For such an aircraft that is still in test flight, no one can guarantee that it has no major design flaws, so the question is: if the Tu-204 produced by COMAC has major flaws that have not been discovered, who will bear the responsibility?

No one dared to take it.

No one dared to pat their chests and say, "Don't worry, I promise that the Tu-204 will never have any major problems!", no one dared.

But then comes the trouble: since you don't dare to guarantee the Tu-204, why do you recommend the Tu-204?

"Can you guarantee that there must be something wrong with the Tu-204?"

In the face of the "76 Party's" questioning, the "204 Party" was not ambiguous and immediately asked: "Since the Tu-204 first flew in 1989, have there been any serious quality problems so far? Don't forget, the reason why the Tu-204 is still in the stage of obtaining airworthiness certification is because this Tu-204 is 100 percent domestically produced by us, and the Tu-204 produced by Lao Maozi's Tupolev Design Bureau obtained its type certificate as early as December 1991.

In the past, the developed civil aviation industry of the USSR, they did not find any problems with the Tu-204, and in more than 7 years from 1991 to the present, they did not find any major quality and design problems, and the Tu-204 of the COMAC Group was built in strict accordance with the design of the Tupolev Design Bureau, what serious quality problems can there be?

To say that there is, it is only theoretical, but if it is only theoretical, there is no problem that the Il-76 has not been discovered in theory?"

Yes, if the Tu-204, which has obtained a type certificate in the former Soviet Union, has major theoretical design flaws, then the Il-76 also has theoretical flaws that have not been discovered in test flights and use over the years, which no one can deny.

However, in the face of the rhetorical question of the "204 Party", the "76 Party" still has a killer feature: "But there are examples of the Il-76 being converted into an airborne early warning aircraft, that is, the A-50 of the former Soviet Union, and is there a precedent for the Tu-204 to be converted into an airborne early warning aircraft?"

"The Tu-204 is a precedent that has not been converted into an airborne early warning aircraft, but there are still few examples of using civil aircraft to modify an airborne early warning aircraft? The platform of the United States' E-3 airborne early warning aircraft is the Boeing 707, and the carrier aircraft platform of Israel's own 'Ferkang' early warning aircraft is also the Boeing 707; in addition, the E-767, an airborne early warning aircraft modified by the United States with the Boeing 767 as the carrier aircraft, also made its maiden flight last year, since the Boeing 707 and Boeing 757 are the problem?

By the way, just a few days ago, the Brazilian Government reached an agreement with Sweden's Ericsson Company to modify five 'Eryleye' airborne early warning planes based on the Brazilian EMB-145 aircraft.

In the face of the controversy between the "204 Party" and the "76 Party", Director Ma watched coldly.

The director is really a very magical position, the most basic administrative village, there is a village director, and at the level of Director Ma, he is still the director.

Well, don't look at the strong smell of gunpowder at the scene, the "204 Party" and the "76 Party" have the meaning of killing each other quickly, but in Director Ma's view, this kind of argument is supposed and necessary, and the truth always becomes clearer and clearer the more you argue!

Through the debate between the "204 Party" and the "76 Party" these days, Director Ma feels that he has basically messed up the situation:

If the Il-76 is used as the carrier aircraft of the "Ferkang" system, there are only two ways, either four of the only dozen Il-76s in our country are extracted for modification, or they will spend precious foreign exchange from Russia or Ukraine. Belarus and other former Soviet republics to buy, but if it is an external purchase, the risk is quite large, on the one hand, it will cost precious foreign exchange, on the other hand, with the current diplomatic situation of China and the United States and the degree of hostility of the United States to China, the Americans will inevitably make a bad move, not to mention the delay in delivery, Huaxia even has the possibility of not being able to get the plane after paying, for Huaxia, even if it is only a possibility, but this possibility is absolutely not allowed;

But if it is Tu-204, it is too convenient, first of all, we can produce Tu-204 ourselves, and then maintenance and replacement of spare parts will not be subject to any restrictions; secondly, compared with the Il-76, although the maximum load of the Tu-204 is less than 30 tons, but as a passenger aircraft, it has a huge space, not only the upper cabin space is almost one-third larger than the Il-76, in addition to a huge bottom cargo compartment, whether this ground floor cargo room is used as an equipment compartment or a part of it is converted into a fuel tank, there is no problem, in a word, compared to the Il-76, Tu-204 except for a slight lack of maximum load, other places completely exploded Il-76!

Director Ma, who felt that he knew almost everything, coughed lightly twice and said, "Okay, comrades, listen to me." ”

Hearing this, the "204 Party" and the "76 Party", which had just been arguing, instantly quieted down, and everyone knew that it was time to solve the mystery.

"The old man said it well, the more the truth is debated, the clearer it is, through everyone's discussion these days, I understand that the Il-76 has the advantages of the Il-76, and the Tu-204 has the advantages of the Tu-204, and everyone has tried their best to explain their advantages and disadvantages from a scientific point of view, and what everyone said is also very reasonable, which is very good," Director Ma first commented on everyone's discussion these days, and then changed his tone, and then said: "Here, I will first explain a point, for our early warning aircraft, the most important, It is also in the first place, that is, to ensure the attendance rate, from this point of view, European and American countries to civil aircraft as a carrier platform, it makes sense, compared with the Il-76 such military transport aircraft, Tu-204 such civil aircraft attendance, maintenance rate are superior.

So my opinion is that the Tu-204 will be given priority first, and the Il-76 will be the second alternative, and as for whether the Il-76 will be transferred from the Air Force or purchased, the decision will be made after communicating with the comrades of the unit, do you have any opinions?"

Generally speaking, when the leader asks you "do you have an opinion", it is better not to have an opinion.

Whether it is the "204 Party" or the "76 Party", they are obviously well aware of this, and everyone shakes their heads one after another, saying that they have no opinion.

Director Ma was very satisfied with this: "Very good, then form the meeting minutes and meeting resolutions, well, after the meeting, help me inform the comrades of Commercial Aviation and Xifei...... I remember that the comrades from these two units came, right?"

The secretary on the side immediately reported to Director Ma: "Yes, director, Comrade Wang Xiaodong from Xifei and Comrade Wang Dazhi from Shangfei have been waiting." ”

Director Ma nodded.