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

Just as the employees of the Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau were queuing up to receive wages they had not seen for many years, in the design bureau building not far away, Belayev, the general manager of Motorsic Group, was receiving a group of guests from Austria. .

In fact, he had not received any news related to this before. He only received a call from the secretary of the Minister of Industry yesterday morning, informing him that such a group of people would be coming today.

The specific identity of the visitor, the size of the group, and the ultimate purpose are all unknown.

And what is quite strange is that the other party specifically asked him to go to the Ivchenko-Progressive Design Bureau to greet him.

You know, although Motorsic and Progress are both located in Zaporozhye, the latter is a subsidiary after all.

It is indeed a bit strange to have the person in charge of the group go all the way to a subsidiary company to receive customers.

"Dr. Dres., this is the head of our Motor Sich Group, General Manager Vyacheslav Belayev."

"This is Alexey Kuritsyn from the Ivchenko-Progressive Design Bureau..."

"..."

The first person to speak was Anatoly Ribiazhin, the Minister of Industry of Ermao who came with the other party and his party.

As the hosts, Belayev and others had no choice but to stop their doubts and shake hands with the visitors one by one.

After introducing the identity of the relevant personnel on his side to the visitor, he turned to look at Belayev and the others:

"This is the general manager of the Austrian Diamond Aircraft Industry Company, Dr. Christian Drais. He came here specially to choose a suitable power unit for a new light aircraft produced by their company."

"I see."

Upon hearing this explanation, Belayev and Kuritsyn's eyes lit up and they quickly changed their attitudes:

"Then welcome Dr. Delais. Our Motorsic Group has strong strength in the field of aerospace engines. I believe you will be able to find a model with suitable price and performance, and we will try our best to cooperate."

In fact, the entire group is still in the chaotic stage after privatization. Even the two people in charge of the group and the design bureau dare not say what archival information they can dig out from the pile of old papers, otherwise they will not The export of D436 engine technology has always been suppressed by Da Mao next door, and in the end it only received about 15% of the payment.

Of course, even so, the contract worth tens of millions of dollars and the advance payment of nearly two million dollars (although a considerable part of it had already become hryvnias when they got it) still made the entire Ivchenko-Progressive Design The Bureau breathed a sigh of relief.

However, as the parent company, Motoric Group's benefits from this contract are very limited.

During the last negotiation process, they were too honest and admitted that many of their process data had been lost and needed time to search and supplement. As a result, the production of engine parts was almost completely handed over to two manufacturing plants in Moscow and Ufa. Qi only got a small share related to bearings and fans.

So no matter what the actual situation is this time, Belayev, who has already suffered a loss, must still let the words out first.

"Very good. This is why we chose to come here instead of looking for old aero-engine companies like General Dynamics or Rolls-Royce as we did in the past. As suppliers, they are too strong."

Fortunately, Delais on the opposite side didn't seem to see any clues. He just nodded sincerely and continued to add:

"And, now that the Iron Curtain has fallen, someone has to take the first step to accept our new friends."

It's already 1997, so Belayev naturally won't believe these nonsense anymore.

If Europe really regarded itself as a friend, how could it be like this?

But for the sake of business, he still couldn't express these slanders.

Kuritsen, who was next to him for fear that his old friend might not be able to hold back his words, quickly changed the subject:

"Let's get down to business. What level is the new aircraft designed by your company and what are the specific technical requirements for the engine? We can provide various models ranging from 1.5 tons to 25 tons."

In fact, Kuritsyn had never heard that there was any aviation manufacturing industry in a country like Austria, but since the other party could persuade Minister Ribiazin, there must be a relevant demand.

While they were talking, the group of people had already entered the conference room on the top floor of the building.

"Uh... I think you may still lack some understanding of our Diamond Company. Our main business is in the field of general aviation and does not require jet engines."

Delais, who had just sat down, was not annoyed at all. He just took out two documents from the briefcase he carried and handed them to the representative of the Motor Sic Group sitting opposite:

"This is a brand-new product launched by our company for the new century. It is expected to be the main model in the next 20-30 years. The DA450 military and civilian dual-purpose multi-purpose aircraft is expected to be produced in excess of 500 aircraft."

Kuritsyn and Belayev took the file and opened it. Inside was a promotional rendering of a single-engine propeller aircraft, as well as some basic performance data.

"Empty weight is 1350kg, maximum takeoff weight is 2800kg, fuselage length is 10.75m, wingspan is 11.74m, maximum flight speed is 463km/h, cruising speed is 426kkm/h, maximum ceiling is 7010m, maximum range is 2300km, maximum external load is 750kg …”

Obviously, this aircraft was designed with multiple uses in mind, and can complete training, patrol, transportation and even ground attack missions.

Kuritsyn quickly read the technical specifications of the aircraft, but then frowned:

"This aircraft of yours...compared to its size, the empty weight and maximum takeoff weight seem a bit too small?"

Although he is not an aircraft designer, as an old engineer who has been immersed in the field of aviation power for decades, Kuritsyn has some ideas about aircraft.

Generally speaking, for such a large aircraft, the empty weight is 1600-1800kg.

"That's right. The biggest selling point of the DA450 is the use of composite materials instead of metal in the aircraft's structural parts, which greatly reduces the aircraft's weight and operating costs."

Delais was naturally prepared for this kind of question and answered unhurriedly:

"So our aircraft only needs a 450-kilowatt turboprop engine to operate normally. The cost of fuel consumption and engine maintenance is much lower than competing products of the same type. In addition, this engine also needs to have complete full power. For digital control systems, the overhaul interval cannot be shorter than 2500 flight hours..."

After Delais finished speaking about their requirements for the engine, Ribiazin, who was sitting at the head of the conference table and had been silent just now, immediately spoke:

"I remember that when I visited here last time, I saw an engine called AL460S. The technical data should fully meet the requirements of Dr. Delais and the others."

Kuritsen next to him raised his eyebrows slightly.

He didn't remember that when Ribiazin came last, he introduced him to this model that was quite unpopular and that there was actually no hope within the group.

And although the other party is the Minister of Industry, the current Ermao is different from the past alliance. Ribiazin is actually a businessman with no engineering education background. His ability to accurately remember the engine model and parameters makes people a little bit unavoidable. surprise.

Seeing that neither of them answered immediately, Ribiazin, who was a little cold, had to add another sentence:

"Why don't we take Dr. Delais and the others to see the information on this model of engine in the afternoon?"

He had already said so, and Belayev had no choice but to nod and agree temporarily.

However, just after the first meeting, the two men took Ribiazin to an inconspicuous place.

"Mr. Minister, the AL460S is not a finished engine that can be put into use immediately. It still needs some follow-up improvement work."

Kuritsyn said first.

"What's the point? Their DA450 aircraft is still on the design drawings. Wouldn't it be great if you spent some time perfecting the engine?"

Ribiazin shrugged, obviously not thinking this was a serious problem.

"However, whether it is our design bureau or the Motor Sich Factory, the people responsible for turboprop and turboshaft engines are currently concentrating on the development of the D27 propeller fan engine. There is simply no way to put into production a new model in a short time."

"D27?"

Ribiazin was confused when he heard this model.

This makes Kuritsen even more strange.

After all, this is a far more well-known model than the AL460S.

However, he still explained:

"As long as this model can be produced with the power of the An-70 transport aircraft, a 10000kW giant, it can be said that we, Antonov, and even the entire country's aviation manufacturing industry will be saved."

But Ribiazin frowned after hearing this:

"But I heard that the current progress of the An-70 is not going well. The first prototype crashed last year, and no external investment was found. Where can you find the money to complete a brand-new transport aircraft project?"

"Didn't it mean that the Chinese people are in contact with Antonov? If they are willing to take over this project, the funding should..."

Kuritsyn only spoke halfway before he was interrupted impatiently by Ribiazin:

"The Chinese people have only visited Antonov a few times. They are obviously more interested in the jet-powered IL-76. We can't expect a project like the An-70 that requires long-term investment. If the AL460S thing comes to pass this time, , you must give priority to the research and development and supply of this model after you return, otherwise we will not even be able to pay liquidated damages..."

Kuritsyn wanted to say something more, but was secretly stopped by Belayev next to him.

The latter had been silent just now, but he was not in a daze.

He just felt that he had seen similar plots somewhere.

After Ribiazin left, Kuritsen turned around unhappily:

"Why did you stop me just now?"

"He obviously has made up his mind. This is not a problem that we can solve in just two sentences."

Belayev shook his head:

"In addition, I plan to send someone to Antonov's side in the afternoon to confirm the situation. The An 70 matter should not be as simple as it seems..."