A month ago, Li Lu had no idea of Tomcat fighter technology, let alone buying a production line. For him, it was a very simple situation – it was an unbearable weight for him.

Now the situation has changed dramatically in his favor.

In fact, the receipt of most of the technical and technical data of the Y10 project and the cooperation with MBB were not the most important factors that prompted him to come up with the idea of requesting the Tomcat fighter. These technical and financial requirements have to be prepared, and it is really not too difficult to do.

Therefore, the reason that prompted Li Lu to make up his mind to dare to take the tomcat back was actually a matter of identity, to put it bluntly, the Red Star Factory did not have a birth permit! If the purchase of the tomcat production line is regarded as the adoption of a child, then the Red Star Factory will not be approved by the civil affairs department at all.

Now, this biggest problem is solved.

The price is four five-axis linkage CNC machine tools, in exchange for the willingness of the logistics department of the military region to help the Red Star Factory get the access certificate for military research and development.

With this layer of identity, it is equivalent to having a "house with a real estate certificate and a degree", in this case, Li Lu dared to buy the tomcat back openly!

He is mentally prepared, even if he can't buy the Tomcat production line, it is a great achievement to get other technologies other than the variable swept wing technology. After all, the technical team of the Y10 project is engaged in civil aircraft, and there are still some important distances between it and military aircraft. Being able to obtain some of the technology of advanced fighters is undoubtedly a powerful medicine for the Red Star Factory.

The Tomcat fighter was established at the end of the sixties, and the original intention was to deal with the huge strategic bomber group of the Soviet Union, and the Tu-22M "Backfire" and Tu-95 "Bear", as well as the Tu-160 "Pirate Flag" printed almost in the same mold as the B-1, were a great threat to the US Navy's aircraft carrier battle group.

As a result, the F-14 "Tomcat" carrier-based fighter came into being, and in the seventies began to be massively equipped with US naval aviation. With the blessing of the long-range interception system, this double-engine, double-vertical tail and single-wing aerodynamic layout has become the strongest peripheral air defense force of the US Navy's aircraft carrier formation.

Based on the Tomcat's minimum combat radius of more than 700 kilometers and powerful payload capacity, the long-range interception system with AG-9 pulse Doppler radar + AIM-54 "Immortal Bird" long-range air-to-air missile as the core has been given the best play.

The combination of the Tomcat and the Undead Bird will accompany it throughout its service life, becoming a classic aerial volley combination.

Or the F-15 "Eagle" is more suitable for the Chinese Air Force, which, like the Tomcat, is a heavy fighter with a maximum take-off weight of more than thirty tons. It's just that the Hawk's strength lies in air supremacy, while the Tomcat is good at air defense operations. Coincidentally, the current demand of the Huaxia Air Force for heavy air supremacy fighters is put in the first place.

The Eagle and Tomcat were developed at the same time, with the former being a project proposed by the US Air Force and the latter belonging to the US Navy. Basically, it can be regarded as two heavy fighters of the same magnitude, and even their appearances are similar. Just in order to meet the needs of the U.S. Navy with both high-altitude and low-altitude low-speed performance, the Tomcat adopts a variable swept wing starting scheme, while the Eagle has a conventional aerodynamic layout, with the same twin-engine, double-tail, mid-wing.

However, even if they do not consider whether the US Congress will approve the sale of the F-15 to Huaxia, in Li Lu's view, McDonnell Douglas may not be very enthusiastic, and their cooperation with Huaxia is all about passenger aircraft, from MD-82 to MD-95, and finally was acquired by Boeing in 1997.

At the end of the day, McDonnell Douglas was gaining momentum at this time, and they didn't fall into a Grumman crisis. On the other hand, Grumman, even if they get a few Type 2 improvements with Shen Hoy, it will be difficult to completely solve their financial difficulties.

The fundamental reason why Huaxia chose Grumman to cooperate with Shen Hoy is actually because of the Tomcat fighter. Because the development of the Tomcat fighter was to intercept the Soviet bomber groups, especially those very fast backfires.

Since Zhenbao, China has also faced the threat of those supersonic hens in the air of the Red Soviet Union. In the absence of money to buy Tomcat fighters directly, they had to resort to Grumman to modernize several "beautiful men in the air", aiming at the supersonic hens of the Red Soviet Union.

It cannot be said that some leaders are short-sighted, perhaps Li Lu looked at the past with the eyes of people who came over, and at this time tighten his belt and buy some Tomcat fighters, even if he can't buy a production line, it will be extremely beneficial to the development of China's carrier-based fighters in the future.

It is very difficult to change from land-based to sea-based, but sea-based fighters can be directly used as land-based fighters. This difference can even affect years of development time.

The main factor that made Huaxia decisively abandon the purchase of Tomcat fighters was money, and the unit price of Tomcat fighters in the 1973 procurement contract of the US Navy was about 17 million US dollars. That was the 70s, which is almost equivalent to more than $80 million in the 21st century.

Moreover, that's still the price at which Grumman posted the money!

It is conceivable that at this time, Huaxia almost had to exhaust its foreign exchange reserves in order to buy back half a squadron of Tomcat fighters and related maintenance and support equipment.

As an arms dealer, Li Lu does not have these concerns, even if he buys the Tomcat fighter and gives it to the troops, the troops cannot afford to use it, and the expensive maintenance and support costs alone can crush the troops. Therefore, there is only one use - dismantling, dismantling research.

The production line is bought back to form production capacity, and there is only one way out - to earn foreign exchange through exports.

A deeper consideration is that obtaining the Tomcat fighter can help Huaxia's R&D level jump from the second-generation aircraft to the third-generation aircraft at once, and the current Huaxia fighter R&D level can barely reach the standards of the second-generation aircraft. Project No. 10 will only be approved in a few years before the opportunity comes, and it will take ten years to do it.

For the Red Star Factory, the Tomcat fighter has great potential for improvement, which means that the Red Star Factory can continue to withdraw from the modification and enter the international arms market.

Another benefit is that the acquisition of the Tomcat fighter is equivalent to the opportunity to obtain the AMG-9 pulse Doppler radar and the AIM-54 Immortal long-range air-to-air missile, as well as the very important world-class avionics system.

Based on the above considerations, Li Lu determined the minimum conditions, so his second negotiation with Wells was destined to be difficult.

"The U.S. Navy's contract for four hundred and thirty Tomcat fighters, you should only be halfway done, right?" Li Lu asked Wells with a smile.

"Yes, almost half." Wells nodded honestly and admitted that he obviously no longer doubted that Li Lu would not get more secret information.

"Grumman's crisis is mainly due to inflation caused by economic deterioration, and these losses need to be absorbed by Grumman itself. ”

"That's right, Mr. Lee." Wells said.

Li Ludao, "I want to purchase forty-eight Tomcat fighters at the current new price, but I ask twenty-four of them to be produced at the Red Star Factory." ”

"You want a production line?" The stone in Wells' heart fell to the ground, as if the second boot had finally fallen.

"Yes." Li Ludao.

He paused, then smiled again and said, "Of course, I have another project that can help Grumman turn a loss-making Tomcat project into a high-quality project that can bring in a steady stream of profits." ”

Even Wade didn't guess this point. 8)