Led Shen Fei to complete a second entrepreneurship, and Tang Qiansan, the former helmsman of the "cradle of Chinese fighter jets", passed away. Enterprise | Military Products | Completed | Fighter Aircraft | Mission | Development | Tang Qiansan | Aircraft

Pengpai News reporter learned from the funeral committee of Comrade Tang Qiansan that Tang Qiansan, the recipient of the National May Day Labor Medal and a national level technology management expert with outstanding contributions, former Chairman and General Manager of Shenyang Aircraft Industry Co., Ltd., passed away in Shenyang at 16:51 on July 24, 2023, at the age of 90, due to ineffective medical treatment.

According to public information, Tang Qiansan, born in 1933 in Changsha, Hunan Province, has held various positions including Director of the General Assembly Workshop of the State owned 112th Factory, Commander of the J-8 Aircraft Command, Deputy Director of the State owned Songling Machinery Factory, Deputy Manager of Songling Machinery Company, General Manager of Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Company, and Chairman and General Manager of Shenyang Aircraft Industry Co., Ltd.

During his tenure as Chairman and General Manager, he led all employees of the company to complete four national key new aircraft research projects in five years, creating a miracle in the history of aviation in China. He actively promoted the strategies of "military to civilian" and "internal to external", enabling the enterprise to successfully embark on the path of military civilian integration, with continuous growth in benefits, and entering the ranks of national first-class enterprises. In 1988, he was awarded the National May Day Labor Medal, and in 1995, he was named the National model worker.

Tang Qiansan led Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to promote independent innovation and development of military aircraft models, completing the "second entrepreneurship" in the history of Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

According to Shenyang Labor Model Network, Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group Corporation is known as the "cradle of Chinese fighter jets". For decades, Shenyang Aircraft Group has equipped 70% of the fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force and manufactured thousands of fighter jets to fly into the blue sky, making tremendous contributions to accelerating the modernization of national defense.

Tang Qiansan served as the Chairman and General Manager of Shenyang Aircraft Corporation from 1982 to 1995. During this period, it was a special period in the history of Shen Fei. At that time, Shen Fei's military orders sharply declined, and the order volume faced by the company dropped from three or two digits to one digit. The situation was severe, to the point where the livelihood of the entire 20000 employees in the factory could only be sustained by the production of six aircraft per year. At this time, Shen Fei, although talented and well-equipped, was like a tiger trapped in a cage, unable to unleash his might despite his strong willpower.

In the face of great pressure, Tang Gansan showed great courage and boldness of vision. He discussed with the company's leadership team and resolutely decided to adjust the business direction and implement military-to-civilian product positioning. At the group meeting, Tang Gansan said categorically, "We are going to use civilian production to protect military products, and then use the profits created by civilian production to research and development of military products. The immediate strategic adjustment is to ensure the permanent position of military products." Under the domination of this new strategic guiding ideology, Shen Fei began the transformation of "casting swords and plows and hoes.

"Civil products are the rice bowl, military products are the lifeblood. We cannot neglect the development of Chinese fighter jets for the sake of rice bowl, and we must not let the development of Chinese fighter jets be cut off in our hands." At that time, although the military task was "not enough to eat", the research and development of new aircraft models was not light. Tang Qiansan accelerated the pace of new aircraft development on the basis of his predecessor's work, while focusing on the development and mass production of the J-8 I aircraft and undertaking the national task of developing the J-8 II aircraft.

In 1984, the higher authorities demanded that the new machine be launched by the end of the year. Tang Qiansan was well aware of the unprecedented difficulty in developing the J-8II fighter jet, which is of contemporary international advanced level. In order to launch the most advanced fighter jets in China as soon as possible, he proposed a timeline before July 1st and issued a military order. In order to complete the task on schedule, he divided the entire development process into eight defense lines, divided troops to guard, and together with cadres and employees, he stayed up one sleepless night at the production site. On June 12th, the J-8 II made its maiden flight to the sky, and a total of four J-8 II aircraft were put into formal test flights. After strict assessment, it has been proven that the main performance indicators of the aircraft have met the design requirements. In October 1988, the design of the J-8 II was finalized.

J-8 II

The J-8 II took 8 years from scheme demonstration to design finalization. Due to the comprehensive scheme demonstration of the aircraft and the solid principle testing work, the aircraft was successfully developed in just 17 months, and the development progress was 110 days ahead of schedule, creating the shortest and best quality fighter development cycle in the history of Chinese aviation. In 1989, the arduous task of equipping the J-8II aircraft for the first time was completed on schedule, opening a new chapter in the history of air force equipment.

During Tang Qiansan's tenure as the commander-in-chief, Shen Fei achieved a 5-fold increase in industrial output value, a 5.6-fold increase in sales revenue, and a 2.1-fold increase in profit creation, providing successful experiences for the reform and development of state-owned large and medium-sized enterprises, especially military enterprises. The Party and the people have bestowed upon Tang Qiansan a noble honor. He won the National Science and Technology Progress Special Award and the First Prize respectively for organizing the research and development of the J-8 aircraft and the J-8 II aircraft. In April 1995, he was awarded the National model worker.