Chapter 1440: Critical Decision

At noon that day, at the Rolls-Royce Group headquarters in Derbyshire.

Panos Watson, who had just finished lunch, returned to the office, only to find that someone was already sitting behind his desk.

Just as he was about to frown and get angry, he saw clearly that the person was actually his direct superior, Thomas Elginbridge, president of the power systems business unit.

He is also the most likely candidate for the next CEO of the entire Rolls-Royce Group.

So Guangsu put on a flattering smile, and his feet changed direction smoothly, sitting on a swivel chair that was supposed to belong to the visitor.

After getting closer, he noticed that the expression on the other person's face was somewhat unfriendly, and he was obviously suppressing his anger.

Watson reviewed his department's work over the past six months at the fastest speed in his life, but he couldn't think of any way in which he had offended this real big shot.

I could only tentatively ask with trepidation:

"Sir Thomas, what brings you on so suddenly..."

Although everyone works in Derby County, the Rolls-Royce headquarters is almost equivalent to a small city. If there is nothing special, the busy department president would not come to see him out of boredom.

Elginbridge didn't mean to be polite at all and went straight to the point:

"How is your cooperation with Huaxia on the NGME project going?"

This question made Watson tremble in his heart. After all, cooperation with China is a sensitive issue in itself, and the other party is so aggressive that he subconsciously thought that the external political environment had changed again, and he said incoherently:

"It went very smoothly. We plan to send a delegation to China next week to jointly start the second phase of testing of the NGME engine with them, using our A340 platform."

After saying this, he added a sentence:

"This project is our most important trump card to compete with Pratt & Whitney in the field of 12-15 ton aero engines in the next to years. We have already invested a lot of money and energy in it, and we absolutely cannot stop halfway..."

Before he could finish his words, Elginbridge waved his hand and interrupted him:

"I saw in the report you submitted earlier that this model uses an intercooling cycle technology that is quite radical in the field of aero engines... Based on the test results so far, can you guarantee the reliability of the product in harsh environments?"

Watson was a little confused by the jumpiness of this series of questions, but he also realized that his superior's anger did not seem to be directed at him, so he was relieved and answered in a matter-of-fact manner:

"The first phase of testing will not involve any harsh environments... But judging from the data we have received so far, at least the working parameters under basic conditions all meet the design specifications. Based on my experience, this is a pretty good start."

"But don't worry. Dr. Richard Partridge, who was previously in charge of gas turbine development, also doubted the feasibility of using an indirect cooling circuit in an aircraft engine. So in the second phase of testing in France, we will focus on this issue to ensure that the company's reputation is not damaged..."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but when he mentioned Partridge’s name, Elginbridge’s eyes flickered slightly for a moment.

After a long silence, the latter spoke again:

"You know, there's something wrong with the WR-21 gas turbine. It's probably because the intercooler circuit has an abnormality in its working cycle."

Watson was stunned when he heard this, and glanced at a newspaper on the corner of the table:

"You mean the Courageous... But it was not a failure of the integrated power system of BAE Systems. How can it be blamed on us?"

Elginbridge sighed and shook his head:

"The Ministry of National Defense has only released part of the information. After all, the power system is a software problem, which is relatively simple to solve and is not likely to cause doubts and backlash from other customers..."

"Then you mean..."

Watson had actually guessed some of the key points, but at this time he obviously needed to hide his shortcomings.

"Your delegation will visit China next week, and Partridge and I will join..."

Elginbridge finally stood up and gave up the position that belonged to Watson:

"We can put the WR-21 situation aside for now, but MT30... must not have any more problems..."

"..."

……

Chang Haonan, who was far away in China, was of course unaware of the political storm that had been set off in the British Isles due to a misunderstanding. After receiving the report from the Xingzhou, he continued to prepare for the meeting with the Rolls-Royce delegation step by step.

In fact, he didn't even need to pay attention to the export data of the two inter-group cold circuits, because Political Commissar Li Wanbing had personally confirmed on the spot that the failure of the Brave was not limited to the integrated power system, but also caused the two WR-21 gas turbines to break down.

Can't even restart.

Clearly this is 100% a hardware problem, and one that will require major changes to the original design to fix.

So, next we just have to wait and see how the other party performs.

The Queen Elizabeth-class and Zumwalt-class ships, which use MT30 gas turbines, began cutting steel plates last month and officially entered the construction phase. If problems with the power system are revealed at this time, Rolls-Royce will not only have to pay a large amount of liquidated damages, but it will also have an unimaginable impact on the company's business reputation.

However, despite having made sufficient psychological preparations, Chang Haonan was still shocked when he received the visit list submitted by the Rolls-Royce delegation from Zhang Liangping.

There was no need to look closely, because the entire form could not even fit on one page, and it was definitely impossible for the original scale of more than ten people.

Upon closer inspection, I found that in addition to Tim Bodie, an old acquaintance who was in charge of the NGME project, the team members also included another manager-level engineer, Richard Partridge, and nearly 30 people besides him.

Obviously, the affairs involved in this trip have changed from a single project to a multi-department collaboration.

The status of the team leader also rose accordingly, and he was promoted to Thomas Elginbridge, President of Rolls-Royce Power Systems Business Unit.

Both sides sent leaders at the group decision-making level. To some extent, it can even be said that this meeting has gone beyond the purely business scope and will inevitably affect subsequent strategic decisions.

Higher specifications are, of course, a good thing in essence.

But it also means that the negotiation strategy he had previously developed for Tim Bodi may not be effective against this new face.

There is a high probability that the negotiation strategy will need to be temporarily adjusted.

In addition, another name of the same level as Bodi also caught Chang Haonan's attention.

So he pointed to the third row of the table and asked Zhang Liangping:

"This Richard Partridge... the list only says that his rank is project manager. Do you have any more specific information?"

Although Rolls-Royce's power system is called a department, the title of the person in charge is "President" rather than supervisor or manager, which shows that the operating model of the entire department is close to that of an independent group company.

As the head of the company, Elginbridge, like Lin Zuoming of Aviation Power Group, is a professional manager who has been away from front-line business for a long time or has not been an aviation professional from the beginning.

Although the final decision can be made, the basis for the decision will inevitably be highly dependent on the supervisor-level people who actually have contact with the project.

So the first three people on the list are at least equally important.

Zhang Liangping shook his head:

"We only know that this person is from the Navy System Department, but we don't know his specific past experience or the role he currently plays in the other company... You know, for such high-level visits, the foreign affairs department usually won't be very strict on the visa materials. It's basically the standard process information. Besides, even if they fill in more detailed identity information, it may not be true..."

Chang Haonan was very clear about this.

In the early years, when China needed to send a large number of engineers to European countries for further study, their specific identities were kept confidential or concealed.

Otherwise, your identity as the chief designer of the XX model is clearly visible, and it will be difficult for others to go easy on you even if they want to.

That is, after 1997, the cooperation between the two sides gradually became equal, and this situation gradually became less common.

Although the two sides still maintain an equal status in name, at least anyone with a discerning eye can see who is in an advantageous position in this matter, and it is normal for the British to deliberately conceal some personnel information.

Besides, since the other party is from the Navy System Department, even if we have to guess, we should be able to guess something.

It must be in some way related to the WR-21 or MT30 models.

Thinking of this, a new plan naturally emerged from Chang Haonan's mind...

“Help me draft an application to change the itinerary of the Rolls-Royce delegation’s visit.”

Zhang Liangping has been working in the Second Comprehensive Department for nearly ten years. He has long been accustomed to his leader's somewhat unconventional thinking habits. Faced with this somewhat abrupt request, he did not hesitate at all and immediately took out a notebook from his pocket.

"This time, the schedule may be tight, so we will not arrange the seminars and scenic spot visits in the first two days. The delegation will directly land in Gaojing."

Chang Haonan said decisively:

"Also, have Yanliang prepare to arrange a flight mission for the No. 760 test platform immediately after the delegation arrives. Also, pick up the Y-9s that have not yet been delivered at the airport and put them where they can be seen from the pick-up location..."