Chapter 184: Opening of the Air Show

In the birthplace of modern industry, on an island isolated overseas, the small town of Farnborough on the outskirts of London was once again bustling with noise and excitement after two years of dormancy.

The Farnborough Airshow had returned amidst great anticipation. Naturally, aircraft displays took center stage at the airshow, where all types of flying machines gathered together. From ancient biplanes to monoplanes, from propellers to jets, from low-speed aircraft to high-speed aircraft, and from ground-remote-controlled ultralight models to large commercial airliners capable of carrying hundreds of passengers across continents—everything could be found here.

Of course, these had all appeared in previous airshows. Fortunately, every airshow always featured a few newcomers who managed to bring a refreshing sense of novelty. Some would merely flash across aviation history like shooting stars, while others would achieve overnight fame right there at the airshow.

This session of the Farnborough Airshow featured such new elements. Observant visitors noticed a major highlight on the exhibition area layout map: several completely new faces seemed to have appeared at this airshow.

By new faces, it did not mean that some country had established yet another new aviation manufacturing enterprise, but rather that the mysterious Republic's aviation industry had a participating company at this airshow. This was even rarer than seeing an aviation manufacturing enterprise from the other side of the Berlin Wall appear at the airshow.

Back in the Republic's Republican era, when relations with the West were passable, the Republic's aviation manufacturing industry was completely unable to make it onto the international stage. After entering the Republic's modern era, the aviation industry had made progress, but poor diplomatic relations meant that the Republic's aviation industry had never showcased itself at international airshows like Farnborough. Now, however, things were different.

"Sean, look over there! This booth is so interesting. It seems this company comes from that red Republic in the East. This must be their first time exhibiting here, right?"

Sean was a junior manager at a British aviation manufacturing company. Today, he had brought his good friend Lynes along to attend the airshow. The biennial airshow was always the most exciting time for them. As relatively professional individuals within the aviation field, they always managed to uncover some interesting things.

For instance, the red Republic's aviation manufacturing enterprise that Lynes had just spotted—Sean had already gotten wind of it beforehand. Sean had even learned through a friend at *Jane's Defence Weekly* that this aviation manufacturer from the Republic was going to hold a press conference. It was truly something to look forward to.

*Jane's Defence Weekly* was launched in 1984 and was currently a modest, low-readership publication. However, who could have known what a colossal monster this small publication would develop into decades later? Calling it an authority in the aviation world would not be an exaggeration at all.

Thinking of this, Sean grew even more expectant. Although he wouldn't be able to make it to the live press conference, he could still go over to their exhibition booth to satisfy his curiosity.

"Lynes, you're right. This is indeed an aviation manufacturing enterprise from the red Republic. It is rumored that their participation this year has a deep connection with Marconi. Take a closer look at where their booth is located."

It was only then that Lynes noticed a truly astonishing detail. It was simply incredible, completely subverting tradition.

"Oh! They actually managed to exhibit in Hall 1? Has this hall ever hosted a company without British backing before? No matter what, they've certainly made a name for themselves this time."

Growing even more curious about this aviation company from the Republic, they completely lost interest in watching the flight demonstration team performing hard in the skies. The two of them now just wanted to push their way straight into Hall 1 to see what was actually going on.

Naturally, observant people were certainly not limited to just Lynes and Sean. Many others had similarly discovered this interesting company, which resulted in the booth of the Southwest United Science and Technology Corporation being utterly packed with people, making the visitor traffic at the neighboring Marconi Company look completely pale by comparison.

Despite the barrier tape having been put up, the space around the booth was still continuously compressed.

It wasn't until security personnel at the airshow stepped in that the situation was finally stabilized. These Englishmen, who usually considered themselves gentlemen, suddenly realized that they had momentarily lost their gentlemanly demeanor.

Dusting off their clothes, those in the inner circle were finally able to catch a glimpse of this mysterious aviation company's products. However, upon closer inspection, they felt like coughing up three liters of blood from frustration—the static models at this booth were actually covered with red cloth.

How utterly unpropitious! They were actually covered with red fabric. In traditional Western culture, feelings toward the color red were the exact opposite of how the East viewed it; it was considered a symbol of ominousness and evil.

However, to their pleasant surprise, the staff here seemed to be preparing to play a promotional video. That wasn't bad either; let's watch the promo video first.

The site's lighting suddenly dimmed, and three high-speed flying triangles appeared on the screen, streaking swiftly across the middle before turning and locking into a logo right in the center screen.

Seeing the logo formed by three acute triangle vertices converging together actually felt quite nice. At least it accurately reflected their nature as an aircraft manufacturer, which was followed by the company's name appearing in both Chinese and English as it flew into the screen.

"Southwest Aviation Science and Technology United Corporation—such an ordinary name. Looks like it must be a joint venture. Wonder what good stuff will be shown next."

Just as Sean's voice trailed off, the screen entered the main subject, with English subtitles appearing at the bottom. What was playing right now was footage of the official contract-signing ceremony with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Although the audio-visual equipment of this era was relatively primitive compared to future generations, managing to secure firsthand film and television material was still quite an achievement.

"Happy cooperation. May our new aircraft soon leave the blueprints, take to the skies, and join the military forces."

Prince Sultan and Madad in the footage, dressed in typical Middle Eastern attire, instantly captured everyone's attention. Seeing the bearded gentlemen sitting at the table and dashingly signing their names on the contract—that alone was enough. This was definitely firsthand material!

"Lynes, did you see that? I told you this company wasn't simple, and I was right. I have a hunch that the aircraft under that red cloth has something to do with these Middle Easterners. Who knows how these Middle Eastern upstarts got hooked up with the Eastern Republic? This plane definitely won't be ordinary."

As they spoke, lines of English text appeared on the screen, individual English letters emerging to form words and sentences, culminating in a paragraph:

In July 1983, the Republic's Southwest Aviation Science and Technology United Corporation officially signed a new aircraft development contract with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, marking the official commencement of the Super JL-7's development. This was the Republic's first joint development venture with foreign countries in the field of military research and development, pioneering a new model. Thus, in the southwest of the Republic, a vigorous and grand development campaign was set into motion.

The screen went dark, the text vanished, and video footage began to play. The first shot showed scientific researchers busy at work in an office group, with various tools laid out on tables and blueprints hanging all over the walls.

Then the camera shifted. Moving away from entirely manual design, computer-aided design began to make its appearance, specifically showing Yang Yue sitting in front of a computer, skillfully striking the keyboard. This was the purest command-line interface; every command was executed entirely through keyboard operations, which was actually far more efficient than graphical user interfaces.

As the computer continuously executed commands, the complete aerodynamic shape of an aircraft was finally rendered on the monitor. The camera zoomed in, finally lifting the mysterious veil of this new aircraft—though of course, this was only for a split second. After lingering on the screen for two seconds, the camera pulled back.

Although the footage wasn't very clear and the duration wasn't long, the general outline of the new aircraft could already be roughly discerned. This was definitely an aircraft entirely different from the Soviet-style warplanes of the Eastern Republic's past. The massive nose radome and the outward field of view protruding far beyond the cockpit were definitely something one would never see in Soviet warplane designs.

Lynes tugged at Sean in excitement, asking eagerly, "Sean, did you see that clearly? This is definitely a brand-new aircraft! In its aerodynamic design, it seems to have discarded their Soviet traditions and started leaning toward our democratic nations. Right now, I can't wait to rush in there and rip off that damned red cloth!" (To be continued.)