Chapter One Hundred and Eight: Project Report, Part Five

No matter how badly your teammates behave, this has to be explained properly. The Aviation Department is, at the very least, the mother-in-law sitting atop the base right now; it is a direct superior authority, so they had to be persuaded.

“Our new engine improvement plan is relatively straightforward. In terms of process and materials, it is feasible. As for design, our Second Research Office at the base already has some experience. For some of the key difficulties, we will cooperate with the Materials Institute and the Process Institute of Northern Aerospace University, as well as other major aviation colleges and universities, and do our utmost to complete the design of this new engine by every means we can imagine and every method we can carry out.”

The young man standing there reporting had spoken in a thick blanket of official phrases, with not a single practical point in sight. The people from the Aviation Department became even more furious. They had not paid attention to Yang Hui’s age at first, but now they suddenly noticed it. How had Base 0011 managed to bring in such a young fellow to give the project briefing? Clearly they did not take this project seriously enough. This was supposed to be a model of international cooperation in a global project.

People are like this: when they look at things through the filter of their own prejudice, they inevitably let their emotions sway them. And the bigwig from the Aviation Department was now thoroughly displeased.

He no longer cared about the presence of foreign guests and was about to press Yang Hui further, but fortunately Marshal Nie caught the hint in time and spoke first, cutting off that narrow-minded leader from the Aviation Department.

“So, Yang Hui, right? I’ve thought about what you’ve said. What you and the Aviation Department see are actually different. You are looking at the project’s technical performance, while the Aviation Department is looking at the funding side of the new project, am I right?”

The moment he began speaking, Marshal Nie laid out the matter with great clarity. Yang Hui and the Aviation Department both fell silent and waited for what he would say next. Right now, Marshal Nie was the one in charge.

Seeing that both sides tacitly agreed, Marshal Nie continued: “All right then, technically speaking, what Comrade Yang Hui said should be sound. As for implementation, based on our country’s industrial level, the technical risks of the new aircraft are within acceptable limits, correct?”

When it came to assessing the nation’s military-industrial technology level, no one knew the matter better than the State Commission for Defense Science and Technology. Director Yang, the leader of the commission’s delegation for this project briefing, answered Marshal Nie’s question without hesitation.

“Marshal Nie, on this point there really isn’t much of a problem. The country’s current technical level can support the development and application of the project’s new technologies. To a certain extent, this project can even help upgrade parts of the defense industry. Our commission is quite optimistic about it.”

The Aviation Department naturally knew that, technically, this new aircraft could be made, but they could not say so aloud, and could only tacitly concede the point.

Since the technical side was feasible, then what remained was the funding issue the Aviation Department was worried about.

“So what are you making a fuss about? Isn’t most of the funding coming from the foreign side? And yet you’re still talking about money. The state still allocates so much funding to your Aviation Department every year, and you can’t even free up twenty-five percent of the new aircraft’s development costs? And isn’t the fighter-trainer Model Seven supposed to have earmarked funds?”

Marshal Nie’s words made it clear that he strongly supported the project. How could the Aviation Department dare say now that they could not produce the money? They could only talk around the issue.

“This funding can be arranged, of course, but the original allocations were already planned well in advance. If we shift such a large sum to this new trainer aircraft, then other projects will have no money left to continue.”

What a pitiful performance. Under normal circumstances, this would turn into a headache for Marshal Nie, and in the end he would be the one helping the new project go above everyone’s heads to request funding. By then, once the money passed through the Aviation Department, who knew how much would actually remain?

In history, the fighter-trainer Model Seven was proposed in 1981 and only finalized in 1987. As a twin-seat variant of a second-generation fighter that had already been in service for many years, it took seven years from proposal to finalization. Without some hidden maneuvering behind the scenes, that would simply have been impossible.

Now, after hearing the Aviation Department’s words, even Marshal Nie felt a little troubled. Their reasoning did seem to make some sense. Twenty-five percent of the funding would amount to at least fifteen million U.S. dollars. Raising fifteen million yuan would already be difficult enough, let alone dollars. Converted into yuan, that would still be an enormous expenditure.

Seeing the room sink into silence, Yang Hui was preparing to speak, but the military side was clearly even more impatient. The head of the military delegation stated bluntly:

“We don’t care about all that. We want this new plan. If your huge Aviation Department can’t even handle this much, how are we supposed to trust you with future aircraft projects? Let me put it plainly: if your Aviation Department cannot produce the money, then we will delay the procurement of other unimportant aircraft models and invest directly in this project ourselves.”

What did this bunch of broad-faced, thick-necked soldiers care about the Aviation Department’s troubles? They had always held new projects to high standards and loved advanced equipment. A classic example was the Model Nine fighter project: the military had pushed the early requirements from a maximum speed of Mach 2.4 and a ceiling of 20,000 to 21,000 meters up to the higher standard of Mach 2.6 and 26,000 meters.

Now that old habit had resurfaced. Although the new aircraft was not extremely advanced, compared with the aging fighter-trainer Model Seven it was already half a generation ahead. Moreover, there were many advanced technologies that could either be installed on the Model Seven or used to convert the new aircraft into a single-seat fighter with weapons. Either way, these were all excellent things.

The air force now had a rosy vision of the new aircraft’s future, and with foreign capital also being invested, this project absolutely could not be missed. They had to protect it at all costs.

Although the military’s habit of reaching too far beyond its grasp was not a good one, in this case it was indeed helping the project’s launch.

Seeing an opening, Yang Hui immediately said, “For our project, the required investment from our side is fifteen million U.S. dollars. If the Aviation Department will not provide the money, we will still go through with it. Even if we have to sell everything we own, even if every researcher at the base has to live on scraps every day, we will raise this money. We have our own foreign-exchange-earning projects that can provide us with funding. If the military wants to place an order, we will do it even if we have to sell the clothes off our backs. When the new aircraft is finished, we only hope no one above will meddle and come in to snatch the credit.”

No one had expected the project briefing, which had been going so well, to develop into this. It was utterly unforeseen. Even the designers from the Shenyang Institute were startled by these mountain-country bumpkins from Yunnan and Guizhou.

They muttered silently to themselves: apart from being willing to risk your lives, what else do you people have? Sell the clothes off your backs? With those trousers patched one layer on top of another, what exactly could you sell?

The military, however, greatly appreciated this young man from the third-front defense base. He had temperament and stubbornness, which suited the military’s style. Moreover, they had come here precisely because of the attitude of this third-front base. With such a spirited defense manufacturing base, they would have to pay closer attention in the future and offer them some convenience.

After watching from the side for so long, the Saudis and Pakistanis had finally understood the situation: the new project from this defense-industrial base was technically excellent, and both they and the Republic’s military were very satisfied. The remaining issue was still money, and the Republic’s department in charge of aviation industry clearly did not want to invest.

Seeing that the developers of the new aircraft were also firm about the project, that was easy enough. As long as the aircraft could be made and had a market, that would do. Once they signed a letter of intent, then at worst they could provide the developing unit with a loan later on. This was the moment to use their own strengths to show sincerity further. Besides, it was a loan; it would have to be repaid eventually.

Thinking of this, Prince Sultan smiled and broke the tension.

“So it is just a question of money. Simple. As long as your military places enough orders with Base 0011 and guarantees that this new aircraft can be successfully sold once developed, and that it will have the capacity to repay the loan, then we can provide a loan to Base 0011.”

Magnanimous... overwhelmingly magnanimous, magnificently magnanimous, simply magnanimous beyond words...

Enough said. Just on account of this Saudi attitude, the development of the new aircraft must be done beautifully from now on. It had to be done well; anything less would not be worthy of such respect for this rich Saudi patron.

Saudi Arabia was that kind of country. By exporting oil, it had earned vast amounts of dollars. But Saudi Arabia, or rather the oil-producing countries of the Middle East, learned after several crises that relying on oil exports was not especially safe. This sense of crisis led most of these oil states to seek ways to broaden their other industries. One need only look at how, in later years, the Middle Eastern tycoons flocked to the Republic to speculate in real estate alongside the grandmothers, and at Dubai’s tourism industry, which would later grow so strongly; these were the most typical examples.

And in the nineteen-eighties, the quick profits of the virtual economy were highly sought after. Saudi Arabia was already pouring large sums into finance at that time, so offering a loan was the sort of thing it would readily do, provided the project did not carry too much risk.