1. These performance parameters show the technological advancement of the Spey engine at that time.

In 1975, after intense negotiations, the two governments signed an agreement. my country not only purchased the entire machine, but also obtained the patent license for the Spey engine, spending a total of 7600 million.

After three years of hard work, in the second half of 1979, the Chang'an Aero Engine Factory successfully assembled four Spey engines.

Although the domestically produced Spey engine was successfully copied, this important scientific and technological achievement could not be fully utilized because the technical requirements of the main fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force at that time were not suitable for the Spey engine.

Therefore, these four domestically produced Spey engines and a large number of Spey engines purchased from the UK can only stay quietly in the warehouse.

The situation did not change until the appearance of the H-7 Leopard. "Don't be ridiculous, aviation is developing rapidly now, and we are still led by Sixth Master and Seventh Master. You know their situation. The improved model of Seventh Master with lower jaw intake is only manufactured in small batches. After research, it seems that the modified model of Seventh Master still has potential, so we are thinking about whether we can use the Bess engine."

"You are one of the designers of it, so I want to ask your opinion."

"I have no objection. To be honest, the original engine equipped by Qiye was not powerful enough, but the engine of Bess is more than enough. It's just a small improvement without affecting its original aerodynamic layout. Its maneuverability at low and medium altitudes has been greatly improved. It can be said to be a new third-generation aircraft. If the radar can keep up, long-range combat is not a problem. The only problem is that its combat radius is relatively small. It's only more than 900 kilometers."

It is a universally acknowledged fact that the Russian aircraft is short-legged and myopic. Although Qiye has made many improvements to this aircraft, it is still based on the MiG aircraft. So some problems are inevitable, but it has greatly improved the combat radius of Qiye's 700 kilometers.

"Aircraft engines cannot be separated from materials, so materials are of utmost importance. However, I have previously developed a high-temperature material that should be usable."

"The Bess engine is a good engine with a wide range of applications. As far as I know, John Bull also changed the Spey engine from an aircraft engine to a gas engine. In addition to using it on his own warships, a number of them have also been installed on the Chicken Foot Basin destroyer. It can be said that mastering this engine will make great progress in our country's own engine research and development. My opinion is to launch a battle to fully master the Bess engine." Jiang Yan spoke firmly.

Turbofan engines are more difficult to imitate than turbojet engines. During this period, my country began to learn new technologies from abroad, and there were as many as 13 new processes brought by imitating the Spey engine alone. Therefore, as long as these technologies are fully understood, there will be unexpected benefits for my country's subsequent engine research and development.

"Lao Jiang, can you write an internal reference for this? I will also report to my superiors." Liu Xingchao said.

"No problem, I'll write it in the next two days." Jiang Yan thought about it and agreed.

Jiang Yan has always been very happy to agree to anything that can improve the domestic combat level.
Our aircraft designers inherited the Soviet Union's ideas, and the idea of ​​our designers is still "high-altitude and high-speed" combat, which is the same as the Soviet Union's idea of ​​"high-altitude interceptor" at that time. The biggest shortcoming of the Spey is that it cannot be "high-altitude and high-speed". If this engine is installed on a new aircraft, it will not have enough stamina at an altitude of 20000 meters and the flight speed will be less than Mach 2, so this is one of the reasons for the cancellation.

It was also because my country's aircraft research and development at that time blindly followed the Russians and did not keep up with the changes in the concept of international fighters. It blindly pursued data and was out of touch with the needs of air combat. The main combat altitude of fighters has always been around 10000 meters. Looking around the world, except for high-speed monsters like the MiG-25, international mainstream fighters do not pursue high altitude and high speed, but focus on flexibility, fire control and other aspects. This is the general trend.

If a country has modified the aircraft based on the Bess engine, although its overall performance lags behind those developed Western countries, it still has something to show for itself. At least this aircraft equipped with the Bess engine has been transformed from a quasi-third-generation fighter into a low-end version of the third-generation fighter.

"Lao Jiang, what do you think about our country's plan to introduce the Eagle Sauce aircraft?" Liu Xingchao asked.

"I know a little bit." Jiang Yan said.

At that time, our relations with the West had gradually entered the "golden honeymoon period". At the same time, we were facing huge air threats, such as the Tu-22/22M "Backfire" supersonic strategic bombers. The only fighters we could rely on were the old J-6 and J-7 fighters. As for the J-8 daytime model that had just entered service, it was actually not much better.

The most typical performance characteristics of this type of 1-2 fighter are that it is short-legged or lacks modern air combat capabilities. It often cannot keep up with or outrun supersonic strategic bombers. Obviously, the Air Force at this time is unable to undertake air interception missions and can only rely on ground-based air defense missiles for limited interception, and it is still a guerrilla-style gamble.

Faced with this overwhelming air defense pressure, the Eagle Sauce, which is in the best period of relations with the United States, proposed a "Falcon Corridor" plan. Specifically, it is to provide us with a batch of F-16 fighters and related technicians, so that we can quickly establish a reliable air defense line when needed. It is equivalent to setting up a maintenance and assembly plant in my country, preparing a certain amount of inventory, and directly using it after entering the wartime state, and persist until the reinforcements from the other side of the ocean arrive.

(End of this chapter)