Chapter 1056 Dassault’s little thoughts
It was only then that Liu Yongquan realized that the brain waves of the two people were not on the same channel at all.
What Ed Steiner was talking about happened during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
?At that time, the two sides were engaged in a missile ship attack war, and both hoped to gain a war advantage by strangling the other party''s oil exports.
But anyone who takes a look at the map will understand that in this struggle situation, the Persian state, which occupies almost the entire east coast of the Persian Gulf, has a huge advantage.
They only need to deploy land-based anti-ship missiles or even shore artillery on the coast, which is enough to block the choke point of the Strait of Hormuz.
The other side located in the deepest part of the bay needs to dispatch its air force to conduct a long-distance attack to achieve the same attack effect.
Even though they have the support of the entire Western world, war resources, especially anti-ship missile carrier aircraft, are still stretched thin.
??And the main model used for ship attacks at that time was the Mirage F1. Each dispatch could only mount one Exocet missile on the belly of the aircraft. It often required a two-plane or even four-plane formation to completely sink an oil tanker.
? And such a large-scale attack is easy to be detected, which in turn invites interception by the opponent...
In short, in order to improve strike efficiency and concealment, they experimentally converted a Falcon 50 business jet into an anti-ship missile carrier aircraft.
Not only is the bomb load doubled compared to the Mirage F1, but the radar signal characteristics are also almost the same as a normal small passenger plane.
Even if the other party is suspicious, they may not dare to fire on a suspected "civilian target".
All in all, the plan seemed seamless.
As for the results…
It has indeed achieved brilliant results.
The problem is, it’s too brilliant.
??The first time the aircraft was dispatched, it launched two Exocet missiles at the USS Stark frigate that was escorting the Persian Gulf at the time, and both hit the target...
It can only be said that American warships are more reliable than British warships after all. In addition, the krypton gold damage control during World War II has not yet expired. After taking two Exocet shots, it persisted in sinking, but in the end, 37 people died. The Stark Also suffered heavy losses.
?The whole process is full of all kinds of mistakes, and it is indeed very effective.
?Liu Yongquan bit his tongue one last time to control himself from laughing.
Really·I think of happy things.
?However, looking at Liu Yongquan who was hiding his face and suppressing a smile, Ed Steiner felt a little unable to hold himself tight and looked a little annoyed:
“What’s so funny about this?”
There are differing opinions as to whether the attack was intentional.
??But there is no doubt that this incident gave the Falcon series business jets, which were still in their early stages of development, a considerable reputation.
It’s just that it’s not necessarily a good reputation—
The entire modification process was carried out by Dassault.
??The use of civilian aviation identities to cover military missions is itself a quite sensitive topic.
?That was still the 1980s, when everyone was generally wild.
It’s the 21st century now. If you continue to play this way, you will probably be drowned in spittle.
There is no need to worry about the reputation of Falcon 8Z.
For Ed Steiner, this is naturally an absolutely unacceptable result.
“Uh...no, you got it wrong.”
Liu Yongquan gently pinched the side of his face to restore the stiff facial muscles to their original state:
“My superior’s intention is to use the Falcon 8Z as a platform to develop a series of special aircraft, such as... early warning aircraft.”
After a short pause, he continued to explain:
“You know, although this deterrence operation met with little resistance, it did cause some deterrence to many countries...especially those in the Gulf region.”
“The coalition forces dispatched nearly 50 early warning aircraft to direct 2,000-3,000 combat sorties every day, shortening the detection-strike chain construction time from one and a half hours during Desert Storm to less than 20 minutes, and also significantly reduced the probability of accidental strikes. "
“So after this war, the international community, especially some relatively wealthy small and medium-sized countries, is likely to start a wave of purchasing early warning aircraft. If we can seize this opportunity, it is a market with great potential..."
…”
Ed Steiner now realized that he had made a big mistake, and scratched his head in embarrassment.
Fortunately, the other party''s proposal was quite attractive and his attention was quickly attracted.
“Early warning aircraft…”
He looked at the Falcon 8Z parked less than ten meters away and subconsciously blurted out:
“Is it a little too small?”
Falcon 8Z is actually the Z9 plan in the original Falcon project. It was only renamed 8Z considering that the number 9 is unlucky in some cultures.
?Although it is already the largest model in the model spectrum, it is still a business jet in the final analysis, not even a regional passenger jet.
The maximum takeoff weight of less than 40 tons seems a bit unsatisfactory among today''s early warning aircraft.
But as soon as he said the words, Ed Steiner himself realized that something was wrong.
The Swedish Saab 340 has a take-off weight of only 15 tons, but it can still be transformed into an ASC-890 early warning aircraft.
Although the range is close to three digits and it only has air radar function, command and control need to go down to the ground station for operation. But at least it shows that it is feasible.
??And considering that the Falcon 8Z is twice the size of the other one, it is even possible to retain complete functions.
At this time, Liu Yongquan also gave a high-five:
“Only those who are small have a market!”
“As long as there is a decent country, who would want to...”
? He ??originally wanted to say, among all decent countries, who is willing to make external purchases? Everyone should also try to develop their own early warning aircraft.
?Even next door, Dai Ying, has two generations of Gannet AEW3 and Shalkton AEW2 products that have reached a new level of ugliness.
But on second thought, this may be a bit too insulting to the law.
After all, the French really don’t even think about it.
So I finally changed my words:
“In short, the biggest advantage of business jets is that while they are small in size, low in cost, and easy to service, they can also maintain a longer range and airtime than most large passenger jets, and even only need two aircraft to rotate. Being able to maintain 24-hour uninterrupted patrols is very attractive to many countries..."
?And Ed Steiner happened to have this in mind.
For most countries, a detection range of four to five hundred kilometers and the processing capacity of hundreds or thousands of targets are not required. As long as they can deter neighboring countries with conflicts of interest, it is enough.
So strategic early warning aircraft that can easily weigh 100 tons or even 200 tons are a serious waste of performance for these users.
On the contrary, the economical type will be more popular.
?Furthermore, the upgraded Rafale F2 will soon enter the delivery cycle, and many potential users have begun to include this model in their option lists again.
If this happens, Dassault can launch an early warning aircraft with adequate performance in all aspects...
So it can obviously achieve the effect of 1+1>2.
?In particular, the Mirage 2000 is already in active service in many countries in the Middle East, and it can bring many advantages.
?Furthermore, the French Air Force itself no longer needs to worry about whether to spend huge sums of money to upgrade the E3F.
??The money that the Yankee Lion opened his eyes to is enough to buy several new airplanes.
"I…"
?Ed Steiner blurted out ready to agree.
But at this moment, he suddenly had a different idea——
? As a technical staff member of Dassault, Ed Steiner first came to Huaxia, just thinking of using a dead horse as a living horse doctor and asking the other party to help Snecma solve the reliability problem of the M88.
But this search does not matter, it is like opening Pandora''s box, involving a lot of subsequent events.
In the end, the M88 and SeA650 almost became other people’s aviation engines. Even the Falcon Z project inexplicably made the Chinese become the second largest participant.
Nearly lost the dominance.
And the core technologies are still in the hands of the other party.
This situation is obviously not good for Dassault.
?And now, the Chinese have taken the initiative to propose an early warning aircraft based on the Falcon Z?
I’m afraid you don’t have any good intentions?
You must know that France has no experience in developing early warning aircraft.
The airborne equipment must depend on others.
?So calculated, in the entire early warning aircraft project, China''s contribution accounts for 100% of the mission load and 30% of the platform...
? Doesn’t the plane belong to someone else?
Furthermore, the Chinese’s own early warning aircraft has only been in service for less than two years, and no one knows its performance.
In comparison, Sweden, which I just remembered, seems to be a better partner.
At least equally share the project leadership.
Furthermore, Ericsson''s products have been deployed for many years, and at least I haven''t heard of any fatal flaws.
?Thinking of this, Ed Steiner immediately changed his words:
“I’m afraid I personally can’t give an immediate answer on this matter. I need to report the situation to the group headquarters, and the board of directors will make a decision after discussion...”
??As a veteran who has been around the world for decades, he didn''t say anything to death.
After all, Dassault has never had in-depth cooperation with Ericsson in the past, and it does not even know whether the other party has any intention to cooperate.
?In case something goes wrong, leave some room for maneuver now so that you can have a way out then...
?However, Ed Steiner changed his mind temporarily after all, and this wave of acting is really a bit stiff.
?Although Liu Yongquan on the opposite side did not completely guess what he was thinking, it was not difficult to see that the so-called board discussion was just a way to delay time.
?Of course, everyone is a decent person, and they don’t say anything when they see through something.
He just kept the situation in mind secretly, and was going to go back and ask Mr. Chang if he had any countermeasures...
(End of this chapter)