Great Power Industry: You're a private company building an aircraft carrier?

As the C919 passenger plane took off, a group of people sat on makeshift folding seats inside the cabin, discussing something with great interest.

"President Qin, is this your first time riding in an Air Force refueling aircraft?" Air Force leader Qiao asked.

"Hmm." Qin Chuan nodded. The passenger plane project was also an important industry under Laiyang Group. However... like many other projects, once it started, Qin Chuan didn't really manage it. He would give money if needed and help with sales if needed, but he really couldn't help with the technology.

Later, once things were on track, they stopped caring about anything else. Unexpectedly, the Air Force also purchased a large number of them! Moreover, they were converted into aerial refueling tankers!

"The passenger planes produced by your Laiyang Group have excellent performance and high fuel capacity, so we bought a few to use as aerial refueling tankers. When needed, they can also be used as transport planes and passenger planes, making them multi-purpose aircraft."

Aerial refueling aircraft do not take up all the interior space of the cabin, since fuel has a large weight. As long as an extra fuel tank is added in the cargo hold below the passenger cabin and fuel lines are laid, it can be converted into an aerial refueling aircraft. This is what Western countries almost always do.

Meanwhile, since the passenger cabin above remains untouched, it has other uses, such as carrying people or cargo.

It's certainly not as convenient as a dedicated transport plane, but this versatile aircraft is a great choice! It's mainly used for loading cargo, and when loading people, you can simply unfold the folding seats! Even air force leaders use these simple folding seats when they go out.

"Leaders, why don't you get a professional passenger plane? This is too shabby. If you don't have the money, we can send you one," Qin Chuan said.

Everyone was practically sitting on the floor!

"Sigh, the Air Force has limited equipment and is slowly upgrading. Even though we are leaders, we can't make exceptions. Even if you gave us a plane, we'd still have to modify it like this," said Leader Qiao. "Everyone's used to it. Besides, it's much more comfortable in here than the Y-8!"

This is, after all, a modified passenger plane fuselage. It has good sealing, pressurized cabins, and good sound insulation, making it much better than products like the Y-8!

"By the way, how's the development of the Air Force's large transport aircraft going?"

"Well, we're still waiting."

Wait?

"Once the Changjiang-2000 engine developed by your Laiyang Group goes into production, our large transport aircraft will have a reliable power source, and then they will be able to take to the skies."

Waiting for the engine!

The C919 passenger plane uses the Changjiang-1000 engine, and the more powerful Changjiang-2000 engine will be available later. This engine is the most suitable choice for the Y-20!

In fact, there is a big difference between military engines and civilian engines. The former emphasizes power and reliability, while the latter emphasizes fuel consumption and operating costs. In later years, the Y-20 initially used the Russian D-30 engine, and it was only later that it was equipped with a domestically produced engine.

Now, we're just waiting for Laiyang Group's products!

Oh right, at the year-end meeting, they seemed to mention the large passenger aircraft project... It should be coming soon, right? Oh well, I don't want to think about that anymore.

"Leader Qiao, the development of our HQ-19 is progressing quite quickly!"

"That's natural. The international environment is constantly changing, and our daily protests are useless. We still have to have it ourselves! If the Americans want to do it, we have to follow suit!" Leader Qiao said, "Of course, this is also thanks to the abundant reserves of your Laiyang Group..."

Without the technological foundation of Laiyang Group, the development process of the Hongqi 19 would definitely not have been so fast!

“That’s right, we should use a direct collision method. It’s not that easy. A small mistake can lead to a huge disaster!” an officer chimed in.

Within the atmosphere, targets are primarily destroyed by debris. When the warheads of various air-to-air missiles approach the target, they detonate, creating a barrage of bullets in front of the enemy missile. High-speed targets that collide with them are destroyed.

However, this approach won't work when intercepting ballistic missiles.

Ballistic missiles fly at very high speeds, and the barrage may have already passed by before it even forms. Moreover, intercepting ballistic missiles often takes place outside the atmosphere, where the barrage could generate a large amount of space debris. Therefore, direct collision is usually the preferred method. Furthermore, this allows for a significant reduction in the warhead's weight, thereby increasing the missile's range.

To intercept a target traveling at speeds of Mach 10 or higher, the interception requires extremely high precision and reaction speed!

The group discussed their journey, and by the time they arrived at the shooting range, it was already dusk. Several off-road vehicles drove up and took everyone across the Gobi Desert. After another two hours, they finally reached their destination.

The four-axle launcher is ready. At the rear, the launch tubes for six missiles are erected, pointing towards the sky. On the side, a huge phased array radar has been deployed, facing the direction from which the target is flying.

Various support vehicles were also in place, and missile soldiers in camouflage uniforms and engineers from the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation in work clothes were all busy.

"You kid, when you proposed to the Navy to develop a new universal vertical launch system, with a length of nine meters and a diameter of 850 millimeters, it was to make room for various future weapons, right?" Leader Qiao suddenly thought of something and said.

If it's just a regular vertical launch system that meets the launch requirements of the HQ-9, then no other missiles can be loaded! Like the HQ-19 right now!

This missile is not large in diameter, and even looks thinner than the HQ-9, but it is longer!

The missile consists of a two-stage solid rocket motor and a kinetic kill vehicle, with a total length of 8.5 meters. Due to the cold launch method, there is also a half-meter space below to accommodate the high-pressure gas generator and baffles, etc. The total length of the entire launch tube is exactly nine meters!

"Yes, naval warships have long service lives and it's not convenient to modify them in the middle, so of course we have to make reservations in advance. However, it's not specifically reserved for missiles, but mainly for various offensive weapons."

Qin Chuan was quite frank: "It was reserved for this purpose! Various supersonic anti-ship missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, etc., are all very large. Without a large vertical launch system, they simply wouldn't fit!"

This world is still a dog-eat-dog world. All sorts of scoundrels and thugs will always think we are easy to bully and will come to our door to provoke us from time to time. No matter how many times we protest, it's useless. Why don't we send our Type 055 destroyers over there and conduct an exercise or a live-fire exercise around them? These guys will behave themselves.

Of the three branches of the armed forces—army, navy, and air force—Qin Chuan actually values ​​the development of the navy. After all… if we want to go global, we still have to rely on the navy!

"Get ready in thirty minutes!" Just then, a voice rang out.

The interception is finally about to begin!

"By the way, what's a target missile?"

"A Dongfeng-3 missile that is about to be retired."