Chapter 1174: Y-20 Review Meeting
A few days later, Liu Tao set off for Guizhou Aircraft Group.
The Y-20 strategic transport aircraft has indeed completed the detailed design task!
At present, China's military transport aircraft are both domestically produced and imported. The imports are mainly purchased from Polar Bear and Ermao's Il-76, An-22, An-225, and An-12, among which the Il-76 is the main one.
An-12 is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, codenamed "Young Fox" by NATO. It first flew in 1956 and entered service in 1957. This transport aircraft has 5 crew members and 90 passengers. It has a load capacity of 20 tons, a length of 33.10 meters, a wingspan of 38.0 meters, a height of 10.53 meters, a wing area of 121.7 square meters, an empty weight of 28 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 61 tons, a maximum speed of 777 kilometers per hour, a cruising speed of 670 kilometers per hour, a range of 5,700 kilometers, and a full load of 3,600 kilometers. This is a relatively old transport aircraft. China imported 30 of them at a relatively cheap price as a supplement to its transport aircraft. It is expected that all of them will be retired by 2015.
The An-22 is the largest turboprop aircraft ever made in human history. It began to be developed in 1962, made its first test flight in February 1965, went into mass production in 1966, began to be delivered in 1967, and was discontinued in 1974. This transport aircraft is 57.92 meters long, has a wingspan of 64.40 meters, a height of 12.53 meters, a wing area of 345 square meters, and a cargo compartment size (length × width × height) of 33.0 meters × 4.4 meters × 4.4 meters. It has an empty weight of 114 tons, a maximum load of 80 tons, a maximum fuel load of 96 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 250 tons, a cruising speed of 680 kilometers per hour, a maximum level flight speed of 740 kilometers per hour, and a range of 5,000 kilometers at maximum load. China imported 15 of them at a preferential price as a supplementary force for military transport, and it is expected that all of them will be retired by 2015.
An-225, this is a super-large military transport aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. The take-off weight of the aircraft is 640 tons, which is the largest transport aircraft in the world so far. The aircraft was developed in the Soviet era as part of the Soviet space program for the transportation of the "Buran" space shuttle. It made its first test flight on December 21, 1988 and entered service in 1989. The Soviet Union built only two An-225s in total, and China imported its only An-225 from Ermao in the 1990s. In recent years, spacecraft and large satellites have been transported by An-225.
Il-76, this is a large transport aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It was tested in March 1971 and entered service in 1975. The Il-76 transport aircraft was the main transport aircraft in the Soviet era. It was used as a combat support transport aircraft to transport infantry and light armored forces, and could take off and land at simple front-line airports. At the same time, the Il-76 can also perform parachute missions, empty cargo or properly packaged military vehicles.
As for domestic transport aircraft, there are three models, Yun-8, Yun-13, and Yun-10, all of which are used as dual-use military and civilian transport aircraft, and there are also civil aviation models.
Yun-8, once the largest military transport aircraft in China, has also developed civil transport and regional passenger aircraft. On the basis of Yun-8, tankers, early warning aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, command and control aircraft, and maritime patrol aircraft have been developed. After so many years of continuous improvement, Yun-8 has surpassed its prototype An-12. China is equipped with a total of 75 Yun-8 series transport aircraft, and 42 have been exported. At present, the annual output of Yun-8 is about 12, mainly used for production and export.
The Y-13 is the mainstay of China's regional airliners. It has a maximum take-off weight of 40.5 tons, a maximum operating altitude of 11,900 meters, and a maximum range of 3,700 kilometers. In the past ten years, China has produced a total of 399 Y-13s, including 293 regional airliners, 50 civil transport aircraft, 19 military transport aircraft, and 37 business aircraft. 42 aircraft were exported, including 28 regional airliners, 5 military transport aircraft, and 8 business aircraft. The Y-13 is also the star model of China's Zhuhai Air Show, and is well-liked by customers in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. After all, it is much cheaper than regional airliners in Europe and the United States, and its super high cost performance makes it increase orders every year.
Yun-10 is a large aircraft independently developed by China. It has a wingspan of 44.42 meters, a length of 46.61 meters, a height of 12.92 meters, a wing area of 268.6 square meters, a major take-off weight of 150.59 tons, a maximum fuel capacity of 72.5 tons, a maximum commercial load of 30.72 tons, and is equipped with 4 turbofan engines, each with a thrust of 85 kilonewtons, a maximum cruising speed of 980 kilometers per hour, an economic cruising speed of 895 kilometers per hour, a maximum climb rate of 20 meters per second, a take-off distance of 3250 meters, a landing distance of 1900 meters, a maximum fuel range of 12,000 kilometers, a maximum load range of 8,300 kilometers, and a crew of 4 people.
So far, Guizhou Aircraft Group has produced a total of 82 Yun-10s (including prototypes), including 50 civil passenger aircraft, 10 military transport aircraft, 10 civil transport aircraft, 10 business aircraft, and 2 early warning aircraft.
Unlike the Y-8, Y-13, and Y-10, the Y-20 was positioned as a strategic military transport aircraft from the beginning, and is specifically for military use!
The Y-20 strategic transport aircraft is also one of the pillars of the strategic air force of China!
The detailed design review is a very important node in the model development.
Because after passing the review, the prototype can be manufactured!
All technical status has been basically frozen, which is a very remarkable achievement.
Because there are only a few countries in the world that can independently design and develop strategic transport aircraft, and they can be counted on one hand.
It is precisely because of the importance of this strategic transport aircraft that the military organized a large team of experts for this review, including pilots who have deep research or rich experience in the use of Il-76 transport aircraft and An-22 transport aircraft. The large team of experts came to Guifei Group to conduct the review.
Liu Tao is also a member of the expert group. After all, in the field of aviation, whether it is aircraft engines, avionics systems, structures, materials, etc., Liu Tao is the top expert. There is no doubt that in terms of professional level, who can compare with Liu Tao?
Guifei Group specially arranged a large conference room for this review.
The person in charge of the Air Force Equipment Department presided over the review meeting. There are as many as 59 members of the expert group, including various majors. At the meeting, the host first expressed his gratitude to the development team for their hard work, and at the same time emphasized that this review is very important. Once the experts find any serious problems, they must be reworked.
This is the strictness of military aircraft models. If it is a model developed by Liu Tao, it is often to complete the design work, produce prototypes, test-fly to show various performances, and then the Air Force will see if it is satisfied. If not, the Air Force will not purchase it and will export it. If the Air Force is satisfied, then the purchase order and the purchase price will be discussed.
However, if it is not Liu Tao who presides over or participates, it is basically carried out according to a unique procedure.
Of course, the Air Force will allocate part of the development funds for this part, instead of all of it being borne by Guizhou Aircraft Group. This can also be regarded as a kind of risk sharing. For example, the development funds of the Y-20 were borne by the Air Force half, and the other half was borne by Guizhou Aircraft Group. (End of this chapter)
