Although Mu Haoyang attaches great importance to the large-scale electric transport aircraft project, the first in the Air Force's equipment project is tactical fighter jets, followed by strategic bombers, and then large transport aircraft. In early 2045, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Indian Ocean War, the Air Force proposed the "Sixth Generation Fighter" project, spending 12 billion yuan to bid for domestic manufacturers.

In the eyes of many people, the Air Force is a little too hasty.

You should know that the jj33 project ended in 2044, and the fighter made by Shenfei has overall performance better than the jj32 and reached the level of fifth and a half generations, which can ensure that the Chinese Air Force and the Chinese Navy have technological advantages in the next ten years.

The problem is that in 2044, the United States launched the sixth-generation fighter project.

At that time, the main fighter of the US military was the F44, and its ship-based model had also received orders from the naval system. It is expected that the total output will exceed 3,000, including the export model. But the problem is that in the Fifth Middle East War and the Second Indian Ocean War, the F44's performance was not outstanding, and in some aspects it was not as good as JJ32. The result of the battle was the same. The probability of F44 winning in air combat was not high.

In other words, the US military is more urgently in need of new fighter jets.

Since the US military has it, the Chinese Air Force cannot lag behind. You should know that no matter how advanced the jj33 is, it can only be regarded as a fifth-generation and a half-generation fighter jet, and it only has performance advantages over the fifth-generation fighter jets. It is not an opponent of the sixth-generation fighter jets at all, and it is impossible to replace the sixth-generation fighter jets.

If the US military is asked to do it first, the situation of the Chinese Air Force will be very sinister.

Of course, by this time, it is no longer so scientific to divide fighter jets by generations.

The generation of fighter jets is actually something that happened after the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, both sides adopted the development strategies of keeping a close eye on their opponents. In other words, when the former Soviet Union developed fighter jets, they had a very clear purpose, namely, targeting the most advanced fighter jets of the US military. During the peak of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and in the 1960s and 1970s, the United States and the former Soviet Union were equipped with several types of fighter jets, rather than being led by one fighter jet. It was not until the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union that the military confrontation cooled down that the United States slowed down the development of fighter jets.

Obviously, this situation is not suitable for the 1940s.

You should know that the Cold War between China and the United States is more intense than the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the confrontation is more intense. It is impossible for both sides to wait until the technology is mature before developing new fighter jets.

To put it more directly, in the context of the Sino-US Cold War, cost has become a secondary factor, and the key is to surpass the opponent's technology.

In this way, when developing new fighter jets, both sides adopted the method of running quickly.

This is most clearly manifested in the Chinese Air Force.

Since J20, the main fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force have been gradually improving their basic technology level in five to ten years. For example, JJ25 adopts more new technologies, which is improved compared to J20, and JJ32 has improved its foundation in JJ25, while JJ33 has improved its foundation in JJ32. There is actually no obvious generation difference between these fighters.

The Chinese Air Force adopts a small step and fast development method, which is also helpless.

Although the j20 is the second heavy air combat fighter in the world and the third fourth-generation fighter in service, it is twenty years later than the f22. When developing the jj33, the overall technical level of China's aviation industry was still about five years behind the United States. For example, the thrust-weight ratio of the jj33 engine is less than twenty, while the f44 engine reaches twenty-five, and the newly developed engines of the United States exceed thirty. This technological gap not only makes Chinese fighter jets more distinctive, that is, they have a more obvious performance focus, but also forces the Chinese Air Force to speed up the replacement of fighter jets and limit the purchase quantity of each fighter jet. The purchase volume of j20 is only about six hundred, while the f22 was purchased by the US military, and the subsequent fighter jets are like this.

By the F44 era, the US Air Force adopted a similar development method.

Unlike the Chinese Air Force, the US Air Force regards new fighter jets more as technical reserves and does not purchase and equip several types of fighter jets with similar performance at the same time.

Of course, after F44, the United States' technological advantages are no longer obvious, and small steps have become an inevitable choice.

The direct result of this is that China and the United States are developing the sixth-generation fighter jet when the fifth-generation fighter jets still have the potential to improve.

At that time, the code name given to the new fighter jet by the Chinese Air Force was the "j4" project.

Not only were the two state-owned enterprises, Chengfei and Chenfei, but also several private enterprises, including Longfei Group, which has emerged in large-scale electric transport aircraft projects, Zhenxiang Group, which has strong technical strength in the field of regional passenger aircraft manufacturing, and Huakong Group, which was funded by Taiwanese companies. In addition, Xifei Group and Nanfei Group, which rarely had outstanding performance in the field of fighter jets, have also joined in.

The result is that a total of seven manufacturers are participating in the competition.

It can be said that this is also the most competitive manufacturers in China's history of developing fighter jets.

What is more representative is that private enterprises occupy half of the territory.

You should know that fighter jets are the pinnacle of the aircraft manufacturing industry. Without sufficient technical foundation, it is impossible to design advanced fighter jets.

The participation of three private enterprises in the competition also proves that China's private capital has grown and grown.

In fact, behind these three private enterprises are the three most powerful private consortiums in China. The big boss of Longfei Group is Sheng Shiping, and the consortium controlled by him accounts for one-third of China's private capital. The big boss of Zhenxiang Group is Zhong Housheng, the leader of Chinese local capitalists. The directly operated Housheng Bank is the largest private financial enterprise in China. Huakong Group has a Taiwanese background, and the Taiwanese businessman community is one of the three strongest Chinese private enterprises, accounting for nearly a quarter of the share of domestic private capital.

Private enterprises are making efforts in the arms manufacturing industry, which is the main sign of the growth of private enterprises.

You should know that arms manufacturing is the essence of national industry and the most important part of manufacturing.

To put it simply, measuring whether a country's industry and manufacturing industry is advanced enough depends on whether the country can produce advanced weapons and equipment.

During the project review stage, the design plans of the seven groups were recognized.

At the end of 2045, the Air Force and the Seven Groups signed project development contracts, namely, the Air Force contributed the Air Force, and the Seven Groups made technical preparations and submitted basic design plans. In the second phase of the competition, the Air Force only retained three plans with the most development potential.

In the face of fierce competition, all seven groups have made adjustments.

The biggest change is that the seven groups have integrated into three joint research and development groups on their own, Cheng Fei cooperated with Xifei, Chen Fei cooperated with Nanfei, and three private enterprises have established a joint enterprise.

Through the integration, all seven companies passed the second phase of review.

In the third stage, competitors must submit detailed design drawings and provide a credible performance evaluation report for their respective design plans.

This time, the Air Force will only retain two plans and enter the project implementation stage.

Surprisingly, the private group was not eliminated, but Shenfei Group, which won the jj33 project, was eliminated early due to its conservative design.

By early 2047, Cheng Fei and the private group had obtained project development contracts worth more than 10 billion yuan respectively.

According to regulations, Chengfei and the private group must manufacture prototype aircraft within two years. The Air Force will conduct a comparative test flight in 2050, and at the latest it will determine which project will enter the engineering manufacturing stage, that is, who is eligible to obtain huge orders from the Air Force.

At this moment, the Navy withdrew from the "j4" project and decided to start a new job.

The reason is simple. The core of the "j4" project is to meet the combat needs of the Air Force, and the Navy is only a participant. The navy will be improved based on the air force's nature. Although the cooperation between the Air Force and the Navy was very successful in the jj25, jj32, and jj33 projects, the Navy has never obtained an ideal carrier-based fighter jet, so it is believed that there is no need to continue to cooperate with the Air Force.

In fact, the Navy's behavior was also supported by Mu Haoyang.

Without Mu Haoyang's support, the Navy would not have obtained funds for the development of new fighter jets.

Judging from the situation at that time, Mu Haoyang did this mainly because he hoped to allow the navy to obtain more advanced fighter jets, because before the outbreak of World War III, the Chinese Navy was unlikely to gain an advantage in scale, so he could only focus on unit combat effectiveness.

To put it bluntly, when the fleet is not as large as the opponent, the Navy needs more advanced carrier-based fighter jets.

Of course, it is a different matter for the Navy to develop carrier-based fighter jets separately.

By the end of 2049, Chengfei and the private group completed the project implementation phase and manufactured eleven and thirteen prototypes respectively.

The intense comparative test flight was launched immediately, and both sides improved the prototype during the test flight.

Strictly speaking, the private group's plans are more advanced, and they have achieved better results in test flights, which have been recognized by the Air Force test pilots. However, in the end, the Air Force gave the contract to Cheng Fei, with only one reason: the private group does not have the experience of large-scale manufacturing of advanced fighter jets, and it is difficult to ensure that the work in the engineering manufacturing stage can be completed smoothly, and the cost control of new fighters is not ideal enough.

Of course, the Air Force did not deny the advanced nature of the private group's plan, and also gave a compensation contract, that is, funded by the Air Force to continue to carry out later development and improve the overall design. To put it simply, if Chengfei Group encounters trouble in the engineering manufacturing stage, the Air Force can still go back.

In fact, this is also the main problem encountered by China and the United States when developing the sixth-generation fighter jet.

You should know that the fifth-generation fighter has only been in the past ten years and the technological progress is not large. Therefore, the sixth-generation fighter has adopted many advanced technical equipment, which is difficult to ensure that it reaches practicality in the engineering manufacturing stage, and there are difficult technical risks.
Chapter completed!