Chapter 132 - 128 Buy!_1

Rong City, 611 Institute.

On the test runway, the yellow-skinned J-20 experimental aircraft with the number 2101 began taxiing, smoothly taking off propelled by its two Russian-made AL31F engines.

As Chief Designer Yang Wei watched Experimental Aircraft 2101 flying mid-circles, he contemplated the future of the J-20.

Four years ago, the first prototype Aircraft 2001 had its maiden flight.

According to estimates, around next year, the J-20 would enter its initial batch of finalized production and enter service.

But there was another problem with entering service: the engine.

The WS-15 "Emei" engine, designed for the J-20, seemed to be enduringly difficult to produce, not so much because of the technical difficulty but because the specifications were improving.

The current J-20 prototype still used the AL31F, and although the WS-10 was available, it was not yet mature enough.

The WS-10 was a product of twists and turns, initially, China had obtained the design of the American F110 engine and its core machine, then thought they could simply wrap it in a shell and an outer duct, just covering it with the AL31F’s casing would do.

As it turned out, the WS-10 prototype was a disaster, the kind that would expel parts outwards.

After many modifications, the WS-10A finally stabilized somewhat and was used in the J-11 series, but they still didn’t dare to use it in the J-20; losing such a plane would be too painful. Better wait.

However, the mass production models next year would have to use the WS-10A or some other improved version, as using the AL31F in a fourth-generation machine really seemed a bit off.

But right now, Yang Wei wasn’t thinking about the WS-10 or the AL31F, but about Xinyuan Company’s XW-9.

After reaching deep cooperation with Desert Base, Xinyuan suggested that they had no test aircraft for their XW-9 and hoped to borrow a high-speed, high-altitude aircraft from the Air Force to modify and test.

High-speed and high-altitude naturally meant the robust J-8 F, so the military transferred a J-8F from the Rong City Military Region to them.

It turned out that even though the J-8F’s engine was the twin WP-13, which in theory couldn’t fit a turbofan engine with a thrust of more than 10 tons, the XW-9’s volume was just small enough to fit snugly.

When the J-8 F flew to the B-level Base for modification, Yang Wei also received news and parameters of the XW-9, and he was very surprised.

The afterburner thrust was 139KN, or 13.9 tons, which put it on a par with the AL31F, but still behind the improved WS-10C with its 145KN of thrust. Looking only at this point, there was no need to introduce the XW-9.

But the XW-9 was very special; it was designed for high-speed, high-altitude operations, and the engine could support normal operations at an altitude of 33,000 meters at 3.4 times the speed of sound!

33,000 meters, 3.4 times the speed of sound! That’s the double three-three specification!

The SR71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft wasn’t even this fast!

And the by-pass ratio of the XW-9 was very small, it could fit entirely within the body of the J-20.

If the J-20 underwent appropriate modifications to be equipped with two XW-9 engines and optimized for high-speed, high-altitude performance, perhaps a new interceptor/reconnaissance variant could be developed?

Don’t think that speed and altitude aren’t important in modern air combat; with the advantage of stealth fighter jets, coupled with such altitude and speed, they would have a tremendous advantage over their contemporaries.

A few days later, on January 17, 2016, the Laba Festival.

At the B-level Base, a J-8F draped in grey-white, its surface including the cockpit canopy covered with downgraded heat tiles, was preparing to take off on the runway.

The J-8F’s maximum flight speed was only Mach 2.2, and its maximum ceiling was 22,000 meters, a classic double deuce, a second-generation jet.

After the engineers from Xinyuan Company replaced the engines with twin XW-9s and covered the fuselage and joints with hand-cut, heat-resistant tiles, the J-8F’s extreme flight speed was improved.

After all, the purpose was to test the XW-9, so if this J-8F was scrapped, it wouldn’t matter; it was a gift from the Air Force and didn’t cost a penny.

With the acquisition of the SC09, Xinyuan was able to perform various flight tests conveniently. Pilots didn’t have to risk their lives flying to the limits. At worst, they’d only lose a few X32035 tiles. Moreover, they could remove the pilot’s life sustaining system to reduce weight.

At 10 a.m., the modified unmanned J-8F had an empty weight of only 12 tons, but the twin XW-9 engines provided 16 tons of thrust without afterburners, so takeoff was quite aggressive. It went into a steep climb at a high angle of attack, banking on a thrust-to-weight ratio of over one to power through any stall.

With the engines’ support, the J-8F, not adept at low-altitude maneuvers, was able to perform various stunts. The radar station of the Rong City Military Region watched it climb crazily at nearly a 40-degree angle.

During the day, it wasn’t easy to see the XW-9’s tail flame clearly, but the deep blue of the J-8F’s twin-engine nozzles was visible.

On the ground, the head of the aviation engine department watched Wang Xun uncertainly:

"The contraption you’ve modified from the J-8F, you say it can actually fly to Mach 2.8? Don’t crash it on me, this is the suburban area, and twin XW-9s aren’t cheap either."

"Don’t worry, if it were manned, I wouldn’t guarantee it, but unmanned, it definitely can," Wang Xun confidently replied, "I’ve removed most of the structure, and the critical pipes and oil routes have all been reinforced. 26,000 meters, 15 minutes at Mach 2.8, absolutely no problem. It’s just that the temperature inside the airframe will be quite high."

"How high?"

"Around 43 degrees. If it carried people, it wouldn’t be impossible, but they would definitely need to wear a spacesuit and hook up to an air conditioner, otherwise they’d be cooked."

"..."

By this time, the J-8F had already climbed to 23,000 meters, and the twin engines had just started afterburning!

The fuel, in addition to entering the combustion chamber, was also directly sprayed into the engine’s nozzle at the tail. The aerosolized fuel immediately mixed and burned with the high-temperature gases, dramatically increasing thrust.

This 29-year-old veteran reached speeds beyond Mach 2.5 in an instant, turning into a bright blip on the radar, rapidly moving across the screen.

At the Rong City Air Force radar station, the operator saw test craft 82101’s altitude jump from 23,000 meters to 28,000 meters; its speed shot up to Mach 2.93 in just a few minutes!

The ground command center for Xinyuan discovered that the J-8F was still in decent shape at 26,000 meters. The SC09’s body sensors believed it could still accelerate, so ground control simply let go and allowed the SC09 to fly to its limits in the designated airspace.

During the 10 minutes of sustained flight, the J-8F reached a maximum altitude of 30,400 meters and achieved an astonishing maximum speed of Mach 3.02. The temperature in the cockpit hit a high of 65 degrees, triggering alarms for multiple electronic components.

The sonic booms produced by the test flight could be heard all over Rong City, but no one could imagine that the cause of the disturbance was a 30-year-old J-8.

Finally, when the SC09 returned and prepared to land, it was discovered that the front landing gear was jammed due to the high-temperature shield deformation. After several unsuccessful attempts, an emergency landing was the only option.

The two main landing gears touched the ground, skidded for seven or eight hundred meters, then the nose gently lowered until uneven friction caused the aircraft to veer off and plow into the lawn. The wing fuel tanks, already cracked from the high temperatures, were leaking kerosene, which instantly ignited from the friction sparks, causing a huge fire. Fortunately, the fire engines were prepared and quickly moved in to put out the blaze.

When Chief Designer Yang Wei and the leaders of the Rong City Air Force arrived, all they saw was the remarkable J-8F, despondently lying on the grass, a piece of its blackened wing gone, and many heat-resistant tiles fallen off, looking pitiful.

Upon seeing this scene, the leader turned and shook Yang Wei’s hand:

"Such a high-altitude, high-speed aircraft is still very necessary. I am quite certain the Air Force needs an interceptor version of the J-20. Buy it immediately!"