201: Frustrating

At this moment, Xu Ning and his teammates were gathered here, their table piled high with engineering manuals.

In this era before calculators were widespread, many complex calculations still had to be solved by consulting books.

After an afternoon of hard work, led by Xu Ning, all members except for Zhao Zhide, who had a weaker foundation, finally mastered the calculation techniques.

"Ah, I really can't help," Zhao Zhide scratched his head and smiled bitterly. "But I can be responsible for all the writing and drawing."

Although he usually didn't study hard, with his beautiful handwriting, Zhao Zhide could always play a role at crucial moments.

Given this, Xu Ning decided to reasonably distribute the remaining tasks among the team members.

At this time, Zhao Zhide proposed, "It's getting late, how about we go out for a good meal? My treat!"

Looking at the sky outside the window that was gradually dimming, everyone looked at Xu Ning. He thought for a moment and then said, "Alright, let's stop here for today. Let's go eat."

After all, there was still some time before the assignment was due, so there was no need to rush.

More importantly, his stomach was starting to rumble too.

A little over ten minutes later, the four of them walked into a roast duck restaurant near the academy.

After ordering, Tang Ziwei frowned and complained, "Ning Ge, why didn't you pay attention to your surroundings when you were explaining the plan to us this afternoon? Huang Hongzhang and the others were secretly listening, I noticed."

"They have to understand to listen!" Xu Ning said with a smile. "I was explaining while looking at the sketch, and you didn't fully understand it yourself. Do you think they would understand?"

Tang Ziwei said with a hint of embarrassment, "I didn't quite understand, but that doesn't mean they don't. What if they really understood and copied our design?"

Xu Ning shook his head and said meaningfully, "Even among Professors, there are differences in skill levels."

Although Xu Ning just said it casually, this sentence immediately made the atmosphere in the private room lively, and his companions applauded and cheered.

"Lao Xu is great!"

"Lao Xu is mighty!"

Xu Ning quickly waved his hand to quiet everyone down. In fact, in the less than two days since he woke up yesterday, he found that not only had his appearance become much younger, but his mindset had also become much younger than his actual age.

"It really feels like returning to youth!" Looking at the smooth back of his hand, Xu Ning felt a rush of emotions. "This time, I must make up for all the regrets, whether for China or for myself."

At this moment, Old Wei gently patted his shoulder: "Lao Xu, don't think so much about the design while eating. National defense construction won't fall behind because of a meal."

Only then did Xu Ning notice that the roast duck was already on the table.

Apparently, his friends still thought he was thinking about the plane design. In this era, the quality of Kyoto roast duck was generally good, and any restaurant could guarantee deliciousness.

However, for someone like Xu Ning, whose monthly living expenses were less than 200 yuan, such consumption was not easy to afford.

The four of them ate and chatted at the table, the topics ranging from interesting academy stories to various rumors.

Most of the time, Xu Ning just listened quietly, occasionally joining in the discussion.

After all, these were recent events for the others, while for him, they were a distant memory.

In a quiet private room, Xu Ning inadvertently caught the sound of conversation coming from the next room.

"Did you know? The United States' new generation fighter jet, the F-22, is said to be making its first flight soon," one person said excitedly.

This sentence immediately caught the attention of Xu Ning and Old Wei. Seeing that their two companions were interested in this topic, Tang Ziwei and Zhao Zhide also fell silent.

"Didn't the F-22 fly a long time ago?" another person with a slightly lower voice asked.

"That was just the YF-22 prototype. The one being talked about now is the F-22 that is about to go into production. It's estimated it will be in service very soon," a person with a sharp voice replied.

"Ah, we struggled against their third-generation fighters, the F-14 and F-18, at the beginning of this year. With this new fighter in service, won't the gap be even bigger?" The low voice sounded again, carrying a hint of anxiety.

"Is China's latest the J-7E from 1990?"

"Yes, but that plane doesn't even have radar and can only fight during the day, so its role is limited. The only ones we have that can fight at long range are a small number of Su-27s imported from the Soviet Union, and a limited number of J-8Bs."

Then there was a sigh.

"If the J-8-3 can enter service in the next few years, with its high-altitude, high-speed capability and new radar, it might be able to put up a fight against the new United States aircraft."

"Stop dreaming. Even with many improvements, a second-generation aircraft can at most barely counter a third-generation aircraft."

"However, it would be good if we could hold on for a little longer. Looking back, whether it was the Anti-Japanese War or the Korean War, we never had an advantage in weaponry."

"But at least in terms of Air Force at that time, when the Mikoyan-15 fought against the F-86, the performance gap between the planes was not large. The United States even had the F-9F, which was less capable than ours."

Xu Ning was a little shocked, "Why can't our aviation industry produce a single third-generation aircraft? Investing so much money, yet only being able to let pilots fly outdated J-7s to face powerful enemies is truly frustrating."

"That's true. It's such a pity that we couldn't successfully introduce the F-16 back then."

"The F-16/J79 version was simply a watered-down version, there's nothing to regret. The United States people weren't really trying to help us either."

As the conversation deepened, the voices from the next room gradually revealed a hint of drunkenness.

Xu Ning noticed that Old Wei clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it.

The words of the people next to them were sharp, but they were not malicious, but rather frustrated by witnessing the technological gap with their powerful opponent.

Although they quickly shifted the topic to the upcoming Olympics, the emotions among Xu Ning and his friends were still affected.

"Lao Ning, if the F-22 really goes into service, what can we do to deal with it?" Old Wei finished the beer in his glass in one gulp and turned to Xu Ning to ask.

"Don't worry, it won't be that fast," Xu Ning said firmly. "There are big differences between the YF-22 and the F-22, and besides, this is a new generation fighter, and even the United States people need to proceed gradually."

In fact, the F-22 didn't officially enter service until 2005. Before that, China's military industry went through a difficult period, and the development of the F-22 brought considerable pressure to China.

"Hmm, hopefully so," Old Wei sighed.

"Trust me, everything will be alright," Xu Ning comforted him and gently patted his shoulder, "Aren't we fighting for this?"

Zhao Zhide and Tang Ziwei did not join the discussion on the side. Zhao Zhide was because he was not very familiar with this field, and Tang Ziwei could not empathize with the feelings of the two.

Her family background was good, and although her parents had low education levels, they started doing business very early, but she wanted to improve herself through the platform of Kyoto University, and even dreamed of studying abroad.

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