Chapter 188: Conflict with the Eagle Faction?

"Regarding this aircraft, Pakistan is placing an initial order for forty units, with an intent order for sixty units, bringing the total to one hundred aircraft."

An order for forty aircraft was by no means small. For a country like Pakistan with its economic constraints to pull together the funds to purchase such a large number of new aircraft was astonishing. It had to be remembered that much of Pakistan's military equipment was still procured through Western military assistance; for instance, the F-16 fighters currently in Pakistani service were acquired via American military aid funding.

For Pakistan to now invest such a substantial sum of money to purchase this Super JJ-7 said a great deal. One could only imagine the immense courage it took for Pakistan to fork over this 160 million US dollars, making it completely understandable why everyone present gasped in astonishment.

"As I presume you all know, Pakistan currently bears immense pressure from the northern Afghan battlefield. After careful study by our Air Force, we determined that adopting the new Super JJ-7 as our northern patrol aircraft would be the most advantageous choice. As a trainer aircraft, it will not overly provoke the Soviet Union, making the procurement of these fighters of great practical significance."

Of course, there was another point Madad left unsaid: the combat capability of this new Super JJ-7 already surpassed the Soviet MiG-21. Even if it encountered a MiG-23 or MiG-27, Pakistan's Super JJ-7 would still be more than capable of holding its own against them.

Combined with the orders from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's confirmed orders had now reached a total of seventy units, with intent orders numbering one hundred and thirty, bringing the grand total to two hundred aircraft. With these orders alongside the procurement by the Republican military, this new aircraft had more than enough volume to recoup its development costs. It was safe to assume neither Pakistan nor Saudi Arabia would incur any losses.

Were these orders enough? Naturally not. The new Super JJ-7 required even more orders, and a vast market remained for the Super JJ-7 on a global scale.

Although Yang Hui had known about these orders beforehand, he still felt a surge of emotion at this moment, prompting him to indulge in some pleasant daydreams about the bright future ahead.

"Our new trainer aircraft possesses exceptionally precise positioning. Countries operating the J-7 and MiG-21 are all potential users. In fact, from the very beginning of its design, this trainer was targeted to accomplish half of the routine training tasks of a low-end third-generation fighter. Therefore, we are full of confidence in this aircraft."

While everyone on the press conference stage was undoubtedly full of confidence in this new aircraft, the reporters offstage had their own thoughts. Each of them had prepared their own questions, eagerly waiting for the upcoming reporter Q&A session.

Seeing that all the intended announcements had been made, Yang Hui indicated that it was time to move to the next phase: "Very well, our press conference will now enter the reporter Q&A section. If anyone has questions or thoughts, please feel free to raise them now, and we will answer them to the best of our ability."

A large wave of eager reporters finally unleashed their pent-up energy, competing to raise their hands and make their inquiries heard, terrified of missing their chance.

Yang Hui called upon a reporter on stage, who appeared thoroughly prepared.

"Hello, I am a reporter from The Times. I still have some questions regarding the radar on this aircraft. Since it utilizes the radar from the Imperial Navy's current frontline mainstay fighter, I would like to ask if there is any possibility of information leakage from Ferranti."

Hearing this, the representative from Ferranti felt thoroughly miserable. It had already been stated earlier that this transaction had been approved by the Ministry of Defense, yet this reporter was still obsessing over the same issue. It was genuinely tiresome.

With no other choice, an answer had to be given at this point. Thinking it best to be direct and completely shut these reporters' mouths once and for all, the representative replied, "OK, since everyone is so concerned about this radar, let me address it. Ferranti has already received a development contract from the Imperial Navy to develop a completely new radar to replace the Blue Fox radar on the Sea Harrier."

This completely silenced the reporters, though they also gained something in return—at the very least, they had caught wind that the Imperial Navy had already initiated the development of a new generation of radar, which in itself constituted major news.

Happily jotting this good news down in their notebooks, they prepared to listen to the next reporter's question.

"Hello, I am a reporter from Jane's Defence Weekly. I would like to ask whether the current market orders for this so-called Super JJ-7 trainer imply that this fighter will enjoy smooth sales internationally in the future? If this trainer sells well, how does it differ from British Aerospace's current frontline advanced trainer, and which of the two is more powerful?"

True to form as a reporter for Jane's Defence Weekly, so bold even in its newly founded days, this journalist directly dragged British Aerospace into the fray as a proxy weapon during the press conference. It had to be noted that British Aerospace's Hawk advanced trainer and the current Super JJ-7 were both advanced trainer aircraft. To the uninformed public, this formed a direct competitive relationship, making the question exceedingly sensitive on British soil.

To claim that the Super JJ-7 could utterly crush the Hawk advanced trainer would be far too arrogant on British turf; it would amount to an outright declaration of war against the Hawk, effectively tearing off any polite facade.

To claim that the new aircraft fell short of the Hawk in comparison... well... that was simply impossible. What aircraft manufacturer would ever admit such a thing?

Thus, this question from Jane's Defence Weekly was exceptionally tricky, and answering it proved genuinely difficult. Seeing the gleaming eyes of the numerous reporters below, Yang Hui knew this question could not be avoided.

After much deliberation, he decided it would be best to sidestep any direct comparison between the two aircraft: "Regarding this question, I personally feel it is quite meaningless. Our two aircraft have fundamental and massive differences. The Hawk trainer does not possess supersonic flight capabilities, and alongside its training duties, it is tasked more heavily with undertaking attack aircraft missions."

Having finished discussing the Hawk, Yang Hui continued by outlining the positioning and role of the Super JJ-7.

"In contrast, our trainer differs significantly in performance from the Hawk. Its capability for supersonic flight alone is enough to separate the positioning of these two trainers. The Super JJ-7 can easily exceed the speed of sound. In terms of expanded capabilities, this aircraft primarily focuses on aerial patrol, rapid response, and tactical exercises. Therefore, I can solemnly state that these two trainers have fundamentally distinct market positioning."

Upon hearing Yang Hui's remarks, applause broke out first from the stage. Yang Hui's speech had very cleverly defused the malicious reporter's thorny question, preventing any direct conflict between the Super JJ-7 and the Hawk, and sparing Marconi and Ferranti from being caught awkwardly in the middle between the two trainers.

Yang Hui was well aware that this matter had to be handled properly; otherwise, a ticking time bomb would be left behind in the UK, and who knew when British Aerospace might throw caution to the wind and decide to play the role of a spoiler.

While it was nearly impossible for the base to completely avoid a conflict with the Hawk, the immediate priority was to divert attention. Once all the subsystems of the Super JJ-7 were localized, any outcome would become manageable. By then, they could even wheel out the new primary-intermediate trainer jointly developed by the base and Hongdu to spar with the Hawk—after all, the Hawk trainer was truly no better than the K-8 of later generations.

For now, however, Yang Hui racked his brains and concluded that the best way to resolve the situation was to divert attention elsewhere and ride out the storm. Consequently, an entirely different aircraft far away caught a stray bullet.

Yang Hui immediately added a concluding remark: "Therefore, the Hawk trainer and our Super JJ-7 will not conflict in the slightest. If one insists on precisely positioning our Super JJ-7 and finding a counterpart for it, I'm afraid the only match would be the American T-38 supersonic trainer."

That was correct; in terms of trainer categorization, the Super JJ-7 was very much akin to the T-38. The only difference was that the Super JJ-7 incorporated numerous multi-role capabilities, representing significant improvements over the T-38 across the board.

Of course, the T-38 had long since ceased production, so witnessing a competition between these two trainers was likely impossible. However, Yang Hui was more than willing to drag this out-of-production trainer out just to flog a dead horse. Our firepower is aimed squarely at you—so what? If you've got the ability, go reopen your production line.