153: Look at the Flanker's aerodynamic layout, the strongest Flanker is in the East!

September 5, 1980.

The 35th Paris International Air Show, which lasted seven days, officially concluded.

As the world's largest, longest-running, and most influential international air show, this Paris Air Show once again set a record, with a total transaction value reaching an astonishing 60 billion US dollars!

This transaction amount was almost double that of the 34th Paris International Air Show!

It was also the highest record for international air shows held by all countries around the world!

The 60 billion US dollars in transaction value included not only military sales but also sales of civilian airliners from aviation companies such as Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Ilyushin Design Bureau, Tupolev Design Bureau, Antonov Design Bureau, Airbus, and Hawker Siddeley!

In international air shows, the transaction volume for passenger and cargo civilian airliners is also enormous!

Furthermore, international media praised the 35th Paris International Air Show as the most successful international air show in human history!

This was because this Paris Air Show not only invited many countries from the "NATO" and "Warsaw Pact" blocs to participate, but even Dragon Country participated for the first time!

Therefore, many international media praised it as a grand event for human aviation civilization!

Additionally, from a technical perspective, this air show not only featured the debut of two third-generation aircraft, the Mirage 2000 and the J-10, and presented thrilling "friendly" aerial combat simulations, but also included a flight demonstration of Pretty Country's "Enterprise" Space Shuttle!

Reuters, for example, praised this Paris International Air Show as a time when humanity's stars shone brightly!

Aviation Week also published a special feature:

"The Revelation of the 35th Paris Air Show: Technical Fission in the Third-Generation Aircraft Era and a New Epoch for the Global Aviation Industry"

The editor of Aviation Week believed that starting from this air show at Paris-Le Bourget Airport in 1980, which was destined to be recorded in aviation history, the human aviation industry would officially transition from "generational iteration" to a golden age of "technological explosion."

A technological competition, or rather an arms race, belonging to the aviation industry, would officially begin!

And this aviation arms race would no longer involve only the two superpowers, Mammoth Bear Empire and Pretty Country, but should also include Dragon Country and the two "new players" from Western Europe!

Aviation Week's special report concluded:

"The smoke of the Paris Air Show has cleared, but the shockwave of the technological revolution has just begun.

When Dragon Country tore open the iron curtain of superpower monopoly with the J-10, when the Z-20 redefined the utility helicopter, when the space shuttle and third-generation aircraft shared the same sky!

The human aviation industry has reached the tipping point of explosive growth!

The future sky belongs to those countries that dare to turn science fiction into reality!"

However, while the Paris International Air Show achieved unprecedented grandeur and success, the Gallic Rooster was incredibly depressed.

Because although the Paris Air Show "won," their Gallic Rooster Air Force "lost" completely!

The Dassault Aviation Company's latest third-generation fighter, the Mirage 2000, which the Gallic Rooster had placed high hopes on, only sold 12 units at this air show, touted as the grandest in human aviation history!

And these 12 units were symbolically purchased by the Gallic Rooster Air Force!

Ever since the Mirage 2000 fighter was defeated 4:0 by Dragon Country's J-10 "Vigorous Dragon" accompanied by three J-8s, let alone the European allies, even the Gallic Rooster Air Force itself began to doubt this latest third-generation fighter!

And a few days after the Paris Air Show, Jane's Defence Weekly published a news flash:

"After Mirage 2000's Setback, Gallic Rooster Launches 'European Joint Fighter' Program!"

[At the Paris Air Show, the disastrous 4:0 defeat of the Mirage 2000 by Dragon Country's J-10 completely stung the Gallic Rooster Ministry of Defense and Air Force.

Dassault Aviation submitted a report to the Élysée Palace overnight, admitting that going it alone could no longer cope with the third-generation aircraft technology competition.

According to internal sources, the Gallic Rooster is secretly collaborating with the Land of the Setting Sun, Seidel, and Italy, among other countries, to promote the "European Joint Fighter" (Typhoon) project, with core objectives including:]

[Technology Integration: Combining the Gallic Rooster's delta wing aerodynamic design, the Land of the Setting Sun's EJ200 engine technology, and Seidel's avionics system, to benchmark the J-10's beyond-visual-range combat capability!]

[Modular Upgrade: Drawing inspiration from Dragon Country's Z-20's "one aircraft, multiple variants" concept, developing multi-mission versions adaptable for air superiority and ground attack!]

[Countering Eastern Threat: European Defence Agency documents show that the new fighter will be named "Typhoon" and aims to establish suppressive superiority over the J-10 before 1985!]

And Dassault's CEO frankly stated: "If Europe does not unite, the sky will be carved up by Dragon Country and the superpowers!"

The entire international community never expected that a new round of aerial military technology competition and arms race would be initiated by the Gallic Rooster leading Europe!

...September 7th.

Peng Lin and the Dragon Country Aviation Industry Delegation successively returned to the country.

This trip to the Paris International Air Show not only brought Dragon Country's Air Force 16.33 billion US dollars in international military trade orders, but also allowed a delegation of over a hundred young aviation engineers to engage in in-depth exchanges with the world's most advanced aviation companies and technologies!

Everyone gained a lot!

In particular, Pretty Country's display of the massive "Enterprise" Space Shuttle carried by a 747 airliner deeply stimulated everyone's nerves!

After returning from the Paris International Air Show, Peng Lin began to focus on the research and development of new fighter projects!

Compared to the vast air force systems of the two superpowers, Pretty Country and Mammoth Bear Empire, Dragon Country's fighters were simply too singular!

Even now, the only one capable of holding its own was the J-10, a single-engine, light, multi-role fighter!

Moreover, Dragon Country has a vast territory, with enormous national air defense needs in the north, west, East China Sea, and South China Sea!

Under such circumstances, Dragon Country's Air Force could only adopt mixed formations of J-10 "Vigorous Dragon" and J-8 for patrols and engagements with foreign aircraft!

Although Peng Lin had already planned to equip the J-8 with the new pulse-Doppler radar developed for Shate and Iraq, and to optimize the hardpoint design to enable the J-8 fighter to carry two PL-12 medium-range air-to-air missiles.

However, due to reasons such as the airframe, aerodynamic layout, and most importantly, the J-8 using a previous generation turbojet aero-engine, it was simply impossible for it to be compatible with the WS-10 turbofan aero-engine.

Therefore, these modifications were already the limit of the J-8's upgrades, and it would be difficult for it to independently cope with the threat of third-generation aircraft.

In this situation, Dragon Country's Air Force also desperately needed a twin-engine heavy air superiority fighter to be used in combination with the J-10 "Vigorous Dragon"!

Just like the combination of Pretty Country's F-15 and F-16, and Mammoth Bear Empire's Su-27 and MiG-29!

"As the saying goes, aerodynamic layout looks like 'Flanker,' and the strongest 'Flanker' is in the East!"

"To join the ranks of major air forces, how can we do without the 'bomb truck' J-16!"

Peng Lin showed a slight smile and murmured to himself.

After all, the J-16 also uses the WS-10 series aero-engines, and the most important "heart" technology is readily available, so the development difficulty is actually not great!

At the same time, Peng Lin felt that Mammoth Bear Empire was probably about to experience a "bloodbath"!

After all, the Su-27 "Flanker" had not yet officially entered service in Mammoth Bear Empire, but the "ultimate Flanker" was about to begin development in Dragon Country!

If both entered service around the same time, or even if the J-16 surpassed it, then who copied whom?

Or rather, who would be embarrassed by being behind?