Chapter 964: The Indian Designer Who Doubts Life

If time could go back, he would definitely go back ten minutes ago and stop himself from making empty promises.

What MK1A?

What's the upgrade plan?

does not exist.

It’s this thing, whether you want it or not.

Mainly, Dr. Kota Naraya never expected it.

How could a person be so shameless as to be like this——

Transfer the cancelled orders to the improved models.

It sounds like there's nothing wrong with it.

But that is only a problem if this "improved version" already exists.

The basic MK1 has not even been completed yet, but they have directly cut the order by three quarters. This is like a bolt from the blue for the project development and.

It is true that Stan Aviation Corporation is a state-owned enterprise. If the Air Force now wants a more advanced MK1A upgrade, it will definitely need to allocate additional funds and will not need to raise funds on its own.

However, many problems in the equipment development process cannot be solved immediately just by having money.

The overall design of LCA borrowed a lot from Mirage 2000, and even a considerable part of the work was done by the French.

Therefore, in this nominally "self-developed" project, the problem faced by technical personnel is not only to accumulate experience, but also, like many models with imported technology, to make some repairs while thoroughly understanding and comprehending some of the detailed designs of the French on the large delta wing.

Only after completing all these processes through the research and development and production of the MK1 model, will it be possible to improve the new machine.

Otherwise, if you act rashly and something goes wrong, it will be difficult to even find the cause, let alone solve the problem.

This is just a technical issue.

What is even more troublesome is that LCA is a project that dragged on for nearly 20 years before completing its first flight. Although the concentration of self-research is not high enough, it is the result of the hard work of tens of thousands of people in the Indian aviation industry.

Moreover, judging from the test results of the verification aircraft, even the MK1 model can achieve the original design goal of "focusing on air superiority missions and replacing the MiG-21 and MiG-23MF."

But when success was just around the corner, the orders promised by the Ministry of Defense not only did not expand, but were reduced.

This is an extremely serious blow to the morale of the R&D team.

It’s like you worked so hard to finally achieve your boss’s KPI, but not only did you not see the bonus, you were scolded by your stupid boss, and a higher KPI was set for the next month.

No one can stand it.

Thinking of this, Naraya calmed down and decided to try to persuade the other party.

"General Tipnis, what combat objectives does the Air Force hope the new MK1A can achieve?"

At this time, you must not conflict with Party A.

Therefore, the doctor chose a relatively roundabout strategy.

"Our new aircraft cannot be used only as a defensive model, but should have sufficient offensive capabilities, such as the ability to launch active medium-range missiles and use precision-guided weapons..."

Tipnis danced in front of the TD2 verification machine and said:

"Of course, there is also a longer range and a larger payload, which can support aircraft to fight in the air for a longer time, instead of having to land half an hour after taking off..."

Now, Naraya understood a little bit——

Isn't this just trying to compete with the J-10A of our northern neighbor?

While secretly cursing the other party's unreasonable desire to compare, he began to organize words quickly in his mind.

"But General, the original development goal of LCA was just to replace old aircraft like the MiG-21."

Naraya argued:

"As far as I know, the main missions of these fighters in the past were to fight for air superiority or to cover attack aircraft in low-altitude short-range raids, which are what LCA is good at."

"If you want to carry rockets and ordinary bombs for emergency use, then the LCA in the MK1 technology state can do it, and because it has a bomb-dropping computer, its accuracy is higher than that of the old model."

"Moreover, even if we need multi-purpose capabilities and sufficient range, we are already equipped with Mirage 2000C and Su-30MKI, leaving little room for LCA to perform such ground strike missions..."

Hearing Naraya's answer, Tipnis's expression changed slightly.

"Doctor, what I just said was the opinion of Vajpayee."

"If LCA cannot meet these requirements through upgrades, then we can only consider using the funds to purchase foreign aircraft, such as the updated MiG-29, or the JAS-39 that uses the same power system as LCA..."

Naraya's heart sank.

This has always been a source of worry for him.

Due to the extensive use of foreign parts and the inefficiency of the entire aviation industry, LCA, as a domestically produced aircraft, has no cost advantage.

If we only consider the economic aspects, the MiG-29UPG is actually a more cost-effective choice.

Looking at Naraya who lowered his head and remained silent, Tipnis continued:

"Besides, if China can modify the design of the J-10 and turn it into a multi-purpose fighter, then can't we do the same?"

The original intention of his words was probably to provoke the opponent.

However, it would have been better if he hadn't said it. Once he said it, Naraya became even more furious.

Do you want to see how big the gap is between the actual conditions of our two countries?

Before LCA, Stan Aeronautics' only experience in design and development was the unsuccessful HF-24 Fengshen.

Not only is the amount of equipment small, but the aircraft design also fluctuates back and forth amidst ever-changing requirements.

Just like LCA now.

Before developing the J-10, the Chinese had already successfully made in-depth improvements to the MiG-19 and MiG-21, so much so that even the MiG Design Bureau could not recognize them. They also independently developed a larger second-generation interceptor.

Together, the total production volume of these models has reached four figures.

Apart from the fact that both sides are known as "third world powers", they have nothing in common.

Of course, these things are just complaints in my heart, and it is impossible to say them out loud.

"Of course I can do this."

Naraya had drawn the cake himself, so he had no choice but to nod his head:

"It will inevitably take several more years just to modify the plan. Moreover, aircraft upgrades are not just the work of our design team. Engineers and workers on the production line also need a certain amount of work to maintain their proficiency..."

"so."

Before the doctor finished speaking, Tipnis answered first:

"Don't we still have 18-24 orders left?"

"But the quantity is too small, and the production line can't be maintained for a few years..."

"But the Chinese J-10 first flew in 1997, and only four years later, the upgraded model has already been put into service."

Tipnis has completely stopped hiding his true intention of wanting to compete with China:

"If we maintain a low-speed production, about 20 aircraft should be enough for 5-6 years, right?"

"?"

Naraya felt that his blood pressure was about to explode.

He could even clearly feel the blood vessels on his forehead throbbing.

It must be admitted that there is definitely a reason why this kind of rhetoric of "other people's children are so and so" can be passed down from generation to generation.

If nothing else, it's definitely useful for shutting people up.

At this time, Naraya was in such a state of suffering that he could not express it...

……

Ultimately, Dr. Naraya was unable to convince Tipnis to change his mind.

Of course, perhaps, as the latter said, this was actually the opinion of Prime Minister Vajpayee.

If this is true, then the Air Force Chief of Staff is indeed helpless.

"Boss, what should we do next?"

Standing at the factory gate, Naraya's assistant, Sara Gupte asked him.

There was some confusion in his eyes.

"We will maintain the original plan and continue to prepare for the first flight of TD2 and the final assembly of TD3."

Naraya forced himself to calm down:

"If we interrupt the testing of the MK1 now and directly start the upgrade project, we will face very great difficulties."

Gupte sighed helplessly and nodded.

For a moment, the two looked at each other in silence.

After a moment of silence, Gupte spoke again:

"But speaking of it, why is it that China..."

He had barely begun to ask his question when Naraya waved his hand and interrupted him:

"We don't need to care about the situation in China."

"It's no good for us to always focus on others..."

That being said.

But in fact, Naraya has been very confused in recent years. He wondered what kind of magic potion the Chinese people had taken that allowed them to pull out all kinds of strange and advanced technologies from their pockets like magic.

In the past, although there was a gap between the two sides, they could still barely sit at the same table to eat.

But in just five or six years, others have already become on par with those established aviation powers.

In particular, he had tried to use Snecma's M88 engine as a bargaining chip to put pressure on General Electric in order to lower the purchase price of the F404.

The response given by the former surprised Naraya.

It stated that due to relevant regulations on cooperative research and development, it was unable to sell M88 engines or related technologies to Stan Aeronautics.

Originally, many people were skeptical about the statement that "France and China jointly developed M88".

Especially as for the level of China's involvement, it is generally believed that it is not too deep.

However, this is obviously not the case...

Naraya shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about it and focus on the trouble at hand.

The only solution he could think of now was to let his local technicians continue to be responsible for improving and thoroughly understanding the design of LCA MK1, and at the same time go to Dassault to ask the French to make a major modification to the model on the existing basis to meet the new requirements of the Air Force for this model.

Although the involvement of foreign designers is bound to mean higher costs, it is at least less technically risky.

LCA is already on the edge of a cliff. If an accident such as the aircraft crashing and killing people occurs at this juncture, it will most likely be completely destroyed.

Besides, after all, it was Party A who took the initiative to modify the product requirements, so this expense must naturally be passed on to them...