Chapter 013 Air Force Lobbyist

Jinning, Beijing West Road, Qinhuai River, Building 3, Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee Compound.

Building 3 is a small two-story building with red walls and black tiles, which is quite nostalgic. The plane trees in the courtyard also looked a little depressed in the hot summer wind, and the white sè air conditioner hanging on the outer wall of the small building was blowing hot làng, making the temperature in the courtyard seem to be higher.

It is said that Jinning is a furnace, which is true.

In the No. 3 small building, Xiao Chen's nanny was busy preparing cold drinks and herbal tea for the guests who visited Secretary Xiao today.

As the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee who enjoys ministerial-level treatment, Xiao Chen has a cook and nanny rationed by the provincial organ working committee, and the 46-year-old Lao Chen and his 44-year-old wife serve as cooks and nannies respectively. But today's visit is not the usual party and government officials who come to Jiangdong, but Secretary Xiao's cousin Xiao Ningfu fù, and their child Zhenyu, as Secretary Xiao's cook and nanny, naturally know Secretary Xiao's family background, Xiao Ning is the eldest daughter of Premier Xiao, and Zhang Xujiang is the only son of Commander Zhang Yue, which is naturally clear to them, so Lao Chen Fu fù is also very attentive.

Xiao Ning is now a member of the Standing Committee of the Qidong Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Qidong Province, which is adjacent to Jiangdong, while Zhang Xujiang is still the commander of a fighter division of the Air Force stationed in Quancheng, with the rank of colonel. Their child, Zhang Zhenyu, is 11 years old this year, and is about to enter the sixth grade of primary school due to his early start of school, and is now on summer vacation.

Xiao Zhenyu is not very old, but he has a heroic spirit, and his small appearance is clear-eyed, when his parents are talking to his uncle, he is not noisy or noisy, and he politely declined his uncle's proposal to let the nanny take him to watch cartoons, and sat up straight and listened to his father and uncle talk about those serious "military affairs", although some things are obviously not very clear in the blink of an eye, but they are obviously trying to understand. Xiao Chen didn't look at him, the more he looked at this nephew who was quite from a military family, the more he liked it, and the smile on his face became stronger and stronger.

The conversation just now was mainly Zhang Xujiang talking and Xiao Chen listening. The main issues mentioned are Zhang Xujiang's views on the current "leapfrogging" development of the Huaxia Air Force. According to Zhang Xujiang's analysis, the Huaxia Air Force is currently in a critical period of transformation from a "territorial defense type" to a "offensive and defensive type." As the foundation for supporting the "offensive and defensive" air force, the development of weapons and equipment has now embarked on a fast track. Therefore, how to better embody the idea of "leapfrogging" development in the process of developing the Air Force's weapons and equipment is a major issue facing us at present.

In Zhang Xujiang's view, at this time, the Air Force's operational thinking should first be transformed into guidance by "leaps and bounds." Zhang Xujiang explained to Xiao Chen: "Operational thinking is the basis for the development of weapons and equipment, and at the same time, the development of weapons and equipment will lead to changes in operational thinking. It is of the utmost importance to correctly predict the future operational environment and operational patterns, to determine operational ideas that are in line with national and military conditions, and to provide correct guidance for the development of weapons and equipment. ”

Zhang Xujiang gave Xiao Chen a supplementary lesson, saying that the United States, as the superpower that "has only the fruits left," has indisputably huge superiority in the military, aviation, and aerospace fields. In order to maintain and expand this superiority, the US Air Force has changed its operational thinking three times in a short period of 10 years. In June 1990, before the Gulf War, the U.S. Air Force published a white paper entitled "Global Reach, Global Operations." The book predicts that advanced technology and equipment will enable the U.S. armed forces to have decisive combat effectiveness and resist well-equipped potential adversaries with minimal casualties; U.S. air power can support both land and sea campaigns, as well as direct force in air campaigns.

The "Gulf War" broke out on January 17, 1991. The "Desert Storm" combat operation proved that the viewpoint put forward in the US Air Force's white paper was correct. By 1996, the U.S. Air Force recognized the need to revise the concept of "global reach, global operations" and proposed a new concept called "global engagement." It mentions that "on the path of reform towards the formation of an aerospace force, the US Air Force is currently in a transition period from the transformation of the aviation forces into the aerospace forces." "This means that the role of space forces in the US Air Force will continue to increase.

In order to implement the US Air Force's operational concepts of "global arrival, global combat" and "global participation," the US Air Force has organized its air force combat units into 10 aerospace expeditionary units, two of which can be rapidly deployed at any given time. The operational thinking of the Aerospace Expeditionary Force has been applied in the Kosovo War, and the results have been remarkable.

On June 19, 2000, the U.S. Air Force, in accordance with the spirit of the U.S. Army's "2020 Joint Vision" and on the basis of the operational ideas put forward in the past, issued the "2020 U.S. Air Force Vision: Global Vigilance, ReachandPoer" document, requiring the U.S. Air Force to be able to carry out surprise operations directly from the U.S. mainland or from overseas bases; Relying on advanced weaponry, it should be able to discover, identify, track, target, attack and assess important targets of any nature anywhere in the world; The ability of the aerospace forces to dispose of these targets should be gradually reduced from hours to minutes.

They believe that the most crucial thing in future warfare is to be able to obtain the most accurate intelligence from various detection systems anytime and anywhere, and then send it to all departments needed at the fastest speed through a powerful communication network, so that the most effective operational decisions can be made.

Based on this concept, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has demanded that the traditional defense equipment development be prioritized: (1) platforms; (2) intelligence detection systems; (3) the communication system, which was readjusted to (1) the intelligence (information) detection system; (2) communication systems; (3) Platform.

According to the new priority of the US Department of Defense, the most important and urgent thing for the United States at present is to first develop information engineering, including advanced computer software, modern communications systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and firepower circle out-of-fire missiles, optical communication systems, and space detection equipment that have both information detection and strike functions, but to restrict the development of those traditional equipment items that the Department of Defense considers to be developed to suit traditional combat missions. The Air Force's F-22 Raptor, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey, and the Army's Rah-66 Comanche have all been called "obsolete" by reformers such as Rassell.

Zhang Xujiang, who sat up straight like his son Zhang Zhenyu sitting next to him, said: "As an important strategy to guide the building of the air force for a long time to come, the operational thinking must be able to foresee the trend and prospects of future operations and leave a relatively large margin and space for future development. It should be the unity of realism and forward-looking, stability and innovation. It is very likely that our army will face a very powerful enemy in the future, and our army's operational thinking must include a strategy for subduing this strong enemy. At present, the level of weaponry and equipment of our army is still relatively low, and its combat capability is not very strong. Although the speed of equipment development and combat effectiveness improvement is very fast, there is still a long way to go before we can catch up with and surpass the world powers. However, the opportunity is fleeting and will never recur, and how to get rid of the concerns brought to us by a military power is an issue that must be considered at this stage. In a situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak on the whole, it is of special significance to establish the concept of asymmetric warfare, develop the theory of asymmetric warfare, and study asymmetric combat equipment. Asymmetry is the ability to exploit a situation by striking at an opponent's weaknesses or by using unconventional means in unexpected ways. If you look at the situation in a specific way, you can find the weaknesses of your opponents. For example, by understanding the performance of an opponent's weapons and equipment, grasping its weaknesses, and exploiting them, it is possible to achieve greater results at a very small cost. If they do not have a technological advantage, they can also achieve their combat objectives by attacking the opponent's psychology and will. ”

Xiao Chen nodded and asked, "Do you mean that we should base on the 'leapfrog' improvement of the level of Huaxia aviation and aerospace technology?" ”

Zhang Xujiang snorted and nodded: "That's right." No country in the world can rely on the introduction of advanced equipment to arm a truly powerful army. In particular, for a large country like China, which has a vast territory and a large population, national defense independence is of special significance. Self-sufficiency in weapons and equipment is an important component of national defense independence.

Huaxia's aviation industry has a poor foundation and a weak foundation, and it is impossible to provide the Air Force with a large amount of advanced weapons and equipment in a short period of time. However, due to operational needs, it is impossible for our army to wait for a long time for the new domestically produced equipment to be formed. At the present stage, it is a wise move to introduce some advanced main battle equipment. This will not only help the rapid enhancement of the combat effectiveness of the troops, but will also enable the aviation industry departments to learn a lot of advanced technology and experience from it, so as to promote the process of developing domestically produced main battle equipment and rapidly shorten the gap with the developed countries.

In the introduction of weapons and equipment, we should persist in taking operational needs as the traction, and at the same time emphasize the idea of giving priority to the introduction of technology. It is necessary to place them in a prominent and important position the key technologies that restrict the development of Huaxia Aviation and the enhancement of the Air Force's combat effectiveness, such as aviation propulsion technology, photoelectric detection technology, and optical guidance technology. Gradually, through the digestion and absorption of imported technology, the level of China's aviation industry can be rapidly improved. In addition, through cooperative development with advanced countries, we should accumulate experience in the research and development and production of advanced weapons and equipment, strive to improve on the basis of technology introduction, and gradually embark on the road of self-research and self-production.

The introduction of equipment, the introduction of technology, cooperative development, self-development, and self-production are the three steps in the development of the Air Force's weapons and equipment at the present stage. Each of these stages is very important, and together they constitute the whole process of the 'leapfrog' development of the Air Force's weapons and equipment. The final foothold of this process is to mark the 'leapfrog' improvement in the level of Huaxia aviation and aerospace technology, that is, the self-research and development of the Air Force's weapons and equipment. This is the basis for the 'leapfrog' development of the Air Force's weapons and equipment. ”

Xiao Chen laughed, Zhang Xujiang is still the same as in the past, this is still for the Air Force to invest in the support of the Central Committee, you must know that the issue of military spending is ultimately to be discussed in the Central Committee, and as we all know, Xiao Department occupies a lot of seats in the Central Committee.

So Xiao Chen laughed: "So, we should take the 'leapfrog' growth of research funding as the premise?" ”

Zhang Xujiang was a smart person, so he naturally knew that Xiao Chen had already seen what he meant, but he didn't intend to hide it, he made up his mind to persuade Xiao Chen, so he said: "Of course, the development of air force weapons and equipment requires not only advanced technology, but also a strong economic foundation as a backing. Take the development of fighter jets, at all stages, no matter what generation, they are the culmination of cutting-edge technology at that time. During the Cold War, countries around the world invested a lot of money in the development of advanced fighters, and a large number of fighters with good platform performance also appeared at that time. With the end of the Cold War, the national defense and security environment changed, and the confrontational development of fighter jets lost momentum. Coupled with the sharp cuts in the defense budgets of various countries, the plans for the development of fighter jets in various countries have been significantly reduced, and the cycle of replacement has increased significantly. Military competition has changed from the previous quantitative superiority to qualitative superiority.

The difficulty of developing a modern fighter is far beyond the reach of previous generations. In addition to the hovering and acceleration performance of the F-third-generation fighter, special emphasis is placed on the aircraft to have low detectability, high maneuverability and agility, supersonic cruise and unconventional maneuvering capabilities, and over-the-horizon combat capabilities, which can be discovered, fired, and destroyed by the enemy before the enemy in the course of combat, and have good use and maintenance characteristics and short-range take-off and landing capabilities. Each of these is quite difficult to develop, and every small step forward requires a huge effort.

Such a vast and huge project cannot be successful without a large amount of financial investment. The United States plans to invest $24 billion in the development of the next-generation 'Joint Strike Fighter' JSF (F-35) in the EMD stage (that is, the stage of engineering and manufacturing development). Some estimate that the total cost of the entire JSF project is expected to reach $225 billion, which is nothing short of astronomical! The U.S. Navy's plan to improve the F/A-18C/D to the F/A-18E/F standard also spent more than $5.6 billion on its development (including aircraft and engines). Even a fighter improvement program of a small scale requires such a large amount of financial support, which cannot be said to be a major feature of today's fighter development.

We're in a situation where 'if you want a horse to run, you can't let a horse go without grazing.'" China's backwardness in the development of weapons and equipment is very closely related to the serious lack of investment in this area in the past few years. As far as I know, in the more than 50 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huaxia's investment in the aviation field has been less than a fraction of its investment in railways, and this has greatly hindered the development of the Air Force's weapons and equipment. Moreover, almost all of this limited funds are invested in the development of models, and the attention to pre-research work is even more insufficient. As a matter of fact, in the process of developing the Air Force's weapons and equipment, it is extremely important to strengthen technical reserves and carry out pre-research work. It can be said that without a good technical foundation, model development is a wood without roots and water without a source. In the process of developing the third-generation fighter, the United States has been very smooth and successful in the development process because of its sufficient technical reserves. It took only three or four years for some models to be developed and equipped with troops, while the development cycle of the former Soviet Union was much longer than that of the United States when developing the MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, and one of the important reasons was the lack of technical reserves.

Huaxia has also encountered a very embarrassing situation in the development of key aviation equipment. When developing a platform, foreign countries often prepare several power schemes to match it, while the situation in Huaxia is the opposite, often a variety of platforms share a power, and even appear in the situation that it is impossible to find a match in China. Huaxia's backwardness in aero engines is largely due to insufficient investment and insufficient technical reserves. It is difficult to have a shortcut to master these core technologies, so you can only bury your head and do it yourself.

Due to the impact of the new military revolution of the Great Cháo, all kinds of new concept weapons have emerged one after another. By selecting some fields with good basic conditions and strong feasibility, we can start early and make key investments, so that we can seize the opportunity and achieve 'leapfrog' development of weapons and equipment. For example, it is believed that the military application research on nanotechnology and superconducting technology, which are still at the world's leading level in China, will certainly produce good results.

All in all, the 'leapfrogging' of the Air Force's weaponry must be premised on a large amount of funding. In particular, it is necessary to give preferential funding to those key weak links. The more backward we are, the more we should put more effort into our basic skills. Of course, we should also pay attention to the issue of learning methods. ”

Xiao Chen thought for a while, and suddenly said: "I am in favor of increasing investment in the military, especially in the air force, which is also my consistent attitude, but relatively speaking, I think that in terms of the current international and domestic situation, our investment in military science and technology talents should be listed as the first priority, and talent is the foundation of all development, brother-in-law, can you agree with this?" ”

Zhang Xujiang nodded slightly: "I am not particularly good at the problem of scientific researchers, but I agree with your point of view, I think of another aspect, which I originally planned to talk to you, that is, we should use new weapons and equipment and maintain the quality of personnel by leaps and bounds." ”

"How?" Xiao Chen asked.

Zhang Xujiang said: "At present, there is a general consensus among all circles in the world that military superiority mainly comes from technological superiority and training superiority. Technological superiority depends on the degree of sophistication of weaponry, while training superiority is reflected in the quality of personnel used and maintained. The new weapons and equipment have a complex structure and high technical content, which places high demands on the personnel who use and maintain the new equipment. All countries in the world have taken measures one after another to improve the quality of personnel used and maintained while actively promoting the building of a professional army. On the one hand, it is necessary to improve the basic quality of new recruits, and on the other hand, it is necessary to increase the professional skills training of personnel in the use and maintenance of military personnel in order to meet the ever-growing challenges of new technologies.

Since the 70s of the last century, the US military has drawn lessons from the Vietnam War and, in view of the requirements for the use of high-tech weapons and equipment for the use of personnel for maintenance and maintenance, has adopted measures to promote a professional volunteer military service system and strengthen the training of military personnel, and the quality of personnel of the three armed services has been greatly improved. According to 2000 statistics, only 0.03 per cent of the nearly 300,000 Air Force soldiers had a high school education or less. Air Force officers have a bachelor's degree or above, of which 46.33% have a master's degree and 9.86% have a doctorate. In addition, the US military has set up more than 500 reserve officer training regiments in more than 350 universities to improve the quality of reserve officers. Thanks to the addition of high-quality soldiers, the training and combat level of the US military has been greatly improved, and the formation of combat effectiveness of new weapons and equipment has been greatly accelerated. In its summary report on the Gulf War, the US military pointed out that "war is fought by man, and smart weapons also require smart hands, and even the world's most advanced weapons and equipment cannot win the war by itself." The US military's victory in the Gulf War was not only due to the adoption of a large number of high-tech weapons and equipment, but also to the relatively high quality and training level of the personnel who use and maintain high-tech weapons and equipment.

The more high-tech weapons and equipment are, the more they need to be harnessed by high-quality personnel. Our army has now established the idea of giving priority to the development of qualified personnel from top to bottom, and 'preferring qualified personnel to be equipped with equipment rather than qualified personnel' has become a conscious action of leaders and organs at all levels. According to the requirements of a modern air force with both offensive and defensive capabilities for the quality of officers and men, the air force must have four categories of qualified personnel: command, management, flight, and technology, and they must possess quite high political, cultural, and professional qualities as well as the composite ability of 'one specialty and multiple abilities.' It is an effective way to enhance the education culture of officers in academies and universities, to broaden the channels for becoming talents, to attach importance to allowing officers to take up posts in various posts in troops, organs, academies, and other military services, and to take the road of integrated and compound education.

As far as I know, in recent years, the Air Force has brought in a large number of technical officers from local areas, increased the number of graduate students through the expansion of recruitment, and implemented the '4+2' training model of joint training of air force flight officers and air force double-degree combat staff officers, and has achieved very good results. These personnel will certainly be able to become experts in controlling the new type of equipment in future operations and training, and they will be an important guarantee for the rapid formation of combat effectiveness of the new type of equipment. ”

"Hmm......" Xiao Chen nodded, wondering whether to ask him how much the Air Force wanted to increase military spending, but suddenly saw Zhang Zhenyu suddenly stand up and raise his head: "Dad, I will be the most powerful Air Force pilot in the future!" ”