Chapter 890: Morningstar's New Move, the Pressure on America's Eldest Son

The establishment of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation was quite bumpy, but its shareholders are still very powerful.

The overall development in recent years is also acceptable.

Of course, it can only be described as acceptable.

It is obviously impossible to say how well it has developed.

After all, it takes a long time to dig out the information from the 1970s and 1980s and combine it with the latest situation to design and develop C919.

As the general manager of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, He Guoqing is also under great pressure.

After all, the company has been established for six years, but it still has not produced any decent results.

Although it is not necessary to lose the position under the buttocks for this reason, it is inevitable that he will be embarrassed in various meetings.

"Mr. He, has the design of the engine and avionics parts of your C919 been finalized?"

After Zhao Tianling finished talking with Cao Yang, he sorted out his thoughts a little and called He Guoqing.

The level of the two of them is similar, but the status of AVIC is obviously higher.

At the same time, AVIC is also one of the shareholders of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, and Zhao Tianling is also a director of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation.

Although Zhao Tianling does not interfere with the daily operations of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, it is natural to understand the relevant situation.

So He Guoqing was not surprised by Zhao Tianling's question.

"The engine project has basically been determined to use the LEAPX engine produced by the joint venture between Snecma, a subsidiary of the French Safran Group, and General Dynamics of the United States."

"We are preparing to conduct a hang-up test in the second half of this year. If there is no problem, it will be confirmed that this engine will be installed."

"As for the avionics system, we are also in contact with mainstream international suppliers, and it has not yet been finalized."

"Mr. Zhao, this joint venture factory is still led by AVIC."

He Guoqing didn't know the specific purpose of Zhao Tianling asking him this question, so he briefly explained it and didn't say much.

Too much talk will lead to mistakes.

Let's see the situation first.

"I just called Cao Yang, and he proposed a very constructive plan."

"Nanshan Engine is researching aircraft engines, and Venusstar Technology is also preparing to enter the large passenger aircraft business and develop a mainline passenger aircraft similar to the Boeing 777."

"At the same time, related avionics systems and other parts are all independently developed by Venusstar Technology."

"Mr. Cao thinks that our C919 project can consider using aircraft engines and related parts produced by Nanshan Engine."

Zhao Tianling did not keep the secret and directly said what he wanted to communicate.

He knew that He Guoqing would definitely need time to digest such heavy news.

For an aircraft, changing the engine supplier is definitely a big deal.

Especially when the C919 has already determined the supplier, if it is to be replaced now, the entire aircraft design work may need to be restarted.

After all, different engines have different weights and performances.

And for an aircraft, these factors will have a significant impact on the design layout of the aircraft.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, generally no aircraft will change its engine during the design process.

Although the importance of the avionics system is slightly weaker than that of the aircraft engine, it is only weaker.

In fact, it is still a particularly important part of an aircraft.

In the field of private passenger aircraft, the avionics system is often related to the airworthiness certificate.

If you develop an avionics system by yourself, there is a high probability that people will set a threshold for you when obtaining the airworthiness certificate.

It is quite common for some companies to be both athletes and referees.

Although AVIC has not developed any decent passenger aircraft, it has accumulated relatively rich experience in the research and development of various military aircraft.

Zhao Tianling naturally knows these truths.

"Mr. Zhao, are you serious?"

After a long silence, He Guoqing asked back faintly.

If it wasn't Zhao Tianling who called to talk about this, He Guoqing would probably have hung up the phone directly.

Such an unreliable thing was actually proposed to me?

Do you really think that civil aircraft are children's toys and you can do whatever you want with them?

Then Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation has been trying for 6 years but still hasn't come up with any results. Isn't it embarrassing?

If someone else had said this, He Guoqing would have been offended.

"Mr. He, I know this sounds a bit unbelievable."

"But you should have heard about the situation of Venusstar Technology and Nanshan Engine. They are always good at creating miracles."

'Over the years, Nanshan-affiliated companies have brought a lot of surprises to everyone. '

"Even in the Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation factory, some of the equipment is produced by Nanshan equipment."

"If other companies tell me that they can handle the key components such as the C919's aviation engines and avionics systems, I won't listen."

"But the situation of Nanshan companies is quite special."

"Mr. Cao invited us to visit the site, I think we can consider going to have a look."

"It's just a look anyway, you don't have to consider it if it's not suitable."

Zhao Tianling can naturally understand He Guoqing's mood at this time.

After he ended the call with Cao Yang, he spent a lot of time to calm down.

"Does Nanshan Engine have a prototype to see?"

He Guoqing asked in surprise.

Nanshan Engine is very strong, he has heard about this.

After all, his current car is equipped with Nanshan Engine.

But automobile engines and aviation engines are two completely different fields.

Nanshan Engine is doing well in the automotive industry, but it doesn't mean it is also doing well in the aviation field.

Even if Nanshan Engine has developed UAV engines and helicopter engines before, it does not mean that they can do well in aviation engines for civil aircraft.

Every profession has its own specialty.

"From Mr. Cao's tone, it should be like this."

"That's what I think. Anyway, there is no harm in taking a look. Knowing more is also an additional option."

"If we can buy related products from Nanshan Engine, then the cost will definitely be greatly reduced, which will be very beneficial for our future promotion of C919."

"In addition, the engine is produced by a domestic manufacturer, which will have a completely different symbolic meaning for C919."

"Otherwise, even if C919 succeeds in its first flight in the future, there will definitely be many people attacking its engine for not being produced by us."

Zhao Tianling naturally knew how to convince He Guoqing.

After all, everyone's seats are actually similar, and many of the problems they face are similar.

Sure enough, after listening to Zhao Tianling's words, He Guoqing did not hesitate any more and directly stated that he would personally lead the team to Nanshan Engine to take a look.

Nanshan companies are unique in China, but apart from Nanshan Carbon Fiber, He Guoqing has never visited other companies.

Taking this opportunity, it seems not a bad thing to visit and exchange ideas in Guangzhou.

However, there is no wall that is impenetrable.

The staff of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation have not yet officially gone to Nanshan Engine, and the news that they want to consider using the aircraft engines produced by Nanshan Engine has spread in the industry.

As an engine supplier, General Electric got the relevant news at the first time.

After all, they have been dealing with Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation for so many years, so naturally there are some familiar people.

Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation produces civil passenger aircraft, not military fighter jets, so the sensitivity is not so strong, and the confidentiality requirements are much lower.

In addition, some people do not think that Nanshan Engine can really produce qualified aircraft engines, so they told General Electric about this matter like a joke.

Even Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation's purchase is thinking about whether they can use this news to suppress General Electric's price.

Although the people of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation do not take it seriously, the people of General Electric take it very seriously.

In recent years, all the competitors who do not take Nanshan Group's enterprises seriously have basically suffered a great loss in the end.

Nanshan Engine has made a breakthrough in marine gas turbines before, which has brought a certain impact to General Electric.

Now there is news that the other party is going to enter the aviation engine, and General Electric immediately attaches great importance to it.

As a company founded by the famous scientist Edison, its products cover military radar, navigation systems, rockets, home appliances, aircraft engines, nuclear power equipment, renewable energy, oil and gas, medical equipment and other fields.

General Electric's achievements in aviation engines, power generation equipment, CT, magnetic resonance and other medical equipment are particularly remarkable.

General Electric's commercial aviation engines occupy two-thirds of the global market, which is considered a very core business of the company.

Generally speaking, few companies have the strength to challenge General Electric.

But this time it involves Nanshan Group's enterprises, and General Electric's attitude is different.

"Xiang, Nanshan Engine is preparing to produce aircraft engines to supply to Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation's C919 project. Is this news reliable?"

As the global president of General Electric, Immelt usually does not directly ask about trivial matters.

But this time, he obviously thinks it is not a trivial matter.

Otherwise, he would not have called Xiang Weimin, the general manager of the Huaxia branch, to confirm before the matter was confirmed.

Although GE and GM have nothing to do with each other, Immelt has made special efforts to understand the conflict between GM and Nanshan Automotive Group.

This matter has even been analyzed as the latest MBA case in some American universities.

Immelt is worried that the emergence of Nanshan Engine will have a huge impact on GE's aviation engine business, and it is not impossible that it will directly lose the Chinese market in the future.

After all, Nanshan-related companies are too weird, and anything can happen.

"Immelt, this news is reliable, but whether Nanshan Engine really has the production capacity of commercial aviation engines needs further confirmation."

"AVIC and Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation plan to arrange a special plane team to visit Nanshan Engine next week to confirm the design and production capacity of each other's aviation engines."

"The truth about Nanshan Engine should be known by then."

Xiang Weimin didn't want to report this news to the headquarters in such a hurry.

However, Immelt had previously specifically instructed that some information related to C919 should be reported to him as soon as any new situation arose. So when he learned that Nanshan Engine would supply engines to C919 that day, he reported it first, no matter how true the news was.

Otherwise, if the matter really got out of hand, he would be responsible.

After all, he had seen the evil ways of Nanshan-related companies.

"China's commercial aviation engines have been tossed around for decades without any success."

"Now Nanshan Engine suddenly came out and said that it could supply aviation engines to C919. This is full of weirdness."

"You must find a way to figure out the situation."

Immelt did not want GE to completely lose the Chinese market like GM.

If Nanshan Engine really got the commercial aviation engine technology, then GE must act immediately and not let the situation deteriorate.

Immelt saw this very clearly.

"If China really has the technology, it will be a big deal for them, and they will probably report it in great detail."

"Commercial Aircraft Corporation of Shanghai will definitely take various actions."

"It is very likely that this matter is a false alarm."

Xiang Weimin felt that he still needed to cool down the matter, otherwise he would be under a lot of pressure in the next few days.

Although he reported the matter to the headquarters, his purpose was to avoid being blamed in the future, not to find a lot of things for himself.

Of course, his assumption soon became more and more suspicious.

Because at this time, Venustech officially announced that it would build a large aircraft.

[The twin-engine medium- and long-range wide-body aircraft Venustech 777 was officially launched! ]

A simple official announcement caused an uproar in the aviation field.

In particular, Venustech gave it a special name called "Venustech 777", which was obviously aimed at Boeing 777.

To put it bluntly, this is disgusting Boeing.

As the general manager of Boeing China, Ma Ailun reported to David immediately.

"Venus Technology is actually going to enter the twin-engine medium- and long-range wide-body passenger aircraft?"

"Are they going to compete with our 777?"

David was very surprised by the news reported by Ma Ailun.

He has already regarded Venus Technology as an important competitor of Boeing, but he has imagined the other party's competition in Kunpeng heavy transport helicopters, missiles, and satellites.

In terms of commercial passenger aircraft, although he occasionally had a little worry before, he didn't really take it to heart.

Only Airbus in the world is qualified to make him worried.

But now Venus Technology is not playing by the rules, and his pressure has risen all of a sudden.

It's not that there are no companies in China that are engaged in commercial aircraft, such as Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, which has a great momentum.

But David is not very worried.

After all, China has been clamoring to develop passenger aircraft for a long time, but it is obviously not so easy to do it.

This time Venus Technology suddenly came out and said that it wanted to engage in technology, and David was nervous.

Because this opponent is so weird.

None of the goals set by Nanshan Group’s enterprises have been unfulfilled in recent years.

Even some things that seem unreliable have been successfully done by others in the end.

David is a little worried that the same will happen to the Venus 777 this time.

“I think the official announcement of Venus Technology is aimed at us this time.”

“After the 777 accident on Malaysia Airlines, many public opinions wanted to attribute the cause of the accident to the 777’s failure, which is completely slanderous.”

“Venus Technology now says that it will produce the Venus 777 large passenger aircraft, which is obviously to guide everyone to compare it with our 777.”

"They are even deliberately disgusting us."

Ma Allen knew that Boeing was involved in pushing the relevant departments of the United States to impose a sky-high fine of 3 billion US dollars on Venusstar Technology.

So he felt a little surprised and a little reasonable about Venusstar Technology's revenge this time.

Boeing is the largest export company in the United States, and its status is the same as that of the eldest son of the United States.

In addition to various arms, the most important of their export business is Boeing passenger aircraft.

If this business is taken down, the loss will definitely be very huge, which is something that Boeing and even the relevant departments of the United States cannot accept.

"There was no news about Venusstar 777 before, and now it is suddenly officially announced that the project will be established, but it does not say when it will be mass-produced."

"Will Venusstar Technology make a false move this time to deliberately scare us?"

David's speculation is not without reason.

Even though Venusstar Technology has strong technical strength, it has never produced large passenger aircraft.

For example, the Boeing 777 has 3 million parts in the whole aircraft, and the front cabin, wings, tail wings, engine fairings, wing leading edge components, wing active surfaces, landing gear, ceiling support frames, nose wheels, doors, fins and antennas are provided by more than 900 suppliers from 17 countries around the world.

This level of aircraft is simply not something that a single company can make alone.

Even in David's opinion, some of the parts inside cannot be produced by suppliers in China.

But Venustech has officially announced that it will enter this level of passenger aircraft.

It has to be said that this new move by Venustech has brought pressure to Boeing.

If you don't understand the situation, the pressure will be even greater.

"Although this possibility cannot be completely ruled out, I think Venusstar Technology has already made an official announcement, unless they make another official announcement in a few days saying that this content is a joke."

"Otherwise, they are really setting up a project to develop Venusstar 777."

"I think the relevant departments in China should be very supportive of Venusstar Technology to develop such a passenger aircraft. After all, the current C919 of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation is positioned as a regional passenger aircraft, which is still quite different from the 777."

Ma Ailun's words made David's mind even more confused.

He was a little confused about the facts.

But if you don't understand the situation, the pressure will increase.

This is inevitable.

David's pressure is high, so he will naturally find a way to pass the pressure to his subordinates.

In the end, Ma Ailun, the general manager of the China branch, became the unlucky guy.

Of course, Chen Jumin, the general manager of Airbus China, was also a little unlucky.

The establishment of the Venusstar 777 project will not only threaten the interests of Boeing, but also the interests of Airbus.

At present, the Chinese passenger aircraft market is basically divided between Boeing and Airbus.

Anyway, the prices are not cheap. When China wants to improve its relationship with someone, it will tilt its orders to that person.

In recent years, Airbus and Boeing have figured out this situation.

"Chen, why didn't the Chinese branch report any of the passenger aircraft projects of Venusstar Technology before?"

"Now the official announcement of the Venusstar 777 project shows that the other party has been discussing it for a long time."

Fabris questioned Chen Jumin a little angrily.

In recent years, Airbus has never competed with Boeing.

However, as an aerospace company that carries the hopes of so many European countries, Fabrice hopes that Airbus will surpass Boeing to become the world's largest commercial passenger aircraft company.

This goal has not been achieved yet, but now a new opponent has suddenly emerged.

And the emergence of this opponent is likely to affect the orders in the Chinese market.

So Fabrice is a little nervous.

"Fabris, our Huaxia branch just learned about this information. There was no previous media coverage of this."

"The senior executives of Venusstar Technology did not reveal this news in any interview."

Chen Jumin must have explained himself at this time.

It's okay to take the blame, but you can't take such a worthless blame.

Anyway, what he said was true, and he was not afraid of losing his position because of refuting the president's words.

"The impact and changes brought by Venusstar Technology to the global aerospace industry are getting bigger and bigger. The Huaxia branch should make the collection and confirmation of intelligence on Venusstar Technology a top priority."

"Don't wait until the Venusstar 777 is about to take its first flight, and we still don't know anything about it."

Fabris criticized Chen Jumin's work in a bad tone.

Although the latter felt a little wronged, part of his high salary was originally used to be scolded.

"I will arrange special personnel to follow up and investigate this matter. Once there is new information, I will report it to the headquarters immediately."

At this time, there is no special meaning in explaining more.

It is better to accept the instructions of the headquarters honestly and carry out the work step by step.

Anyway, Airbus China is unlikely to go bankrupt so quickly, and I can still work here for many years.

As for what will happen many years later, few people can imagine the arrangements many years later.

The same is true for Ma Allen.

Fortunately, although Fabrice's tone was very bad, he was still sensible and did not push Chen Jumin too much for the time being.