All those present know it well.
The veteran navy generals, front-line pilots, Grumman’s designers, etc., are familiar with the Tomcat fighters. The variable swept wings give the Tomcat fighters powerful combat capabilities. However, the Tomcat fighters are Born to heart disease.
In the fierce air combat, paying attention to the battlefield conditions and engine conditions at the same time, this one-minded two-purpose ability is something every Tomcat pilot must learn.
Otherwise, you don't even know when the engine has asthma.
Everyone hopes that the Tomcat can replace it with a new engine, but this is not something that can be solved in a single sentence.
"If in the near term, the easiest thing we can get is the Spey engine. On this engine, we can improve the afterburner and use it on our Tomcat." Michael Pelehach said.
The Spey engine is British, and various technologies have matured. This engine is almost standard equipment in the West, just like the British 105 rifled gun.
What if Spey is plugged into Tomcat fighter jets for emergency use
At the beginning, the Navy wanted to change to the same engine as the F-15. However, various problems eventually appeared. The reliability of the F100 engine was poor and serious technical problems appeared. The most important thing was that the Navy had no money. The latest engine is quite expensive.
Hearing this, Nathan could not help but shook his head: "I think Spey is not appropriate. Especially our Tomcat needs high-speed interception capability. When the Spey engine is installed on our fighter aircraft, the surge may be reduced, but the high speed Intercept ability will be greatly reduced."
The specific reason is not clear to Nathan, but there are data for later generations.
When the Royal Navy’s F-4 was replaced with Spey, the high-altitude performance was worse than that of the original F-4 using J79. Although the former’s sea-level paper thrust increased by almost 30%, the specific reason was that the later Nathan was of course incomprehensible. Obtained, in short, this is the fact.
"I heard that Allison is cooperating with the British Rolls-Royce company to develop a twin-rotor turbofan engine based on the Spey RB168-25R, code-named TF41. It is planned to be used in the British Air Force and Navy’s F-4M and F-4K fighter jet." At this moment, the old general Thomas said.
The prototype of the Spey is not suitable, but the improved version is not necessarily the case. The newly developed TF41 was historically prepared to compete with the Tomcat fighter engine.
If in this era, the Spey is modified and installed on the Tomcat fighter, although it can't be compared with the F110 of later generations, at least it can be much better than the current TF30, right
Besides, isn't there a big benefactor? Thinking of this, Nathan suddenly had an idea.
"We can try to assemble this engine on the Tomcat fighters ordered by the bs country." Nathan said: "If the Tomcat fighters from the bs country work well, we can also replace them. This engine seems to be expensive. Not expensive."
Hearing Nathan's words, all the people present were petrified in an instant. After a few minutes, the quick-brained people reacted, clever, this idea is really great!
The Bs country ordered the Tomcat fighter, which eased the dilemma of Grumman’s impending bankruptcy. At the same time, bs’s wealth was strong and the funds provided were quite sufficient. Of course, the price of the U.S. export fighter was more than doubled.
Using these funds, just toss, change the engines for them, and everyone is happy. Bs people will not complain that they fooled them. After all, our flight was made in a state of almost empty fuel. The bs countrymen will definitely not. Generally speaking, when there is one third of the fuel in the tank, it is definitely time to return.
"Yes, just do it." General Thomas made a decision: "It's not enough for the Navy to change to the F100, and it's okay to change to this engine. For the TF30 engine, we are really fed up."
"I have another suggestion." Nathan said: "Our eyes should not just stay on the F100. Now, the F100 engine has many bad problems. Pratt & Whitney deliberately pursues advanced performance, which has resulted in a large number of The Air Force is quite dissatisfied with the defects of the Air Force. I think the Air Force may provide additional support to General Motors. If we support it again, maybe our Tomcat’s next-generation engine will be lost."
In later generations, China has always been tied to the engine. A turbofan 10 has been used for more than 20 years. It has multiple engines with one engine. The F-10, F-11, F-16, and F-20 are all of this model. It is a heavy responsibility.
And this kind of thing has actually been staged in the United States. It is now the world's first engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 8.
The U.S. Air Force was all-in on Pratt & Whitney’s F100. As a result, it was found that Pratt & Whitney did not pay attention to it. The F-15 was also known as a hangar queen because of the engine. In the end, they had to give the loser of the original competition. It is General Motors that provides the opportunity.
General Motors seized this opportunity and beat the water dog hard. Pratt & Whitney’s failure lies in reliability, and General Motors focuses on reliability. The lifespan of their key parts is three times that of Pratt & Whitney.
After passing the F101X verification aircraft, it finally became the F110 engine, successfully achieving the purpose of entering the US Air Force fighter sequence, and complementing each other with the F100.
According to the historical development, General Motors started a self-financing experiment in 1976. Now, to take precautions, it is better to support General Motors and get this F110 out.
You know, the Tomcats of later generations are replaced with F110 engines. TF41 may always be a temporary substitute. If you want Tomcats to dominate the sky in the future, you must have a qualified heart.
"But, where do we have so much funds." General Thomas said: "We can only advance one project at most. If we advance TF41, we will not be able to advance the GM project."
"What are you afraid of? Just raise the price for the fighters from the bs country?" Nathan said with a smile: "Anyway, the bs country is a big funder, it's not bad for money. Let's get a new engine now, that is to help the bs country. When it's mature, the fighters of the Bs country must be changed too. To help us is to help the Bs country."
"But the amount is discussed by those in Congress, and we won't get too much." Thomas said.
"Then start from other aspects. For example, the price of Congress is only bare metal, excluding the attached missiles. We can increase the price of missiles." Nathan continued. This made the people around him feel a bit cold. He is a generalist, and if you let him be the boss, he must also be the most qualified capitalist.
Thomas nodded: "Okay, we will arrange this." After that, he glanced at Nathan.
Nathan shook his head quickly, don't buckle me on everything, I don't want to negotiate, I am waiting for you to let me on the ship! (End of this chapter)