The Military-industrial Scientific Research System of the Academic Master Chapter 268

Chapter 268 The God of Wealth in the Air Force

The Chinese Air Force currently has 14 second-hand IL-76T/TD transport aircraft purchased from different channels.

Four of them are set aside to be modified into early warning aircraft.

Although there are very few in number, they are not new machines and the related tactics are not very proficient yet.

But after all, the military has been able to experience the performance of large transport aircraft.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Can not go back.

At a load that is three times that of the Y8, it can fly three times as far as the Y8!

The long-distance transport aviation arm submits its annual year-end summary, which can be summed up in one sentence.

The big plane smells so **** good, hurry up and get more!

However, the voice of the troops is high. Considering China's stretched military expenditure in the past few years, it really cannot afford to introduce more IL-76 or other large transport aircraft.

In addition, large transport aircraft are still not as urgent as several advanced fighter models also equipped by the Air Force, so this matter has been shelved.

But in 1997, the situation changed somewhat.

The secondary reason is that due to a series of events in 1996, total military expenditures soared by nearly 10 billion yuan as planned.

At the same time, because the development leadership of several civil aviation models was taken back to the Science and Technology Commission system, there were billions more on the books.

The main reason is that when the 1997 annual budget was compiled, everyone was surprised to find that because many expensive projects such as the J-8C, Kunlun engine and Thunderbolt 11 were completed ahead of schedule in the second half of 1996, there was a large number of The project R&D and equipment procurement costs that were originally planned were saved.

The total amount of this money is not more than the previous two, that is, it is on the level of several billions.

But there is a considerable part of the foreign exchange quota.

In the 1990s, this was very popular.

Mainly due to the huge amount of money saved during the introduction of No.11 Project technology—

According to the original psychological expectations of China, including technology transfer, equipment, materials, labor and other costs, the total contract amount that needs to be paid to the Russian side during the entire project period is probably between US$7 billion and US$8 billion.

The one-time payment to be made in 1996-97 is nearly US$1.5 billion.

However, Sukhoi made huge concessions during the negotiation process last year, lowering the purchase unit price and at the same time reducing the number of aircraft that China was required to purchase directly from Russia. As a result, this expenditure was actually reduced by one-third from the original plan. About one.

This means that in 1997 alone, there was almost an extra US$500 million that could be spent on introducing other technologies or equipment from abroad.

This can be regarded as a windfall.

Just in time, the Ilyushin Group and the Chkalov Factory jointly invited a delegation from China to visit.

The Air Force's thoughts naturally became more active.

This is how the trip led by Huai Guomo came about.

Before departure, Ding Gaoheng listed and summarized these things at a small internal meeting held by the Science and Industry Committee.

The original intention is to improve everyone's self-confidence.

But as soon as the table was displayed on the big screen, someone noticed the bright spot.

It seems that the same name is vaguely behind these things...

Whether directly or indirectly, Chang Haonan played a very important role in it.

In this regard, Ding Gaoheng commented humorously:

“It seems that our little comrade can still be regarded as the God of Wealth of the Air Force...”

At the beginning, when Huai Guomo came to Tashkent this time, he even wanted to bring this "God of Wealth" with him.

ˆThe latter's whimsical thinking and overall perspective in the previous negotiations with the European Union made him quite unforgettable.

Unfortunately, after asking, I found out that the other party was helping the Electronic Technology Group deal with a difficult issue and could not escape for the time being.

After careful consideration, he still believed that it was more important to let Chang Haonan solve technical problems.

After all, in the several times mentioned earlier, the latter was also solved through technical means.

After a brief fugue, Huai Guomo's attention returned to the two rows of large aircraft parked in the factory.

Kucherov, who had not spoken much just now, finally came to the front:

“There are now a total of two Il-78 tankers in our factory that have been basically completed. Only the Il-78 tankers that need some preparation work are left, which are the two farthest from us.”

Following the direction of the factory director, Huai Guomo saw two aircraft at the end of the queue with the words CCCP spray-painted on their fuselages.

Lozko next to him opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, no sound came out.

Although the Chkalov Factory does not have the ability to manufacture aircraft from scratch, it has no problem completing these semi-finished airframes.

From a legal perspective, it is certainly possible to discuss what proportion of the aircraft remaining in the Chkalov factory belongs to the Ilyushin Group.

But that doesn't make sense. The disintegration of the alliance is a mess. How many things can be snatched from the chaos depends on each person's ability. Now even if he comes up with tricks, Kucherov cannot hand over these things parked in the assembly workshop.

At this moment, we are at a critical moment when the Ilyushin Group and the local forces in Tashkent are competing for the legacy of the Chkalov Factory. There is no need to offend the key figures among them with these bits and pieces.

Under the leadership of Kucherov, we walked near the Il-76 final assembly line.

“The first four aircraft are also IL-78s, and the completion rate is about 70%. With sufficient financial support, they can all be completed within half a year.”

"The first, that is, the four Il-76TDs we are passing by now are military transport types. They are about half complete. The main reason is that the power system is not yet in place. If the Perm Engine Factory can provide enough D30KP2 engines, then it will be very Fast, at most... one and a half to two years."

“Why are these four planes taking so long?”

Liang Zhuoping, who was following Huai Guomo, asked curiously.

After all, the complexity of IL-78 is actually higher than that of IL-76.

“Because we can't produce so many aircraft at the same time as before, we have to queue up, and those at the back will naturally be slower.”

Kucherov did not conceal this matter - although he had made a lot of superficial efforts to welcome the arrival of the Chinese purchasing delegation during this period, the current situation of the factory was still obvious to those who knew the inside story at a glance.

Even if he didn't say it, Chinese people would be able to understand everything just by spending a few days wandering around Tashkent and talking about everyday things.

“This No. 1 workshop used to be able to assemble 12 200-ton large aircraft at the same time, but now... it can only guarantee 3-4 aircraft.”

The old factory director's voice was a little lonely.

However, he turned around and assured Liang Zhuoping and Huai Guomo:

"Even so, our cost performance and efficiency are already very high. No other place in the world can guarantee to provide you with 10 brand-new strategic transport aircraft within two years, and the price... can be discussed later. "

This is not a lie.

In fact, there are only three suppliers in the world that can provide strategic transport aircraft.

Among them, McDonnell Douglas or Boeing's C17 will definitely not be sold to China.

Antonov does not have the ability to produce the An-124. Moreover, due to the restrictions on take-off and landing conditions, there is no competitive relationship between the An-124 and the IL-76.

Chkalov Factory's only competitor is actually the 800 Il-76s it built in the past.

If the price is too high, it is entirely possible for Chinese people to turn around and buy used goods.

You must remember that this was only the beginning of 1997, and the second-hand aircraft in the hands of the CIS countries were in good condition.

Not to mention, the Uzbek Air Force itself has a dozen unused Il-76s waiting to be sold.

As for the business of overhauling the Il-76, it can be completed by places such as the Belarusian 571 Aviation Repair Plant, and the competition is fierce.

“Why leave it until later, I think we can start talking today.”

With the efforts of the profitable Mirziyoyev, the negotiations between China and the Chkalov factory on the current 10 aircraft went very smoothly. They did not even need to sit at the negotiating table. They were directly on an Ilyushin 76. A verbal agreement was reached in the cabin.

Since the factory was in a hurry for money, and these aircraft were originally free for Uzbekistan and did not involve any research and development expenses, the price of a package of 10 aircraft was only US$108 million without worrying about it.

Of course, for China in this era, this is already a huge deal.

But if someone saw this price in Chang Haonan in Yanliang, they would definitely call it outrageous.

Seventeen years later, in 2014, China purchased three second-hand IL-78s from Ermao, with a unit price of US$45 million.

Even if the inflation rate over the years is calculated, the new machine with a unit price of 9.6 million can indeed be regarded as a clearance sale.

Of course, the two parties still held a brief ceremony the next day and finalized the formal contract.

After all, they are worried that the other party will regret it.

However, subsequent negotiations with the Ilyushin Group and the Chkalov Factory on the purchase of the new Ilyushin 76MF transport aircraft progressed slowly from the beginning.

To put it bluntly, second-hand aircraft are assets of the past alliance, and they can be sold at low prices. But new aircraft, especially those that have just completed their first flight and have not yet been fully finalized, are another matter.

Lozko has set the unit price of the aircraft at US$33 million each, and must purchase at least 36 aircraft in the next 10 years.

Hai Guomo has no objection to this quantity, but the unit price of US$33 million is still too high for China.

Project No. 11 has saved a total of almost 2 billion U.S. dollars. You can't just hand over more than half of it to Ilyushin by changing hands, right?

This is external procurement in a pure sense and does not involve technology transfer.

After several days of confrontation, neither side was willing to give in.

So the negotiations reached a deadlock.

“How about we contact that comrade, the God of Wealth, and ask him if he has any opinions?”

After the end of countless rounds of negotiations, Liang Zhuoping put forward his own suggestions while talking and laughing.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter end

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