Spark

After Tang Changhong gave the Russian technical team a bad start, the progress of both the H-20 project and the PAK FA project that the two parties cooperated has obviously accelerated.

The design of the airframe was finalized quickly, the trial production of the engine was accelerated, and the production of internal structural parts began.

If it goes well, it is very likely that, as Chen Nian said, after the new year, Xifei will be able to bring a major surprise to the people of the whole country.

However, under such a smooth progress, a major problem gradually surfaced.

The reserve of T800L carbon fiber used for airframe manufacturing is completely insufficient.

In fact, the formula and manufacturing method of the T800L carbon fiber material were originally provided by Chen Nian, which was included in the general technical package of H-20.

Before the start of the project, the laboratory trial production of this material has already begun.

But the problem is, limited by technical conditions and equipment conditions, this material has not yet achieved mass production.

According to the original plan, the T800L carbon fiber materials needed for the first H-20 will be supplied with laboratory products.

Originally, the output of small-scale production was sufficient to meet the needs of the first batch.

But the problem is that in subsequent designs, H-20 introduced more and more complex designs.

Including variable-sweep wings, wing fuel tanks, quick-opening and closing weapon bays, and more.

Under such circumstances, XAC had to arrange more experiments than expected, which caused the production of T800L to start to be stretched.

In the office, Tang Changhong frowned and looked at the report in front of him, while Gao Yongyu was reporting the latest project plan.

"...According to the current output of T800L, the speed of material preparation may not be able to keep up with the speed of our aircraft manufacturing."

"As of now, the gap of carbon fiber materials has reached 2.6 tons. This number may be slightly reduced in the future, but it is basically impossible to even it out."

"If we have to wait until all the materials are fully prepared before starting trial production, the project process may be delayed for more than three months."

"Although it is also very fast, I doubt whether the Spark team can accept it."

"After all, the technology is provided by them, and there are almost no difficulties in our hands that need to be tackled."

"If we do this, it will be difficult for us to apply for the subsequent budget."

Hearing his words, Tang Changhong hummed, but did not answer immediately.

In fact, he wasn't that worried about this issue.

Whether the budget is not budgeted, although the performance and results of the project team must be assessed, in the final analysis, it is still necessary to contribute to the development of national science and technology.

The research and development of H-20 is the most important step in the development of the Air Force in recent years.

Only with the H-20 can we have a complete strategic deterrent force.

No matter how stingy Xinghuo is, he won't waste his budget on this kind of thing.

But the problem is that they don't stick to the budget, which doesn't mean that this matter can pass like this.

Because, if the H-20 wants to be mass-produced, it still needs the support of new materials.

This time it was barely resolved by procrastinating, what about next time?

The output of the laboratory will definitely not be able to support the H-20 to form a combat capability. If the aircraft is to be truly "manufactured", the problem of insufficient material output must be resolved after all.

Thinking of this, he said:

"Have you contacted other brother units, is there a way for this material to be put on an industrial production line in China?"

Gao Yongyu shook his head and replied:

"There is no way."

"The development of our domestic carbon fiber industry is too weak. Not to mention T800L, even the T700 material that has matured internationally, no factory can produce it."

"If you want to do it, it's probably like a chip project, pull out a special project."

"That difficult?"

Tang Changhong said in surprise.

He knows that carbon fiber is difficult to obtain, but in fact, he doesn't know much about this industry. He just subconsciously thinks that this is a problem that can be completely solved by solving the material manufacturing method.

Gao Yongyu on the opposite side sighed and said:

"Yeah, I didn't think of it at first."

"But recently, I checked a lot of information and consulted a lot of experts in the industry, so I finally figured out this problem."

"Actually, the carbon fiber industry first originated in the island country."

"In 1959, the island country invented the method of using polyacrylonitrile as the precursor to draw and draw carbon fibers, and it began to be commercialized in the 1970s, and then it was widely used in the military and civilian fields."

"Our carbon fiber research actually started in the early 1960s. However, due to the harsh international environment at that time, the West imposed a high-level technical blockade on us, and the shortage of domestic resources, the progress of carbon fiber related research work was very limited."

"Until 1975, under the deployment of Zhang Aiping, we joined forces with more than 20 units to tackle key problems, and finally solved the problem of 'have or not'."

“But it was also at this stage that the fetishization of Western technology started.”

"Under the impact of mature Western products, our fledgling industry simply cannot resist. For 20 years, we have hardly made any progress in the field of carbon fiber."

"There are two main problems. On the one hand, we don't want to do it ourselves, and feel that the investment is too large."

"On the other hand, it cannot be introduced even if it is introduced."

"You know, under the Batumi Treaty, companies with excellent technology are not willing to transfer technology to us, and even obtaining equipment is extremely difficult."

"So, under such circumstances, our carbon fiber industry has finally developed into the current monstrosity."

"In a word, the principle is very familiar, and the technology is very strong --- advanced materials such as T800L can be quickly understood and mastered."

"But the problem is that industrial mass production is almost impossible."

After finishing speaking, Gao Yongyu shook his head subconsciously, and then added:

"Even now, it is still impossible for us to introduce technology and equipment."

"The top companies in the world don't even think about cooperating with us, and second- and third-tier companies, such as RK in the UK, have an ambiguous attitude towards us."

"I really want to cooperate with them. I'm afraid we will suffer even more."

Tang Changhong nodded silently, then asked:

"What about similar products in the world? Is there a way to directly import products?"

"Whether the production can be solved or not, at least the urgent need has been solved first."

"I can't import it."

Gao Yongyu replied decisively:

"T800L is already one of the 48K large-wire carbon fibers with excellent performance. Even in the island country, although they have such products, their output is as small as ours."

"However, unlike us, they have complete equipment, mainly because of the craftsmanship"

"What about exchanging technology for equipment?"

Tang Changhong spoke subconsciously, but then he realized something was wrong.

T800L is a strategic material in the true sense, and it is really not worthwhile to exchange production equipment with it.

Whether it is Xinghuo or the higher-level department, it is impossible to agree

So he hastened to say:

"It's definitely not going to work, but there's really no other way we can get the equipment we need?"

"At present, as long as we solve the problem of core equipment, we can solve the problem of T800L production, right?"

"That's right."

Gao Yongyu nodded, but then said:

"The problem is, it's really not that easy to get the equipment."

"A series of core equipment from the pre-oxidation furnace to the high and low temperature carbonization furnace to the winding and unwinding system will hardly be sold separately."

"To buy, is to buy a production line."

"What price do we have to pay for them to sell us this thing?"

"After all, selling these devices, they are not only facing 'competitive risk', but also political risk"

"Understood."

Tang Changhong sighed.

"But we're going to give it a try anyway."

"Go and sort out the list of related companies and make a priority."

"Then, submit the difficulties we are encountering to Chen Guo and see if he can solve it."

"The Civil Affairs Office under the Xinghuo Group has been established for a while, and the relationship network has also begun to operate. Maybe it will give us unexpected surprises."

"Okay, I'll do it now."

With that said, Gao Yongyu turned and left the office.

Tang Changhong, who stayed in the office, frowned, staring at the figure of the "2.6 tons" gap, wondering what he was thinking.

On the other side, Xigong University.

Chen Guo soon received a request for help from the 603 Office. His first reaction was to find Chen Nian to discuss, but soon he came back to his senses:

This is not a problem Chen Nian can solve.

——

Of course, if he is called in, he is likely to design a series of equipment required for the manufacture of T800L materials in a short period of time, just like the hot isostatic pressing furnace and single crystal furnace he designed at the beginning.

But the problem is that even with these technologies, the plight of Institute 603 cannot be completely resolved in a short period of time.

A mature and supporting production line requires a lot of time to manufacture and debug, not to mention the H-20 project. This kind of development method of grasping all technologies in one's hands regardless of priority is not economical in the first place. .

The best solution, in fact, is to find a way to import a set of advanced equipment from abroad, as Tang Changhong suggested.

With the equipment, combined with the complete technology and process, T800L—not only T800L, but also various other types of carbon fiber materials can be mass-produced.

More importantly, reverse engineering these devices may also solve the problems of the devices themselves and lay the foundation for long-term development.

Isn't this better than throwing all questions to Chen Nianqiang?

——

But the question is, how to do it?

The country has tried for nearly 30 years, but in the end it still failed. Can it really have a good result here?

He glanced at the list submitted by Tang Changhong. The companies on it were either island countries or European countries, and many of them belonged to Five Eyes countries.

It is pure wishful thinking to expect them to provide the production line.

Chen Guo shook her head while watching, picked up a pen and crossed off the companies on the list one by one.

In the end, the remaining four companies were all island companies!

It seems that this time, it is inevitable that our side will have to discuss business with them

Fortunately, because of the previous problems with the THAAD system, the tension between China and the island countries has loosened. In addition, the behavior of the United States exporting the financial crisis has made the island countries extremely dissatisfied. With the ebb and flow, will they still abide by Batumi? The treaty is also unknown.

When a person is extremely difficult, he will not have too many principles and bottom lines.

The same is true for a country.

I heard that the quarterly financial reports of several pillar companies in the island country have been so bad that they cannot be read. Their income has been cut in half, their bones have been broken, and the official financial revenue has fallen to the bottom.

In this case, it shouldn't be too difficult for them to sell some belongings, right?

Thinking of this, Chen Guo suddenly felt confident.

Perhaps, technical problems do not necessarily need to be solved by technical means.

However, before formally contacting them, it is still necessary to make a strategy in advance.

We can't let them see our urgency, lest they sit on the ground and raise prices.

This part of the work will be handed over to the monkey spirits of the Minfa Office.

A few days later, all the companies on the list received the same inquiry email.

The content of the email is very simple, which is to request the purchase of the most advanced carbon fiber production lines of various companies.

Regardless of the technical strength of each company, no matter whether there is a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each company's products, all are treated equally.

This time, the Civil Affairs Office showed an attitude of not rejecting anyone who came.

As long as you are willing to give it, then I dare to take it.

Moreover, in the inquiry email, the Civil Affairs Office also vaguely revealed a layer of meaning:

"Price is preferred, first come first priority."

That is to say, whoever is willing to be the first to contact will have priority in obtaining the preferential conditions provided by Huaxia.

Of course, the premise is that the negotiations can continue.

This email caused quite a stir in the circle of carbon fiber equipment manufacturers. However, this does not mean that all manufacturers will buy Huaxia's account.

In Germany, Scholz Autoclaves was the first to reply to the email.

They politely expressed their gratitude to Huaxia's inquiry, but at the same time, they regretted that their products could not meet Huaxia's requirements, so they could only refuse this cooperation.

Subsequently, Miller Italia of Italy, FOREST-LINE of France, and Electroimpact of the United States successively responded that they refused to cooperate.

Their attitude was very firm, without any politeness, and did not leave a trace of leeway.

Of course, the most determined is the American MAG Cincinnati.

They didn't even want to go through the normal reply process and simply ignored the inquiry email.

After a round of screening, those who finally expressed their willingness to cooperate, except for second-tier companies like KR in the UK, there are only three companies in the island country left.

Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Hanyuda.

These three companies have expressed their positive desire for cooperation, and are even willing to send representatives to Huaxia for interviews.

Such a result was not at all unexpected by Chen Guo.

After all, those companies in Europe are all serious old money, with a bit of "nobility's reserve", so they won't turn their backs just because of a financial crisis.

USA?

They had refused to cooperate before, but this time, it was just a routine inquiry.

Only the island country, a nation with no sense of propriety, righteousness and shame, will abandon it without hesitation after its master dies.

They can't control the chain reaction that will be caused after the carbon fiber technology is given to Huaxia.

As long as you give them enough money, they will even dare to bite their masters.