Zhuhai Jinwan Airport, opening day of the air show.
The airport expressway was blocked into a parking lot.
Looking around, you can see that half of the license plates are from Hong Kong and Macao, and the other half are black plates from consulates of various countries.
There were three times more security personnel than in previous years. There were three posts, one post, five posts and one sentry. Bulletproof personnel carriers were parked on both sides of the entrance to the exhibition hall. Soldiers with live ammunition scanned the crowd expressionlessly.
At the VIP entrance of the exhibition hall, two black bulletproof vehicles stopped almost at the same time.
Russia Minister of Defense Shoigu opened the car door, dressed in military uniform, followed by more than a dozen accompanying officers.
On the other side, Admiral United States, Chief of Naval Operations Jensen, stepped out of the car. The two of them looked at each other in the distance, but neither of them spoke first.
The Europe representatives who were still chatting next to them immediately shut up and stepped aside to get out of the way.
On the electronic screen above my head, the national flags of various countries were densely lined up on the entire wall.
All the five permanent members are present, North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states are almost present, not a single prince from the Middle East is left behind, and all neighboring countries have sent delegations of the highest standards.
Everyone knows that this is no longer an ordinary air show, this is the United Nations summit of the global military industry.
The opening ceremony was filled with loud gongs and drums and colorful flags flying.
But the heads on the rostrum were all absent-minded, and their eyes kept drifting in the direction of the exhibition hall in Area C.
As soon as the host finished reading "I wish this air show a complete success", Jensen was the first to stand up, tidy up his military uniform, and left with a group of United States military officers and technicians without looking back.
Immediately afterwards, Shoigu also stood up and left.
Then there are the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Germany, Director of the German Defense Forces, Chief of Defense Staff Britain, Chief of the Jewish Defense Forces General Staff----
In less than ten minutes, all the foreign delegations on the rostrum were gone.
Even the Middle Eastern princes, who always only drank tea in the VIP room, hurried to Area C with their bodyguards, for fear that they would be late and not even be able to squeeze into the booth.
The remaining domestic leaders looked at each other in confusion, and finally smiled and waved their hands, saying "Everyone is free to visit" into the microphone, and ended the opening ceremony early.
There is only one destination for everyone - DYB Warhammer Arms Industry booth.
The 2,000-square-meter booth at the core of Area C was already crowded with people.
There are three layers of human walls, three inside and three outside.
At the very back are military delegations from various countries, with the general stars on their epaulettes shining brightly.
In the middle is the global media carrying long guns and short guns.
On the outside were crowded military fans, standing on tiptoes and stretching their necks, eager to put their eyes on the fighter planes.
Jensen Squeezed at the front of the crowd, an old man who was almost sixty years old had been on a special plane for more than ten hours overnight. His eyes were bloodshot, he was biting his back molars, and his cheeks were trembling slightly.
The United States Air Force representative next to him, with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot, pointed at the officers from various countries who were groping around the F-22, and shouted in a low voice, "These bastards! That is our top secret! How dare they touch it like this! How dare they!"
Jensen said nothing.
He felt a little more balanced.
Fortunately, he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable.
No nonsense.
Jensen waved his hand, and the accompanying soldiers immediately stepped forward and "invited" the onlookers out.
"Everyone, please step back! United States military technical inspection! Unrelated personnel please leave, thank you for your cooperation!"
People around him looked sideways, but no one really left. They all stood and watched the excitement from a distance.
Lockheed Martin Company's global general manager Samuel·Hendricks, and former F-22 project chief engineer Gregory·Tom Sen immediately rushed up with the technical team, took out a high-precision three-dimensional scanner, and began to scan and model the entire body of the F-22 fuselage.
The Russia delegation next to them was not so large. Several gray-haired old engineers squatted on the ground with tape measures, calipers, and infrared rangefinders, measuring the size of the nose radome and the sweep angle of the wings bit by bit. They muttered words and quickly jotted down a few notes in their notebooks from time to time.
Gregory took a magnifying glass and looked at the skin of the fuselage for five minutes, his fingers trembling slightly. "The appearance is exactly the same, but the process has been fully upgraded, with integrated stamping and molding, and the skin is 2 mm thinner."
"Using a new type of carbon fiber composite material, even the stealth coating has been integrated. The production efficiency and cost control are much better than ours."
His tone was dry and his eyes were shaking. "The appearance is exactly the same, but the craftsmanship has been greatly improved. In some places, integrated stamping manufacturing is obviously used, which greatly reduces costs and improves production efficiency."
"This is no longer a simple reproduction, but an improvement and streamlining."
"Wait a minute!" He suddenly paused, "The thickness of the skin is wrong, it's 2 mm thinner than the original."
"The formula of the stealth coating has also been changed? No, they used new carbon fiber material!"
"Even the reliance on the stealth coating has been weakened!"
"They even optimized the surface treatment process of the fuselage."
At this moment, Jensen glanced at the rear of the fighter plane, and his pupils suddenly shrank.
He rushed over and pointed at a metal device next to the landing gear. His voice suddenly rose an octave. "Wait! What is this?!"
Everyone's eyes turned around.
Tail hook.
A standard carrier-based aircraft tailhook is tightly retracted at the tail of the fuselage and integrated with the fuselage.
The whole place was silent for three seconds.
Everyone knows that the F-22 is a land-based heavy stealth fighter. From the beginning of the design, it was not considered to be mounted on a ship, and it has no tail hook at all.
Now, it has.
This means that the F-22 can board an aircraft carrier.
It also means that all countries with aircraft carriers can use the world's most powerful fifth-generation stealth fighters.
Jensen's heart was beating wildly and he turned to look at Samuel.
Samuel's face instantly turned as white as paper, and cold sweat flowed down his forehead, soaking the collar of his shirt.
There was only one thought in his mind: It's over.
It was they Lockheed Martin who told Congress that the F-22 production line was completely dismantled and could not be resumed, let alone changed to a carrier version.
Now they have not only resumed production, but also modified it into a carrier-based version.
If those people in Congress found out, they could skin them alive.
Before he could calm down, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the cockpit.
United States Air Force chief test pilot Davis has climbed up the ladder into the cockpit.
"Sir! Come up and take a look!"
The Air Force representative immediately climbed up, looked inside, and froze on the spot.
The F-22 cockpit, which was originally densely packed with hundreds of instrument buttons, has become clean and tidy.
The entire center console only has an 18-inch multi-touch large screen and a simplified force-sensing joystick.
The large-screen UI is simple and smooth, all data can be understood at a glance, and functions can be switched with a tap of a finger.
Only a few backup physical switches remain on both sides of the screen, which are painted matte black according to military regulations.
The helmet is placed on the seat and has a sci-fi shape. It is more than twice as thin and light as the current helmet display United States military.
"How is this possible?" the Air Force representative muttered to himself, "There is no way the F-22's avionics architecture can support such a large screen!"
He turned his head and shouted, "Gregory! Come up!"
Gregory climbed into the cockpit, and the moment he saw clearly inside, his eyes almost popped out of his head.
He has studied the F-22 all his life and knows better than anyone how complicated the original cockpit is.
But the cockpit in front of me is completely subversive.
There are no messy wirings or piles of instruments. All functions are integrated on a large screen. The operation logic is so simple that even a novice who has just learned to fly can understand it at a glance.
Gregory tried to force a defense several times, but felt it was too far-fetched. After holding it in for a long time, he could only say, "It's all bells and whistles, but they don't know how to build a fighter jet!"
"Electronic products are extremely unreliable. Over-reliance on electronic products is asking for death!"
"When the electromagnetic pulse blows up, the entire cockpit is blinded! This is just a showpiece!"
No one answered.
Everyone can see that this is no show.
This is an avionics system that is a generation ahead of its time.
Jensen ignored the tough-talking Lockheed Martin, took out his mobile phone and dialed Fu Haoran's number.
"Hey, it's me. We are here to participate in the exhibition. I would like you to come over and introduce us. Our navy has purchasing intentions."
Ten minutes later, Fu Haoran walked over slowly.
On such an important occasion today, he was still wearing a casual suit, and he didn't look like he was meeting with military and political leaders from various countries at all.
"Old friend, your formation is really big." Fu Haoran said, completely ignoring the expressions of everyone present who were uglier than eating flies.
The originally noisy booth suddenly became quiet.
The heads of delegations from all countries subconsciously took a step forward and all their eyes fell on him.
A group of big shots with heavy troops and in charge of the national defense of various countries stood around a young man in his early thirties.
This scene is strange and shocking.
"Fu----my friend, I finally see you." Jensen forced a polite smile on his face.
Obviously he wanted to drag Fu Haoran to the military court, but he still pretended to be familiar with him like an old friend, and even opened his arms to give him a big hug.
Jensen knows very well that the young man in front of him is a double-edged sword. Although it brings him countless troubles, he can use it to his advantage as long as he handles it properly.
For an elderly military officer who may be ordered to retire at any time, the carrier-based F-22 and mature electromagnetic ejection technology in Fu Haoran's hands are his only trump card to resist Congress, suppress Lockheed Martin, and secure his position.
Hate returns hate, the trump card must be in your own hands.
Everyone was not blind, they all saw Fu Haoran followed by a group of soldiers with a calm aura.
Especially the giant man who was over 2.5 meters tall, holding Cigar in his mouth, with a somewhat evil look in his eyes.
Jensen got straight to the point. "Let my pilot fly around. We want to experience the performance for ourselves. As long as the performance meets the standards, our navy has purchase intentions."
Fu Haoran nodded. "Yes, but there is a fee for the test flight."
"What?" Jensen thought he heard wrongly.
"100,000 US dollars per session, 15 minutes of trial time."
Fu Haoran said, pointing to the VISA card POS machine in Tychus's hand.
There was dead silence in the whole place.
Jensen's face turned red and white, and finally he gritted his teeth and waved to the adjutant behind him.
The adjutant had a dark face, took out a black card and handed it over.
There was a "beep" sound and the prompt tone of successful payment from the POS machine was particularly clear in the quiet booth.
Fu Haoran nodded to the soldiers on the side.
A few minutes later, an F-22 engine on the tarmac started and made a low roar.
The fighter jet slid out of the parking position, accelerated, pulled the lever, and soared into the sky.
Cobra maneuvers, falling leaves, barrel rolls, and extremely small radius turns - a series of super maneuvers that are smooth and smooth, with several extreme overload operations in between.
Ordinary spectators just regard it as a wonderful flight show.
In the eyes of insiders, this is beyond the norm.
Every maneuver proves that this improved version of the F-22 is smoother, lighter and has higher limits than the original version.
Davis sat in the back seat and said nothing the whole time.
He subconsciously reached out to press the switch on the side panel. When he reached into the air, he suddenly remembered that there were no redundant physical buttons in this cockpit.
All operations are completed on the big screen and in the helmet.
The helmet has a built-in brain-computer auxiliary interface that accurately captures brainwave instructions and completes interaction in milliseconds without opening your mouth or pressing buttons.
Veteran test pilots who were used to flying the original F-22 felt for the first time that the fifth-generation aircraft could be operated without relying on brute force.
Ten minutes later, the fighter plane landed smoothly.
The hatch opened, Davis climbed down the ladder, took off his helmet, his face was complicated and solemn.
Everyone immediately gathered around.
"How is it?" Jensen asked eagerly.
Davis took a deep breath, looked at everyone in the audience, and said word by word, "It's not a reproduction, it's an evolution."
"It's easier to use than our F-22. The difference is like the difference between manual transmission and automatic transmission."
As soon as these words came out, the expression on the US representative's face turned extremely ugly.
Jensen stood there, feeling both hate and joy in his heart.
I hate that Lockheed Martin is a bunch of rubbish, taking huge amounts of money from Congress and not doing anything practical, but instead letting a private company fall on United States military's head.
Fortunately, as long as he obtains the right to purchase the carrier-based F-22, he will be able to gain a firm foothold in the Navy, and even go one step further, steadily surpassing the Air Force.
Davis did not stop and continued, "The avionics system is far ahead of the original F-22. It is difficult to estimate the exact age, but the use experience is completely like switching from an old-fashioned button machine to a smart phone."
"The helmet can see through the fuselage, the voice control accuracy is 100%, all flight and battlefield data are projected in real time, and there is no need to lower your head to look at the screen during the whole process."
"The joystick has a force-sensing design, and the force feedback is precise and soft. Even a novice can perform difficult stunts.""
"I even have a feeling that I am not flying a plane, but integrating with the fighter plane."
As soon as the words fell, the whole place fell silent.
Jensen's face completely sank.
He fully understood that this was not a simple imitation, but an all-round crushing upgrade.
Avionics, flight control, cockpit, helmet, human-machine interaction, each one is a whole version higher than the United States military active F-22.
He turned to look at Samuel and Gregory, the anger in his eyes almost overflowing.
The two of them lowered their heads, eager to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
The pilot Russia next to him also paid for the experience on the spot. After landing, he said bluntly, "Mr. Minister, I'm afraid we are in big trouble. The comprehensive performance of this improved F-22 is already higher than that of our Su-57."
Shoigu's face instantly became solemn.
The reason is simple:
A foreign trade monkey version sold to the outside world is so powerful, how terrible is the original version for people's own use?
Shoigu was silent for a moment, and immediately ordered the accompanying technical officers, "Archive all observation data today, and start a special technical assessment immediately after returning home."
As for University of Tokyo, the reaction was completely different from that of all parties.
Several technical experts from the design institute gathered around the F-22, not like United States military who mobilized a large number of people to scan and model it, nor like the Russian side who measured it inch by inch with a tape measure.
The leader, Academician Liang, is one of the deputy chief designers of the J-20 avionics system.
He stood under the cockpit, looking up at the 18-inch all-glass touch screen for a long time.
Then he turned to look at his colleagues beside him and said in a calm tone, "Their design ideas are completely consistent with our J-20 modified cockpit plan."
The young engineer was stunned. "Mr. Liang, what do you mean--"
"The large touch screen replaces traditional physical buttons, and voice commands assist operations. The helmet display integrates distributed photoelectric apertures to achieve 360-degree full airspace perspective." Chief Engineer Liang pushed up his reading glasses and his eyes fell on the combat situation map that was refreshed in real time on the large screen.
"We have repeatedly deduced this plan many times at the J-20 modification demonstration meeting."
"General Manager Yang has always emphasized a core concept: one machine has multiple functions, and information is king."
"The competition among next-generation fighters is not about engine thrust or radar hard power, but about information integration and human-machine interaction efficiency."
"Pilots do not need to be machine operators, they are only responsible for battlefield judgment."
"Complex operations are handed over to the onboard computer, and the pilot only has to do two things: judge and confirm."
He raised his finger and pointed at the cockpit screen.
"This was the ideal plan we drew on the whiteboard. Unexpectedly, they implemented mass production one step ahead of us."
Colleagues around him were silent, and the young engineer's face slowly changed from shock to confusion.
The next-generation avionics line they are working on day and night has been ready-made by others and put on display at air shows.
However, Chief Engineer Liang was very open-minded and said calmly, "You don't have to be depressed. The high overload operation accuracy of the touch screen, the interference of electromagnetic pulses on the all-glass cockpit, and the reliability of speech recognition under battlefield noise--we have repeatedly demonstrated these problems."
"Now that someone has completed the actual installation verification for us, it is equivalent to helping us overcome all the pitfalls."
Everyone was suddenly stunned.
Chief Engineer Liang walked to the nose radome and ran his hand over the almost seamless seams of the skin.
"The radome technology and stealth coating processing are both more mature than our current solutions."
"But what deserves our most attention is not the skin and coating, but the entire cockpit system."
He retracted his hand and spoke firmly, "The combination of this large screen, a new generation of helmet display system, and a brain-computer auxiliary interface is no longer a simple upgrade, but a redefinition of the combat logic of fifth-generation aircraft.
He looked at the accompanying team. "Their helmet-mounted display is at least two generations ahead of our current model."
"Field of view coverage, self-target locking speed, and photoelectric array linkage efficiency all exceeded expectations. After returning, this research and development direction must be listed as a priority project."