Chapter 166 - 162 Transport 35_1

"The world’s number one rocket is impressive, isn’t it?"

"Extremely impressive. The commotion felt exaggerated even on television."

"Do you know why I’m seeking you out?"

"No idea."

In a Chang’an restaurant, Tao Changhong sat opposite Li Xi, one being the Chief Designer of Yun-20, and the other the CZ-5 Chief Designer, facing each other.

Li Xi said, "The New Yuan-2A with its three 6-meter diameter booster bodies was transported in one go by the An-1250. Design one yourself. No need to carry three, just one 6-meter diameter booster body will do."

Tao Changhong replied, "You’re in Jingu, just ship by sea directly, why would you need air transport?"

"..."

It was a joke. Li Xi had no authority to demand Tao Changhong to design planes; they had simply bumped into each other and struck up a conversation.

Tao Changhong’s Institute 603 was located in Chang’an, and Li Xi was there to check out the specific parameters of the YF135 at the sixth institute’s base in Chang’an. Then on a whim, he wondered if the Aerospace Bureau could also use air transport. During a technical exchange, he ran into Tao Changhong. Both had previously attended the New Yuan-2A launch, and as friends, they sat down for a chat.

The significance of New Yuan-2A was immense, and the CBC configuration was so intriguing that it made people momentarily overlook it. The Aerospace Bureau had sent many people to witness the inaugural launch.

Tao Changhong also went, but it was by chance; he was there to see the An-1250.

The An-1250 landed on the runway of the Xinyuan Launch Site. Although it wasn’t a commercial airport, the surrounding airspace was specially cleared.

There was no choice; the An-1250 was so massive that even the control tower looked upon it with trepidation.

During the flight to Qiongzhou, flight B4043 temporarily passed a flight path intersection. To avoid the busy air route, it descended a bit and was captured on camera by passengers of a passerby commercial flight.

Despite maintaining a distance of over 7,000 meters, the An-1250’s huge frame could not be hidden, causing exclamations from the passengers on the plane.

Upon arriving in Qiongzhou, two J-11Bs returning from training joined the An-1250 for a brief escort. One J-11BS took a picture of the other J-11BS alongside the An-1250.

Back at the base, everyone was amazed; the 21-meter-long J-11B seemed shorter than the An-1250’s main wings—a mere speck in comparison.

After all, the J-11B was known for being a massive aircraft!

Tao Changhong had a look at the An-1250’s cargo landing posture and felt somewhat despairing in his heart.

"How do you even build such a huge plane?"

After the An-1250’s debut, the leaders of Institute 603 immediately set their sights on the XW-30 engine, with its 33-ton thrust, which would provide more than enough power for two engines for the Yun-20.

If they had those four engines to work with, they could build an ultra-large transport aircraft with a takeoff weight exceeding 600 tons, essentially on the level of the An-225.

It could nearly carry 280 tons of cargo, at least three Type 99A tanks, directly meeting the future military’s every requirement.

Additionally, the wing spar structure of the An-1250 was enviable, capable of bearing nearly a thousand tons of load. The structural engineer must have been a genius.

It was clear that the New Yuan Spaceflight Company was not foreign. Since they could produce the XW-30 domestically, there were absolutely no purchase restrictions. They could buy as many as they wanted within China, and the persistent heartache problem that had troubled everyone was gone.

So, the leaders of Institute 603 stabilized the military first, asking them not to hurry to purchase An-1250s, at least not in such large quantities. Let Institute 603 build a few large aircraft instead, guaranteeing to surpass the Yun-20 in size.

The military immediately laid out new requirements, insisting that the new large transport aircraft must be able to take off and land at airfields where the Yun-20 could land, carry at least three Type 99A main battle tanks—meaning a load capacity of no less than 200 tons—and also meet structural strength standards.

Tao Changhong looked at the indicator and thought to himself, this is pretty much the An-225.

Since the Yun-20 can take off and land at the same airports, the An-225 almost can too, and its configuration is also quite good. It’s perfect for use, and it also avoids the risk of aerodynamic shape.

After all, it’s a transport plane; it doesn’t need to be agile.

Just that the Antonov Design Bureau might have some opinions. First, their An-1250 was copied, and now Xifei wants to copy it too. Can they switch to a different sheep for wool?

But internally at the 603 Institute, the super-large transport aircraft project codenamed Yun-35 had already been established.

The maximum takeoff weight was 650 tons, with a maximum payload of 270 tons in the cargo hold, which measured 6.4 meters by 5.2 meters and was 46 meters long. It was equipped with four XW-30 engines, each providing a maximum thrust of 132 tons.

Essentially, it was a four-engine version of the An-225, but with a slightly larger cargo hold and a strengthened structure capable of accommodating three 99A main battle tanks, which is one tank platoon.

Fitting one more tank was possible by weight, but the cargo hold might not be strong enough. However, stuffing a few armored vehicles in there was feasible and complemented the design nicely.

The air force leadership had already promised that as long as the cost didn’t exceed 2 billion per unit, they would initially procure 20 aircraft.

Its capacity was more than triple that of the Yun-20, yet the price was less than triple, so what the air force really wanted was to increase the quantity without raising the price.

The reason for the designation of Yun-35 was because the codename Yun-30 was preempted for a medium-sized transport plane, and the Yun-40 codename was planned for the An-1250, so the 603 Institute just called their new plane Yun-35.

In reality, the performance of the Yun-35 was even better than the An-225. The four XW-30 engines had a maximum fuel consumption of only around 13 tons per hour, while at its maximum, the An-225 could reach 16 tons. With the same fuel quantity, the Yun-35 could fly 25% farther than the An-225.

The preliminary plan for the Yun-35 was to complete the prototype’s first flight within 3 years. Don’t ask why the timeframe was so short; the superiors had already seen the An-1250 take off and had originally given two years for the Yun-35 project. After scolding the 603 Institute, they extended it to three years.

Three years wasn’t really that short considering the engines were already available, which could save countless time for the design of a domestic aircraft when not having to wait for the engines.

There was also a potential factor: if there were insurmountable problems during the design of the Yun-35, they could, as a last resort, swallow their pride and seek help from New Yuan Aeronautics. After all, they were a domestic company, and obtaining technical support was not impossible—there would just be a price to pay.

However, Tao Changhong was now somewhat conflicted about which codename to use for the Yun-35. Initially, he had high hopes for the Yun-20 and had given it the name "Kunpeng," but this title seemed more fitting for the Yun-35...

While Xifei was concerned about the Yun-35, Shandong Aviation also faced a dilemma with the Airborne Warning and Control System—1000 (AWACS-1000).

The AWACS, as an essential command platform in modern warfare, essentially a flying radar station.

China’s radar technology was quite advanced, leading the world, but the carrier aircraft was another story.

Initially, they had purchased the Il-76 from Russia, creating the Airborne Warning and Control System 2000, which performed well. However, buying the Il-76 was inconvenient, and after four units, the production stopped.

In 2012, the AWACS-500 had its first flight.

The AWACS-500’s carrier aircraft was the Yun-8, a four-engine turboprop medium transport plane, chosen simply because there were no other options. In reality, the platform not only had poor flight performance but also had questionable safety. The Yun-8 was a descendant of Russia’s An-12 transport plane, a relic from the 1950s.

Shandong Aviation had initially planned to use the mature Yun-20 to develop a new AWACS model, but now they had other ideas.

They set their sights on the C832 wide-body airliner with plans to base the AWACS-1000 on it.

For an AWACS, the most critical aspect is the large "dish" on its back, meaning the radar, which is very heavy and power-hungry, demanding the aircraft provide a large power output.

Ordinary military planes require special modifications, but commercial airliners are different. They naturally have high power output and can be used almost without any modification.

Furthermore, one of the key features of commercial airliners is that they are quiet and stable, which allows radio operators to work undisturbed, in contrast to military transport planes that are so loud operators must wear noise-cancelling headphones.

The advantages of a passenger plane also include fuel efficiency, a longer airborne time with minimal need for maintenance. The C832 could easily remain in the air for 24 hours, providing a significant boost for AWACS control and operations.