Chapter 109: Proposal Presentation (Conclusion)

Hearing that the Saudi side was willing to finance a new aircraft for Base 0011 as long as the military placed an order of intent was nothing short of astonishingly good news. At this point, how could they not immediately send that intent order flying in?

The military representatives promptly agreed without the slightest hesitation. An order was all they were being asked for, and order they would.

“We are definitely going to buy this trainer,” one of them said. “Taking into account the development cost of a new aircraft, we are prepared to purchase it at a price higher than that of the J-7. The unit price will probably be around seven million yuan, and the quantity should be about fifty aircraft. If we have more money later, we can continue to increase the purchase. After all, once we have our third-generation fighters, we can still use this aircraft to train basic flight procedures.”

Hearing that the military was prepared to buy the new plane for seven million yuan apiece, Yang Hui could hardly believe his ears. Seven million yuan could buy two J-7s. Spending that much on a single trainer was simply beyond reason. In those days, the domestic military was so broke it could barely jingle a coin.

Yang Hui could think of that, and so could everyone else. Only the Aviation Ministry lost its composure at the mention of the seven-million-yuan price tag. They had already been stunned by the figure.

Right now, the people in the Aviation Ministry were the ones most full of regret, sorrow, and anxiety. The foreign side was actually willing to extend a loan to Base 0011, which meant that the base could now develop a brand-new trainer without spending a single penny of its own. And yet the military, those penniless wretches, had offered such a high purchase price for the new aircraft.

In that case...

If no one else had been there, the people from the Aviation Ministry might have been tempted to slap themselves across the face. This was sheer greed. They had originally thought they could use this opportunity to ask the higher-ups for another round of funding, and then peel off a layer for themselves from that money. But now the whole plan had collapsed, leaving them with nothing but a wasted effort.

Thinking of the military’s offer, they knew the project would be immensely profitable. But after what had just happened, it was obvious that even if money was earned later, the ministry would not see a single cent of it. Worse still, if the higher-ups learned what had happened, they might even be branded as men who failed to consider the bigger picture. Truly, this was greed without restraint.

Bureaucrats always had no shame. Even though they knew it would now be nearly impossible for the Aviation Ministry to interfere any further, they still wanted to wedge themselves into the matter. They could not be allowed to stand outside this project. Anyone with half an eye could see that it was going to make serious money.

At that point, they no longer cared that they had just been crying poverty. They immediately changed their tune. “If the foreign side is willing to lend us money, then there will be no shortage of funds for this project. In that case, of course we will give it our full support. We’ll provide personnel if personnel are needed, and funds if funds are needed.”

It was one thing to have no shame, but this was shamelessness taken to an art. The Aviation Ministry had cast off even the last scrap of dignity and was now unable to walk away at the sight of money. In a harsh era like this, perhaps that could be understood, but it was still impossible to stomach.

Even Marshal Nie could no longer bear the sight of the ministry’s face. He cut off their ambitions at once.

“Aren’t you the ones who said you had no money? Then you need not concern yourselves with this project anymore. The foreign side is lending money to Base 0011, not to your Aviation Ministry. Right now, the project should be counted as being mainly funded by foreign capital. The foreign side has the final say. If they say they are cooperating with Base 0011, then they are cooperating with Base 0011. As for the loan, you need not worry about it. Someone specifically assigned will handle that matter.”

After saying this, he thought for a moment and revealed what was not quite a secret, but still a secret of sorts. Bringing it up now would both extinguish the Aviation Ministry’s crooked intentions and stabilize the foreign side’s resolve to invest. There was no harm in saying it early.

“A directive from above is about to be issued. For state-owned enterprises and military industrial units that raise their own funds and find their own foreign cooperation projects, the country will give its full support, and the opinions of the investors must be fully respected. This project has already become a model of foreign cooperation, so the foreign side’s wishes will certainly be respected.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Hui and everyone at the base were overjoyed. In other words, this project would not need to pass through the Aviation Ministry at all. It could proceed directly with foreign cooperation. Once the new company was established, the shackles binding the entire base within the system would be largely removed. They could finally step forward with light baggage.

Yang Hui did not know that the higher-ups had been able to issue such a directive partly because they had seen the model aircraft project earn money, and had concluded that this self-financing approach was feasible. That was why such a policy had been granted, with the aim of invigorating state-owned enterprises, which had fallen into a kind of weary stagnation.

This was a policy that had not existed in his previous life in the year 1983. Now, because of Yang Hui’s butterfly effect, it had already begun to influence certain national policies. No one knew how much further it would go; it might well drive history far out of shape.

When fortune comes, one must not be smug. Yang Hui stood quietly to one side and decided to watch how things developed first. By the look of it, this project seemed about to land squarely in the lap of his base.

Once the policy had been announced, the Aviation Ministry was still instinctively trying to interpret its spirit, when Marshal Nie turned and asked the Saudi side for its opinion. As for Pakistan, that could wait until after the Saudis were asked. They were the ones providing the larger share of the capital, so matters should proceed in order.

“Then may I ask, Your Highness Prince Sultan, with whom do you intend to cooperate, and to which unit will this loan be extended? Your position on this is of vital importance.”

Knowing that he was being asked where the money should go, Prince Sultan did not hesitate for a second. Before coming to the Republic, he had already inquired with Pakistan about the precise state of the Republic’s military industry. He knew that aviation and aerospace were managed separately in the Republic, so there was no need to fear offending the Republic’s Aviation Ministry.

Besides, he would still need the man on the stage, Yang Hui, to act as a bridge in the future. And since the trainer aircraft project was also being undertaken by Base 0011, where Yang Hui was located, it was only natural that Prince Sultan knew exactly where the loan should go.

Without hesitation, Prince Sultan said, “We will lend this money directly to Base 0011. We will cooperate with them directly. That is the best choice.”

As soon as Prince Sultan finished speaking, Madad also stated that he, too, wanted to cooperate directly with Base 0011.

Seeing the tide turn irreversibly, the Aviation Ministry was helpless. The foreign side wanted direct cooperation with Base 0011, and the higher authorities had already issued a directive requiring full respect for the foreign side’s wishes. If that directive had not existed, the ministry might still have tried to devise some crooked scheme. But now that the document was sitting there in black and white, there was absolutely nothing more to think about. From now on, they had better learn to behave themselves.

Once the proposal briefing was complete, and both the foreign side and the military were highly satisfied, with the funding issue also settled, the new aircraft was practically ready to be officially launched as a project.

Thinking of how quickly the project’s feasibility stage had moved, a speed without precedent, Marshal Nie could not help but sigh with emotion.

“All right. The new aircraft plan has been finalized, and the funding is secured. That means the purpose of this meeting has been successfully fulfilled. Everyone should prepare to adjourn. It’s already dark now, so let us first go and have something to eat.”

When the feasibility meeting ended, everyone except the Aviation Ministry and the Fengtian Research Institute was smiling broadly. The happiest of all was undoubtedly the greatest beneficiary of the day: Base 0011.

Yang Hui walked down from the stage and saw that everyone from the base was grinning from ear to ear, all eight teeth showing.

He had intended to return to the base group, but halfway there he was called over again to speak with the foreign representatives. So it came to pass that Yang Hui walked while conversing with them in English.

The general idea was that the foreign side was very satisfied with the new aircraft’s design plan, but still had some questions about the schedule. They hoped to see a definite timetable.

On this point, Yang Hui truly could not produce a timetable for every phase right then and there. The development cycle for each stage would have to be consolidated from the schedules of the various subprojects. Only after those had been arranged could an overall schedule for the full project be worked out.

As for the aircraft development process, or indeed the development process of any large complete set of industrial equipment, Saudi Arabia had no experience with it at all. In those wealthy countries, major industrial equipment was usually turnkey work: they simply paid the money and took delivery once the finished equipment was handed over.

Now that they were participating directly in the development of a new aircraft, everything had to be explained slowly.

“Your Highness,” Yang Hui said, “the exact timetable for this new aircraft still requires us to finalize contracts with the suppliers for the other subprojects. Once the subcontractors provide their design and production cycle plans, we will be able to produce the final overall schedule. However, my preliminary estimate is that it should take about three to four years to complete the aircraft. Our funding is absolutely sufficient.”

Three to four years would be enough to produce the first batch of prototype aircraft for trial production without any problem. In the present day, fighter development programs could easily take as long as ten years, but that was for a third-generation combat aircraft. For a modified second-generation fighter, with funding fully in place, three to four years was enough to produce real results.