Chapter 480

Chapter 480: The Sad Useless Goods

So, the Americans bombed the Chinese embassy claiming they used an old map, but the Chinese electronics can’t have a “malfunction”?

Whether it’s the Americans or the Japanese, they are stuck in this helpless situation, and the French are taking hits without even trying.

Anyone would launch missiles without hesitation in such circumstances, but hitting a civilian vehicle is something no one could predict, even if it was a Chinese QW (Vanguard) 4 missile armed with an infrared imaging guidance system.

The Japanese suffered a heavy loss, with a pricey F-22 “Raptor” gone, surely causing a significant uproar back home.

It proved that comparing one person to another can lead to death; indeed, Yamashiro Soichiro died, and it’s clear that when people compare things, some will end up discarded, just like that F-22…

People from Lockheed Martin looked as if they had eaten dog poop, having watched their proud creation shot down by French missiles in front of so many eyes, while the Chinese fighter emerged unscathed. What kind of situation is that?

They meant to suppress a small company but ended up hitting a wall. All they could do was swallow their loss, feeling like silently eating bitter gall. Would they dare confront the Chinese to demand answers?

Forget the Chinese; even the Americans would come up with a thousand excuses to cover for it.

Moreover, if the Chinese used strategies like "borrowing arrows with straw boats" or "shifting the blame," wouldn’t that mean America’s rivals could just buy a few Aster-30s to force F-22s to steer clear in the future?

Watching the J-14 “Eagle Falcon” align with the runway, slowly descending, the landing gear’s tires raised a faint cloud of smoke. It didn’t even deploy a speed brake, letting the fighter coast to a stop on the runway, exhausting the engine’s remaining thrust.

Not only were the French and Japanese in a mess due to the unexpected situation, but other countries’ representatives were also filled with despair, directors of small aircraft manufacturers exchanging worried glances, looking pale.

The spotlight was all on the Chinese; how could they sell their fighters now?

It wouldn’t be surprising if the crowd at the Chinese booth was almost bursting at the seams at this point.

Keen observers turned their binoculars and saw that the military procurement audience had nearly emptied—who could focus on the opening ceremony when they felt like they had a thorn stuck in their backside, unable to sit still?

The exhibition area wasn’t even fully opened when representatives from various countries crowded in, blocking any chance of escape.

Ordinary civilian viewers were also anxiously waiting but could only watch in vain, hoping to get a close look at the miraculous J-14 “Eagle Falcon” three days later.

Not only were the Sukhoi representatives pale, but even the MiG representatives, who were previously mocking Sukhoi, could no longer laugh, as all Russian manufacturers competing with National Defense Star wore gloomy faces.

Although fighter jet orders are incredibly profitable, a world war hasn’t occurred, and in times like these, there are more people than resources—the aviation industry rewards the bold and starves the timid.

A Bearded Squad Leader, dressed in Arab-style clothing and sporting a round belly, rushed at an incredible speed to the National Defense Star booth, waving a check and shouting, “Hey! Hey! Chinese, I want that plane, a hundred units! A hundred units!” Two broad-shouldered bodyguards half-pushed, half-propelled him to the edge of the exhibit area.

Behind him, a well-dressed translator chased after him, breathless and weakly shouting, “Prince Emil Shah, wait for me!”

It was clear he was a customer completely won over by the J-14 “Eagle Falcon’s” performance.

Chinese products are known worldwide for being reliable and affordable, earning universal praise.

At the last Zhuhai Airshow, orders for the J-10 overflowed, and no one dared wait much longer; otherwise, they might end up waiting years only to see their rivals surpass them.

Advanced equipment equates to dominance and advantage; to avoid being left behind, it is crucial not to lag, especially for nations with longstanding tensions with neighbors, who prioritize acquiring cutting-edge equipment.

“Sorry, that is not for sale! It’s just a display piece!” The salesperson fluent in Arabic at National Defense Star, feeling a sense of loss, could only shake his head. “How about looking at our other products, like the J-11? It’s an excellent aircraft!”

Other customers flocking to the National Defense Star booth were not pleased, loudly shouting their demands while ignoring the “not for sale” sign in front of the vacant J-14 display.

“Do you have a specifications sheet? Please send it to us; we are very sincere and interested in discussing.”

“We are from the Republic of Angola. We want two units—no, four! Can we talk about price and service? Just as long as it’s delivered this year; the price is negotiable.”

“Wait, wait, we want to buy, $120 million, cash, all at once. Just send us a few units first, and the price is negotiable.”

The one directly shouting the price was undoubtedly someone who understood the market; the bare price of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 “Raptor” is only about $120 million. Clearly, they see the J-14 as equal to the F-22.

These customers believed there was nothing in the world that couldn’t be sold, as long as the price was right.

Nearby, in a larger exhibition area, the sales manager from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation beamed with delight, his eyes almost disappearing with joy—it was $120 million after all.

Although the J-14 was just a non-saleable prototype that hadn’t entered service, that price still excited the Shenyang team. It felt like selling one was equivalent to making a profit of four or five; it was like owning a money-printing factory at home.

To put it into perspective, the bare price of the J-10 was only around $30 to $40 million.

However, the Shenyang team controlled their impulses, realizing that this decision was beyond their control. Without government support, they simply lacked the means to develop such advanced fighter jets.

It would take at least eight years before the J-14 would be available for sale.

First, they had to arm their own countrymen.

National Defense Star was in the spotlight, all thanks to their pilots.

They had an ace pilot, a real combat veteran, making countless aircraft manufacturers envious. An experienced test pilot could not only identify more flaws but also elevate an aircraft’s performance to a whole new level, leading to crazy orders during flight demonstrations, just like now.

If anyone knew that this pilot possessed exceptional aircraft design skills, their eyes would pop out in disbelief.

The staff at National Defense Star were starting to feel overwhelmed, desperately directing attention to a J-11 on display. However, the clients weren’t buying it; the J-11, modeled after the Su-27, had its limitations even with improvements—how could it possibly compare to the J-14 or F-22?

The front of National Defense Star’s exhibit quickly turned into a noisy marketplace.

“Well done! ‘Dragon Knight’! Amazing! But now I have to worry about fulfilling orders. I should have let you fly the J-11 instead. Oh, I believe you could take down an F-22 even in a J-11.”

Young Master Chen embraced Lin Mo, who had just returned from the runway. This guy was a lucky star for National Defense Star, with connections that made others envious and outstanding dogfighting skills; it was difficult for National Defense Star not to gain fame at their first international aerospace exhibition.

Although the J-14 was a crowd-pleaser, the Shenyang representative’s expression revealed that they could only place overseas orders on the J-11. Yet, even if they couldn’t sell the J-14, interested clients for the J-11 could still keep National Defense Star’s production line busy all year round.

Fighters were not like cars; they weren’t like throwing a dumpling into boiling water for a quick cook.

With National Defense Star’s current production capacity, they could only produce two to three J-11s a year. Many parts had high failure rates, and the precision required for machining took time; some components were handcrafted by skilled technicians. These reasons severely restricted the assembly capacity of the fighter jet production lines.

“I hope I don’t get into any trouble!”

Lin Mo said this outwardly, but deep down, he was still unconcerned. After all, cleaning up after the pilot was part of the ground crew’s job. He had already stirred up quite a bit of trouble over the past year.

Compared to the French missile mistakenly hitting a Japanese F-22, Lin Mo’s breach of the no-fly zone didn’t seem like a big deal at all.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Just report that the J-14 had a communication malfunction. Hmph, let the French figure it out,” said Yang Jing, the Shenyang representative at National Defense Star.

The J-14 “Eagle Falcon” had shone brightly, landing on the F-22’s head, making a debut unlike any before; its reputation was likely rivaling that of globally renowned fighter jets.

As for the unfortunate Japanese pilot? Well, no one gave him a second thought—it was a matter between the French and Japanese. The Chinese J-14 was unarmed, so no trouble could land on their shoulders.

Compared to the chaos of the opening ceremony, the following day’s display for military procurement representatives saw National Defense Star still attracting many clients. Even Shenyang had many visitors, while Chengdu and others could only watch enviously, lacking a pilot with such impressive skills for demonstrations.

The flight demonstration remained the main theme. The star of the morning was Russia’s Sukhoi "Gregory" Flight Squadron and India’s "Sunshine" flying display team.

Before the opening ceremony, the landing show of Sukhoi’s Su-27 fleet drew significant attention, with many important clients eager to see even more spectacular maneuverability demonstrations.