Zero!?
Dr. Xu Qingzhou and Cao Feiyu cried out in surprise at the same time.
Cao Feiyu frowned. "No way. I know about automobile tires. Domestic products may generally be of average quality, but their output is still considerable. How could aircraft tires be zero?"
Dr. Xu Qingzhou thought for a moment. "I have a senior fellow apprentice at the North Rubber Institute who seems to be working on an Aviation Tire project. They even put a batch into production. It shouldn't be zero."
Facing their confusion, Gao Yuan smiled. "I know about this. The North Rubber Institute is actually the Imperial Capital Rubber Industry Research and Design Institute. They do indeed have an Aviation Tire project, but so far, the only one in the country that has truly obtained an airworthiness certificate issued by North America is Shuguang Institute, under the Sinochem research institute."
"The reason I drew a zero is that whether it's the North Rubber Institute or Shuguang Institute, their aircraft tire projects are products meant to guarantee the bare minimum. Their commercial value is relatively low."
"Did you know? Shuguang Institute conquered the Aviation Tire project as early as 2008, but even today, their aircraft tires still haven't become widely used. They merely stockpiled a batch for the military, to be brought out only when there was nothing else left to use."
"Let me put it this way. As everyone knows, the C919 large aircraft project is a national pillar, the face of our domestic aviation industry. Its importance is beyond comparison."
"Yet in the C919 project, the Three Rings Brand tires designed by Shuguang Institute are merely an alternate supplier. To put it bluntly, unless Aviation Tires are banned from import one day, alternate suppliers will never have a chance to step into the spotlight."