Chapter 149 - 145: New Observations on Defense_1

CCAV-4, Defense News Watch.

Host: "Welcome to today’s Defense News Watch. I’m Li Li."

On the other end of the sofa, today’s special guest, Zhang Juzuo, also greeted the camera.

"Hello, everyone, and hello, host. I’m Zhang Juzuo."

Host: "Zhang Juzuo, a couple of days ago we saw a piece of news that a privately-owned Chinese company independently developed a super large giant transport aircraft and successfully completed its maiden flight—many netizens were excited about it. What are your thoughts on this?"

Juzuo: "This aircraft, officially called the An-1250, was designed by a Tatar named Androff—who’s now one of our Chinese people. This plane they’ve designed is enormous; both its length and wingspan have reached 1.5 times that of the An-225, previously the world’s largest transport aircraft. The takeoff weight has even doubled to 1250 tons, which is astonishing in the entire history of human aviation."

Host: "Such a large aircraft, what is it used for?"

Juzuo: "The aircraft is definitely used for transporting goods, and as we know, New Yuan Aerospace Propulsion Company is an aerospace enterprise. According to them, this aircraft is for carrying rockets and spacecraft. For instance, we’ve seen the H1 space plane before, like the ’Unity,’ which was transported by Il-76, and also the New Yuan-2 rocket, etc.—all transported by aircraft. There are plenty of pictures online."

Host: "So they’re going to use the An-1250 to transport rockets even bigger than these heavy rockets, and they specifically built two aircraft for this purpose?"

Juzuo: "Aviation and space exploration are inseparable. Just look at America’s aviation heavies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Rockdain among others. They’re most famous for their aircraft, but actually, they also contract for the American military’s missiles. So the intersection between aviation and aerospace is very deep; crossing over doesn’t really count as crossing lines."

Host: "Before the An-1250, the largest aircraft developed by our country autonomously was the Y-20 transport aircraft, with a payload of 66 tons. Now the An-1250’s payload has reached six times that of the Y-20. Does this imply that the military is also in great need of such a transport aircraft?"

Juzuo (voice beginning to mumble): "Whether it’s needed or not depends on the requirements. For example, the Y-20 was designed to transport a main battle tank, but theoretically, of course, the greater the transport capacity, the better."

Host: "According to the data that has been released, the An-1250 is very large in both length and width. Does this mean that most airports cannot accommodate its takeoff and landing?"

Juzuo (becoming serious): "Actually, this isn’t a problem. The majority of major airports can handle the An-1250’s takeoff and landing. It’s just that there are some logistical issues. Even if it’s over 100 meters wide, if an airport can handle the An-225, it can basically handle the An-1250 without a problem."

Host: "So does this mean that the An-1250 has a very broad range of applications?"

Juzuo: "Yes, many items that have time restrictions but can’t be air-shipped due to size and weight can now be transported by the An-1250, and usually, such customers don’t mind the bit of extra shipping cost.

For example, heavy construction machinery and so on... haha."

...

For the Chinese people, the impact of the An-1250 was not any less than the J-20’s maiden flight in 2011.

Especially among aviation enthusiasts—countless went from watching test flights at the 611 base to flocking to the B-level Base’s airport.

And there’s no need to lurk around; the J-20 disappears after a few flights in the sky, whereas the An-1250, with its huge size and without being a fighter jet flying at high altitudes, can be clearly captured even from a great distance by any remotely decent camera.

Within a week of the 4043 unit completing its first flight, the 4143 unit also made its maiden flight. Then, both aircraft would come out to fly a few laps now and then. During this period, you could see crowds standing on the open ground in New Yuan City, and the roar of the eight XW-30 engines could occasionally be heard.

When an aviation enthusiast first uploaded the clearest images of the An-1250 to the NGA forum, many ridiculed it as a doctored video, pointing out many obvious flaws.

But once officially confirmed, that post overnight received tens of thousands of replies, and the An-1250 became the new darling of the domestic aviation board.

Not just domestically, but many foreign aviation enthusiasts were also very excited. These guys, not short of money, bought plane tickets overnight to come and shoot the material.

And since quite a few people were there on paid assignments, they took their time and filmed meticulously.

For this record-breaking, twice-the-size-of-the-An-225 super transport aircraft, major aviation companies around the world expressed intense interest and shock.

New Yuan Aerospace Power, just listen to your name. You’re a space enterprise, not an aviation enterprise—you can’t be crossing into competition!

The An-1250, of course, has no impact on Boeing or Airbus in terms of product competition, but it signifies that New Yuan also possesses quite formidable technical strength in the field of aviation.

Those massive wing beams had Boeing’s engineers just taking one look and shaking their heads continually, saying it was impossible.

For such large components, traditional methods require either a 10,000-ton forge press or vacuum electron beam welding to withstand that strength, and it’s extremely difficult. The processing of just this wing spar would take no less than three months, and that’s fraught with troubles.

He had no idea about the 3D printing framework technology at the New Yuan base, and even within China, only a handful of insiders were aware of this processing technology.

3D printing of aircraft bodies is not unfamiliar in China; in 2006, Airworthiness Manufacture applied 3D printing technology to manufacture the main frame of the J-20, which fully met the required strength and its efficiency far outpaced traditional forging and pressing methods.

So, while New Yuan’s 3D printing technology was outrageous, they at least could accept it.

It was even more shocking for engine manufacturers like General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce. They had no idea how such a high-thrust engine as the XW-30 could have been developed and matured so rapidly upon seeing its preliminary data.

Copying was out of the question, even though General Electric and Rolls-Royce had models with similar thrust levels, a glance would tell anyone that it definitely wasn’t due to leaked secrets or replication.

Aviation engine development is tricky; take the Union’s 156 assistance project to China, for example, where despite providing complete technical data, experts, and hands-on instruction, it was still fraught with difficulties. It’s not as simple as reproducing something from leaked information.

The An-1250 was like a puzzle, seemingly full of issues, but upon closer inspection, the exact problems were unclear.

After all, the real thing was there, and New Yuan had already launched the XW-9 and XW-10 engines at last year’s air show; they can’t be said to have appeared out of thin air.

But, but... it was just like with the several aircraft design institutes in China: full of "buts," yet with no understanding.

However, the general public didn’t need to understand.

Nowadays, people’s curiosity about large aircraft far outweighs any annoyance caused by the noise. Many people visited with their entire families, and photographers, aviation enthusiasts, and intel buffs from all over gathered around, pushing New Yuan City’s tourism economy to new heights.

The leaders of Sichuan Province also made frequent rounds in the vicinity of New Yuan City under the pretext of inspections, with a particular fondness for watching the An-1250.

This was the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world, and a vast majority of its suppliers were based in Sichuan!

It was only on the day of the An-1250’s official maiden flight that many companies had the epiphany – they had actually participated in such a kick-ass project.

Consequently, many local print shops in Sichuan suddenly began offering services like making signs that read "An-1250 Giant Transport Aircraft Component Partner Supplier," to hang prominently at the factory to advertise to their heart’s content.

Unlike military aircraft, the An-1250 was purely a commercial project, not subject to any confidentiality restrictions, and could be freely advertised.

The ones with mixed feelings about the An-1250 were the global aircraft design and manufacturing firms.

The Antonov Aerospace Science and Technology Consortium, for a pittance, reportedly was preparing materials to sue over the An-1250’s infringement of the An-225’s rights.

Although the An-1250 did indeed look like a scaled-up version of the An-225, anyone in aviation knew this thing wasn’t a knock-off – at most, it could be considered a reference.

Aerodynamics is a science completely dependent on "blowing," and there’s no such thing as infringement in terms of aerodynamic shapes, because it’s impossible to copy; it can only be said they chose the same technical path.

The Antonov Design Bureau was well aware of this, they just wanted to shake down New Yuan, and incidentally ride the wave of attention to attract interest to complete the second An-225.

New Yuan was not Kiev; backed by the world’s leading industrial nation, possessing a complete industrial chain, they could build a thousand An-1250s if they wanted, with no concept of exclusivity, free to use and abuse, replacing any that wore out, not needing to handle with the same care as the An-225.

Therefore, the Antonov Design Bureau was quite envious of Androff, a fellow Russian who shared a name with Konstantinov Antonov, for having such a place to showcase his talents.

The scientific community in China also had a significant reaction: Androff and several deputy chief designers of the An-1250 project were internally decided to receive this year’s Science and Technology Progress Award, and there was a tendency to appoint them as members of the Engineering Academy, even though they were outside the system.

After all, the potential uses for the An-1250 were immense.

Even though Lin Ju disclosed that the cost was close to 5 billion Yuan, people realized that in areas with difficult road access like the highlands, air transport was likely more efficient and possibly more cost-effective than land transport.

With the An-1250’s capability to carry 360 tons in its cargo hold and 500 tons on its back, and fast delivery, it was vitally important for military use.

Many parts of China had similar needs, such as the power grid and emergency response services, so even though the An-1250 wasn’t created for commercial purposes, it attracted a considerable number of orders as soon as it made its appearance.