Chapter 1240 X51A, get to work!

The Air Force Space Command rarely undertakes specific combat missions, so its efficiency in desk work is quite high.

Just three days later, a complete test launch plan including test background, targets, operating procedures, follow-up processing and emergency plans was sent to the Air Force Headquarters in Washington.

In fact, generally speaking, in the management system of the US military, the military secretaries, who are civilians, often have greater say.

But Air Force Secretary Pete Teeter was suddenly pulled in to take the lead and had almost no preparation before taking the post.

So even after more than a year, I still haven't been able to fully sort out the complex conflicts of interest behind this position.

He's basically a trumpet for the Minister of Defense.

However, after 2006, even the Defense Minister himself was losing his position, let alone this half-puppet.

Therefore, after receiving the report, Teeter immediately sought the advice of General Mitchell Mosley, who had just taken over as Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

"General Mosley, Lance Lord sent us a detailed plan to use the Standard Missile III..."

He had barely begun to speak when he was interrupted by Mosley on the other side:

"I've already read the plan."

The latter pointed to the topmost folder on the pile of documents next to him:

"We worked with the Maritime Self-Defense Force to change the interception target from the originally planned ATACMS to a satellite with an orbital altitude of nearly 600km, as a response to China's testing of a new ballistic missile..."

On paper, Standard 3 is a "joint development by the United States and Japan." Of course, the latter was actually just blackmailed out of money.

But at least for the sake of face, the test still has to give the Maritime Self-Defense Force some shots.

So Lord arranged for the Kongo destroyer to escort the Shiloh.

Of course, in addition to the face factor, starting from 2006, Japan and South Korea's Aegis ships will also begin to install the latest 3.6.1 version of the BMD anti-missile system.

This time it can be considered an early experience.

"So, what is your opinion..."

Tite asked tentatively.

Compared to his predecessor John Jumper, who had a bit of a good-natured personality, Mosley, perhaps because he was a fighter pilot, had a more typical traditional military character.

Few people are kind to the now-disgraced Air Force Minister.

"Lord has been working at the Space Command for nearly 30 years, and I can trust him completely in terms of business."

Mosley half-leaned in his office chair, took a puff of his cigar, and continued:

"There is nothing wrong with the test plan itself, but he thinks that such a test can be used as a response to China's test of a new ballistic missile, which is a bit unrealistic..."

Hearing this, Tite quickly put away his slight dissatisfaction in his heart:

"You think... this isn't enough?"

The test report will eventually be submitted to the Department of Defense by the Secretary of the Air Force, and finally to the President. Even if it is just for the sake of his own position, he must handle this matter well.

"Of course not enough!"

Admiral Mosley sat up straight abruptly, staring fiercely at Tite with his sharp blue eyes:

"An army can never win a war by relying on defense!"

He crushed his cigar into the ashtray without caring that this action had cost him half the King of Denmark:

"I have been dealing with the Chinese for almost 20 years... They rarely take the initiative to disclose the development progress of any weapon, but this time they announced the test launch of anti-ship ballistic missiles almost immediately, which is obviously a provocation to us... Anti-aircraft carrier weapons, saying that they are not targeting any country... Who would believe it?"

"Perhaps the Navy guys will feel safe enough because of the successful interception of the Standard 3, but we can't simply be satisfied with this..."

"We must use more deterrent weapons to warn them that if they dare to have any unreasonable thoughts, they will be immediately hit by our devastating blow!"

Ten years ago, Mosley, then a brigadier general, was involved in formulating a series of deterrence activities against China.

Although the Air Force did not take direct action back then, being threatened by the other side was still quite unbearable for him with his violent personality.

"But, General."

Although Tite's attitude is quite flexible, he still remains quite calm on key issues:

"Based on the current conditions, neither the Department of Defense, Capitol Hill, nor the White House will allow a direct conflict between us and China. Instead, they would rather let our allies take the lead and consume the opponent's energy as much as possible..."

"Humph……"

Obviously, Mosley was quite dissatisfied with this attitude.

But it is also impossible to disobey instructions from superiors.

So he sighed and said:

"I plan to communicate with NASA and Boeing to ask them to improve their efficiency and ensure that the first flight of the X2008A verification project is completed before 51..."

"Based on the average speed of Mach 6, if bombers launch hypersonic missiles over Japan, it will only take about 5-7 minutes to hit most of eastern and central China, which is shorter than the necessary preparation time for their medium-range ballistic missiles, enough to destroy the missiles that threaten us on the ground before they are launched."

Pete Tite lowered his head slightly, his eyes flickering for a long time:

"This is indeed an appropriate and powerful way to fight back."

"But if the test launch is conducted before 2008, it will bring the entire program schedule forward by about a year. I am worried that Boeing will ask for more funds because of this..."

Mosley frowned slightly:

"But the funds allocated to the X2006A project in fiscal year 51 have increased by more than 10 times compared to last year?"

When it comes to money, Teeter, as Air Force Secretary, is clearly more familiar with the situation:

"That being said, I'm afraid Boeing won't miss any opportunity to raise the price..."

The Air Force Chief of Staff waved his hand slightly irritably:

"Let me think about it... there will always be a way."

……

"How can this be possible?"

At Boeing's headquarters in Chicago, X51A project manager Shapur Collinger was almost dumbfounded as he looked at the guidance document issued by the company's board of directors:

"A request to conduct the test launch a year in advance, but no additional funding is provided?"

Collinger has worked at Boeing for nearly 40 years, during which time he rejected many offers from universities and other companies, even if the salaries they offered were several times what he is getting now.

In addition to the fact that he is from Springfield and does not want to travel too far from his hometown, it is largely because he identifies with the engineering culture of his own company.

But in the past five or six years, he gradually began to feel that some problems had emerged within the company's management.

It is no longer the Boeing that I am familiar with.

Charlie Brink, the deputy director who brought the document, shrugged:

"The board of directors said that the funds allocated to the X51A project this year are nearly six times that of last year, and the Air Force has also provided sufficient support for the KC6 tanker project, so..."

This insane logic made Ke Lingjie laugh:

"What does KC767 have to do with us? Why should we clean up their mess?"

Although he said so, he also knew that there was probably not much room for maneuver in this matter.

After all, the client has already provided much more funding than in the past, so it is normal to make some additional requests.

Moreover, the timetable they originally submitted also left some room for error.

Therefore, after calming down for a while, Ke Lingjie returned to the topic:

"Earlier this year, Pratt & Whitney completed the ground start test of the SJX61-1 engine, proving that its performance can fully meet the requirements of the X51A aircraft. Our verification technology for the X43A is also being transferred, so the above requirements are not completely impossible to meet."

"The biggest problem at present is that SJX61-1 needs to be accelerated to at least 5.4 times the speed of sound to ensure the success rate of self-starting. However, because the Ministry of Defense requires X51A to add a compartment to accommodate a simulated warhead, the original plan to use the ATACM missile booster section is now insufficient to accelerate the aircraft to this speed."

Hearing this, Brink's eyes lit up:

"If that's the case, MIT has recently developed a new technology that may be able to help us..."