Chapter 850 Saudi Kings

"Asaf? Ben? Abdulaziz?" Hearing the name, the mouse's hand, which was turning on the computer to play the 'Sparrow' helicopter experimental video, trembled slightly.

As long as a little knowledgeable person hears the name, he will think of the real identity of this person.' Abdulaziz is a very special surname, which represents the royal identity of Saudi Arabia.

In modern times, if there are still royal families in those countries, whose power is the same as that of feudal monarchies, Saudi Arabia is definitely the most famous of them. The political power of this country is completely in the hands of the royal family. The king is the well-deserved first person and ruler of the country, while other royal families and nobles have dispersed part of their power from the king.

So the mouse will be surprised to hear the self-introduction of this dignitary man. This man is actually a member of Saudi Arabia, and it seems that his identity is not ordinary.

During the video, the mouse also inquired about Asaf's identity in Saudi Arabia, the deputy director of the army, a very important position. In Saudi Arabia, the military director is still held by the Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and Aviation, and the crown prince, who holds so many positions, cannot focus his energy entirely on the seemingly vain but actually very important place of the 'military director', so the power of the deputy director comes.

If you put aside the crown prince who has several positions, Asaf, the deputy director, is almost the top five in the military. Such a Saudi dignitary came to the booth of Star Group and seemed to be very interested in the company's products.

As we all know, Saudi Arabia and the United States are very close, so most of them are American-made weapons in terms of military equipment, and because of the important surname of Saudi Arabia, the country with the largest oil reserves, the United States has always been very generous in dealing with Saudi arms exports. Except for a few weapons prohibited by the United States, its His weapons can basically be bought, and Saudi Arabia is a very rich country. For political and economic reasons, the United States is unwilling to see Saudi Arabia implement a policy of "diversification" weapons.

Thinking of this, the mouse was a little disappointed. In his opinion, even if the Saudi ax intends to purchase arms from other countries, it will not choose Somalia for political reasons. In this way, Asaf appeared here, at most like the representatives of many countries before. He was only interested in learning about it, but did not have the idea of purchasing.

Asaf didn't know that the mouse was a 'just looking' guest. At this moment, he was carefully looking at the video with the two companions he brought around him. When he put it in some key places, he also asked the staff beside him to pause or replay it. The posture seemed to be really interesting.

"That's great, Mr. Li. I want to go to the weapons test site now to see the wonderful performance of this plane. I wonder if your company has brought a prototype?" After watching the video, Asaf and the two people around him whispered a few words, and then stood up and looked at the mouse and asked directly.

In his heart, he has included Assad as a mouse like an 'ordinary visitor'. He was obviously stunned when he heard the opposite. Did he guess wrong? Does the other party really have a plan to purchase?

This speculation surprised and made the mouse happy. Although he was still a little suspicious, he was unwilling to miss this opportunity to open up the dilemma of Star Group's participation.

"Yes, of course. We have brought a prototype, and we can experience its excellent surname in person at any time. Of course, the mouse nodded repeatedly.

Fifteen minutes later, in the middle of an empty site in the southwest of Abu Dhabi, a 'small' helicopter sprayed with camouflage was parked there. When the mouse and his party came by car, the pilots belonging to the Star Group immediately gave way of the cockpit.

Because this 'sparrow' helicopter is very small and can only accommodate one pilot, it can't teach others to do it like a trainer, because Asaf wants his people to experience it by flying this helicopter in person, and the mouse did not come up with a simulated flight specially designed to train pilots. The machine.

Asaf came this time with a purpose and a targeted surname. One of the people he brought was an active helicopter pilot in Saudi Arabia. After ten minutes of explanation by the pilot of the Star Group, the Saudi pilot said that there was no problem and he could fly the helicopter alone. After all, most of the things on the helicopter are universal, and now they are just driving, not flying to fight, and the requirements are simpler.

In the weapons test site, in addition to this temporary test site assigned to Star Group, there are many defense companies and their customers around them who are testing weapons. At this moment, many people can't help but look up at the movement here.

When they saw the strange helicopter in the middle of the crowd, many people they saw for the first time showed their surprised eyes.

The Saudi pilot sat in the cockpit at this time. Soon, the two propellers on the top of the helicopter rotated. The front one rotated counterclockwise and the latter rotated clockwise, in order to offset the centrifugal force generated by the propeller rotation and keep the helicopter stable.

On the ground, a technician of the Star Group is making the most detailed explanation for Asaf and others. Under the work of the increasingly skilled Saudi pilot, the 'Sparrow' helicopter quickly showed an extraordinary excellent surname ability, because because it was not equipped with weapons, the Saudi pilot first experimented the helicopter with one of the most intuitive surname energy - speed.

When the helicopter with a speed of more than 400 kilometers skimmed over everyone's heads, there were bursts of exclamations on the ground, not only from Asaf and his party, but also other people around the test site who paid attention to the helicopter couldn't help exclaiming.

At this time, a staff member gave a pair of headsets to Asaf to facilitate the call with the pilot on the helicopter.

"Allah is on! Now it's 452 kilometers per hour, and I feel that it can fly a little faster... I feel like I'm being a fighter..." From time to time, the pilot's excited cries came from the headphones.

Ten minutes later, the 'sparrow' helicopter landed on the open space. The Saudi pilot reluctantly got off the plane and came to Asaf to report on the test flight.

The pilot did not hesitate to appreciate the helicopter, especially the flight speed and low-altitude mobility, which made a very detailed report. Sitting in the well-protected cockpit, the pilot felt very safe and felt like he was in a tank.

However, the pilot also raised many questions, such as the helicopter's bomb load is too small, only two anti-tank missiles and a rocket nest. Compared with the current special armed helicopter, the firepower is too weak, like the 'top king' longbow Apache in the helicopter. Russia's Ka-28N can carry 16 missiles, which can not only counter-armor, but also have certain air combat capabilities. Moreover, both helicopters are equipped with millimeter wave radar, which are not available in the Sparrow helicopter.

Millimeter wave radar is a good point. After all, helicopters are not fighters. In many missions, they use ultra-low-altitude penetration, avoiding the opponent's radar and using favorable terrain to attack the enemy. This kind of ultra-low-air attack, the effect of radar is sometimes not as reliable as the pilot's's eyes and optical instruments.

It's just in terms of firepower, but it's a problem that the 'sparrow' helicopter needs to face up to face. However, the design of this helicopter was based on the application of small-scale lightning raids. It is not a professional armed helicopter, but a combination of reconnaissance and anti-armor, in which reconnaissance is its main combat task.

"Mr. Asaf, in terms of firepower, our company can modify for customers, increase the bomb load, and finally mount 4-6 missiles. But in this way, it is bound to affect its speed. The mouse discussed with the technician in a low voice for a while and said, "And the mast radar, our company can also solve it for customers. The scientific research strength of Star Group is very strong, and we can make corresponding improvements to any of our products according to the needs of customers.

The mouse's words are not empty words. He has this self-confidence. Not to mention here, there is also a technician involved in the design of the 'Sparrow' helicopter.

When designing the 'sparrow' helicopter, didn't you really take into account the questions raised by the Saudi pilots? Of course not. Saudi pilots found the problem just by doing it once. Didn't the technicians who participated in the whole process from design to production to experiment find it? This is impossible. The reason why millimeter-wave radar was not installed and increased the load at the beginning was to highlight its two important names, speed and stealth. Once the bombload is increased, it will affect the flight speed of this helicopter. Although the final data is still faster than most helicopters now, this advantage is no longer obvious. Millimeter-wave radar, which involves helicopters, is also a key point - stealth.

With the current technology, the radar antenna is a very difficult problem to solve. There are prominent radar antennas on the backs of longbow Apache and Ka-28 helicopters, which will certainly provide a larger exploration area for the opponent's radar, which is not conducive to reducing the possible surnames found.

Of course, there is another important factor, that is, with the above modification, the price of the helicopter is bound to rise to an amazing number.

In the benchmark 'sparrow' helicopter, that is, the helicopter in the current open space, Star Group's external quotation is 8.7 million US dollars. If the modifications required by Saudi Arabia are made, the price will climb to tens of millions of dollars, and the price of the U.S. Army's purchase of longbow Apache is not much different. .

However, for a rich country like Saudi Arabia, a helicopter of tens of millions of dollars is not unacceptable, and the price of a long bow Apache for export varies depending on the relationship. For example, the long bow Apache once sold to Israel by the United States, the unit price is The purchase of the American [***] team itself is millions of dollars more expensive, and the price of exports to other countries with less close relations has reached 4 to 50 million US dollars. Even Saudi Arabia will feel pain. After all, this is the price of an F-16 fighter.

(to be continued)