The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

The news that Eleanor suddenly revealed really exceeded everyone's expectations.

There was a commotion in the room almost immediately.

The connection between Rolls-Royce and China in aviation technology actually started a long time ago.

Even during the years when the Spey project was stagnant, it was not interrupted.

This also includes film cooling.

In fact, Rolls-Royce even provided several projects to the first research team of Haojing University of Technology that was studying active cooling technology for aero engines.

Although these were only marginal research, they were definitely a timely help to China, which was still in its infancy and facing financial constraints.

Later, the after-sales business of products exported to China was directly placed locally.

And all of this is rewarding—

Relatively low after-sales costs and stable spare parts supply channels make China Airlines often prefer British rather than American or Canadian products under the same circumstances.

Especially in the past five years, the market share has skyrocketed.

It’s a pity that they failed to get a share of the 737 and A320 levels, which affected their future growth potential.

But no matter what, at least I can eat to my heart's content.

Rolls-Royce's mentality has always been:

No one understands the China Aerospace Engine market better than me.

Of course, anyone in the industry who is not blind can see the progress China has made in the field of aviation technology in recent years.

But whether from the intelligence that can be obtained at present or the other party's external performance, this progress is mainly reflected in the fields of project management and engineering design.

In terms of manufacturing, considering that China still imports a lot of aviation substrates, components and processing equipment every year, it is generally believed that the pace of progress should be relatively slow.

This is also in line with the general logic of industrial development.

The result is now...

They found that they didn't seem to understand that much either.

"Professor, regarding this point...is this a direct statement from Snecma?"

The corners of Tim Bodi's mouth, which had just been raised, drooped down, and his expression became serious.

On the one hand, he himself felt that it was a bit unreasonable.

On the other hand, as the deputy director of the entire Trent series of engines, he also has to consider the overall situation.

If Chinese parts are really used in the Trent 900, it would be fine if everything goes smoothly. However, if something unexpected happens, even if the accident is not caused by production quality issues, it will definitely face a huge public outcry.

"No."

Eleanor decisively gave a negative answer:

"Actually, I didn't ask."

"That……"

Bodi didn't expect the other party to deny it so bluntly.

But Eleanor did not give him a chance to question, but immediately explained:

"Look carefully. There is a line of small words marked below the last page of the booklet related to the turbine."

Coincidentally, the brochure also reached Bodi at this time.

He followed Elinor's instructions and soon found the line of words:

"Since the internal structure of the air film hole is complicated,... it will be handed over to a designated supplier for mid-term maintenance?"

After hearing this statement, the discussions and questioning voices gradually subsided.

We are all experts and can hear the hidden meaning——

SeA650 itself is a jointly developed model, but considering the convenience of promotion, in the early stage of publicity, both the banner and the promotional channels used were mainly Snecma.

Including future security services for European users, we will definitely contact the French directly.

In order to prevent certain lawyers from using the accusation of false advertising to engage in legal blackmail, such a disclaimer was added.

This means that the actual after-sales service for this part is provided by another company, and we at Snecma are just transferring it on their behalf.

There will definitely be relevant clauses in the contract in the future.

Since Snecma can't even handle maintenance, let alone production and processing...

It can only be the Chinese who are responsible.

For a moment, everyone either bowed their heads in deep thought, or looked into the distance, or paced back and forth...

In short, everyone fell silent.

Especially Bodie and Lapworth.

For a major model like the Trent 900, the final decision must be made by the management team as a whole and then submitted to the board of directors for signature and approval.

However, as project executives and core technical personnel, they undoubtedly have a high say in this.

Of course, this also means taking equal responsibility.

"professor."

After struggling to no avail, Bodi turned to look at Eleanor who was watching the fun on the sofa:

"What is the current progress of the SeA650 engine?"

"I mean... when can it be delivered to users?"

The latter raised his head slightly and recalled the conversation at the exhibition:

"If you mean delivery to the airline together with the Falcon 8Z, then it should be in early 2004... Of course, this is just what they said."

"If you ask me, it would be before 2005."

In accordance with "common sense" in Europe, Professor Elino gave some extra margin on the delivery time given by Liu Yongquan.

Then, perhaps to increase the credibility of his statement, he added:

"After all, their aeroengine has a lot of new technologies. In addition to this three-dimensional special-shaped air film hole, there is also a permanent magnetic fault-tolerant power generation system that replaces the traditional rotor bearing..."

On the other hand, Lapworth was not engaged in the overall design of aero engines, and did not give much response to this permanent magnet fault-tolerant power generation system.

But Bodi suddenly stopped and showed an expression of shock on his face that was almost exactly the same as Eleanor's before.

However, magnetic bearings were not considered for the Trent 900 from the outset, and in any case it was impossible to make major changes to the overall design at this juncture.

So he just opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't change the subject, and began to silently calculate the development cycle of the Trent 900 and A380.

No matter what, let's solve the most important thing first.

But the calculation results are not very optimistic:

"I originally thought that I would wait for a year or two after the SeA650 is delivered to users to make sure there are no critical reliability issues before making a decision."

At this point, he sighed with some regret:

"But the A380 is scheduled to start flight testing in 2005. If we want to catch up with the prototype competition stage, there will be no time left..."

"Can you consider using the engine in its current state of technology for test flights first, and then replace it when the mass-produced model is delivered..."

Someone came up with a new idea.

"It's hard."

Bodi immediately shook his head:

"In fact, there is no problem technically, but the temporary upgrade will definitely affect the psychology of customers. In addition, considering that testing is still needed in the middle, it will also delay the delivery time of the whole machine. In the end, more people will choose GP7200."

"If a company suffers a significant loss in the first batch of orders for a model, then based on past experience, it will be difficult to recover unless it has a completely new generation of products."

"..."

Seeing that no conclusion could be reached in a short period of time, Lapworth, who had not expressed his opinion until now, decided to settle for the next best option:

"Now, the Trent 900 at least has the possibility of outperforming its competitors, so no matter what, I think we should contact China first and purchase a batch of samples, at least to test them first."

As the developer of the new film cooling technology, he is undoubtedly the most positive among all the people:

"If the component-level test can pass, the resistance from the board of directors will be reduced when the installation test is carried out later."

“It’s not entirely a matter of purchasing volume…”

Bodi said helplessly:

"Since you're looking for someone else to do the production, you should at least provide some parameters related to the turbine design and the substrate. So even if it's a sample, you have to prove that it's necessary enough to get the higher-ups to agree to give out this data..."

In fact, although he didn't say it explicitly, this is a question of prejudice -

Even for professional technicians like them, China's development speed in the aviation field is somewhat difficult to understand and accept.

Not to mention the people above who make the decisions.

Therefore, even if they are both looking for someone to do the OEM, "looking for the French to do the OEM" is more easily accepted than "looking for the Chinese to do the OEM".

The reason why he wanted to observe the situation of SeA650 for two years was precisely based on this consideration.

By then we can say that the reliability of Chinese products has been verified in other models, and now we have no second choice and we have to choose it.

It’s a pity that time waits for no one.

"If you want me to say..."

Suddenly, a weak voice came from the corner of the room, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

It's Luke Norris.

In theory, he is actually a middle-level executive of the Rolls-Royce Group, but among this group of people, he really seems to have no status...

Therefore, being suddenly stared at by so many people almost made him forget how to breathe.

"Uh... I mean, if it's just a small amount of samples, maybe we can use Xiluo Company to reduce the sensitivity of this matter..."

"Ciro Company..."

There was a trace of confusion in Lapworth's eyes:

"Aren't they only responsible for maintenance, training and liaison?"

“That was indeed the case at the beginning.”

Norris replied:

"But I just remembered that they submitted a report two years ago, which mentioned the relationship between the Airbus A380 engine selection and the Chinese market..."

"Ah?"

Bodie and Lapworth looked at each other.

Logically speaking, if this kind of report is really important, they should have read it.

Norris went on to explain:

"I've read that report. It has nothing to do with technology or the Trent 900 engine itself. It's actually a roundabout way of expanding the business scope of Ciro, especially increasing the R&D and production functions. So it was reported directly to the administrative management..."

Lapworth immediately rolled his eyes:

"What a joke, they can develop..."

He stopped talking halfway through.

Perhaps Xiluo Company really can't develop anything.

But the Chinese can.

Just like what Norris said just now, as long as it goes through the Xiro Company, and the executives on the board of directors don't understand technology, who can tell what is going on?

"So...what was your response at that time?"

Bodi obviously figured this out as well, and quickly asked further questions.

"We didn't think they could come up with anything."

Norris shrugged:

"But the Chinese market is too important, and it's not a good idea to reject them outright, so we symbolically arranged a few R&D positions for them, and provided them with a funding of tens of thousands of pounds each year, so that they can nominally engage in technical cooperation..."