Chapter 752 - 725 Doubts

Moscow, Pushkin International Airport.

A Y-20 aircraft gradually approached from afar, its warm airflow dispersing the snowflakes condensed on the runway, taxiing to the end before turning towards an apron prepared solely for it.

As its tailgate opened, the impatient Evgeny Mikrin, along with a forklift, entered the cargo bay and saw two huge wooden boxes wrapped tightly.

He opened the easily removable side panel and immediately saw the metal products wrapped in foam paper, and could not help but exclaim:

"Harasho."

"Chief Designer Miklin, please inspect these two engines, and feel free to contact us if there are any issues."

The crew that came with the transport plane handed over a checklist, Miklin signed his name on it without even looking.

In the column for materials, it read: "H240."

These were two Long March 18 engines of the same high-performance hydrogen-oxygen model, with a maximum sea level thrust of 280 tons, and a vacuum thrust of over 330 tons, the world’s most advanced liquid rocket engines.

Without a doubt, these were the two engines sold to the RKA—Russia had purchased two rocket engines from China!

As Miklin admired this work of art-like masterpiece, a figure also appeared at the rear cargo door, speaking nonchalantly:

"Chief Designer Evgeny, the president has approved the engine import request, hoping that you can speed things up; the ’Hurricane’ project is progressing too slowly."

"Afzalov, if OKB-154 could give me the RD0120, the ’Hurricane’ would already be preparing for launch!"

The newcomer was in military uniform; he was Viktor Afzalov, now Deputy Commander of the Space Force, Chief of the General Staff, with his shiny bald head quite conspicuous.

Afzalov: "OKB-154 is virtually defunct, and whether it’s machinery or personnel, it’s hard for us to make up the numbers, I apologize."

Since the start of the ’Hurricane’ project, the Zenith Booster progressed the fastest, the core stage’s 8-meter diameter reusable rocket body, wings, and other parts also steadily advanced, but the key RD0120 engine was a disaster.

The newly reconstituted OKB-154 hadn’t achieved anything in a year, all prototypes made were completely unqualified, the longest test run didn’t exceed 30 seconds before exploding, and many of the processes also failed to meet requirements, so they entered a state of deterioration.

And Russia had not been able to achieve a breakthrough in vertical landing technology, under the stimulation of the Dawn Project, they eventually took Chief Designer Miklin’s advice, replacing the original four RD0120s with two H240 engines, and sent a procurement intent to China.

The other side didn’t make it difficult at all, they extracted two packaged engines from the warehouse after the payment, and within less than a week, delivered them to Moscow.

To China, these two engines were only sold for tens of millions of US dollars, but the RKA really bled money for them, relying entirely on extra subsidies from the president.

"Rest assured, with these two engines, I will do my best to assemble the first ’Hurricane’ within six months."

Miklin was still delighted with the arrival of the H240, these two engines even made him place more emphasis on the ’Hurricane’s reliability, as destroying these two engines would be too much of a waste.

He lingered around the two wooden boxes for a while, only realizing Afzalov was still standing in the same spot when the forklift began to move, finally asking:

"General, is there anything else you need from me?"

"My dear Evgeny, there are some things I’d like to ask you."

Viktor Afzalov led him to his own car and gestured for him to enter. Miklin was somewhat surprised when he saw the luxury interior as the car door slowly opened outward and by the Chinese characters he found that it was a car from China, it seemed to be an electric car as well.

After climbing into the business vehicle’s rear aviation seat, the leg rest and backrest immediately adjusted automatically, moving into the most comfortable position.

Afzalov took a seat beside him in the same manner, instructed the driver to head towards the hotel, and minutely adjusted the orientation of their seats so that they could see each other without having to turn their heads.

"A Xin’an custom business vehicle, designed especially for the cold climate of northern Europe. A batch has recently been shipped here in reverse. Mr. Miklin, I will provide you with one as well."

Miklin wanted to refuse, but the unprecedented comfort made him tacitly consent, and he spoke with a stern face, "General, there’s not much an old man like me can help you with, as you know there’s not much to gain with the RKA."

"Hahaha, I only want to ask you some questions, and it’s official business, related to national affairs. Do you know that Chinese People have established a Space Force?"

"I have some impression of it."

"Then you should be aware that they have incorporated the ’March’ and another spaceship called ’Enterprise’ into the Space Force, establishing the first independent military branch in space!"

Miklin nodded, but in reality, he wasn’t very familiar and could only ponder and say, "If you are asking about their threat potential, I don’t think those two things have much actual offensive capability."

"Why is that?"

"Their structures are fundamentally unsuitable for use as combat weapons. What can be installed on them are nothing more than nuclear weapons, kinetic weapons, and laser weapons, but there’s simply no need for that; the cost-effectiveness ratio is extremely low.

If you’re worried that this will change the balance of power, I would say there’s no need."

Miklin’s attitude did not alleviate Afzalov’s confusion:

"However, I understand the Chinese, they never act without aim, there must be some purpose that we’re unaware of. Russia and America both allow their air forces to manage space; there must be a reason for their actions."

"General, even if there is, it’ll be something for the far future. By then, we surely will have the time to understand. There’s no need to worry for the next few years. Also, is this button for the massage function? Why doesn’t it work when I press it?"

"Oh, you have to press here first... wait, if Russia were also to form a space combat force, what would be your advice?"

Miklin: "It would surely be Staike-DM. It is a pity about the loss of the ’Aurora’. I don’t know if there is a backup, but I think someone would have properly preserved those precious technologies.

Of course, I am not a laser expert, but only the ’Hurricane’ can fire it; I would be very happy if you decide to revive Staike-DM."

Afzalov was not surprised; Staike-DM indeed was the peak application outcome of Russian frontline physics, although it had been dormant for nearly thirty years and was still top-secret, requiring even him to apply for access.

Over all these years, during Russia’s most difficult times, it had even considered selling nuclear submarines, but he had never heard of anyone attempting to exploit Staike-DM. It might be Russia’s last card, still ahead of the world after decades.

Lately, the Russian leadership had sensed some unusual developments. The Chinese suddenly and ostentatiously started forming a Space Force and had contact with America, prompting easy speculations.

The key fact that America was also cooperating with United Mining was even more unsettling.

However, Afzalov didn’t consider it a significant issue. International situations usually have a cause and an effect, and he couldn’t think of anything in the current state of affairs that could lead to a major change.