Chapter 268 The God of Wealth in the Air Force

The Chinese Air Force currently has 14 second-hand IL-76T/TD transport aircraft purchased from different channels.

Four of them are set aside to be modified into early warning aircraft.

Although the number is very small, they are not new machines and the related tactics are not very proficient.

But after all, the military has been able to experience the performance of large transport aircraft.

From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.

Can not go back.

It can fly three times the range of the Yun-8 under a load that is three times that of the Yun-8!

The long-range transport aviation arm submits its annual year-end summary, which can be summed up in one sentence.

The big plane smells so damn good, please hurry up and get more!

However, the voices of the troops are loud and clear. Considering China's stretched military expenditure in the past few years, it really cannot afford to introduce more IL-76 or other large transport aircraft.

In addition, large transport aircraft are still not as urgent as several advanced fighter models also equipped by the Air Force, so this matter has been shelved.

But in 1997, the situation changed somewhat.

The secondary reason is that due to a series of events in 96, total military expenditures soared by nearly 100 billion yuan as planned.

At the same time, because the development leadership of several civil aviation models was returned to the Science and Technology Commission system, there were billions more on the books.

The main reason is that when the 1997 annual budget was compiled, everyone was surprised to find that because many expensive projects such as the J-8C, Kunlun engine and Thunderbolt 11 were completed ahead of schedule in the second half of 1996, there was a large number of The project R&D and equipment procurement costs that were originally planned were saved.

The total amount of this money is not more than the previous two, that is, it is on the level of several billions.

But there is a considerable part of the foreign exchange quota.

In the 90s, this was very popular.

Mainly because of the huge amount of money saved during the introduction of Project 11 technology——

According to the original psychological expectations of China, including technology transfer, equipment, materials, labor and other costs, the minimum contract total that needs to be paid to the Russian side during the entire project period is between US$70 billion and US$80 billion.

Among them, the one-time payment in 96-97 will be nearly US$15 billion.

However, Sukhoi made huge concessions during the negotiation process last year, lowering the purchase unit price and at the same time reducing the number of aircraft that China was required to purchase directly from Russia. As a result, this expenditure was actually reduced by one-third from the original plan. About one.

This means that in 1997 alone, there was almost an extra US$5 million that could be used to introduce other technologies or equipment from abroad.

This can be regarded as a windfall.

Just in time, the Ilyushin Group and the Chkalov Factory jointly invited the Chinese delegation to visit.

The air force's thoughts naturally became more vivid.

This is how the trip led by Huai Guomo came about.

Before setting off, Ding Gaoheng listed and summarized these things at a small internal meeting held by the Science and Industry Committee.

The original intention is to improve everyone's self-confidence.

But as soon as the table was displayed on the big screen, someone noticed the bright spot.

It seems that the same name vaguely floats behind these things...

Either directly or indirectly, Chang Haonan played a very important role in it.

In this regard, Ding Gaoheng commented humorously:

"It seems that our little comrade can be regarded as the God of Wealth of the Air Force..."

At the beginning, when Huai Guomo came to Tashkent this time, he even wanted to bring this "God of Wealth" with him.

The latter's whimsical thinking and overall perspective in the previous negotiations with the European Union made him quite unforgettable.

Unfortunately, after asking, I found out that the other party was helping the Electronic Technology Group deal with a difficult issue and could not escape for the time being.

After weighing it again and again, he still believed that it was more important to let Chang Haonan solve technical problems.

After all, in the several times mentioned earlier, the latter was also broken through technical means.

……

After a brief fugue, Huai Guomo's attention returned to the two rows of large aircraft parked in the factory.

Kucherov, who had not spoken much just now, finally came to the front:

"There are now a total of two Il-2 tankers in our factory that have been basically completed. Only the Il-78 tankers that need some maintenance work are left, which are the two farthest from us."

Following the direction of the factory director, Huai Guomo saw two aircraft at the end of the queue with the words CCCP spray-painted on their fuselages.

Next to him, Lozko opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he remained silent.

Although the Chkalov Factory does not have the ability to manufacture aircraft from scratch, it has no problem completing these semi-finished airframes.

From a legal perspective, it is of course possible to discuss what proportion of the aircraft remaining in the Chkalov factory belongs to the Ilyushin Group.

But that doesn't make sense.

The disintegration of the alliance was originally a mess. How many things could be snatched from the chaos depended on each person's ability. Now even if he came up with tricks, Kucherov would not be able to hand over these things parked in the assembly workshop.

We are now at a critical moment when the Ilyushin Group and the local forces in Tashkent are competing for the legacy of the Chkalov Factory. There is no need to offend the key figures among them with these bits and pieces.

Under the leadership of Kucherov, we walked near the Il-76 final assembly line.

"The first four aircraft are also IL-78s, and the completion rate is about 70%. With sufficient financial support, they can all be completed within half a year."

"The first, that is, the four Il-76TDs we are passing by now are military transport types. They are about half complete. The main reason is that the power system is not yet in place. If the Perm Engine Factory can provide enough D30KP2 engines, then it will be very Fast, at most... one and a half to two years."

“Why is it taking so long to get these four planes?”

Liang Zhuoping, who was following Huai Guomo, asked curiously.

After all, if you really want to talk about it, the complexity of the IL-78 is actually higher than that of the IL-76.

"Because we can't produce so many aircraft at the same time as we did before, so we have to queue up, and those at the back will naturally be slower."

Kucherov did not hide anything like this - even though he had made a lot of superficial efforts to welcome the arrival of the Chinese purchasing delegation, the current situation of the factory was still obvious to those who knew the inside story at a glance. .

Even if he didn't say it, Chinese people would be able to understand everything just by spending a few days wandering around the city of Tashkent.

"This No. 12 workshop used to be able to assemble 200 3-ton large aircraft at the same time, but now... it can only guarantee 4-."

There was a hint of loneliness in the old factory director's voice.

However, he then assured Liang Zhuoping and Huai Guomo:

"Even so, our cost-effectiveness and efficiency are already very high. No other place in the world can guarantee to provide you with 10 brand-new strategic transport aircraft within two years, and the price... can be discussed later. .”

This is not a lie.

In fact, there are only three suppliers in the world that can provide strategic transport aircraft.

Among them, McDonnell Douglas or Boeing's C17 will definitely not be sold to China.

And Antonov no longer has the ability to produce the An-124. Moreover, due to the restrictions on take-off and landing conditions, there is no competitive relationship between the An-124 and the IL-76.

The only competitor of the Chkalov Factory is actually the 800 Il-76s it built in the past.

If the asking price is too high, it is entirely possible for Chinese people to turn around and buy used goods.

You must remember that this was only the beginning of 1997, and the second-hand aircraft in the hands of the CIS countries were in good condition.

Not to mention, the Uzbek Air Force itself has a dozen unused Il-76s waiting to be sold.

As for the business of overhauling the Il-76, it can be completed by places such as the Belarusian 571 aviation repair shop, and the competition is fierce.

"Why leave it until later, I think we can start talking today."

……

With the efforts of the profitable Mirziyoyev, the negotiations between China and the Chkalov factory on the current 10 aircraft went very smoothly. They did not even need to sit at the negotiating table. They were directly on an Ilyushin 76. A verbal agreement was reached in the cabin.

Since the factory was in a hurry for money, and these aircraft were originally free for Uzbekistan and did not involve any research and development expenses, the price was only US$10 million for a package of 1.08 aircraft, even though Zai Ma Tian was not worried about it.

Of course, for China in this era, this is already a huge deal.

But if someone saw this price in Chang Haonan in Yanliang, they would definitely call it outrageous.

17年后的2014年，华夏从二毛手里购买的3架二手伊尔78，单价4500万美元。

Even if the inflation rate over the years is calculated, the new machine with a unit price of 960 million can indeed be called a clearance sale.

Of course, the two parties still held a brief ceremony the next day and finalized the formal contract.

After all, they are worried that the other party will regret it.

However, subsequent negotiations with the Ilyushin Group and the Chkalov Factory on the purchase of the new Ilyushin 76MF transport aircraft progressed slowly from the beginning.

To be honest, second-hand aircraft were assets of the past alliance, and they were sold at a low price. But new aircraft, especially those that had just completed their first flight and were not yet fully finalized, was another matter.

Lozko has set the unit price of the aircraft at US$3300 million each, and must purchase at least 10 aircraft in the next 36 years.

Regarding this quantity, Huai Guomo had no objection, but the unit price of US$3300 million was still too high for China.

Project No. 20 saved a total of almost billion US dollars. You can't just hand over more than half of it to Ilyushin by changing hands, right?

This is external procurement in a pure sense and does not involve technology transfer.

After several days of confrontation, neither side was willing to give in.

So the negotiations reached a deadlock.

"How about we contact that comrade, the God of Wealth, and ask him if he has any opinions?"

After countless rounds of negotiations, Liang Zhuoping put forward his own suggestions while talking and laughing.