Chapter 381

Chapter 381: Shenyang’s Red Eagle

“This box is made of natural, recyclable material from soybean shells!” Old Pan rushed forward, tearing the white plastic wrap off the object inside the giant box. He turned back and smiled at Lin Mo, “But this thing is not natural recyclable material; you better make good use of it.”

Before Lin Mo stood a camouflage-painted fighter jet, waiting like a wild horse for its master.

With twin downward-sweeping tails, dual-engine vector engines, and trapezoidal wings, the aircraft’s aerodynamic design focused on combining stealth and performance, though true performance isn’t always evident just by looking.

The Chinese Air Force has always favored canards and vector throttles, as seen in the J-10, J-14, J-15, and J-20, but in front of Lin Mo, he saw no familiar canard design. The overall lines were very strong, even smoother than the J-20.

“What is this?” Lin Mo couldn’t recognize the new fighter jet before him. He stepped closer, his eyes scanning the aircraft up and down. He noticed the auxiliary lift engines, which were rare to see.

“This is the J-18, codenamed ‘Red Eagle’! A 4.5-generation heavy fighter jet.”

Old Pan wasn’t one to keep people in suspense for long; he answered Lin Mo’s question right away.

“The J-18? Why isn’t it the J-10?”

Lin Mo found the situation tricky; just getting familiar with the performance and mastering the flight skills of an aircraft he had never seen would take considerable time. At least a month would be needed to develop effective combat capability, which meant that during this period, the Night would not have his aerial support.

“It seems like you’re the one to ask! I heard you got cozy with a wealthy person. Really, one leg is thicker than the other!” Old Pan said while instructing others to dismantle the box so the whole aircraft could be revealed.

Captain Pan’s wild guess hit closer to the truth than he realized; Lin Mo had first cozied up to Professor Yan and then to the 611 Institute. Later, he made a connection with National Defense Star, and now with Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, each relationship seeming to grow stronger.

“Who did I cozy up to? I have no idea!” Lin Mo replied, confused. He usually played it straight, though he did know Chen Haiqing, but that stingy National Defense Star didn’t have the resources to lend him a fighter jet.

“You don’t know? How could you not know?” Captain Pan looked incredulous, believing Lin Mo was pretending and trying to play coy.

“How could I? I fly the J-10. If a new fighter jet were to come in, it should be the J-10!”

What was going on? Lin Mo was speechless, thinking maybe someone indeed had lent him a helping hand.

Old Pan sighed and pointed at Lin Mo, realizing that he was still in the dark. “By right, it should be the J-10, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But you should only blame yourself. At the Zhuhai Airshow, when you showed off, it pushed the foreign orders for the J-10 ahead of the FC-1 Fighter Jet orders. Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group almost pushed production back to next year. They are working triple shifts nonstop and were solely focusing on those export orders. Where would there be room for you? Captain Feng’s report sat on someone’s desk for ages, and there was even a plan to give you a J-8 to use temporarily. But somehow, the folks at Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Plant found out and, I don’t know what they were thinking, but they voluntarily contacted us, offering to supply a fighter jet at cost. That’s how we got it.”

“So Shenyang is trying to win me over. It seems they want to cozy up following their favor with the Shilang. But this benefit seems quite grand!” Lin Mo said, suddenly understanding, yet still puzzled about Shenyang’s generosity.

An aircraft is not like a car. The J-18, still in the secret phase and not yet in mass production, was giving him a fighter jet. What could be their intent? Did they want him to gather data for actual combat like Henghai Defense, while also showcasing their capabilities?

Even if not perfect, it wasn’t far off.

Shenyang’s thoughts aligned closely with Lin Mo’s speculations.

The fourth-generation heavy fighter jet became a life-and-death battle between two major domestic manufacturers, Shenyang and Chengdu.

But reality was harsh; when two tigers clash, one must be wounded. Shenyang lost the bid while Chengdu achieved historic success, securing significant state investment to build the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” with all their might.

The J-20 gathered the highest-end advanced technologies in China and performed exceptionally well, attracting close attention from foreign intelligence agencies.

State orders determine the strength of a company, and one more mouthful of rice means another gets less. Chengdu’s rise embarrassed the long-established Shenyang fighter plant.

Just as Lockheed Martin secured the Pentagon with the F-22 and F-35, Northrop’s Mike Donald Douglas faced a period of silence after the YF-23 defeat, losing not only the fourth-generation main fighter jet orders but also the fifth-generation orders. It was just like pouring rain on a leaky roof, disaster after disaster.

No orders meant eating air, with the threat of bankruptcy looming.

While the outside world closely observed Chengdu’s J-20 “Mighty Dragon,” Shenyang was also unwilling to be outdone. They took immense risks and pressures, raising funds to develop a fourth-generation heavy fighter jet independently—hence, the low-key development of the J-18, aiming for a comeback.

Before the formal signing of procurement contracts, the military would not refuse more advanced fighter jets. This unspoken rule gave Shenyang a glimmer of hope.

As the Shilang aircraft carrier training ship of the South China Sea Fleet set sail for the South China Sea, Shenyang’s engineers noted an ace pilot codenamed “Dragon Knight.”

This pilot brought surprises beyond their imagination. Not only was he an elite ace, but he was also an outstanding fighter jet expert, particularly in software development, impressing Shenyang’s programmers to the point of worship. It was hard to believe that what often took others a long time to develop was accomplished in just a few days. What speed, what efficiency!

If it weren’t for confirming that there had been no leaks involving the J-15 and the workload for the operating system, Shenyang’s higher-ups might have thought that the pilot had already obtained the operating system source code for the J-15 and prepared ahead of time.

But that was clearly impossible. After comparing codes, Lin Mo’s provided a completely new operating system. No one would joke about something like that; with that time, he could develop a fighter jet himself, and in fact, Lin Mo was doing just that.

Shenyang received a brand-new upgraded operating system for the J-15 “Dark Sabre,” along with a detailed improvement plan that elevated the J-15’s combat effectiveness, further unearthed new advantages during the “Dragon Knight”’s practical tests, solidifying Shenyang’s unbeatable edge in securing carrier-based aircraft orders.

The increase and strengthening of Shenyang’s carrier-based aircraft advantages meant that Chengdu’s attempts to seize carrier aircraft orders with the J-10 and modified J-20 had failed.

For this pilot, codename “Dragon Knight,” Shenyang, while grateful, did not forget to reward him with a direct bonus of three million as encouragement.

This amount, compared to the super profits from national-level orders, was literally just a drop in the bucket, not even worth mentioning.

Lin Mo lifted the cockpit cover and found a detailed operation manual inside. This was Shenyang’s unique style; they always preferred to store operating materials inside the cockpit rather than in separate boxes.

Old Pan called out from below the aircraft to Lin Mo, “The folks at Shenyang asked me to tell you that the operating modes of the J-18 and J-15 are quite similar, both stemming from the same lineage. The J-18 is more suited for short-range approach and landing.”

“Indeed, that’s true!” Lin Mo noticed that the instrument panel and joystick closely resembled the same driving habits as the J-15 “Dark Sabre.”

To adapt standardized operations and reduce maintenance and teaching costs, China adopted the same standardized cockpit module design as Europe, placing each primary function in the same location. Any fighter pilot with ample flying experience could quickly adapt to different fighter aircraft. This was the main distinction between fighter pilots and commercial pilots.

Commercial pilots typically only fly one type of aircraft throughout their careers, retiring as the planes do. Fighter jets are about life and death, so safety considerations are not as stringent as those for commercial airliners.

Lin Mo eagerly flipped through the thick manual, unable to contain his excitement. This jet belonged to him; starting today, it would be his partner in life and death. The sooner he understood it and mastered it, the less he would need to extend his vacation.

Returning to the blue skies to execute combat missions, battling enemies—this was the true mission of an Air Knight.

“Take your time looking. I’ve already sorted the maintenance tools and spare parts for this aircraft. Also, I’ve processed the transfer of J-10 spare parts and tools into the national reserve as a strategic reserve for permanent storage.”

Seeing Lin Mo deeply focused on the newly arrived fighter jet, Old Pan reminded him without disturbing the newly promoted major.

Pan Rongyong turned to leave, but just a few steps away, he heard Lin Mo’s voice from behind.

“Old Pan… thank you for your gift! I really like it!”