Dominate South Asia

"We have conducted hundreds of tests, and the flight control system is completely normal." Hearing Muhammad's question, a Chinese technician next to him said, tall, with a pair of glasses on his nose, calm expression, it was the flight control designer Yang Wei who came from China specially after learning that Pakistan was going to test fly.

Although this is a copycat Tomcat, not all technologies are copied, and improvements have been made. The key is digital fly-by-wire!

Redundant digital fly-by-wire will give the fighter more powerful control performance. This is already the standard configuration of the third-generation aircraft. In order to develop its own No. 10 aircraft, China is also conducting technical research on digital fly-by-wire, and at the same time, it is also supporting Pakistan's copycat Tomcat.

Pakistan provided a Tomcat fighter, and asked China to modify the digital fly-by-wire and conduct various experiments. The test flight in China has been carried out for hundreds of sorties, and the flight control software has been optimized several times and has been fully mature.

At the same time, the modification of digital fly-by-wire for Pakistan is also a promotion for the development of Project 10. Before the fighter of Project 10 has its first flight, they can test the hardware manufactured for digital fly-by-wire.

Now, when Muhammad asked about the flight control system, Yang Wei on the side immediately expressed his opinion that there is no problem at all! He is very confident.

"As long as the flight control is confident, our fighter will definitely fly smoothly!" Muhammad said.

Kamal and his radar operator entered the cockpit and sat on the ejection seat. The ground staff came up to help check whether the canopy was locked, and then moved the ladder away.

Although it is completely made by themselves, in fact, some parts are still imported. For example, this ejection seat needs to ensure that it can be successfully ejected under various conditions. Pakistan has no experience in manufacturing ejection seats, so this seat is still imported from the United States, and some chips of various electronic systems are temporarily imported from the West when Pakistan cannot produce them by itself. As for the material of the sturdy landing gear, it was originally a big problem, but now Pakistan has high-strength steel. There is absolutely no problem in using it to make landing gear.

When the command from the tower came through the headset, Kamal turned on the two engines in turn. The tail flame of the F110 engine was completely normal. After receiving confirmation from the ground personnel, Kamal released the brakes and the fighter began to taxi rapidly forward.

Originally, if it was a brand-new fighter, the initial test would be a ground taxi test, with the speed gradually increasing. Until it finally reached the take-off speed, this was to verify whether the structure of the aircraft was reasonable and whether the aerodynamic layout could pull the aircraft up. And so on.

Now, this Tomcat is a complete copy of an existing fighter, and the aerodynamic layout is completely fine, so there is no need to worry about the structure. It will fly in the first test.

Like the fighters he had driven before, Kamal operated the fighter. Gradually accelerating, watching the horizon quickly retreat, and then gently pulling up the operating lever.

The previous Tomcat fighters were all hydraulic, but the American power-assisting system was very well designed, making the operation of the fighter very easy, not as heavy as the MiG-29. Now, the flight control has become a fly-by-wire system, and the joystick in hand only controls the electrical signal, which is easier.

The front landing gear. Gently lifted up, and then. The rear landing gear also left the ground, and the whole fighter, like a huge eagle, flew into the sky.

It flew up! It flew up! Many technicians cheered at the scene.

Although it was just a copy, it was already a huge progress for Pakistan. After all, this is a Tomcat fighter made by Pakistan itself!

In the future, for example, when China introduced the Su-27, it introduced a full set of production lines and then produced it by itself. Now, the United States will never export the Tomcat production line to Pakistan, and there is no manufacturing technical data. This fighter is completely produced by Pakistan itself! This is a great progress!

For this progress, Pakistan has done a lot of work. In addition to reverse mapping the Tomcat with Chinese technicians, it has also traveled abroad and carried out many cooperations.

During the development of the Gripen by the Swedes and the Sculptor by the South Africans, Pakistani technicians participated in the process and gained a lot of valuable experience. These experiences played a big role in the reverse mapping of the Tomcat.

Although the production of fighter planes is called a production line, in fact, many parts are installed by hand by skilled workers. How to install and arrange each part is very particular. Pakistan has learned a lot of experience when overhauling the Tomcat before. Now, all the experience is added together, and finally it has achieved the current achievements.

After the reverse-engineered Tomcat has been fully qualified after various project test flights, Pakistan will enter the low-speed production stage, and the annual output will be about four or five.

Now, watching the Tomcat made by his own side fly into the sky, Muhammad is also touched.

Without air superiority, there is nothing! The Tomcat fighter is an excellent fighter. When I bought the Tomcat, it was to be able to produce it myself.

And now, I have tried my best to obtain the production technology of the engine and racked my brains to overcome technical difficulties such as radar, just for now!

"First-class quality!" Kamal in the air was also extremely happy. Suppressing his excitement, Kamal reported on the radio.

When the Tomcat was first introduced, the Tomcat fighter had to be carefully served because of the defects of the TF30 engine. Now, with the use of the F110 engine and the modification of the fly-by-wire, this fighter is more responsive! Just push the joystick gently, and the fighter will start to fly in the direction you need!

"What are the plans for our technicians next?" While looking at the fighter in the sky, Muhammad asked the person in charge next to him. Since it was the first test flight, it would land after three turns.

"This fighter is completely designed according to the requirements of the Navy's carrier-based aircraft. Many aspects are heavier designs. We plan to equip some of them with the Air Force's fighters, and the structure can be reduced in weight." The person in charge said.

In order to adapt to the huge overload of catapult takeoff and the brutal collision during landing, many parts of the Navy's carrier-based aircraft need to be strengthened, such as the main landing gear, fuselage structure, etc., as well as additional measures taken to adapt to the corrosion of sea salt, resulting in the weight of the carrier-based aircraft being heavier than the same Air Force fighter. If the wings are folded, it will require additional weight.

For example, the US-made F/A-18 has an additional weight of 1,340 kilograms in order to take off and land on an aircraft carrier, while the Su-33, which is improved from the Su-27, has increased its weight by 11% compared to the prototype, weighing more than one and a half tons. Therefore, with the same engine, the performance of carrier-based aircraft is lower than that of land-based fighters.

The Tomcat fighter itself is a carrier-based aircraft. The ones introduced by Pakistan all include landing hooks and can be put on board at any time. Pakistan now produces it itself, not only for the navy, but also for the air force.

The fighters used by the air force naturally do not need the extra weight, the landing gear does not need to be strengthened, the landing hook does not need to be there, and the fuselage can be designed according to the land-based design. In this way, at least the Tomcat used by the air force can reduce the weight of one ton!

Muhammad nodded: "This is a good idea, but we must follow scientific laws and not reduce weight excessively for the sake of reducing weight."

If we have to keep reducing weight and end up with the Su-27's soft bone disease, it will be troublesome. After all, Pakistan's fighter is a copy, and many original technical data are not available, and the original design ideas are unknown. This is the biggest disadvantage of reverse copying. If we want to completely master the technology of this fighter, I am afraid there is still a long way to go.

"Yes, our current static test of the first aircraft is to verify the bearing capacity of each part of the body." The person in charge said: "We must follow scientific laws and build a powerful fighter that our air force needs."

The air force and the navy use their own, and the air force's fighters will have better performance! This is the goal of Pakistan's airlines in recent years.

"When our production is officially on track, we will further cooperate with China to develop our mid-term improved version, with the focus on improving stealth capabilities." The person in charge continued: "Our stealth coating has made breakthrough progress, especially the development of new processes to facilitate the processing of the coating."

Stealth coating! That was brought back with fingernails when inspecting the American stealth fighter. Although it was just a little bit, it was enough for the technicians to study. Researching the composition of the stealth coating is one aspect, and making the stealth coating practical is another aspect, which involves specific processes!

Muhammad was very happy that the stealth coating technology could make progress so quickly. Muhammad has already selected the future fighter of Pakistan, which is the stealth aircraft with variable sweep wings!

Variable sweep wings are definitely not outdated! The fighter it gives has the best aerodynamic performance in all states, which is simply an all-round fighter! And the stealth fighter, on the one hand, is the design of the fuselage, and on the other hand, it is the stealth coating.

"Oops, hold on!" At this moment, Yang Wei on the side suddenly shouted loudly and ran to the radio next to him.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the sky, and they saw the Tomcat that was preparing to land, which seemed to be a little hesitant.

What's going on? Muhammad was also worried. After all, if the first aircraft made by Pakistan crashed, it would have a negative impact on the development of future fighter planes! (To be continued ~^~)