165: Future air combat system: A shoots, B guides!

Three days later.

Dragon Country officially finalized cooperation details with the Iraqi government delegation.

Inside the conference hall of the Jingxi Hotel, crystal chandeliers cast a solemn light upon the mahogany long table.

Peng Lin and Saddam were seated before the national flags of their respective countries, the soft scratching of steel pen nibs on paper clearly audible.

The gilded text of the "Dragon-Iraq Strategic Cooperation Memorandum" slowly unfolded, with the phrases "50% revenue share in joint oilfield development" and "20 billion USD military trade order" gleaming brightly within its clauses.

As Saddam signed the final stroke, his fingertip paused briefly on the clause "priority granting of new oilfield exploration rights" before he quickly signed his name.

Peng Lin received the document, his gaze sweeping over the additional clause "zero-tariff access for automotive parts exports," and signed his name with composure.

The moment the two exchanged documents, flashbulbs suddenly erupted.

This memorandum not only signified Dragon Country's first foray into the core energy region of the Middle East, but also marked the complete branding of Iraq's million-strong army with the steel imprint of Dragon Country-made equipment.

As Saddam stood to shake hands, he whispered, "May our cooperation be as long-lasting as the Tigris River."

Peng Lin, gazing at the still-wet ink on the agreement, responded, "Dragon Country's commitments burn longer than oil."

The handshake concluded, and cooperation officially commenced!

Both Dragon Country and Iraq were about to usher in a brand new beginning!

...Since signing the agreement and officially launching cooperation with the Iraqi government, Peng Lin had accelerated his involvement in the research and development of the J-16 heavy fighter and the Y-20 strategic transport aircraft.

If Dragon Country wanted to venture into the Middle East, the most crucial element was powerful military deterrence!

If Dragon Country's conventional military power could not be projected into the Middle East, then it would not be easy for Dragon Country's investments and enterprises to gain a foothold there.

Even if the Soviet Union and USA did not openly object, their covert actions, with frequent terrorist attacks, could easily cause Dragon Country's investments to suffer heavy losses and retreat in the face of difficulties!

Therefore, all development must be protected by powerful military force!

The upper limit of military power is always the upper limit of economic development!

Changhe Factory, wind tunnel laboratory.

The metal model with a triplane compound layout vibrated in the high-speed airflow.

Peng Lin stared at the transonic shock wave spectrum, then suddenly grabbed a red pen and circled the leading edge of the wing: "The integrated lifting body with canards must optimize transonic maneuverability by 35%!"

The avionics team's passive phased array radar upgrade plan was facing a bottleneck.

Peng Lin directly allocated the "Skynet" data link prototype, rigidly setting the radar detection range to ≥ 200 kilometers: "'A-shoot B-guide' collaborative combat is the core of future aerial warfare; the 150-kilometer range of the PL-15 missile must be utilized to its fullest!"

At the weapons load test site, 12 external hardpoints simultaneously loaded 12 tons of ammunition, and the airframe's load-bearing beams groaned under the strain.

Peng Lin then quickly led the team to improve the design!

During this period, Peng Lin's rest time was almost entirely spent on military special planes.

He inspected various aviation military industrial sub-factories across the country, closely monitoring the R&D progress of the two national strategic assets.

At the Xifei Military Industrial Factory, the tracks of a Type 79A tank were simulated rolling over the Y-20 cargo hold floor.

Peng Lin tapped the alloy keel and said, "The cargo hold width must reach 4.5 meters to ensure main battle tanks can enter without disassembly!"

The most critical challenge came from the WS-20 engine.

Traditional mechanical control systems suffered from severe response delays, so Peng Lin decisively launched a key technology project for "Full Authority Digital Engine Control."

This aimed to control fuel injection precision to within 0.01 seconds and limit high-altitude thrust decay to no more than 15%!

In short-takeoff and landing tests, the wing's high-lift devices became the deciding factor.

Peng Lin personally adjusted the angle of the leading-edge slats: "Triple-slotted flaps must increase the lift coefficient by 40%, compressing the takeoff and landing length on rough airfields to 600 meters!"

Under Peng Lin's command and leadership of the technical team, various challenges for the J-16 heavy fighter and Y-20 strategic transport aircraft were rapidly being solved.

R&D progress was continuously accelerated!

After inspecting all the aviation industrial military factories from south to north, Peng Lin finally arrived at the Shenfei Design Institute.

At this time, in Shenfei's combat simulation center, a "future air battle" was being played out on the large screen!

A J-16 fleet shared radar information via a data link, an early warning aircraft locked onto a target 400 kilometers away, and another J-16 fighter launched a PL-15 missile from 150 kilometers away.

Furthermore, after launching the PL-15 missile, the J-16 fighter quickly disengaged from the battlefield.

It then handed over control and guidance of the missile to an airborne early warning platform outside the battle zone!

Peng Lin stared intently at the screen: "'A-shoot B-guide' is not just a concept; it's the lifeline in the struggle for air superiority!"

He muttered to himself.

Concurrently, the early warning aircraft variant of the Y-20 was also undergoing intense testing of its "airborne command post" function.

Radar engineers, sweating profusely, used the Y-20 platform's redundant power to increase the power to 120 kilowatts, testing and improving the detection range of the early warning radar!

According to the design specifications proposed by Peng Lin, the early warning radar's detection range for high-altitude targets had to be increased to at least 500 kilometers to meet the requirements!

The entire Dragon Country aviation industry, from top to bottom, worked with one heart, with hundreds of thousands of scientific researchers and technical workers tackling the J-16 and Y-20 projects!

...After completing his inspection of the two aviation projects, Peng Lin then visited the domestic headquarters of the newly established Dragon Country Petroleum Development Company.

At this time, the engineers of Dragon Country Petroleum Development Company were gathered around rudimentary exploration maps, at a loss regarding the task of developing Middle Eastern oilfields.

Traditional drilling technology was inefficient, with single-well daily output less than a thousand barrels, while international standards had already exceeded ten thousand barrels.

Therefore, if Dragon Country wanted to exploit Iraq's oilfields, it first needed to invest money to improve its extraction technology.

However, at this moment, Peng Lin entered the conference room and placed a stack of technical manuals on the table.

"Middle Eastern oilfields are shallow and have high pressure; we must use our 'Beidou geological modeling + hydraulic fracturing' technology to break through!"

Peng Lin told the assembled group.

This was technology Peng Lin had directly obtained using research points within the military industrial research assistance system.

He then began to direct the team in reconstructing the extraction plan on a simulated sand table.

Firstly, Dragon Country's advantage in oilfield extraction was the Beidou precise positioning system.

It could establish a 3D geological model through satellite mapping, controlling drilling trajectory errors to within 0.1 meters, avoiding faults and aquifers.

Secondly, Peng Lin also innovated hydraulic fracturing, using fracturing pumps made of military-grade special steel to inject high-pressure fluid into rock formations, which could increase fracture extension efficiency by 300%, boosting single-well output to 8,000 barrels/day.

Even for high-quality oilfields in Saudi Arabia, with technical cooperation from USA, single-well output was only about 5,000 barrels per day!

In addition, Peng Lin also established an intelligent monitoring system, transplanting "Skynet" data link technology to monitor downhole pressure and temperature data in real time, remotely adjust oil production rates, and compress fault response time from 48 hours to 2 hours!

After a full month of effort, Dragon Country Petroleum Development Company successfully overcame a series of technical difficulties and officially set off for Iraq!

Mid-November 1980.

Yanjing had already entered late autumn.

At the Dragon Country Petroleum Development Company's headquarters, red flags fluttered, and thousands of engineers and tens of thousands of technical workers stood in formation!

Peng Lin stood before a Beidou satellite model and presented the geological exploration manual to the team leader!

"Going to the Persian Gulf, every drop of oil is the lifeblood of national rise!"

"We must extract oil with a military-industrial spirit, forging an energy sword for our motherland!"

Peng Lin solemnly entrusted them.

Behind them, heavy trucks were loaded with fracturing equipment marked "military-to-civilian," and workers caressed drill bits modified from tank armor steel.

This time, Dragon Country would invest all 20 billion USD from Iraq's purchase of Dragon Country's weapons and equipment into oilfield development!

This was arguably Dragon Country's largest foreign investment since its founding!

Therefore, the entire Dragon Country, from top to bottom, treated this investment as a tough battle.

Half an hour later, the convoy drove towards the airport amidst rousing songs and farewell crowds!

In the distance, a formation of J-10 fighters roared overhead, escorting this special "energy force"... Meanwhile, civilian-model cars from various sub-factories within the Changhe system also finally rolled off the production lines, fully equipped.

They were ready to enter the international market!