51: The H-20 project has been approved! Don't kneel, dog owners!

Chapter 51: H-20 Project Approved! Rise, Dog-Rich, No Kneeling! (Seeking Subscriptions!)

“The bomber we are going to develop must be a step above the B-2 'Ghost' Bomber.”

Zheng Lixing nodded with a slight smile: “Supersonic capability is its basic characteristic!”

The B-2 Bomber was developed by Eagleland in the 1970s and 1980s, and now Da Xia is only beginning to develop this new type of Strategic Bomber in 2009. They are two or three decades behind, so they can't just be on par in terms of performance, can they?

The inability to achieve supersonic flight is the biggest drawback of the B-2 Bomber, and it must be remedied.

“Hisss... a Supersonic Stealth Strategic Bomber?” Duan Fei was a little astonished.

The difficulty is not just high; it's extremely high.

You see, supersonic flight and stealth are inherently difficult to combine.

After all, if a large bomber wants to achieve stealth, its best choice is to be a flying wing body, like the B-2. This design minimizes electromagnetic wave refraction, but the drawback is extremely high frontal drag. At near-supersonic speeds, it's highly prone to shockwave divergence, making it several times harder to achieve supersonic flight than a conventional civilian aircraft.

Another design approach is Old Maozi’s Tu-160. While it can achieve supersonic speeds and has a terrifying payload capacity, its fatal flaw is that it is a non-Stealth Strategic Bomber.

This development goal is to perfectly integrate the best features of the Tu-160 and B-2, two world-class bombers, into the H-20.

“I'm afraid the development time will need to be extended by another two or three years…” Duan Fei frowned deeply: “Its cost will also likely be astonishing.”

Even with the complete set of B-2 Bomber technology, Duan Fei conservatively estimated that it would take seven or eight years to produce such a 'monster-level' bomber.

Moreover, its unit cost would be extremely high. While it might not be as absurd as the B-2 Bomber's more than two billion usd, it would still require two to three billion RMB.

Hearing this, Zhang Yuli shook his head again: “So, the second requirement is that the bomber to be developed must be modified based on the B-2 Bomber.”

“And the cost must be brought down within a controllable range.”

“Hisss… Director, you…” Duan Fei's mouth gaped upon hearing this request, his eyes filled with confusion.

“Our current research and development capabilities simply cannot meet such requirements.”

It wasn't that he didn't want to develop it; it was simply too difficult.

Both low cost and stealth supersonic? Where would you find such a good thing? These two are completely incompatible.

Why don't you just ask me to sprout wings and fly to show you if I look like a Supersonic Stealth Strategic Bomber?

“Duan Fei, don't rush.”

Zheng Lixing chimed in, explaining: “We never said that the 603 Research Institute should only develop one bomber. You can completely separate these functions.”

“Oh? General Zheng, you mean…” Duan Fei suddenly understood what he meant: “We develop a Stealth Supersonic Bomber, and its manufacturing and development costs can be a bit higher.”

“And then, based on the B-2 Bomber's technology, develop a low-cost and durable Stealth Strategic Bomber?”

“Exactly.” Zhang Yuli and Zheng Lixing nodded.

A low-cost Stealth Strategic Bomber? Or an extremely expensive Supersonic Stealth Strategic Bomber? Which one should they choose?

Only children make choices; Da Xia chooses to have them all!

“I understand now; that makes things much simpler.” Duan Fei clenched his fists, excitedly.

Anyway, with the complete set of B-2 Bomber technology, a large amount of funding can be saved in research and development. Additionally, developing a lower unit cost based on this foundation would not be too difficult in practice.

The second approach is also based on this foundation, but this time it's for the development of a Supersonic Stealth Strategic Bomber.

The first version could be called the H-20 mini-version, and the second version would be the true H-20!

Both development directions are derived from the technical blueprints of the B-2 Bomber, and they save Da Xia a huge amount of research and development funds, manpower costs, and time.

‘This feeling of stepping on Eagleland to cross the river is truly f*cking awesome!’ Duan Fei roared inwardly.

A moment later.

“You go back and prepare for project approval first.” Zhang Yuli instructed: “Submit a complete preliminary report, and the National Science and Technology Industry Committee will approve the plan as quickly as possible.”

Now that they have the complete B-2 Bomber technology, no matter what, they have to try developing it, right?

Da Xia Air Force's strongest Strategic Bomber is currently the H-6K, an improved version of the H-6. Asking it to face the B-2 Bomber? Isn't that asking for the impossible?

“Alright, Director, I'll head back to the 603 Research Institute now.” Duan Fei said, then quickly walked out of the Director's conference room.

He felt he couldn't wait another moment, wishing for official project approval tomorrow. Da Xia's Stealth Strategic Bomber was finally coming.

After Duan Fei left.

The entire room fell silent for a moment, and their previously relaxed expressions turned solemn.

Zheng Lixing couldn't help but pull out some tobacco from his jacket pocket and roll it: “Old Zhang, what about the research and development funds?”

“Even if this project goes smoothly, the amount of money poured into it won't be a small figure.”

“I know, isn't that what I'm currently racking my brains over?” Zhang Yuli rubbed his forehead, deeply troubled.

Proceeding with two plans simultaneously, even with the complete B-2 Bomber technology, still requires an astronomical amount of research and development funds.

Without exaggerating to hundreds of billions of usd, hundreds of billions of RMB are still needed. The costs for production lines and various construction expenses alone are considerable.

The most crucial question now is, where will the money come from?

Da Xia's total research and development budget this year is only a little over 500 billion, and the allocations have long been distributed to various projects. Other financial aspects are not particularly abundant either.

Therefore, to proceed with the H-20 project, they either have to slow down the timeline or find other sources of funding.

Zhang Yuli shook his head: “In the early stages, we still need to provide the 603 Research Institute with over 10 billion in research and development funds.”

“Other funds all have their uses; we really can't raise that much money in a short period.”

The H-20 project doesn't require hundreds of billions of RMB from the start; the initial batch of over 10 billion is already sufficient.

But even this 10 billion is not something that can just be pulled out of thin air.

The various remunerations given to the 'Mysterious Organization'—don't think that 5 billion usd was paid without batting an eye; that was because foreign exchange reserves were mobilized to quickly make it available.

While the H-20 project is extremely important, are there really fewer projects of equal importance in Da Xia right now?

Militarily alone, there are the Varyag aircraft carrier refit plan, J-20 and J-15 research and manufacturing plans, 052D destroyer development plan, and Da Xia's signature ballistic missile follow-up improved model development, etc. All these projects are in urgent need of funds.

If they take a little from here and a little from there, what kind of system would that be? Are they not going to plan for the future?

“Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is currently in the verification and production stage, and Da Xia Commercial Aircraft's civilian airliner has only just begun development.”

Zhang Yuli sighed: “Where can we find so much money at once now?”

These two projects, as the geese that lay golden eggs, were originally envisioned by them to provide research and development funds for Da Xia's H-20 project.

However, they didn't expect the Mysterious Organization to acquire the B-2 Bomber technology so quickly, while their golden-egg-laying geese hadn't even been born yet.

Just then.

“Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle… Middle East…” Zheng Lixing suddenly thought of something: “We can approach the Dog-Rich over there? They can also use Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.”

“I don't believe they wouldn't be interested in this project.”

“Saudi Dog-Rich? That's a good idea.” Zhang Yuli's eyes lit up.

Let alone the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle project, even the low-cost version of the H-20 Stealth Strategic Bomber could be developed collaboratively.

More than twenty years ago, Da Xia even sold ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Saudi Arabia. What's this compared to that?

How they use it after buying it back will still be up to Da Xia, won't it? They are not afraid of any threat; the entire Western world is probably the one that should be afraid.

“However, if it's a collaborative development on the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle project, wouldn't that be somewhat inappropriate?”

A hint of difficulty appeared on Zhang Yuli's face again: “There's a significant conflict between Saudi Arabia and Persia, and their relationship isn't very good.”

As Da Xia's largest potential buyer market for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in the future, Persia's opinion definitely needs to be considered.

“What's the big deal?” Zheng Lixing waved his hand: “As long as both sides have common interests, any deep-seated grudges can be put aside.”

“Moreover, the entire Middle East currently has only one common enemy. What grudges cannot be set aside? At least they all believe in Islam.”

“Exactly.” Zhang Yuli didn't object. Between nations, interests are the dominant factor.

However, he still had one reservation: “Historically, Saudi Arabia has always been fond of fence-sitting…”

One reason why several large-scale wars in the Middle East failed in the past was that Persia did not participate at all, and another reason was that countries like Saudi Arabia chose to sit on the fence rather than unite.

Before Zhang Yuli could finish, Zheng Lixing directly interrupted: “Then let them straighten their backs and stand up! No kneeling!”

It is precisely because they have been kneeling for too long that they cannot recognize this world.

The next day.

In the late afternoon, in a square in Livermore, Bay Area.

Several people had items laid out in front of them, like street vendors, but they weren't shouting out their wares.

Instead, their faces were covered, and their eyes involuntarily glanced around.

‘Is this Kui Sangti's mysterious stall location?’ Lu Ze looked at his surroundings and nodded to himself.

As expected of the Kui Sangti, they are always so open and above board.

Although it wasn't as rampant and brazen as it would be ten years later, after the subprime mortgage crisis, the number of people working in this line of business in Eagleland had significantly increased.

Upon arriving at the agreed location.

“Hey, Boy, this is the magic wand you asked me to get yesterday.” A man with a charcoal-black face, appearing to be in his early twenties, patted Lu Ze's shoulder.

He didn't know what a 'magic fairy wand' was; he just found them one by one according to the description.

“How much?”

“Ten usd… No, you need to give me fifty usd.” The Kui Sangti said with a serious expression.

Ten usd of that was his ‘labor fee,’ and the remaining forty usd was for the treatment of his ankle, which he accidentally sprained while stealing.

“Alright.” Lu Ze handed over a fifty usd bill. This was skilled work, and it was certainly worth the price.

“Do you need anything else? Mine are definitely the lowest prices in this square…”

After Kui Sangti finished speaking, he picked up a colorful snakeskin bag from beside him, with the words ‘Urea’ printed prominently on it.

As for whether it was real? Are you kidding? Here, did you expect to buy fakes?

Lu Ze glanced inside. Various brand-name bags were piled up like junk: LV, Gucci, and even Hermès bags, with price tags that were less than a tenth of the original price.

Of course, this is the Bay Area, California!

The birthplace of the Crips. Lu Ze wasn't surprised by these little things.

“No need. I'll find you next time I need something.”

Lu Ze took the 'magic fairy wand' Lucy wanted and quickly left the square.

The Kui Sangti do not offer after-sales service for such requests to find items.

Back in his dorm room.

Just as he was about to wash up, a message suddenly popped up on his eyeball.

“Ding! You have a new email in your inbox.”

“Did Da Xia send a new message again?”

Lu Ze stood still, frowning: “Could it be about that subsidy plan?”

“Or is it related to the B-2 Bomber technology?”

(PS: Second update. The third update will try to be around 12 AM, or possibly later.)