Chapter 524 You can’t ask the Chinese for help, right?

This question, for Le Maire, is completely a proposition.

In particular, he had just boasted in front of Caron about his handling of the helicopter business with China.

Can't push it away.

Flamel suddenly remembered a British drama he had watched.

In one of the episodes, one of the three protagonists was suddenly uncovered from an old account that caused a loss of millions of pounds 30 years ago.

At that moment, at this moment.

Of course, when we signed the contract with China more than ten years ago, we couldn't really call it a mistake.

It's an oversight at best.

On the one hand, the other party was swinging between Bell Helicopter and Eurocopter. If it could not show some sincerity, the entire order might fly away.

On the other hand, the Chinese people did give too much...

In short, from the perspective of the mid-80s, there was no reason to turn away such a huge order.

The idea at that time was to capture market share first and then make money through subsequent related services provided.

This is normal business logic.

Moreover, even if the production license is transferred, the other party still needs to import a large number of assembly parts from France, and the follow-up can be smooth.

Even if China is really just doing a one-off deal, it is still better than pushing customers to its competitor Bell.

At that time, the export license was just negotiated along with the production license.

The Pilstick diesel engine exported to China around the same period also had this idea.

So now more than half of the diesel-powered ships in China are powered by French origin.

Pilstick has also made a lot of money by exporting key components such as sequential pressurization equipment.

Why is the plot completely different when it comes to the helicopter?

China first stopped importing original transmission systems and main rotors, then stopped importing core engine components, and then stopped even the introduction of technology for the Arriel 1D1 model.

That's fine.

Now, people are coming over with improved models to cause trouble?

Flamel opened his mouth several times, but he really didn't know how to answer this question.

He believes that no matter what he says, after being processed by reporters, it will become content that he absolutely does not want to see published in the newspaper.

Caron turned his head and looked at Flamel beside him.

There are silent words in the expression——

"Mr. Le Maire, you don't want the public to know that you were responsible for the helicopter cooperation with China, which caused the damage to the interests of the French aviation industry today, right?"

Fortunately, Le Maire is experienced in this area.

He knew that no matter whether he explained or denied, he would inevitably fall into the trap that the other party had already set.

Only take the initiative.

If the problem cannot be solved, solve the person who raised the problem.

After a brief hesitation, he walked up to the other party and whispered:

"Our public relations department of the Aerospace Industry Association currently lacks an official partner with an objective stance. I wonder if Mr. Caron is interested..."

For a journalist like Cuarón who specializes in a certain industry, this is an offer that is absolutely irresistible.

It is equivalent to him having at least a semi-official status in the entire French aviation industry in the future.

As long as you apply for an interview, others will give you a somewhat less favorable reception.

Sure enough, after hearing these words, Caron decisively gave up and continued to ask questions.

"After all, it happened more than ten years ago, and its news value is limited. We should still look further forward..."

He directly helped Le Maire find a way out.

When the latter heard this sentence, he knew that this matter should be over.

However, the expression on his face did not soften.

After all, the threat posed by this Chinese model is real.

Even if Cuarón no longer reports on the relationship between Le Maire himself and the previous order, such an incident will definitely affect the market reputation of Eurocopter Group——

The helicopter transmission system you developed was defective. Not only were the defects discovered by others, but even the improvement plan was developed by others first.

Will it work?

While the two people here were reaching a secret deal, the helicopter in the distance had also completed a dazzling set of flying movements and began to fly around the field on a routine basis.

After confirming that Caron's trouble had been solved, Flamel quickly left the Chinese exhibition area that made his blood pressure rise.

The French exhibition area was right next door, so it took him little effort to find the representative sent by the Eurocopter Group among the crowd.

Kurt Jean Pierre.

The aristocratic descendant of the old Parisian flag, of course, was also an old colleague of Le Maire when he worked for Eurocopter.

Unsurprisingly, Pierre also kept looking up at the sky with a dumbfounded expression.

After all, it only took ten minutes from the time the Chinese people removed the camouflage on the plane to the start of the flight show.

And the whole process is right next to the original AS365N1 in the French exhibition area.

It’s normal to experience some irritation.

"Little Kurt."

Flamel walked to the side, reached out and patted the other party on the shoulder.

Pierre has the same first name as his grandfather, Kurt.

Of course, Kurt Sr. died more than twenty years ago.

However, friends who grew up together will still use this title in less formal situations.

no response.

"Little Kurt?"

After shouting again, Pierre was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Guillaume?"

The relationship between the two people is very good to begin with, and since they are considered "ourselves" in the industry, they naturally don't need to make twists and turns like they did when facing reporter Cuaron.

Therefore, Le Maire went straight to the point:

"What do you think of this helicopter built by the Chinese?"

Pierre turned around, put his hands behind his back, frowned slightly but did not speak immediately.

Obviously, he was very confused at this time.

After a long time, Pierre shook his head:

"I can't say."

"But judging from the performance of this helicopter, I feel that the Chinese people seem to understand the Dolphin helicopter better than me..."

"Not to mention anything else, when the flight show just started, it hovered in mid-air after taking off, and then nodded around. I checked the watch during the whole process, and it lasted about 4 minutes and 15 seconds in total."

"I have seen this set of actions more than a hundred times, and I am very familiar with the process. It can be completed in less than a minute and a half under normal circumstances, so the Chinese people must have done it on purpose to show off the hovering capabilities of this model."

Flamel nodded, agreeing with the other party's opinion:

"I just went to see the exhibition board over there. The data above shows that their improved version of the Dolphin can maintain take-off power output for 5 minutes. It is indeed more advantageous than our model."

AS365N1 can only maintain a hover of 3 minutes at most under standard mission load.

If it is fully loaded, the time will be even shorter.

This gap is already quite obvious.

Hovering is one of the most important functions of a helicopter.

Whether it is lifting and landing transport helicopters, anti-submarine helicopters searching for submarines, or armed helicopters launching most guided weapons, they all need to maintain a hovering state.

3 minutes and 5 minutes, in many cases, is the difference between being able to do it and not being able to do it.

"Of course, this is secondary."

Pierre waved his hand and continued:

"What's more noteworthy is that even when I just took off and climbed at maximum power, the sound I heard here was not too obvious."

"In terms of absolute volume, it may not be much lower, but the sound characteristics are completely different from most helicopters. It is the kind of mid- and high-frequency continuous noise that attenuates quickly and is not likely to cause people's attention or discomfort."

Only then did Flamel recall that he had the same feeling just now——

When he looked down at the display board, he even thought that the helicopter had failed to take off.

"Hiss... Let's put it this way, the trouble is indeed not small..."

Plenty of power, more functionality, and less noise.

And most likely the price will be lower too.

The operation and maintenance habits are still the same as those of Dolphin.

It is estimated that pilots may not need to be retrained.

Is this not leaving any way to survive?

However, Pierre next to him shook his head again:

"It's not exactly troublesome."

"What do you mean?"

Flamel looked confused.

"First of all, the problem of the Dolphin transmission system must be solved sooner or later. It cannot be delayed forever. The release of this model from the Chinese people at least shows that there is a feasible upgrade plan without the need to tear down the entire design and start over."

Pierre raised his head again and looked at the Chinese helicopter that had completed its performance and was preparing to land.

At this distance, two people don't even need to speak too loudly to drown out the noise from the rotors.

"Secondly, I must admit that their rotor noise reduction technology is definitely at the forefront of the world. I have never seen a helicopter that suppresses pulse sound so well."

"if……"

Having said this, Pierre hesitated:

"If our latest NH90 can achieve this level, it will probably occupy an important position in the 10-ton helicopter market..."

The first prototype of the NH90 made its first flight in 1995, but it is still in the test flight process. The main reason is that several startup users have different preferences for helicopter performance.

Like all other multinational cooperation projects, there are many dreams and long nights. If it is delayed for a few more years, this model will probably become obsolete.

So Eurocopter, which is leading the entire project, is now in a hurry.

"How does NH90 achieve this level?"

Flamel looked at his friend with shock in his eyes:

"You can't go to the Chinese for help, right?"