Bilworth did not come on his own, in fact he came with a US military delegation. After China and the United States formed a substantial alliance, such military visits were basically conducted two or three times a year to promote mutual trust and cooperation. Although the war against Taiwan at the beginning of the year made the United States not very happy, the Chinese side later gave the United States support in arms sales and participation in joint mine-sweeping operations, so the two sides generally maintained a healthy relationship.

In this event, in response to the last time the U.S. military opened the Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine to PLA senior officials, this time the military also opened the Type 093 attack nuclear submarine to the United States for "viewing". The Americans are complacent, thinking that they have exchanged an old product for a new one to see the Chinese, but they do not know that the Chinese are also laughing at the American idiots, because in addition to the eight 093 in the Navy, the main attack nuclear submarine is already 22 Type 095.

Of course, the US Navy professional technicians who visited the nuclear submarine could not visit all the nuclear submarine cabins, but they still commented with a vicious eye: "This class of nuclear submarine is still built by the Chinese, roughly the same level as the Los Angeles class, if it is really as they say, the noise is only about 120 decibels, then the combat capability should be stronger than the Los Angeles class." ”

The reality is that the noise level of 093 is only 110 decibels, which is much stronger than the Los Angeles class of 128 decibels. The Los Angeles-class United States is still manufacturing, and it has been built until 96, and as many as 62 ships have been built, spanning 20 years before and after, and the technical level is actually quite different. Although the newly commissioned Los Angeles class is not as sharp as the 093, it will not be much worse.

The Chinese military did not tell the Americans how many 093s they had, in fact, the Americans did not tell the Chinese how many nuclear submarines they had. Compared with things such as aircraft and tanks, nuclear submarines themselves have higher secrecy, and the Chinese do not say it, and the Americans will not ask deeply, because it is estimated that it will not be true if asked.

After communicating with Qi Yiming, Bilworth returned to the military delegation and persuaded several high-ranking military officials in the delegation to go to a military airport in Shandong to see the Chinese Air Force's new attack aircraft, the Qiang-7 Defender. This itinerary did not exist, and it was naturally impossible to arrange a visit as a new type of equipment, but Bilworth wanted to promote cooperation with China in the development and production of this type of attack aircraft, and Qi Yiming also felt that there was room for operation, so he explained that the Air Force allowed them to visit a strike regiment.

Since the Taiwan War at the beginning of the year, the Air Force has added some new understanding of the J-7 defenders. The Air Force's ground operations have always emphasized the fighter-bombing or multi-purpose route, that is, the fighter needs to have considerable combat capabilities, and at the same time have excellent ground-to-sea strike capabilities. Even the previous Qiang-5 was actually the route of the fight-bomber aircraft, but it was divided into strong attack aircraft.

The appearance of the J-7 has given the Air Force a new perspective, the bomb load of this attack aircraft in extreme times is almost a H-6K, and it has unexpected battlefield applicability, there have been several J-7 landing in the farmland of Taiwan Island, and then taking off again after replenishing fuel and ammunition nearby. This was simply unimaginable before, the Navy also has a STOVL fighter like the J-8V, but the VTOL shown by the J-7 is already two different things.

Although the maintainer will still waste a lot of fuel during vertical take-off and landing, but even if it takes off and lands vertically, this fighter can also carry seven or eight tons of weapons to fight in the sky for several hours, fly more than 1,000 kilometers away, and the transfer range when mounting auxiliary fuel tanks is also more than 2,000 kilometers.

It can be replenished with the help of the Navy's landing ships after the attack, and then put into battle again, and it can also land on temporary supply points on the front line of the battlefield, as long as it is a slightly flat land, it will not pick. This means that airfields are not required for the deployment of such aircraft, which greatly increases the space for the Air Force to operate.

Therefore, the Air Force hopes that relevant enterprises and research institutes will study and carry out similar VTOL design for fighter jets, and develop a fighter similar to the J-7 that focuses on vertical take-off and landing. However, Qi Yiming only smiled bitterly when he learned about it, the maintainer was able to carry out vertical take-off and landing, which was equipped with four vector engines, if it was installed like this for ordinary fighters, the aerodynamics would inevitably be destroyed. The cost of producing VTOL engines at the base is not large, but if it is really manufactured by ordinary enterprises, the cost of one is not inferior to that of a WS-10G engine, and four plus one is equal to the price of half a J-10.

Arguably, the biggest highlight of the maintainer is reflected in this VTOL engine.

The US military delegation was picked up by the Chinese military and arrived at this military airfield, and in order to meet the inspection, two rows of defender attack planes had already been placed on the runway.

"It's really weird-looking, a little weirder than the A-10." A colonel of the US Air Force quipped.

The attack plane in front of him was much larger than an ordinary attack plane, and if it was a bomber, some people would probably believe it. This attack aircraft is 26 meters long, the fuselage is wide and flat, and there are multiple facets, which are obviously designed to reflect radar waves. A pair of wings are also a bit oddly done, the most striking being that it has a relatively large wing area, apparently to increase lift. This attack aircraft does not have a tailgate like a transport plane, and the soldiers in the cabin need to open a hatch under the fuselage and climb a ladder to get out. This part can also be replaced with a built-in magazine, which can hold three to four tons of weapons.

A brigadier general of the Marine Corps climbed into the engine room from the gangway, frowned, and said, "The space is a little cramped, I'm afraid it won't be very comfortable for soldiers to stay here." ”

The attachés of the Chinese Air Force would not explain the fact that the Air Force rarely uses this inner compartment to transport soldiers, and some even feel that it is redundant to design such a cargo compartment.

Bilworth wanted to do business, he couldn't help but explain, he hurriedly said: "You see, this model is actually mainly designed for their air force, mainly to carry some light cargo and ammunition, but they have left enough redundant space, if it is improved, it can increase the volume of this inner compartment." ”

Qi Yiming is also in the team, he has asked the Red Alert engineers and the base about the technology and improvement before, and at this moment he said: "There is no problem in terms of power, if you want to emphasize the carrying capacity of the soldiers of this model, there are several different options, because there are more complex electronic equipment on the plane to assist in ground attack, so it will take up more space, if it is purely used as a troop carrier, then these things can be dismantled." Or simply improve on this airframe, we can moderately increase the width and height of the airframe, so as to design a more comfortable and efficient cargo compartment, which can roughly double the carrying capacity, and there is no problem in transporting 12 soldiers, of course, it will still be more cramped, and this cannot be changed. ”

The Brigadier General of the Marine Corps raised his eyebrows and said, "12 people?" It's not a lot, it's true that if the current attack capability can be preserved, it's better to keep it, we need more than just a troop carrier. ”

The main STOVL fighter of the US Marine Corps is the AV-8B, which originally felt good, but since the Chinese began to use the J-8V, they felt that the AV-8B was unsightly, and basically all data and capabilities were inferior to Chinese products. So the Marine Corps believes that in the field of STOVL, the Chinese are more experienced. So now that China has come up with a new VTOL attack aircraft, the Marines consider it to be an epoch-making model similar to the V-22 Osprey that they are planning, and they are more interested, otherwise Bilworth would not have threaded the needle through it.

Bilworth instigated a general of the U.S. Navy and said: "Sir, you see that this type of aircraft itself has considered a lot of stealth design, and its design is much more mature than the A-12, although there are some unsatisfactory places, but this is a platform that has been in actual combat, and it is doubtful whether the A-12 can fly in the end." We can add more stealth elements to this platform to improve the performance of their magazine, and although this is an aircraft with four engines on it, the aerodynamic layout is still relatively traditional, and compared to the A-12, which basically has no air combat capabilities, this aircraft is definitely no worse than the A-6. ”

Qi Yiming also added: "The four vector engines will give this type of attack aircraft a more peculiar flight mode, and our air force is still in the process of exploring, but it is certain that although it is larger than the intruder, it will not be bad in flexibility." ”

Subsequently, a Red Alert pilot piloted a Defender attack aircraft to take off vertically and perform a flight demonstration for the mission. At this time, the Americans had not seen an example of a fixed-wing aircraft being able to take off vertically, and although the AV-8 claimed to be able to do it, it would definitely not do so, and the failure rate was also very high.

I saw that this somewhat fat attack plane was slowly raised to a certain height under the impetus of four jet engines facing downward, and then the engines that could change direction slowly changed the direction of the nozzle, and the plane immediately took off. After stowing the landing gear, the plane first accelerated, quickly crossing the sky.

A U.S. Navy colonel asked, "How fast can it go?" ”

Qi Yiming replied: "More than 420 knots." ”

The Brigadier General's eyes lit up and he said, "It's basically more than twice the speed of the gyroplane." ”

The attack aircraft made a circle in the sky, turned sideways and then turned to look no different from an ordinary aircraft, not as clumsy as expected, but rather a little unusually sharp, given its size.

Climbing, rolling, diving, and rolling are all beautifully done, which proves that this platform is indeed a mature platform. Later, the attack aircraft with a built-in bomb magazine carried out a demonstration of ground and air strikes, firing two guided bombs and hitting targets deliberately placed between several obstacles, attracting the heads of the visitors.