12: Surprise! This isn't an F22 fighter jet?

Chapter 12: A Surprise! Isn't This an F22? Where Did This Come From? (Please collect and follow!)

"Old Xu, this surprise is probably even bigger than you expected!" Song Qinyi said cheerfully.

Upon hearing this,

all the J-20 project team leaders present, whose eyes had been somewhat inattentive, now became incredibly serious.

"Could this Xu brute have actually guessed it?" several people thought to themselves.

Could it be that there has really been some brand-new technological breakthrough in the J-20 project recently? One that could significantly improve engine performance?

But that shouldn't be right; as project team leaders, why hadn't they heard any rumors about this recently? The secrecy was too good!

"Old Song, stop being so secretive over there, hurry up and announce the news!" The old man next to him, whose face was weathered by time, grew a little impatient.

"Our R&D team's tasks are waiting for me to handle; don't waste time."

As the team responsible for developing the avionics system, he had a myriad of things to do.

After all, which piece of avionics equipment on a modern fighter jet is worry-free? It's not as simple as just installing various modules.

If they were developing first-generation discrete avionics systems like those for the J-7 or J-8, it would be quite simple.

After all, equipment like radar modules and fire control systems were all independent, and you just needed to install everything. The drawback was that they couldn't coordinate with each other; each required the pilot to operate manually, and the failure rate was extremely high, making flight difficult and combat capability severely lacking.

However, the J-20 is a fifth-generation aircraft, designed to benchmark against the F35 fighter, which the Eagle Nation had not yet officially put into service, using a fourth-generation advanced integrated avionics system.

Various subsystems need to be interconnected, perfectly coordinated, highly integrated sensor linkage, and powerful core processing and computing capabilities. Even the pilot's human-machine interaction needs to reach a whole new level!

He was currently racking his brain over how to achieve this ridiculously complex avionics system and just wanted the meeting to end quickly.

Hearing this,

Song Qinyi didn't dally. The smile on his face faded, and he looked at everyone, stating, "Next, the news I am about to announce has a security classification of: Top Secret!"

"All communication devices are to be turned off and handed over to me."

"Hiss... Top Secret? Old Song, what big news are you stirring up this time?" Xu Qing handed over his phone, a look of shock on his face.

He had attended so many meetings since joining the J-20 project, but this was the first time he had encountered such a situation!

And everyone present immediately had a change in expression. What this meant was crystal clear to these old aviation veterans.

Even when the J-20 project was secretly approved in 2007, it wasn't handled to this extent, was it?

This meant that the secrecy level of this news far exceeded that of the J-20 project itself.

What kind of major news could it be that would even surpass the importance of the J-20 project?

"You'll know in a moment!" Song Qinyi narrowed his eyes, placed all these devices in the adjacent room, and then activated full-band signal jamming to prevent any information leakage.

This was not because Song Qinyi didn't trust the people present. On the contrary, the Eagle Nation still didn't know that Da Xia's fifth-generation aircraft project was in full swing.

This was enough to prove that no one had leaked any information.

However, faced with such absolutely confidential news, Song Qinyi could only choose the most cautious approach.

Returning to his seat, he faced everyone's incredibly curious gazes.

"First, we tested a brand-new aircraft model some time ago, and the data obtained is as follows!" Song Qinyi opened a PPT, and data points were listed on the screen above.

[RCS: 0.002 m²] (Radar Cross-Section)

[Lift Coefficient: 1.65]

[Supercruise Zero-Lift Drag Coefficient: 0.035]

[...]

Looking at the data displayed on the screen and the incredibly familiar aircraft model, everyone present's expressions changed.

The more they looked at this thing... the more familiar it seemed?

Not only the appearance of the aircraft model in the picture, but even the data gave them an unusually familiar feeling.

"Radar cross-section 0.002 square meters, supercruise zero-lift drag coefficient... Why does this data look so familiar to me?"

"Except for the lift coefficient and a small portion of other data that don't match, all other data are exactly the same!"

"This waverider inlet structure data and aerodynamic layout... isn't this an F22?"

It could be said that, apart from the use of Da Xia's camouflage paint for its exterior, this aircraft model's appearance was very similar to an F22.

No, they could be certain, this aircraft model was absolutely a replica of an F22.

Where did this thing come from?

However, this slight hesitation only flashed through everyone's minds for a moment.

The few R&D team leaders present excitedly shouted:

"Old Man Song, this technology is impressive; its performance in all aspects is so excellent?"

"Stealth performance and supercruise drag have both been solved; this will make things much easier! Our R&D progress can be accelerated by at least several months..."

"Is it just about aerodynamic layout and materials? Don't we have any new technology for our avionics system?"

This comprehensive performance is terrifying!

They didn't care where the technology for this replica aircraft model came from; they only needed to see the results.

As long as the fighter's performance improved, that was enough, even if it fell from the sky, it didn't matter.

Would they not use this technology just because it was a replica of an F22?

Are you kidding? They would only use it with more enthusiasm! Crossing the river by feeling the stones of the Eagle Nation, isn't this a fine tradition of Da Xia?

However,

"Old Song, this lift coefficient isn't enough; why is it only 1.65??"

"Let alone a significant improvement for the engine, it's good if it doesn't hold us back!" Xu Qing said with great dissatisfaction.

It should be known that the target lift coefficient for the J-20 was 2.0, and currently, this was a significant shortfall.

Such a poor lift coefficient would definitely lead to a decrease in the fighter's flight capability.

Xu Qing shook his head: "Even if we add a canard layout to this aircraft model, the lift coefficient would at most increase to 1.85 - 1.88. It's still a bit short..."

Although it was better than the current lift coefficient, it wasn't by much.

The most critical reason why the J-20 did not use this traditional layout was that the lift coefficient could not meet the requirements.

Adding a canard layout could significantly increase the lift coefficient.

Even if maneuverability and control difficulty would increase, requiring higher tactical and technical skills from the pilot, this was a necessary sacrifice to achieve a lift coefficient of 2.0.

After all, the J-20 was already behind the F22 in terms of engines and other aspects; it couldn't possibly fail to even catch up on the most basic lift coefficient!

In that case, how could it still be called a fifth-generation heavy air superiority fighter?

Upon hearing this, everyone's excited expressions paused.

They all knew perfectly well how much the lift coefficient affected a fighter jet.

This was one of the most important data points for a fighter, greatly influencing all aspects of flight, such as maneuverability, speed, and so on; every one of them was related to the lift coefficient.

"Exactly! So we are using brand new materials!" Song Qinyi clicked to the next PPT slide!

"This high-strength carbon fiber composite material will be used to improve the J-20's layout, and the lift coefficient will successfully reach 2.2!"

One could only see a set of brand-new data listed on the image!

With a large amount of new materials, even with Old Maozi's AL-31F turbofan engine, the canard-layout J-20 could achieve a lift coefficient between 2.1 and 2.2.

"Furthermore, who said the F22's lift coefficient is 2.0!" Song Qinyi couldn't help but retort.

"The data we cannot achieve, they absolutely cannot achieve either."

The Eagle Nation, those damn dogs, really caused a lot of trouble; a false data point tormented them for several years.

(New book, please collect and follow!)