Chapter 664: Grumman's dilemma

Tan Zhenhua did not accept the invitation of Lu Hesheng and Xu Xin to have lunch. Instead, he left under the pretext of having important business affairs.
In fact, there is no official business for him. The only arrangement today is to go to the Chapel Street Boxing Stadium to talk to the gold medal coach Cous D’Amato. The purpose is to abduct his proud disciple Mike Tyson. According to Lin Double Happiness’s Crow’s Mouth predicted that this talk of numbers is likely to evolve into a kick-off event-but Lin Shuangxi, who has been so proud and arrogant and has never lost, said that he would definitely not counsel.
Of course, this "never lost" had to exclude his own father, um, also had to exclude Tan Zhenhua's senior brother Li Yanan, and that time should be considered a tie.
In fact, Tan Zhenhua left in a hurry for two reasons. One was that Lin Shuangxi, who had been staying outside, could not speak his language. He ate and drank in the house while this person was hungry and drinking northwest wind. It was really uncomfortable to take him in. The room was too eye-catching to explain to Lu Hesheng and his wife.
The second is that when Lu Hesheng talked about the topic of "retirement", Tan Xiaozi immediately came up with a bad idea, but the target of this bad idea was Vivian's grandfather-this is a bit irritating He feels a little guilty. Father Lu hasn't offended him. He was served with tea and water early in the morning, and he planned to keep him for dinner, but he was secretly wondering how to smash other people's jobs. Let's put it aside. It’s not very authentic, right?
So, Young Master Tan Er, who had a ghost in his heart, really had no face to eat Lu's food, so he had no choice but to slip away.
Lu Hesheng’s explanation of why he cannot retire for the time being reminded Tan Zhenhua. Although he was vague, Tan Zhenhua was reborn after all. As long as he was reminded a little bit, he guessed the whole story—the reason why Grumman refused to let his father retire. , Because they are implementing a major plan concerning the company’s life and death.
In other words, it is Grumman's last fight for survival.
The Grumman Aerospace Company, founded in 1929 by Lee Louis Grumman and Trek Swable, is one of the most important fighter manufacturers in the U.S. It has designed and produced the first aircraft with retractable landing gear. Since the F1F biplane fighter was valued by the U.S. Navy and received its purchase order, it has become a very close partner with the U.S. Navy.
As the working environment of the navy's fighters is far worse than that of the air force, salt spray corrosion at sea, bad weather, and higher requirements for take-off and landing performance and dispatch rate all make Grumman pay special attention to the reliability of the aircraft. , Which also prompted it to invest more resources in this area, and the result is that the aircraft manufactured by Grumman is the most reliable and maintainable product of all aircraft manufacturers in the United States. This got a nickname "Grumman Blacksmith".
From this nickname, we can also see the trust of the U.S. Army in Grumman’s products, and the U.S. Navy’s orders have also become the basis for Grumman’s survival and development.
Although Grumman's products are known for their high reliability, it does not mean that their other performance is poor. In fact, in the early days of the US's participation in the Second World War, Grumman produced several fighter jets equipped by the US Navy. The single-wing carrier-based fighter F4F "Wildcat" is the only carrier-based aircraft that can be tied with the legendary Japanese fighter "Zero War", and then Grumman launched the fighter F-6F for the characteristics of "Zero War" The "Hellcat" fought the once unbeatable "Zero War" on the Pacific battlefield.
Well, to make a digression, it can also be seen that Grumman has a tradition in naming its own fighters "cat" series, so it is not a short time to name its most famous fighter F-14 "Panda". The rise is not to take advantage of China's Xia. In fact, F-14's nickname is "TOMCAT", and it has nothing to do with China's national treasure giant panda's official English name "PANDA" even half a dime. As for "TOMCAT" The topic of how it could be translated into "panda" is a bit far away, and those interested in children's shoes can ask Du Niang on their own.
Back to the theme, because the fighter jets produced by Grumman occupies most of the U.S. Navy's share, its performance and dispatch rate are far higher than those of other competing companies, so that according to post-war statistics, on the Pacific battlefield, Two-thirds of the planes lost to the Japanese were shot down by Grumman products.
Unfortunately, with the end of World War II, the era of propeller fighters gradually came to an end, followed by the rise of jet fighters. This initial opportunity was missed by Grumman. Douglas used the F-4 "Phantom" fighter jet. Almost monopolized the entire U.S. Navy’s fighter jet market. This situation lasted for ten years. Grumman, which had almost no orders, almost went bankrupt. It was not until the 1960s that Lu Hesheng used the A-6 "Invader" attack aircraft to stabilize. In the 1970s, Grumman was brought back to the pinnacle of glory with a generation of classic F-14 "Panda" variable swept-wing fighters in the 70s.
Coupled with another Grumman product, the E-2 "Prowler" early warning/transport aircraft, these three Grumman aircraft almost monopolized the US Navy’s carrier deck during this period!
Regrettably, there is an old saying in China that "prosperity must decline." Grumman and its "Panda" fighters are now facing this situation.
The F-14 "Panda" is undoubtedly a good aircraft, with its excellent flight performance, the outrageous AN/AWG9 pulse Doppler radar and the AIM-54 "phoenix" mid-range airspace that makes the enemy fearful The missile has built its incomparable combat capability, even if it is compared with the younger US Air Force’s main fighter F-15 "Eagle", it will be more successful than it is.
It can be said that in the world at that time, the F-14 "Panda" is undoubtedly the most outstanding fighter, there is no one!
Unfortunately, its shortcomings are equally obvious.
The first disadvantage is of course expensive.
Because of the aerodynamic shape of the variable swept wing, the sci-fi shape of the wing can be adjusted at will according to the flight needs. Although it gives the F-14 "Panda" fighter unparalleled flight performance, it also brings unavoidable The processing is difficult, and this obviously requires more expensive production costs.
The second shortcoming does not come from the aircraft itself, but from Grumman.
Although Grumman has developed and produced a series of successful aircraft, it is a pity that it is still a "small" company in the U.S. aviation industry, especially when his opponent is called McDonnell Douglas.
If the Soviet-Russian air force is temporarily excluded, then the U.S. Air Force will undoubtedly top the Blue Star's No. 1 Air Force. Then, who is the Blue Star ranked second?
The answer is embarrassing, it is the US Navy.
Yes, at this point of time in early 1983, the U.S. Navy was equipped with 4 "Forest-class" and 3 "Kitty Hawk" conventional power ships, as well as 2 "Enterprise-class" and 3 "Nimitz-class" nuclear The total number of powered aircraft carriers has reached 12, and two more "Nimitz"-class aircraft carriers are being built at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia, eastern United States!
These behemoths, even the smallest "Forrest-class" aircraft carrier, are equipped with 54 fixed-wing fighters. It is conceivable that the fortresses will be filled with the number of fighters required for the deck of all these aircraft carriers.
This demand order for hundreds of fighters will make many people jealous!
Is it possible that McDonnell Douglas, also a major producer of American fighter jets and, in a sense, even the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States, will see this huge cake be monopolized by Grumman?
Ha ha.