Liu Jiankun envisioned developing a cutting-edge aviation engine to support the self-research and self-production of fifth-generation fighter jets, enabling the air force to skip the half-third and fourth-generation fighters and scale up the deploynt of fifth-generation fighters.
This idea was exhilarating when spoken aloud, yet he, himself, knew it was pretty unrealistic; for the ti being, it could only be a thought held within his heart. He simply acknowledged and supported Kunlun’s second group in aiming their design toward the fifth-generation fighter jets.
Zhao Yi didn’t care much about targeting specific fighter jets, only hoping to manufacture a prototype according to the highest specifications.
Fifth-generation fighter jets were definitely the best choice.
The higher the level of the fighter jet’s design, the higher the requirents for the engine. The fifth-generation fighter jets are currently the highest-end jets, and only by aiming to match these can the most advanced prototypes be created.
This is also where dostically self-researched aviation engines are constrained by the design and manufacturing of the fighter jets.
Since there was originally no high-end turbofan engine, the Kunlun engine project was the first major research initiative. With hefty investnt and lengthy research stages, the engine developnt team couldn’t beco an independent entity, which led to the necessity of aligning prototype design and manufacturing with the planned fighter jets’ design levels. Hence, the plan was to consider further developnt later on; no separate funding would be allocated for subsequent research at present. The successful testing of the prototypes could then lead to mass production and the equipping of fighter jets.
Indeed, constructing prototypes with pre-targeted jets in mind can enhance the efficiency from research to production, but it also ties the hands of R&D, forcing so high-end designs to be "partially castrated."
The constraints faced by the Kunlun engine weren’t too severe, but the second Kunlun group might face even greater constraints.
If the targeted fighter jet doesn’t require high-performance engines, there’s no need for more sophisticated designs. To save on cost and accelerate developnt, it’s certain that any potentially problematic high-end designs will be cut.
Zhao Yi was sowhat worried about this situation, but fortunately, the eting to determine the targeted fighter jet was about to take place, so he didn’t have to wait too long.
His main purpose for coming to the Aviation Group was to take part in the eting that focused on engine R&D, as well as fighter jet design and manufacturing, within the group.
There wasn’t much preparation for the eting, which started promptly; however, the attendees of the eting indicated its significance. The lowest rank able to attend was the Deputy Designer of the engine R&D team, one tier below Zhang Gangchuan. Other internal personnel from the Aviation Group included several Deputy Designers and Deputy General Managers.
Half of the participants were not from the Aviation Group, including representatives from the Science Academy and the Aerospace Materials Research Institute, senior leaders at the Deputy Minister level, as well as delegates from the air and naval forces, even including a leader with the rank of major general.
Wait a mont.
The eting began swiftly.
Although the eting directly involved the design R&D of Kunlun’s second group, Zhao Yi was mostly in an observer’s role since many of the topics and reports related to the current state of the country’s air forces, the strategic direction of fighter jet deploynt, and various mission adaptations for different fighter jets, as well as other relevant national defense air force issues, such as so fighter jets being equipped in large numbers to suppress forces in the direction of Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Overall, it was complex.
As an observer, Zhao Yi listened to many topics and gained insight into the dostic situation concerning air forces and fighter jets, and he soon felt that Liu Jiankun’s ideas were far-fetched.
Design aiming for the fifth-generation aircraft?
That’s difficult!
The country’s current in-service fighter jets are primarily a mix of second-and-a-half and third-generation models, and the future direction seems to be an upgrade to half-third and fourth-generation jets—seemingly close to the fifth generation.
But that’s not the case.
The only dostically produced jets with mature technology are the J-10 and J-11 series, but most of the engines they use still rely on imports, performing only to the level of half-third-generation fighter jets.
The plan for the Aviation Group and the air force is to deploy a massive number of J-10 and J-11 series jets—a large-scale replacent with half-third-generation fighters—along with several dozen imported fighters starting with ’Su,’ granting the air force thousands of half-third-generation fighters and marking a phase of renewal.
The only dostically designed and developed jets that are confird to have fourth-generation capabilities, possibly nearing fifth-generation aircraft, and can absolutely dominate half-third-generation fighters, are the newborn J-20 jets, which have just begun testing. Not to ntion a fighter jet at the trial phase, it’s far from mass production. Even if the J-20 were technologically mature, mass production would not be quickly feasible.
Because of types and costs.
The J-20 is akin to M Country’s F-22, a well-equipped heavyweight fighter with limited potential. Being cumberso is its biggest issue, preventing it from becoming a carrier-based aircraft and thus limiting its potential for future use.
Cost is another significant challenge.
The F-22 of M Country costs between two hundred and three hundred and fifty million U.S. dollars. J-20’s price has not been disclosed but is undoubtedly no less than one hundred million dollars, exclusive of research phase expenses.
To break away from the purely deterrent F-22, M Country developed a lower-spec F-35, currently the most advanced fighter jet recognized by many, still expensive but capable of being deployed on aircraft carriers, presenting far greater utilization potential.
The issue under discussion at the current Aviation Group eting was related to a ’downgraded’ J-20, for which they had long formulated plans to create a ’downgraded’ version of the J-20, that is, the J-31.
The J-31, designed as a dium-sized fighter jet, wouldn’t perform much worse than the J-20 and could be deployed on an aircraft carrier. It sounds quite promising, yet in reality, the J-20 has only just begun its flight trials, and its technology can be considered immature. The J-31’s design is still incomplete on paper.
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