Chapter 930: Chinese Apache, Stirring up the Storm

As the two most prestigious military helicopters in active service in the United States, Black Hawk and Apache are active in local conflicts along with Uncle Sam.

When developing the Kunpeng heavy transport helicopter, Cao Yang also arranged personnel to benchmark Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopter and develop a multi-purpose armed helicopter belonging to Venusstar Technology.

However, as Venusstar Technology moves towards more military products, products like Black Hawk are no longer good enough.

"Mr. Cao, the relevant department has proposed to us that Venusstar Technology can benchmark Apache to develop a professional armed helicopter."

"I think for the company, it is not a big problem to develop a professional armed helicopter based on existing technology."

Zhao Siyu brought several core technical personnel to report the planning of new products to Cao Yang in the conference room.

As Venusstar Technology's communication with relevant departments became smoother and smoother, various needs also appeared directly in front of Venusstar Technology.

The largest consumer of military products must be China, so Zhao Siyu thinks that the demands of relevant departments should be fully valued.

Otherwise, he would not have arranged this report specifically.

"Can't the Black Hawk helicopter also be used as an armed helicopter?"

Although Venustech had thought about integrating some of the Apache's functions into the Black Hawk before.

But it is different from a professional armed helicopter after all.

Cao Yang actually understood this in his heart, but he was a little worried that when the new product is developed, it would lead to a lack of sales for the product developed to match the Black Hawk helicopter.

After all, it is almost developed, and it would be a pity to give up directly.

"The Black Hawk and Apache are undoubtedly two excellent helicopters, but there are still relatively large differences between the two helicopters."

Zhao Siyu opened the PPT and prepared to introduce the relevant situation.

"First, the Black Hawk helicopter is more of a multi-purpose armed helicopter. Although the Black Hawk helicopter can also use the equipment of the Minigun, Hellfire, and 70mm rocket launcher, it does not have a HUD, which means that the Black Hawk helicopter does not have the ability to mount combat missiles. In addition, the Black Hawk helicopter does not have the big mushroom on the top of the rotor of the attack helicopter, and its perspective of unknown battlefields and airspace is not as good as that of the Apache."

"Secondly, the Black Hawk and Apache also have a big difference in the design of the cabin. The cabin of the Black Hawk helicopter is a typical bread-shaped cabin, and it is equipped with a sliding door for special Soldiers board the aircraft, and the Black Hawk's cabin is divided into two parts: driving and carrying, so the Black Hawk helicopter's cabin is very similar to a van. "

"The Apache helicopter is an obvious independent double-side-by-side cockpit design. There is no carrying space behind the cockpit. Instead, it is replaced by a large general turboshaft engine and more fuel. "

"And from the appearance, it can be seen that the Apache does not need to consider the capacity, so the front area and resistance are obviously lower than the Black Hawk with a thicker cabin. "

Accompanied by the page-by-page PPT introduction, Cao Yang has a more intuitive understanding of the difference between the two products.

I always thought that the Black Hawk in the movie "Black Hawk Down" was the helicopter with the best overall performance, so I thought about developing similar products based on it.

Now it seems that it is still a bit insufficient.

"In addition, the performance positioning of Apache and Black Hawk is actually very different."

"Apache was designed to pursue lateral and longitudinal mobility as much as possible, and the multi-angle nose design and the coverless armor box design make Apache have a very good bulletproof appearance and more buffer and survival probability when falling."

"All the designs of the Black Hawk helicopter are simple, whether it is the temporary Minigun shooting port or the rigid aerodynamic shape that can meet the bullets, it can prove the simplicity of the Black Hawk helicopter in design."

"So for the relevant departments, Black Hawk is a very good product with corresponding usage needs."

"But Apache is also their pursuit, and it is a weapon that directly participates in combat on the battlefield."

Zhao Siyu carefully explained the difference between the two to Cao Yang.

At the same time, it also reported that the relevant departments have a demand for both Black Hawk and Apache products.

The maximum take-off weight of the Black Hawk helicopter and the Apache helicopter is 10 tons, and the weight of the helicopter itself is about 4 tons.

For Venus Technology, many things are actually universal.

Based on the Black Hawk helicopter under development, Zhao Siyu continued to develop a helicopter similar to the Apache. He felt that the development time could be greatly shortened.

"Since the relevant departments have a demand, we will develop it according to the needs of customers."

"However, in order to minimize the production cost, all parts should be shared as much as possible."

Cao Yang did not hesitate any more. If there is a market, then just develop it.

By then, Venustech will have four helicopters on the market, which can greatly enhance its influence in the helicopter field.

Compared with heavy transport helicopters, the market demand for medium-sized helicopters such as the Black Hawk and the Apache should be greater.

Even if the sales price is lower at that time, it is very worth looking forward to.

"Well, I think so too. As a professional anti-tank armed helicopter, the Apache has a rotating turret with a 30mm chain anti-tank gun, 4 external attachment points for 8 anti-tank missiles and tools, and a 19-barrel rocket launcher."

"The aircraft is also equipped with a target interception display system and night vision equipment, which can search, identify and attack targets under complex weather conditions."

"It can effectively destroy medium and heavy tanks, has good survivability and ultra-low altitude flying ability. As long as we develop similar products, it is expected to become China's most important armed helicopter."

Accompanying this conversation between Cao Yang and Zhao Siyu, a new project team was officially established within Venustech.

Many things such as engines and flight control systems can be considered for sharing, or extended after appropriate modifications.

There are also many common fuselage materials, which greatly reduces the difficulty of all aspects.

However, Venustech's move made Aerospace Technology uncomfortable.

"Mr. Zhao, I heard that the relevant departments intend to reduce the number of WZ-10s in preparation and wait for the new model of armed helicopters from Venustech to be put into service."

"It would be a joke to suddenly adjust the plan that has been set before, right?"

"After all, Venustech's professional armed helicopters have just started to be developed."

Wan Jinniu came to Zhao Tianling's office with an unhappy face, wanting to discuss a response plan.

It is no secret within the system that the relevant departments have asked Venustech to develop armed helicopters.

Wan Jinniu even knew that the requirements put forward by the relevant departments were to develop them in line with the Apache armed helicopters of the United States.

Apache has always been considered the world's number one armed helicopter, with no rivals.

Huaxia naturally hopes that it can have similar products.

Otherwise, it will always feel uneasy.

But for so many years, AVIC has not produced products of the same level.

Even the WZ-10, which began mass production two years ago, is inferior to the Apache.

After all, the take-off weight is several tons less, and the number of weapons carried is less than 30% of that of the Apache.

In this case, there is naturally a big gap in combat effectiveness.

Although for China, the successful development of the Z-10 is also a very remarkable achievement.

This is also the first professional armed helicopter in Asia.

But if you are not as good as others in technology, you are not as good as others. No matter what sub-field you say you are very good, it is definitely not enough.

Even compared with multi-functional aircraft such as the Black Hawk, let alone the Apache, the Z-10 has no advantage.

This situation is not unknown to AVIC, so there will be a larger model of the Z-20.

"The speed at which Venus develops new products is unmatched by any company."

"Although they have just started to study professional armed helicopters, they will be able to take out the prototype next year and will be able to equip relevant departments on a large scale the year after."

"In this case, it is almost inevitable that the relevant departments will reduce the number of Z-10 equipment."

"Unless there is an accident in the middle of Venus Technology."

Although Zhao Tianling was a little dissatisfied with the decision of the relevant departments.

But the arm cannot twist the thigh, and this outcome is definitely unchangeable.

So he quickly convinced himself to adjust his mentality.

"I admit that Venustech is very strong, and every product they have produced in the past is excellent."

"But professional armed helicopters are not what they are good at after all. Isn't it a bit hasty to make some decisions before any products are produced?"

"At least we should wait until their prototypes come out before making adjustments."

Wan Jinniu is the head of the helicopter business of AVIC.

He certainly hopes to win as many helicopter orders as possible for AVIC.

After all, these orders basically have few other sources except for the relevant departments.

Internationally, the competitiveness of AVIC's helicopters is not very strong.

Even the competitiveness in terms of cost is relatively limited.

After all, many new materials and new processes require special investment in production lines.

But their products have been produced for decades, and all costs have been amortized.

AVIC does not have the ability to integrate the entire industrial chain like Venustech.

"I heard that the multi-purpose medium-sized helicopter they developed to compete with Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopter is almost complete."

"The new armed helicopter will be developed based on this helicopter, which will greatly save time in all aspects."

"In addition, they already have experience in developing Kunpeng and Eagle heavy transport helicopters. We can't handle the Apache, but they may be able to handle it very quickly."

Although Zhao Tianling's words were unpleasant to hear, Wan Jinniu knew that this might be true.

Comparing technology with Venus Technology, there is really no way to compare.

Some technology that you can't handle for several years may be broken through in one month.

How to compare this speed?

"Boeing's Apache was originally developed by Hughes and Bell and several other companies. Later, Hughes was acquired by McDonnell Douglas, and McDonnell Douglas was acquired by Boeing, and finally became a Boeing product."

"But many parts of the Apache are produced by various companies in cooperation."

"Most of the various parts such as the engine, fuselage, and flight control system are not produced by Boeing itself."

"I think it is not necessary for Venusstar Technology to produce all the parts of the helicopter. Can we produce some of the parts?"

The cooperation between AVIC and Venusstar Technology is relatively close. Wan Jinniu knows that there is no way to stop Venusstar Technology from entering the field of professional armed helicopters.

AVIC can't do it by itself, but it can't let Venusstar do it, right?

If this is the case, he will be criticized to death.

However, he thinks that although AVIC can't produce the whole machine, it can still make some parts.

Venusstar Technology doesn't need to produce everything by itself.

Zhao Tianling thinks this makes sense.

"Let's find a time to go to Venusstar Technology to communicate, and just in time to see how the progress of the H-20 is."

"We may not be able to help too much with the engine and flight control, but we should still make some efforts in the fuselage."

The production of various parts of the fuselage is a business with a relatively large workload among the parts of the entire helicopter.

The biggest problem with this part is the development and supply of raw materials. As long as these problems are solved, the difficulty of production will be reduced a lot.

Zhao Tianling thinks that AVIC can completely purchase raw materials from companies such as Nanshan Carbon Fiber, and then process them into corresponding fuselage parts and supply them to Venusstar Technology for use.

When the time comes, it can also be said that AVIC is deeply involved in this armed helicopter during publicity, which will look much better.

He thinks that as long as he communicates well with Cao Yang and Zhao Siyu, the other party should still consider cooperation.

…

As a private enterprise, Venusstar Technology's work style is very different from that of AVIC and Aerospace Science and Technology.

Whether it is the previous development of the Eagle heavy transport helicopter or the Venusstar 777 currently under development, they were officially announced to the public when the product was just established.

If something like this happened in AVIC, it would be completely unimaginable, and it can even be said to be a major leak.

This time, Venusstar Technology is going to develop an armed helicopter to match the Apache, so that China can also have a professional armed helicopter like the Apache.

Although it is developed in comparison with Apache, the other party's product is decades old after all, and there is definitely room for improvement in some aspects.

So Venustech made some optimizations on the appearance before officially announcing the rendering.

At this point, there may not be much reaction on the Chinese Internet. After all, if you don't promote a professional thing like an armed helicopter, people won't realize how awesome it is.

But Boeing, which has been paying attention to the development of Venustech, is going to explode.

"Milenburg, Venustech's Kunpeng heavy transport helicopter has suppressed the sales of our CH-47 in the international market."

"Now you are going to develop a similar product for our Apache armed helicopter, which will make our Apache unsellable internationally."

David is definitely in a very bad mood now.

Although Boeing has many products, it can't stand several models being scrapped every year.

Venustech is completely going against Boeing.

How can we tolerate such a thing?

"Didn't they develop a medium-sized helicopter based on Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopter?"

"Why are they suddenly copying our Apache now?"

In Muilenburg's view, China's military enterprises have all developed by copying various things.

So every time he speaks, he is full of contempt for China's related enterprises.

This contempt can be said to be filled with many military enterprises in the United States.

"They must have realized that the Black Hawk has many shortcomings in dealing with tanks."

"Especially China is now carrying out some team reforms, and the demand for armed helicopters after the reorganization of the Army Aviation has become stronger."

Due to Venus Technology, David has paid more attention to China in recent years.

In fact, ordinary Americans have very little understanding of China, which is very one-sided.

Many people have never been to China in their lives, but have only received some news about China on the Internet that they don't know how many years ago.

Even if they see some new changes, everyone will ignore them as a matter of course.

After the Olympics, this situation has slowly changed.

It's just that this change is a bit big, and many people can't accept it, or don't want to accept it.

"China is constantly developing its military strength in all aspects, and our previous methods of sanctioning Venus Technology have not had much effect."

"Next, I plan to change my mindset and push the Pentagon to take some other actions to stimulate China."

"Don't they always want to develop military strength?"

"Then we will provide some advanced military products to the countries around China, so that they will be exhausted."

"Unless the funding is increased significantly, even if some new products are developed, they will not be able to equip them in large quantities."

Milenberg is definitely not a good man.

He has always been very active in suppressing China and Venustech.

It's just that the various measures before didn't work very well, and he felt that it needed to change.

Anyway, America has a lot of chess pieces around China that can be moved.

As long as Boeing pushes it casually, whether it is selling some military products produced by Boeing itself or products produced by Lockheed Martin and other companies, it can make China very uncomfortable.

He even thinks that the conditions for the sale of CH-47 in Tianzhu can be relaxed.

It's just to disgust China.

…

Boeing responded quickly to Venus' official announcement of entering the armed helicopter market, and Sikorsky was not slow either.

"Stephens, didn't Venustech want to copy our Black Hawk before?"

"Why are they suddenly copying Boeing's Apache now?"

"Is there a problem in the process of copying our Black Hawk?"

Ivanchuk looked at Stephens a little confused.

He was a little unsure whether this news was a good thing or a bad thing for Sikorsky.

Because the situation seemed a little wrong.

"I also find it strange, but I think even if the other party encounters problems in the process of copying the Black Hawk, it is estimated that they will not give up easily."

"I just hope that they will not succeed so quickly."

Although Stephens hopes that there will be problems in the development of the Black Hawk by Venusstar Technology, he is not really so naive that he will pin his future on the mistakes of his opponent.

In the past two years, he has spent a lot of time to understand China and the situation of Venusstar Technology.

"Venusstar Technology wants to produce all kinds of products, and the threat to us will become greater and greater in the future."

Ivanchuk frowned and was very worried about the future.

Sikorsky is a professional helicopter company, and its main products are various helicopters.

Now the CH-53 has been developed by Venusstar Technology. Similar products have basically ruined Sikorsky's export business of similar products.

Venusstar Technology then developed the same type of helicopter as the Black Hawk. Although it has not been finally developed, it is definitely a matter of time.

In this way, Sikorsky's two major businesses have been crippled.

In the capital market, Sikorsky's valuation can be said to have dropped significantly.

This is very unfavorable for future development.

"Ivanchuk, I heard that Boeing is promoting some special arms sales, and wants to increase pressure on China through these arms sales."

"Can we also participate in it and see if we can increase the sales of Black Hawk."

Stephens also thinks they can participate in it.

After all, the profits from foreign arms sales in the United States are often relatively lucrative.

If they don't actively participate, they may not even get a sip of soup at that time.

"I have heard about this, but our relationship with Boeing has been relatively stiff during this period."

"They also want to take the order for heavy transport helicopters from Tianzhu, and hope that we can give in."

"But how can we give in for such a large order?"

"In addition to CH-47, Boeing has many other products, but we are mainly engaged in helicopter business."

Stephens immediately understood what Ivanchuk said.

As Sikorsky's flagship product, CH-53 naturally does not want to give way to Boeing's CH-47.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars in profits behind it.

No one can resist money.

"If that's the case, the situation is difficult to predict."

"How about we take the order from India first, and then discuss arms exports to countries around China?"

Stephens obviously wants to pocket all the benefits.

In fact, it may not be realized in the end.