Great warships

Chapter 1217 I have never seen such a shameless person!
When people sit at home, disaster comes from heaven.

Dassault has not had an easy time these days.

Developing and researching fighter jets requires funds, a lot of funds. If the production of aircraft is insufficient, the research and development funds cannot be shared, which will lead to high prices for fighter jets.

In the past, French fighter jets could squeeze between Russian and American fighter jets, and they lived a pretty good life.

But later, with the collapse of the Red Empire, Dassault's gap disappeared!
A large number of cheap Soviet-made fighters began to be available all over the world. Even the United States could buy them if it wanted. Who else could not buy them? Not only the MiG-29 could be bought, but also the heavy Su-27 fighters could be bought. They would be sold to anyone who paid, regardless of who the customer was!

Under such circumstances, the Mirage fighter, which is expensive and has average performance, has lost its sales channels.

In the 2000s, the French sold Mirage 16 fighter jets to the East at a price of to million US dollars, while the American F- fighter jets with the same performance at the same time only cost to million US dollars.

If it weren't for political considerations, who would buy the extremely expensive French fighter? Except for the fact that the Mirage 2000 is a little faster when performing interception missions, which one can compare with the F-16 in terms of avionics or engines? Even the MiG-29 is not inferior to it.

The Mirage 2000 is not selling well, but fortunately Dassault still has the Rafale fighter.

The origin of this project is very special. It is the product of the French self-esteem being hit. When Europe wanted to develop a joint fighter, the French heard about it and shamelessly joined. After joining, they wanted to be the boss and listen to them in everything. If they didn't listen? The French would withdraw from the group and develop it on their own.

Both Rafale and Mirage 2000 are medium-sized aircraft, but the former is more advanced. Its aerodynamic shape uses a canard layout, and the effect brought by the large-area movable canard far exceeds the delta wing structure of the Mirage 2000.

In terms of power, the former uses two medium-thrust engines. The luxurious power allows it to cruise at supersonic speeds, which is the standard of the legendary fourth-generation aircraft. Avionics and the like are also very advanced.

Moreover, Rafale can be deployed on ships, which is something that Mirage 2000 does not have. The French Navy also needs modern carrier-based aircraft and cannot always use the outdated Super Etendard.

The research and development of Rafale cost more than 20 billion US dollars. Even if there is an order for 200 aircraft, the research and development funds allocated to each fighter will reach an incredible 100 million US dollars!
Therefore, in their eyes, the price of US$1.2 million per aircraft for India is already a very fair price. They also expect India to continue to order more aircraft. India has two aircraft carriers and land-based fighters. It was a major customer of Mirage 2000 before, and now it must be a major customer of Rafale as well. It must purchase at least two or three hundred aircraft, right?

Who could have thought that India only purchased 36 aircraft and something unexpected happened!

"Our Rafale fighter is the most advanced fighter in the world, without any performance defects. You are talking nonsense!" Morris, a senior executive of Dassault, came to the South Asian subcontinent in person and looked at the Indians in front of him with anger in his eyes: "We have delivered the aircraft, please pay the balance immediately!"

"Mr. Morris, please don't get excited." Alex, who was sitting opposite, said calmly, "Whether there are performance defects or not is not up to you, the customers. We have found many problems in the process of operating the Rafale fighter."

"What is the problem?"

"First, you claim that this aircraft has a strong stealth capability, and the frontal RCS value is the same as that of the Dongfang J-0.05, which is only 0.5 square meters. However, in actual use, we found that this is simply impossible. The frontal RCS value of this aircraft, at best, will not be less than square meters."

Morris was immediately embarrassed. It was all because of those damn salesmen who dared to say anything to sell fighter jets!

The development of fighter jets has long entered the era of stealth aircraft. The United States has the F-22 and is developing a joint fighter, while the East has produced a large number of stealth aircraft and sold them to many countries.

In fact, in the later period, the Russian fighter planes were no longer selling well, and many markets of Dassault were squeezed out by Eastern fighter planes.

The development of the Rafale fighter began in the mid-1980s. At that time, no designer cared about stealth, so the Rafale fighter had no stealth capability at all. But if it didn't have it, the aircraft would not be sold.

So, Dassault engineers began to claim that their Rafale also has stealth capabilities!
Don’t think that stealth can only be achieved by making the aircraft have angular shapes, such as diamond-shaped nose, rectangular air intake and so on. Our Dassault company also has its own unique skills!

We have made modifications to the fuselage, air intakes, wings and canards to reflect radar waves in other directions. We have also coated the cockpit glass with a layer of gold film!
For those non-stealth aircraft, they can only be modified through these methods. After simple modifications, it is still possible to reduce the radar reflection area to less than 1 square meter.

But...it would be absolutely nonsense if it could be reduced to the same level as the J-20!

How can a simple modification be compared with a comprehensive stealth design? The ammunition is not built-in, and there is not even a special radar-absorbing coating on the surface. With these, you still want to achieve a radar reflection area of ​​0.05 square meters?
0.5 square meters is already overestimating them!

However, if you want to sell the Gust, you have to brag about it like this. If the customers are happy and satisfied, then they will place an order. Who would have known that now the customers would become more serious!

"The performance has been reduced tenfold. We have already paid you 30% of the deposit, which is already too much. Do you still want the balance? That's fine. As long as the radar reflection area of ​​the fighter plane meets the standard, we will pay the balance!"

What a joke! Even if all the engineers at Dassault died, they still wouldn’t be able to figure it out!

"The second flaw is that your Rafale fighters are too wide for us to operate normally on the aircraft carrier. Our elevators cannot accommodate your Rafale fighters. Therefore, although we bought this type of aircraft as a carrier-based aircraft, it cannot be put on board the ship at all."

"We knew the width of our aircraft when you purchased it. It's your problem that it can't fit the elevator. What does it have to do with us?"

"Because the wings of the Rafale fighter jet cannot be folded. Except for the Tomcat, all other fighter jets in the world do not have folding wings. This is clearly a design flaw of yours!"

"third……"

Alex went on talking one by one, and in the end, even he believed it. This plane was not suitable for use on aircraft carriers. Who was so blind as to import this kind of plane?
"How can we be satisfied with your aircraft, which has so many serious defects? We are lucky enough not to ask you to compensate for the losses!"

"Humph, you're going too far!" Morris said with an unpleasant expression, "Aren't you afraid that no one will do business with you in the future if you do this?"

When doing business internationally, the most important thing is reputation. Now that India has destroyed its reputation, how can it continue to do business in the future?
"How could there not be? We must keep our eyes open when doing business in the future." Alex said, "Some people always think that we Indians know nothing and deliberately fool us. A fighter jet without stealth capability is said to reach the world's first-class stealth standard. Of course, this is also related to us. Some of us must have benefited from it. Of course, we are investigating. These people will not have a good end!"

Things have come to this point, there is definitely no room for maneuver. The Indians are determined to take the money. What will Dassault do?
Dassault headquarters.

Marcel Dassault died in 1986 at the age of 94. His son Serge Dassault is still alive, but he is years old. Therefore, the current helmsman of Dassault is Charles Edelsteiner. However, he will only serve as CEO for a few years. After Dassault's grandson has made achievements in politics, he will return to Dassault and become the new helmsman.

It has not been easy in the past few years. He has been struggling to make ends meet. He originally sold the Rafale fighter jets to India, thinking it was a breakthrough and the price was very high. He didn't expect it to be a pit, a big pit at that!
There was silence in the conference room.

"Asan is determined not to pay us the balance. The key is that we have no way to deal with it. Damn it, why don't we learn from the Orientals?" Edestainer finally couldn't help it.

Look at what the East did? Guinea didn't want to pay the balance, so they locked up their warships, not to mention their fighter jets! What about us? Can't we set up a remote locking system?

"This system is not easy." A responsible engineer said: "The most critical thing is how to send the lock command. Generally speaking, satellite communication is the most suitable, but the fighter planes we gave to India are not equipped with our satellite communication system. We cannot send commands. Moreover, when we need to control the entire aircraft, how should we control it? If we control the aircraft while it is still flying, the aircraft will crash unexpectedly..."

"How did the Orientals do it?" asked Edsteiner.

The meeting room became quiet again.

Who knows how the Orientals do it? Orientals love to use dirty tricks, it's normal for them to do it, but we can't. If we want to study it, we have to invest a lot of money, so...

After all, their R&D costs are too high, and every aspect costs money!
"However, Asan should also know that getting the fighter jets does not mean that he can get rid of us. In the future, the maintenance and various accessories of the fighter jets will still require our support." After a long time, Esdesteiner continued.

"That's not necessarily true. After all, we have already given Ah San a full set of accessories. However, if they need upgrades or improvements in the future, we will definitely not provide them unless they pay us the balance."

East.

"As expected, Asan went to cause trouble for the French. Speaking of which, the French are really miserable." Xu Zhengyang said.

"The French are not miserable, but they have not opened their eyes. When doing business with India, you must pay the full amount, at least 80%. If you don't pay the rest, it will be like feeding the dog." Qin Tao said.

"After this, I guess the French won't cooperate with Ah San anymore, right?"

The idea Qin Tao came up with was not just to find money for Asan to pay Zhenhua Heavy Industries to unlock the gantry crane, he had a deeper purpose!

Isolate Asan!

India has an important geographical location and has many friends. The United States frequently extends olive branches to India, so India can have the best of both worlds.

However, when India refuses to pay the final payment of US$3.5 billion to Dassault, India’s relationship with France will definitely become strained, and no French company will do business with India in the future!

India still needs France in many aspects, especially fighter jets. After cheating Dassault, India can no longer buy fighter jets from France. India can only turn to the Russians. The problem is that the Russians' technology is not very good. They have been relying on archaeology for decades. The latest T-50 developed is not very good either. Even if India has this kind of aircraft, it is not to be feared.

Asan should not have any psychological burden for not paying the balance. After all, it is not the first time that Asan has done such a thing. It just makes life difficult for Dassault.

"Dassault's fighter jets cannot be sold, and they have suffered a huge loss this time. Their company will become increasingly difficult. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they will stir up trouble in the international financial market and cause Dassault's stock price to fall all the way," said Qin Tao.

"Okay, I will notify our financial company." Xu Zhengyang nodded.

"Well, do it covertly, don't let them know it was us."

"India has LCA fighters. Will they improve this fighter and put it on board?"

"Of course, but with Ah San's ability, what kind of improvement can he make?" Qin Tao said: "Of course, the PPT project is okay."

Qin Tao just said it briefly, but unexpectedly, he hit the nail on the head!
Soon, India started showing off its fighter planes.

"We believe that foreign purchases are unreliable, and only our own can be relied upon. Our navy has decided to choose LCA as its carrier-based aircraft! The Rafale fighter jets purchased will be used on land!"

The Rafale fighter jets have many defects. If they continue to be used and still perform well, it would be absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, India made a new major decision.

Use your own LCA fighter!
It is a well-known fact to aviation experts all over the world that delta-wing fighters are not suitable for shipboard deployment. The reason why France's Rafale fighter can be deployed on ships is because it adopts a canard layout.

When India developed its LCA fighter, the canard layout was already popular, but India did not have the technical reserves and only used a simple delta wing layout, like a smaller version of the Mirage 2000.
Can this type of aircraft be deployed on ships?
Under the astonished gazes of countless people, the modified model of the LCA fighter was shown off by India.

The biggest change is the addition of a pair of close-coupled canards! The appearance of this canard finally makes the LCA fighter look more modern, as if it has evolved into a modern third-generation fighter, no, a fourth-generation fighter in an instant!

Its appearance has also been modified, and it appears to have stealth capabilities, but given the LCA's pitifully small body, it is destined to only be able to carry external weapons. Such a stealth design is doomed to be meaningless because those external weapons will greatly increase radar reflection waves.

Regardless of whether it is true or not, Ah San is determined not to give the French the balance.

The French were miserable and the whole world was shocked. At this time, Qin Tao, who pushed this matter forward, came to the Fourth Design Department with great interest.

The first design department is more diverse, dealing with all kinds of warships and civilian ships, and has the largest business. The second design department specializes in aircraft carriers, the third design department specializes in submarines, and the fourth design department specializes in ground effect vehicles.

Among the several design departments, the one Qin Tao paid the least attention to was the ground effect vehicle. After all, this department was just something he encountered and then formed by chance. Moreover, although the ground effect vehicle sounded promising, it actually had many problems. Therefore, Qin Tao would not hold too high hopes for it and only regarded it as a kind of technical reserve.

Unexpectedly, ground effect vehicles have become so mature and there are many models!

Tatyana Alexeeva was also very excited when she met Qin Tao.

"Boss Qin, welcome to visit our Fourth Design Department!"

"Well, I heard from the Navy that they are very optimistic about the development of your ground effect vehicles. Do you even have a 2,000-ton ground effect vehicle?"

"Yes, the design of the 2,000-ton ground effect vehicle has been completed and is being produced in the factory. We are currently perfecting the design of the 10,000-ton ground effect vehicle to lay the foundation for the 100,000-ton one."

The two thousand tons have come out and are preparing to advance to the ten thousand tons level!
You know, the Caspian Sea monster once weighed only 500 tons!

"Have the engine problems been overcome?"

Qin Tao still remembered that he had heard about the engine problems of ground effect vehicles last time. Aviation engines used on them are easily corroded by seawater and their lifespan is greatly reduced. At that time, he proposed an electric transmission solution, but he didn't know whether it was suitable.

"We have overcome it," said Alekseyeva. "The biggest problem with ground-effect vehicles is the life of the engines used in the jet propulsion system required by the power-enhanced lift technology. We used gas turbines instead."

The biggest external feature of the Caspian Monster is the row of engines on the nose. This type of engine is only used during takeoff. It is responsible for ejecting jets backwards to form a dynamic air cushion for the rear wings, increase the ground effect, and lift the aircraft.

This row of engines is easily affected by the moisture on the sea surface, but it is not easy to replace this kind of engine. Even if we use electric motors, they will not have such great power, right?

"Are gas turbines responsible for generating electricity?" Qin Tao asked.

"Of course not. We got inspiration from the lift engines of the J-31A and arranged a row of lift engines on the front short wings, which were then driven by a transmission shaft."

Qin Tao's eyes lit up. This was a great plan!

There are sophisticated blades, combustion chambers and turbines inside an aircraft engine. The turbine in particular has an extremely harsh working environment and is made of special materials, so it is easily affected by moisture. However, the lift fan is much simpler. It just has two counter-rotating blades and is not afraid of moisture at all!
(End of this chapter)