Structurally speaking, because the tiltrotor does not need a tail rotor to maintain the balance of torque like a helicopter, it naturally does not need a long tail boom

In addition to providing power to the tail rotor located in the rear, the nearly ten-meter-long tail boom has almost no effect, which obviously causes a great waste of space, but this situation has undergone fundamental changes on the tiltrotor fuselage, because the tiltrotor can design itself and the traditional fixed-wing aircraft is almost the same, and the utilization rate of space is naturally not comparable to that of helicopters. It's a big problem they've been scratching their heads about

In the world, the tiltrotor has just been developed, and since it is a complete model, there are naturally still many problems, such as the world's first fronthaul rotorcraft: the American V-22 "Osprey"; although the technology is indeed very advanced, there are also many hidden dangers, and even the Americans themselves are worried about using it, and the original procurement plan has been pressed again and again, and even the procurement plan has been temporarily suspended

But to the surprise of many people, the Alice Group's use of tiltrotors against the propeller fan does not seem to have this problem, and in recent years, the tiltrotor has been flying here in the Alice Group, from a dedicated armed combat type to a heavy multi-purpose transport type, developed into a huge series

In the US equipment research and development circles, such a view has even been formed: Could it be said that the rotary propeller fan engine is suitable for the full-power structure of the tiltrotor aircraft, rather than the turboprop engine used in the V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor developed by the United States itself?

Could it be that in addition to the higher propulsion efficiency than turboprop engines, there are any advantages to the rotary prop fan engine that have not been discovered before? In order to verify this, experts in the US aviation industry have even started special tests, but unfortunately, the Americans are relatively weak in the technology of the rotary propeller fan engine, and have not made a breakthrough for the time being

But this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that for those countries that have small aircraft carriers, carrier-based fighters are their biggest headache, because the small deck area of aircraft carriers makes it difficult to take off heavy carrier-based fighters such as American F-18 "Hornet" fighters or Russian SU-33 fighters, and even the French "Rafale" carrier-based medium fighters cannot be used, but can only use the outdated British-made **-8B "Harrier" vertical/short-range fighters

What is the maximum flight of a Harrier? Only a double note barely a little more; What about the combat radius? There is only a pitiful 92 kilometers during vertical take-off and landing, and it is really hard to imagine that a combat radius of 92 kilometers can do something, even if it is a taxiing and take-off, the combat radius is only a pitiful 418 kilometers, and it is still under the premise of only performing a patrol mission for 10 minutes

Therefore, as the world's first generation of jet-based carrier-based fighters, the overall performance of the Harrier fighter is too outdated, to put it mildly, it is not unreasonable for the US Coast Guard to choose a fighter as its own aircraft, because the performance of this thing is really poor enough

The maximum flight degree of the Alice Group's special-armed combat-type tiltrotor has reached 0.95 times, and its performance is incomparably different from that of fighter planes; except for the maximum flight degree, all other combat performance indicators completely surpass the current US-made F/A-18F "Hornet" class fighters and the Russians' SU-33K heavy fighters

From this point of view, the Alice Group's armed special tiltrotor has the potential to become a general-purpose carrier-based fighter of light aircraft carriers and medium-sized aircraft carriers and general-purpose armed helicopters of armies of various countries around the world, and various tiltrotors developed by Alice Group can undertake other types of combat missions on the ship

That's what the military is doing

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"We need you to provide two AI-10 tiltrotors, but except for the electronic equipment required for flight, all the equipment needed for combat is not needed, and when refitting, we need you to cooperate with us," Major General Cheng Jie, a military representative who came to negotiate with the Alice Group on behalf of the military, said to Zhang Lan

"There's no problem with this," Zhang Lan nodded, "Ask more, is this going to be on the AWACS project?" ”

This question is not easy to answer, Cheng Jie smiled, did not say a word, did not affirm or deny Zhang Lan knew in his heart: Probably that's the case, these two planes are used for early modification and exploration of experience, judging from the plan of four AWACS aircraft and one AWACS aircraft used by an aircraft carrier, three AI-10 should be used for corresponding modifications later,

In fact, according to the military's original intention, in view of the limitations of China's technological level in the field of electronics, in fact, they tend to favor the AI-20 with a large payload, and the military is very coveted by the huge space inside the AI-20 with a maximum load of 20 tons, but for the Varyag aircraft carrier, which will be completed in a few years, such a large aircraft is really too wasteful of space, and even the Americans do not use the fuselage of the large space as the carrier aircraft of the carrier-based early warning aircraft, and after comprehensive consideration, it seems that the AI with a maximum load of 10 tons -- 10 meets the needs of the military

As a matter of fact, the overall performance of the AI-10 as a modified prototype of the carrier-based early warning aircraft is already excellent enough, and it is even much better than the fuselage of the E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft used on the US aircraft carrier, and the fuselage of the "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft, excluding fuel, has a maximum load capacity of less than 5 tons, but the AI-10 of the Alice Group is completely different, with a maximum payload of 10 tons, which is almost twice that of the fuselage of the E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraftThe mind is at work

At the same time, the military has recently been thinking about a question: should the aircraft carrier be equipped with air tankers?

Theoretically speaking, it is of course a good thing to be equipped with air tankers, but some people have also proposed that the combat radius of carrier-based aircraft is generally 500 nautical miles, in order to ensure sea and air supremacy within a radius of 500 nautical miles.

There are different opinions within the military on this issue, and no unified opinion has been debated so far

"In addition, other types of aircraft required on the ship in addition to the main combat fighters also need to be provided by you" Quickly reached the framework of the first agreement, Cheng Jie was very satisfied, and then threw out the second request, "But we consider that the production of these aircraft is very heavy, and the production capacity of the Alice Group may be more difficult, so we hope that the Alice Group can support one or two of the existing state-owned aircraft manufacturers, What do you think of the Alice Group's production capacity? Of course, this transfer is not gratuitous."

Of course it's not gratuitous, Zhang Lan glared at this guy fiercely: Do you think that if it is gratuitous, I will agree to it if it is a matter of loss if it is made clear like this?

These auxiliary aircraft required on an aircraft carrier are actually not under much production pressure for the Alice Group, but Zhang Lan understands the deep meaning of Cheng Jie's words: the military hopes that the Alice Group will consciously spread the technology downward, don't eat alone, and at the same time eat meat yourself, so that other domestic manufacturers can also drink some soup: No, you are about to die of eating meat here, and others can't even drink soup

Eating alone is hateful, and the days of being remembered by others will not be better Zhang Lan naturally understands this truth, and he doesn't want to be remembered and hated by others, and Alice Group had no intention of eating alone from the beginning

But thinking is one thing, how to do it is another, Zhang Lan's face is quite difficult, "It's not that we don't want to transfer the technology downward, but the technical content of our products is too high, I'm worried that other manufacturers can't complete the task on time, which will delay the overall arrangement of the country."

What is holding the country back, and it's not that you Alice Group want to sell at a price? Cheng Jie slandered in his heart, but he could only slander in his heart

After some arduous negotiations and a struggle between you and me, the two sides finally reached a basic agreement with difficulty: Alice Group paid and limited transfer of Alice Group's tiltrotor production technology to Xifei and Shenfei, the two largest and most modern aircraft manufacturers in China, and the price was that if they did not produce a single aircraft using Alice Group's tiltrotor technology, the two companies would have to pay Alice Group a certain fee according to the contract agreed in advance - the amount of this cost. The next step is to see which of the military and Alice Group negotiators is stronger or weaker

"As long as you have no problems with performance, you can not use our Alice Group's electronic system and on-board computer system, data link system, the body and the corresponding electronic system can be produced by the two of them, we will strictly follow the contract to them to transfer technology, but if because of their ability limitations, the performance of the products produced cannot be compared with the performance of our products, this is not to blame us," "At the same time, Because of the limitations of the two companies in terms of technical capabilities and levels of powertrain manufacturing, in order to ensure that the overall performance of the aircraft does not differ too far, they must start with the engines we produce...... We can't let them fall into the reputation that our Alice Group has worked so hard to build up, of course, other details need to be taken slowly",

After reaching this basic agreement, Zhang Lan thought about it and added with some unease

"This ......" seemed to be difficult to ponder for a long time, and Cheng Jie finally nodded reluctantly, "Okay"

What is the level of the domestic aviation power system, Cheng Jie is very clear, even the high thrust-to-weight ratio engine used in the fighter jet can not be done well, not to mention the high-tech fuel cell power system on the tiltrotor of the Alice Group, Cheng Jie has no doubt, even if the Alice Group is selfless and hand-in-hand, what is the actual performance, stability and safety of the things that Shen Fei and Xifei finally made, I am afraid that no one dares to play this package, Needless to say, after the Alice Group transferred the relevant technology to them, when they will be able to digest and absorb these technologies

Originally, the military did not expect Alice Group to transfer the technology related to the fuel cell power system for aircraft to them as the only power system in the world, which is a unique signboard of Alice Group in the world in the field of aircraft

"By the way, the cryogenic plasma stealth technology and laser weapon system you applied to the plane ......" After successfully obtaining good things from the Alice Group, Cheng Jie began to think about the ace equipment in the hands of the Alice Group

"Don't even think about it" Before Cheng Jie finished speaking, Zhang Lan simply refused, "If we sell these two things to you, it will have a serious impact on world security, if other countries want to buy them, will we sell them or not?" In order not to provoke too violent reactions from other countries, this technology is considered by our Alice Group to be a technology that needs to be strictly controlled to prevent proliferation.

It's not that Zhang Lan doesn't want to hand over these two technologies to the military, or sell finished products, it's just that these two technologies are too sensitive, and for China, no one dares to predict whether equipping this thing is a blessing or a curse

Without obtaining these two techniques from Zhang Lan's hands, Cheng Jie was a little disappointed

Before coming, the old men above had already coveted the low-temperature technology of the Alice Group and the laser attack technology of the Alice Group, but the old men also knew that these two technologies were the ones in the hands of the Alice Group, and in their hearts, the Alice Group would definitely not easily transfer these two technologies, but as long as they could get any of them, even if they were simplified, they could do it

For the Alice Group, Cheng Jie has actually made quite a lot of analysis, but one thing is indeed certain, that is, the Alice Group has a good impression of the country and the military, otherwise for so many years, such good things would not fall on the head of the domestic military, so in Cheng Jie's view, the possibility of the military getting these two technologies from the Alice Group is still very large, but the reality is completely beyond Cheng Jie's expectations, and the Alice Group has not even listened to what conditions the military will pay for these two technologies. directly and neatly rejected the military's request, which is really a bit incredible in Cheng Jie's opinion

"Mr. Zhang, we are very sincere about these two technologies, and we hope that you can carefully consider it" Cheng Jie still wants to make one last effort

"These two technologies, there is nothing to discuss," Zhang Lan waved his hand, directly sealing all possible paths for Cheng Jie, "General Cheng, there is no possibility for these two things to talk about, I believe you also understand what kind of impact these two technologies will have in the world once they are put into practical use?" ”

"Our Alice Group is not a purely Chinese company, there are some things that we don't want to be out of our control, if we sell it to you, the Americans, the Europeans will buy this technology, why should we not sell it? Is it useful to have something that everyone has, but when the time comes, you spend a lot of money and don't make a real difference? So I hope that the two of us will not continue to dwell on this issue, and that we can talk about something else when we have this time."

Zhang Lan's attitude of not wanting to talk about it made Cheng Jie completely understand that Alice Group really did not have the slightest intention to transfer these two technologies, and they did not have any need to sell the technology in their hands in exchange for money? This joke is a bit big, and when did the Alice Group run out of money?

And think about what Zhang Lan said, in fact, it is not wrong, Alice China Group, as a branch of Alice Group in China, is restricted by Alice Group in many actions, if Alice China Group transfers cryogenic plasma stealth technology and laser weapon technology to China, then they will definitely transfer it to Americans and Europeans, and in terms of the characteristics of their enterprises, they will definitely do this.

As Zhang Lan said, once the time comes, it will not benefit China at all except spending a lot of money

Thinking of this, Cheng Jie finally stopped talking, what people said was the truth, if he insisted on it and asked Alice Group not to transfer and sell these two technologies to European and American countries, it would be purely vexatious

"Okay, let's continue" Cheng Jie nodded, and gently let go of the topic, although he regretted in his heart, Cheng Jie was not stupid, and he was also a very decisive character at critical moments, knowing when to stick to it and when to abandon it immediately

On the basis of today's tiltrotors, what Alice Group needs to develop is only the folding technology of the wings, and some small problems in the special marine use environment such as salt-proof, moisture-proof and anti-interference that adapt to the maritime climate, for Alice Group, these problems are not complicated

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"Mr. Zhang, for our cooperation, let's have a toast" A week later, the two parties who basically reached an agreement held a low-key and luxurious celebration banquet in a five-star hotel under the Alice Group

"Cheers," Zhang Lan raised the champagne in the glass and touched it lightly with Cheng Jie

"Your things are good, but the price is too expensive" Taking a sip, Cheng Jie said to Zhang Lan jokingly and half-complaining