After Chen Chen accepted the invitation, Clarence and Victor's goal had been achieved, and seeing that there was nothing else, they said goodbye to Chen Chen, and then left with the drone and a group of men.

Seeing this, Chen Chen also ordered a group of security personnel to return to their posts, closed the gate, and drove away from the processing site.

After returning to the hotel for a night's rest, Chen Chen came to Northrop Grumman in Missouri early the next morning, and after being informed by the gate, Clarence and Victor came to the door to greet him.

Thus, the day before the North American Military Industry Exposition, the head of Northrop Grumman and the head of the pioneer company had a meeting, which became a meeting that could change the landscape of the future aviation and military industry.

"Mr. Chen, welcome!" Clarence and Victor hugged Chen Chen warmly, and then led him inside, and introduced him as they walked: "There are still a few directors on the road, and they will arrive in a while, so I might as well take you on a tour of the factory at this time." ”

"Northrop Grumman's factory," Chen Chen nodded with a smile: "I dreamed of visiting it when I was very young, but unfortunately I never had the opportunity, and now I finally waited." ”

Hearing this, Clarence and Victor immediately smiled proudly, as an old American aerospace company, it has been known for a long time, and it also made great contributions to the victory of the war in World War II.

Therefore, when Chen Chen said that he had heard about Grumman when he was very young, the two of them were also emotional.

The whole factory area is very large, and several people are chatting while moving forward, and they also walked the boss for a while before entering the factory, and from the moment he entered the factory gate, Chen Chen's eyes froze.

As a long-established company with a tradition, they are very concerned about the glory of the past, and when they enter the factory gate, they first pass through a museum area, where Grumman's range of products is displayed, from old to new.

Including the F4F Wildcat fighter that made great achievements in World War II, to the later "zero nemesis" F6F Hellcat, and then go forward, gradually bid farewell to the propeller era, F-14, A-6, B-2 and so on appeared one after another.

Being in this area, it is like being in a palace of flying machines, from the propeller era to the jet age, Chen Chen also has a sudden feeling that he has traveled through time and space, and the blood in his heart is gradually boiling.

After passing through the exhibition area, I came to the inside of the factory, saw various production lines, watched countless workers shuttling back and forth in it, huge accessories were put on the transmission table, and finally assembled together, gradually forming a complete flying machine, Chen Chen's eyes gradually became fanatical.

The current pioneer company has just been formed, and it is still very weak, but with its strong technological superiority, one day, the pioneer company will become such an existence, and will produce countless works that are known to the world.

Considering the issue of technical secrecy, Clarence and Victor did not take Chen Chen to visit the Advanced Technology and Design Center, and Chen Chen himself understood this, so he did not take the initiative to avoid embarrassing the other party.

Just when a few people were chatting while visiting, a few old men in suits and leather shoes came up to them, and they greeted them very enthusiastically and nodded to Chen Chen: "Is Mr. Chen here, it's really an honor." ”

"May I introduce me." Clarence immediately walked between the two sides with a smile and introduced them one by one: "This is Mr. Harry, the chairman of Northrop Grumman, and the rest are also members of the board of directors. ”

With Clarence's introduction, the two sides also hugged one by one, and they knew each other.

"Yesterday Clarence called me and said that Mr. Chen of the pioneer company was coming, and I was so excited that I didn't sleep well all night." Harry turned around with a smile and led the way, "Presumably Mr. Chen has already visited the factory, so let's go to the board office to talk in detail." ”

"Excuse me, Mr. Harry." Chen Chen naturally had no objection to this, and the group walked out of the factory and came to the office area.

Harry led everyone into the boardroom office and closed the door.

Everyone sat down, Harry was at the top, and after sitting down, Harry spoke first: "I have heard Clarence say that during the prototype test flight, he inadvertently broke into Mr. Chen's processing field, but because of this, I had the opportunity to sit with Mr. Chen, according to you Chinese, this should be regarded as a kind of fate." ”

These words immediately caused everyone to laugh, and the atmosphere was much more intimate.

"Grumman is a long-established company with a glorious history, and personally, I have been yearning for it since I was a child." Chen Chen smiled faintly, and also gave the other party a gold paste very politely: "As far as the pioneer company is concerned, I have always regarded a company like Grumman as a senior, and I sincerely hope to learn a lot from you." ”

"Mr. Chen is polite." Harry also smiled and waved his hand: "The pioneer company is also a cutting-edge company, and we are also very interested in your technology, hoping to find opportunities for cooperation." ”

"I can't ask for it." Chen Chen looked happy, then thought of something, and hesitated: "But a company like Grumman should have very strong technical strength, why would it cooperate with a new company like ours, I am very uneasy in my heart." ”

"Actually, you don't have to be upset." Harry sighed at the mention of this, and the smile disappeared from his face.

This feeling of loss seemed to be contagious, and Harry's expression also caused all the Grumman executives present to sigh, as if they remembered something unhappy.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little depressing, Chen Chen consciously closed his mouth and stopped talking, so he took the cup and drank the water slowly.

There was a moment of silence, and it was Harry who spoke first to break the silence: "These things, although it is a bit embarrassing to say, but it is not a secret, and people outside also know about it, so I will not hide it from Mr. Chen." ”

It seems that he also thought about it for a while before he made up his mind.

Chen Chen nodded lightly and waited for the following.

"The previous Grumman was indeed very brilliant, especially after the acquisition of Northrop to form Northrop Grumman, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Northrop Grumman monopolized the American aviation industry at that time." Calming down, Harry sighed and began to speak, "And now, although still strong, is facing a lot of pressure. ”

"Pressure from Lockheed and Boeing, right?" Chen Chen nodded in understanding, he naturally understood what the pressure in Harry's mouth was.

For ordinary enterprises, survival and profitability is success, but for giants like Lockheed, Boeing, and even Northrop Grumman, not being the boss is failure.

"Yes......" Seeing that Chen Chen understood his thoughts, Harry shook his head and continued: "In 1996, Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas, which made us more pressured, so in 1997, we proposed to merge with Lockheed to strengthen global competitiveness, but the US political axe did not approve it due to various considerations such as anti-monopoly. ”

"So turn around, and eventually you're on your own." Chen Chen showed a faint smile, and then asked rhetorically: "But you have been in a good state recently, you have continuously developed a variety of advanced aircraft, and you have also participated in the research and development of YF-23, and you also dominate the field of UAVs, Global Hawk and X-47, aren't they all your products?" ”

"YF-23, lost to F-22, did not get the order......" Clarence coughed lightly, and reminded beside him: "And in the field of drones, don't forget Lockheed's Skunk Factory, the Desert Eagle has already stolen a lot of orders, and it is said that they are also developing a Falcon unmanned bomber with a maximum speed of Mach 9." ”

"So you're under a lot of pressure to start developing the X-48 when the X-47 drone just got an order?" Chen Chen finally understood the root of everything, and couldn't help but show a playful smile: "I'll just say, when I saw the X-48 printed on the test machine, why is it so familiar, but I forgot your X-47." ”

"Yes, it's a pity that the development of the X-48 did not go well." Clarence and Victor looked at each other and shook their heads slightly: "And our financial situation is not as good as the outside world thinks, and R&D funding has always been a problem. ”

"Lockheed recently received a capital injection from Europe, which is said to be mainly used for the development of the next generation of unmanned attack aircraft." Harry also said: "Relatively speaking, it will be much more difficult for us, if we don't quickly find external support and seek cooperation, I am afraid it will be difficult to win in the future bidding." ”

"So, after meeting me, they couldn't wait to invite me to join in." At this time, Chen Chen also understood the other party's plan: "Invest......"

"Actually, it's not necessarily an investment!" Seeing that Chen Chen did not directly refuse, thinking that there was still room for negotiation, Harry immediately added: "R&D funds, in fact, are for research and development, if there is ready-made technology, in fact, it may not need so much funds, and it is the first time for us to sit together, and we are not familiar with each other, we do not force you to invest in, we only hope to carry out technical cooperation." ”

"What you want is a chip from the pioneer company!" Chen Chen nodded.

"Yes, that chip has surpassed the products currently on the market." Victor took over the conversation and looked at Chen Chen with an earnest face: "And I know that the chip is only the first generation of products, and there is still a lot of potential to be tapped, and we hope to get a better chip!" ”

"In short, Mr. Chen, we hope that you will develop the second-generation chip as soon as possible, and we will give you an order!"

(To be continued)