131: Chapter 131 Trio. Wings of Steel

December 14, 2018, 4:37 AM.

The No. 17 Final Assembly Workshop of Xingchen Military Industry in Songshan Lake, Guancheng, was brightly lit, its heavy electric doors exhaling white mist into the cold wind. Lin Hao took off his glasses and wiped the condensed mist from the lenses with his cuff; when he put them back on, the scene before him still felt somewhat surreal.

The thirty-meter-long fuselage of the improved J-20 lay quietly on the assembly rack, its silver-gray skin gleaming coldly under the industrial lighting. But what truly made his heart race were the brand-new wings that had just been installed on both sides of the fuselage—made of a metal-matrix composite material provided by Spark Materials, code-named "Xuanjia."

"Team Leader Lin, the last wing panel has been fastened." Xiao Zhang, a technician in deep blue overalls, came down from the lift, his voice carrying the exhaustion that follows excitement. "Twelve hours of continuous operation, and all thirty-seven connection points have met the process standards."

Lin Hao did not answer immediately. He approached the fuselage and reached out to gently touch the wing's surface. The touch was cold and smooth, completely different from the texture of traditional aviation aluminum alloys. This composite material, named "Xinghui-3" by Spark Materials, has a density only 65% of aluminum alloy, but its tensile strength is 2.3 times higher.

"Are the wind tunnel test results out?" Lin Hao asked.

"They were just transmitted." Assistant Engineer Xiao Zhao ran over holding a tablet, the curves on the screen's charts looking dazzling. "Team Leader, see for yourself."

Lin Hao took the tablet, his fingers sliding across the screen. His breathing gradually became heavy.

Weight reduction: 15.7%.

Maximum load factor increased to +12.5G/-6G.

Radar cross-section (RCS) reduced by another 0.8 orders of magnitude compared to the prototype.

Stealth coating adhesion test: Passed 1.7 times the US military standard MIL-C-48497.

"This is practically cheating..." Lin Hao muttered to himself, his voice so soft only he could hear.

"What?" Xiao Zhao didn't hear clearly.

"I said," Lin Hao looked up, his eyes bloodshot but shining, "this thing will make the designers at Lockheed Martin lose sleep."

A sudden burst of cheering erupted from the other side of the workshop. Lin Hao turned to look; that was the UAV assembly area. The first demonstrator for the new "Shadow Blade" high-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance UAV had just completed its final assembly. Unlike the J-20, the "Shadow Blade" used an all-composite fuselage, and the entire structure's weight was 22% lighter than the design target.

"Team Leader Lin!" Old Chen, the head of the UAV project, shouted from across the workshop, waving a data sheet. "Endurance time! Guess how much?"

"Wasn't the design target 30 hours?"

"36 hours and 42 minutes! And that's with a full load of reconnaissance equipment!" Old Chen's voice was hoarse with excitement. "This is just an extrapolation from ground tests! The actual flight might break 40 hours!"

The entire workshop boiled over. The engineers, who had been working continuously for over twenty hours, were not sleepy at all; some slapped their workbenches, while others hugged each other. They knew what this meant—a strategic reconnaissance capability on the level of the "global hawk," but with less than one-third of its operating cost and radar signature.

Lin Hao walked to a corner of the workshop and took out his phone. According to regulations, mobile communication devices were not allowed in this area, but he had special authorization. He dialed Wu Yi's number.

The phone rang three times before being picked up.

"Engineer Lin? Calling at this hour, is there good news?" Wu Yi's voice was clear; he obviously hadn't slept either.

"Mr. Wu, the wind tunnel data is out." Lin Hao tried his best to keep his voice calm, but the end of his sentence still trembled slightly. "This material of yours... it's not just good, it's terrifying."

There was a two-second silence on the other end: "Tell me the specifics."

"For the improved J-20, the 'Xuanlong' project, the original performance improvement target was 8%-12%. Now, preliminary data shows that the comprehensive performance improvement is in the 18%-25% range." Lin Hao paused. "Mr. Wu, this isn't an incremental improvement; this is a generational leap. When the 'Xuanlong' faces the F-22 and F-35, it will have an asymmetric advantage."

"What about the UAV?"

"The endurance data for the 'Shadow Blade' will make America's Air Force Staff hold an emergency meeting." Lin Hao glanced at the still-cheering UAV team. "I only have one question now—can your mass production capacity keep up?"

Wu Yi laughed on the other end, his laughter filled with exhaustion and satisfaction. "Three days ago, I was asking myself the same question. But now, we have four cities queuing up to build industrial parks for us."

"Four?"

"Chengdu, Xian, Wuhan, and Zhengzhou. Their representatives are currently staying in hotels near my company, waiting for daybreak to visit." Wu Yi paused. "Engineer Lin, report how much material you need. It's not you pressing me now; it's me pressing production."

Lin Hao did a quick mental calculation. "The first batch of 'Xuanlong' improvements needs 12 shipsets of matching materials, about 85 tons. The first batch of 24 'Shadow Blade' aircraft needs 67 tons. This is the volume for the first three months of next year."

"152 tons... three months..." Wu Yi seemed to be taking notes. "No problem. But I must remind you, this data is now a state top secret. All test records are to be handled according to the highest security classification."

"Understood." Lin Hao lowered his voice. "But the truth will eventually come out. With such a massive leap in performance, someone will notice soon."

"Then let them notice." Wu Yi's tone suddenly became sharp. "Sometimes, flexing muscles is more useful than hiding strength. By the way, Hongqi Automobile will receive the first batch of civilian-grade materials today; keep an eye on the crash test results."

"Civilian? So soon?"

"Military-to-civilian technology transfer—this is President Su's strategy. We want our opponents to fight on two fronts—they won't be able to catch up in the military field, and we've already begun eroding the civilian market."

The call ended. Lin Hao watched his phone screen go dark, then looked at the "Xuanlong" in the workshop that was being given a new life. Morning light began to seep through the high windows of the workshop, intertwining with the industrial lighting. This night was about to pass, but something was just beginning.

At the same time, 300 kilometers away, at the Tianjin Hongqi Automobile Technology Center.

Zhou Jianjun, the director of the crash laboratory, stared at the monitor, the coffee in his hand already cold. In the center of the laboratory, the frame of an H8 mid-size sedan was being slowly hoisted onto the test platform. Unlike the mass-produced version, the B-pillars, sill beams, and some chassis structural components of this test car used high-performance engineering plastic composite materials provided by Spark Materials.

"Director Zhou, all sensors have been calibrated."

"Camera system?"

"All sixteen high-speed positions are ready, with a frame rate of 2000 per second."

"Dummy data link?"

"All clear, vital signs monitoring is normal."

Zhou Jianjun took a deep breath. "Start the countdown."

"Ten, nine, eight..."

He remembered the scene when he received this task three days ago. The Group's Vice President of Technology had called personally: "Old Zhou, this batch of materials comes from the military industry system, and the parameters are ridiculously high. But what we want isn't parameters; it's actual performance. If the test passes, the next generation of H8 will fully apply it, which might be Red Flag's opportunity to return to the first rank of the B-segment market."

"...three, two, one! Launch!"

The traction system released, and the test car crashed into the rigid barrier at 64 kilometers per hour. Time was stretched by the high-speed cameras—the front end crumpled, the engine compartment moved backward, and the A-pillars began to take the load...

Zhou Jianjun's eyes were fixed on the B-pillar area.

In an offset collision at this speed, the bending deformation of a traditional steel B-pillar would usually be in the 120-150 millimeter range. But the sensor data transmitted back in real-time on the screen showed:

23 milliseconds: Impact occurs

45 milliseconds: Peak acceleration reaches 38G

78 milliseconds: B-pillar deformation 37 millimeters

112 milliseconds: Deformation stabilizes at 41 millimeters

"How much?" Zhou Jianjun thought he had misread it.

"41 millimeters! Director, only 41 millimeters!" The data analyst's voice was trembling. "And the load distribution is uniform, with no signs of localized tearing!"

The crash ended, and the rescue team moved forward quickly. But their job became exceptionally simple—the car doors opened normally without any jamming. The data from the Hybrid III dummy installed in the car was being synchronized to the main control console.

"Head Injury Criterion (HIC): 287, far below the limit of 650."

"Chest compression: 22 millimeters, limit 75."

"Femur force: 1.8 kilonewtons, limit 10."

Zhou Jianjun took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes hard. He had presided over crash tests for seventeen years and had never seen such data. This was no longer just meeting standards; this was redefining the standard of "safety."

"What's the vehicle weight?" he asked.

"It's 8.3% lighter than an equivalent steel structure design, with a rigidity increase of over 50%." The materials engineer pulled up the comparison data. "And this is only the first-generation material. The people at Xinghuo said that if they use their second-generation formula, the weight can be reduced by another 5%."

Zhou Jianjun walked to the wreckage, knelt down, and touched the B-pillar. There were only fine cracks on the surface of the composite material, and the overall structure was as intact as ever. He took out his phone, snapped a few photos, and then dialed the Group's Marketing Director.

"Manager Zhang, the test is over."

"How was it?"

"You'd better come and see for yourself." Zhou Jianjun paused. "Also, you can start planning the advertising campaign for 'Military Technology for Civilian Use.' It's not a gimmick; it's a true strike from a higher dimension."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. "Send me the data. No, I'm coming over right now."

Hanging up, Zhou Jianjun looked at the busy team in the laboratory. Some were shouting "historical data," others were hugging. He knew that after tonight, the safety standards of Huaxia's automotive industry would be rewritten. And all of this began with a new material.

Morning light spilled through the laboratory's skylight, shining on that damaged but still intact test car. Zhou Jianjun suddenly realized that this was not just a victory for materials, but a signal—the competition in high-end manufacturing had entered a new dimension.