Chapter 240 - Harsh Terrain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
historical
After taking in around half a kilo of white wine, Chen Gang’s body slammed the table, going unconscious immediately. At 10 o’clock the next morning, he was pushed by a hand as he heard a voice tingling around his ears.
“Dad, stop sleeping, wake up.”
Chen Gang opened his eyes slowly, took his phone, and looked at the time. Immediately, he flipped his blanket away and sat up. He needed to go to work today and actually overslept! He put on his coat, wore his pants and rushed to the door without even visiting the toilet or brushing his teeth!
The company was going to have a mobilization meeting today. All the employees would be making an oath in front of the flag to unite their thoughts, overcome difficulties, and swear to solve the problem in the shortest time possible. He needed to go there. He did not expect that he would oversleep after just a few cups.
“Wait, dad.” Chen Jin grabbed him. “Tell me about the specific situation.”
Chen Gang swung his hands and continued to move forward. He shook his head and said, “What’s the use of me telling you? Your company doesn’t make engines.”
“My company can’t make engines, but I have ways to build the engines, does this seem useful to you?”
Chen Gang halted his steps. He looked at Chen Jin with a serious face and said, “Engine is the crown of industry, only five countries throughout the globe have the capabilities to manufacture aircraft engine. All the best engine companies out there have more than a hundred years of technical experience. How long has Xing Hai Technologies been established?” Chen Gang shook his head. “Your company can’t help.”
“I’m asking you, dad, among engines and chips, which one do you think is more difficult?” Chen Jin asked abruptly.
“Uhm... almost the same. Equally difficult.”
“Zhong Xin International managed to tackled 7-nanometers within eight months. You know about this, right? What they were using was Xing Hai Technologies’ tech.”
Chen Gang’s eyes widened. He was finally not rushing to office. Both of them sat on the sofa and had a detailed conversation. The question that Chen Jin was most interested in was: a commercial contract was evidently signed, why did the French decide to renege? The construction of each C919 cost approximately 30 million dollars. Two of its engines accounted for 30% of its cost price... not only did the engine have the highest value, it had the highest profitability. Thousands of engine orders, billion dollars of profit, and the French actually flung it off just like that.
“Actually, the French didn’t want to tear the contract. Such a massive order would suffice the Safran Corporation for 10 years. No company would ever forsake a market of 1.4 billion people. It was under the M’s pressure that the French were forced to tear the contract. The LeapX engine manufactured by CFM International is a company under the Safran Corporation, and it has the M nations General Electric’s shares. The core technology used in the LeapX engines was licensed by the M’s... Safran has no right to speak towards the Shang Fei ban.”
The M’s had the final say on everything.
“That would mean that GE could profit from the engine sales as well, it would still benefit the M’s... why are they banning sales?” Chen Jin was confused.
“I think Boeing sent some men to go canvassing around the M nation’s Congress, stirred up some stuff from inside, and ultimately destroyed the contract.” Chen Gang said, “Our C919 is cheap, fuel efficient, and environmentally friendly. Once it launched, it will erode the market share of Boeing, harming their benefit. Of course, they will do just anything to press us down.” However, Boeing was rather secretive in this matter. After all, Z was Boeing’s biggest market. If they provoked the Z nation and got themselves sanctioned, they would lose the whole Z nation market.
Therefore, on Shang Fei’s engine ban, the ones that would actually be in seventh heaven would be the few politicians from the M nation. Clearly, they had accomplished their motive. The plans to put the C919 into mass production was broken in a jiffy.
“The engine supply is such an obvious weakness. Are there no prior plannings for dealing with the worst situation? Didn’t you guys expect a chocking situation by the foreigners on key equipment? Could you people only be nonplussed once they cut off stock supply and you can’t find local-made engines as a substitute in time?” Chen Jin said while frowning. Core technology and equipment could never be bought over. The others might sell their core equipment for the sake of profit, but they could forgo the spirit of contract and cease stock supply at any time. Their lifeblood would always be in the grasp of the others. It was necessary for one to have their own possessions.
“We do have local produced high bypass ratio engines!” Chen Gang said, “When we initiated the project, we considered the choking issue. We resorted to a two-way strategy. The first one would be importing, striving to realize the C919’s mass production in the most convenient and fastest way... it has been fifteen years since the domestic large passenger aircraft project was initiated. The R&D for the engines, however, will be 20 or even 30 years. If we wish to push the C919 into the market quickly, importing would be the only path. We can’t possibly wait for 20 or 30 years, our customers can’t either. Besides, we have established the Commercial Engine Manufacturing Company (CEM). They are responsible for the R&D of C919’s engines. The engine model is named CJ-1000. Currently, the C version of the engine has significant improvements in thrust, lifespan, and reliability. But it is far from enough! The CJ-1000C engine is at least 20 years behind LeapX engines. Its lifespan, reliability, and fuel consumption are trailing far behind. Even if the researchers at CEM go into overdrive, they would still need around 10 years to be able to come out with a reliable substitute.”
10 years? Chen Jin shook his head. Flowers would have withered by then. He thought about something and asked, “If CEM’s engines won’t do, what about the engines for military use? I heard that the Large Military Transport Aircraft-20 was already using the local made Turbofan-20 engine, which is already on mass production. If the C919 uses the Turbofan-20, can’t we get rid of our reliance on the foreigners right away?” What not use engines for the military?
“It can’t be done!” Chen Gang still shook his head, “The requirements for engines for civilian usage are way stricter than that for military usage. Using engine lifespan as an example, it is common for civilian-use engines to have a lifespan of 20 thousand hours, 30 thousand hours or above, overhaul intervals of a few thousand hours, low failure rate, low maintenance cost... after all, every plane is linked to the lives of hundreds of people. It must be made absolutely reliable. Military-use engines don’t have these requirements. Military transport aircrafts won’t fly every day, its frequency of usage is much lower. Thus, it had no strict requirements towards its engines. A lifespan of a couple of thousand hours would be enough. Besides, the military’s maintenance support is also better, it would still be okay even if the engine’s reliability is slightly lower. Another thing is the economical aspect. For airline companies, their largest operating expenditure is fuel. Planes that can save 15% fuel and those which can’t save any are totally different in their eyes. Planes that save 15% fuel would translate into 15% more profit. They would opt for the fuel-saving planes without hesitation. Fuel saving was mainly achieved via the engines. The better the engine, the more fuel they will save, and the more competitive it will be in the market. But our CJ-1000 or the military’s Turbofan-20 use above 30% more fuel than the LeapX. It won’t have any competitiveness in the market. No airline companies will be willing to buy it either. Profit is those companies’ lives after all.”
The domestic large-scale passenger aircraft C919 must be equipped with engines with a long lifespan, high reliability, and economical fuel saving capabilities to be able to possess competitiveness in the market. Or else, customers would not pay the bill. Of all the 5,000 orders placed, half would be lost due to delayed production. Therefore... it was all high and dry. Left in helplessness and agitation.
Chen Jin kept on shaking his head. He did not expect that in the year 20X1, the technical level for local engines were still in such harsh terrains. Looking at his dad’s agitated and frustrated expression and the white hair that had grown on his temples, Chen Jin suddenly realized: his dad was already 53. His biggest wish was to board the domestic large-scale passenger aircraft that he participated in developing and soar the skies of the Z nation before he retired at 60.
After some thought, Chen Jin said, “Be rest assured dad, I can help in this matter. I will solve the engine problem for you within half a year!”
Chen Gang looked at him with doubt on his face. After Chen Jin used around one hour describing to him about a technique, his father Chen Gang’s eyes abruptly widened, and on his face was an ecstatic expression.