Great warships

Chapter 835 Stealth Machines Are More Attractive

Considering the purchase cost and considering the whole life cost are two different attitudes.

In the past, the Eastern Air Force did not consider the cost of the whole life, but only the cost of purchase. The big deal is that if you don’t use it after purchasing, the life will be saved. The money for the purchase is real, and it hurts too much.

As for the Cuban Air Force, although they do not have advanced equipment at hand, they are also knowledgeable. The aircraft in front of them has advanced performance and a long lifespan. If the price is 1000 million, it is also within their acceptable range. So what else is there to say?
At some point, the sky began to drizzle, and everyone left the apron and came to the 320 long conference room.

"Currently, the trainer type of our aircraft that has completed the test flight is the trainer type. We call this type A type. Next, we will improve on the basis of this trainer type, so that it has a powerful ground attack capability and can carry various precision-guided weapons, and even anti-ship missiles to attack the sea. We call this type B type. Of course, if customers need it, type A can also be upgraded to type B at any time."

"Can you still attack the ground?" The customers were shocked again.

"Or precision attack?"

"Yes, our aircraft is very maneuverable, surpassing many professional ground attack aircraft. Our navigation equipment is also very advanced. As long as we add a suitable weapon system, we can become an attack aircraft."

"If it is converted into an attack aircraft, how much will it cost?" Pino asked.

This old Shi hasn't thought about it yet, after all, they haven't finished the modification yet, and they don't know how much it will cost.

"It's hard to say." Qin Tao took over the conversation: "Everyone is professional, and you should know that the price varies with different equipment. For example, the price of installing an ordinary flat-panel slot radar and installing an advanced phased array radar will be much different. In addition to equipment, it also has something to do with ammunition. You should only have ordinary iron bombs on hand. If you want to buy precision-guided bombs, the quantity you buy will also lead to different prices. But please rest assured that we are good friends and will definitely give you the lowest price."

"Do you still have airborne phased array radar?"

"Of course, our early warning aircraft uses phased array radar." Qin Tao said: "Our advanced fourth-generation aircraft also has a phased array radar version."

"Can this radar detect stealth aircraft?"

"Theoretically yes."

"Okay, let's..." Pino was really tempted, but at this moment, an assistant next to him pushed him: "Mr. Pino, I'm afraid we don't have much money to purchase right now."

When they heard that Dongfang was going to sell, they came here in a hurry, but now, if they really want to purchase, they have to check how much money they have in their pockets.

"Currently, we can only purchase two trainer models with the funds on hand." Pino said with some helplessness: "However, we are indeed very interested in your aircraft."

"The size of the two planes is too small. You need to purchase at least twelve planes to form a fleet. If the number of planes is too small, it will be more expensive to operate. After all, maintenance still needs to be scaled up to reduce costs." Qin Tao said.

"Yeah, at least the size of a flying brigade is needed, alas." Pino sighed a little, thinking how powerful their air force was back then, able to cross the southern hemisphere, but now, they can't even afford more than two fighter planes.

"Have you heard of our package project for a weak country and a strong army?" Qin Tao asked.

Pino's face was a little embarrassed: "Of course I heard, Mr. Qin, you mean to use our domestic resources? That's right, our resources are relatively rich, but I'm very sorry, our resources cannot be opened to foreign companies, everything is state-owned."

In fact, Cuba’s family background is still good. Their mineral resources are very rich, including nickel, cobalt, manganese, chromium, iron and copper, etc., especially nickel reserves account for 40.00% of the world’s total reserves. For Mingzhou Group, this thing is the best material for making invar steel. They also have 35 billion tons of iron ore resources, and copper, tungsten, manganese, and chromium reserves are also very rich. Almost all mountains contain a large amount of mineral resources.

There is also a lot of oil, and the proven recoverable oil can reach 200 billion barrels.

There are also a large number of trees in their country, with forest coverage reaching 20.00% of the total land area[-], and there are precious woods such as mahogany, sandalwood, and Cuban pine.

However, with such good conditions, Cuba has not developed. Their most important economic pillar industries are tourism and nickel export. The main export products are agricultural products, such as sugar cane, tropical fruits, cocoa, coffee, rice, etc., and the export volume of cane sugar is the largest.

It's really a waste to sleep on so many resources.

No way, system problem.

Their domestic welfare benefits are very good. Almost from birth to grave, the welfare slogans shouted by western developed countries have been fully realized in their own countries. Although they can only get a few hundred yuan worth of currency every month, this is just pocket money, and they don’t need to spend money on everything for living expenses.

Therefore, they just need to follow the steps. Anyway, ordinary people don’t want to have private cars, and they don’t necessarily get money into their pockets. The big guys lie flat together, and no one needs to roll.

There are a lot of these resources, but they cannot be opened to the outside world. Everything belongs to the state.

This set doesn't work.

"Then you can increase the production of nickel. We can import some nickel ore to offset your purchase funds. You can also mine some other resources. We do not mine on your land. We only need to purchase your minerals. After signing the purchase contract, we can also advance funds in advance. You can use this money to purchase L-15 trainers."

"President Qin, it is very difficult to increase production. If the existing mines are distributed to you, it will interfere with the normal operation of our country." Pino said helplessly.

"It's fine to work overtime, what's so difficult about it?"

"We don't work overtime there."

Everyone was speechless.

"So, can you mine some timber? Our Mingzhou Group is also in the timber business now. Our Mingzhou Group can provide specialized logging machinery and provide one-stop services."

Lao Maozi has a large amount of wood, but not many precious species. All the wood here in Cuba is precious wood. If you drive a big guy like a special excavator, you can cut down hundreds of millions of dollars worth of wood in a few months.

"We have to love our own trees."

Qin Tao was speechless. Are these guys so stubborn?

"Okay, then you should take good care of your own country, every flower, every tree, every grass and every tree, for you, these are the most important. As for whether your air force has completed the modernization and whether it can cope with future threats, these have to be placed in a secondary position."

Qin Tao can help them, but it doesn't mean that they can play tricks here. They don't want to give up anything, and they want to have modern fighters. Isn't this a joke?
The scene suddenly became awkward.

"I originally thought that I would be able to export more advanced fourth-generation aircraft to you in the future, but now it seems that it is better to forget it."

This batch of trainer aircraft is just the beginning. In the future, the cooperation between the big guys will be even closer, and even the fourth-generation aircraft can be provided. Now that you are not letting go of anything here, how will you cooperate in the future?

Pino's throat moved, and he said, "Mr. Qin, do you have advanced cutting machines?"

"Of course, we have automated felling machinery, and the cutting efficiency is quite high."

"Then let's discuss it after we go back," Pino said.

"Okay, we look forward to your reply. Next, let's continue to introduce L-15, Mr. Shi, don't you have an improvement plan for stealth here?"

Old Shi nodded: "That's right, this is the C-type, the follow-up development model, if you are interested, we will introduce it to you."

Type A is an ordinary coach type, and type B has gained a strong attack power on the basis of the coach type, so what about type C?Of course it is facelift, stealth improvement.

These guests are obviously interested in the stealth machine, so let them know that our side has already mastered the stealth machine. Even if you can't purchase the advanced fourth-generation machine, you can still obtain this ability through L-15!

"Do you still have stealth models?" Pino asked in surprise.

"Yes, stealth type."

The renderings were shown on the projector. Of course, this is just an idea of ​​Demchenko. Facts have proved that opportunities are only reserved for those who are prepared. If it were not for the renderings, the Cuban visitors would have to ponder whether it is worthwhile to cut down their own forests in exchange for these planes. However, when he saw the renderings, he no longer had any doubts.

It has a diamond-shaped nose, a parallelogram-shaped air intake under the side strips, and a bag bulging out of the air intake, with twin vertical tails at the back, which tilt outwards. It looks so beautiful. In an instant, everyone stopped talking and looked directly at the trainer.

"If this plane is improved to be a stealth model, the cost will increase a lot, right?"

"Of course it has improved a lot, but we are very generous to our friends, especially for customers who have purchased our A-type trainer aircraft. The price of this stealth model can also be reduced to 2000 million US dollars. Of course, it is the current currency value. If you purchase it in five or ten years, we have to consider the inflation factor." Qin Tao said casually.

I'll talk about the price later, anyway, it's just a prank, and the price will double, which is definitely a bargain.

"Does it have a built-in bomb bay?"

The guests who came were still professional, and immediately asked a key question: If the weapon is not built-in, what is the stealth?But for an aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 11 tons, it is simply too difficult to require it to have a built-in bomb bay.

"The built-in bomb bay is not practical. For a small aircraft, even if the built-in bomb bay is dug out, there can be at most two middle and two close ones inside." Qin Tao was very calm on the side: "Our stealth modification will use an external stealth weapon bay."

If you want to be invisible, you can’t hang weapons outside, otherwise it will destroy the stealth ability. Various missiles and bombs will strongly reflect radar waves and increase the reflection cross-sectional area of ​​the fighter. Take the Typhoon fighter as an example. The RCS is about 2 square meters when there is no external attachment, and it increases to more than 10 square meters when the missile is mounted. Although the Typhoon is not a stealth aircraft, you can also see the horror of external missiles.

Stealth aircraft must have a built-in bomb bay, but the internal space is limited, and the number of missiles carried is very small. Ordinary third-generation heavy aircraft, such as the F-15 and Su-27, can carry more than a dozen missiles externally. When it comes to the F-22, after cutting off the tip of the AIM-120 missile’s wings, it can barely fit six medium-range bombs. Coupled with two short-range bombs, it is the limit. If you give up stealth, it is said that you can hang 28 missiles.

How to break the contradiction between stealth and ammunition load?
Of course it is an external stealth pod!
As the name suggests, stealth investigation is to hang a pod on the outside of the aircraft. Compared with ordinary pods, the biggest difference is that it is made into a stealth shape, so that some weapons and equipment can be stuffed inside, so that it can carry weapons and equipment without increasing the radar reflection area of ​​the aircraft.

Back then, the Yankees developed this pod in order to reduce the radar reflection area of ​​their aircraft, and transformed the F-15SE "Silent Eagle" and FA-18 "Silent Hornet".

The F-15 has no stealth capability, but referring to the data of the Typhoon fighter, the radar reflection area will be several times different between the missile and the missile. Therefore, Silent Eagle has made improvements: two conformal fuel tank-style external pods are installed on both sides of the air intake, each pod can carry two anti-aircraft missiles and 4 small diameter bombs, and then spray a layer of absorbing paint on the aircraft, thereby significantly reducing the RCS value of the "Silent Eagle".

As for the improvement of the Super Hornet, it is even simpler and rude. In addition to hanging two stealth pods on the inner pylon of the wing, it also hangs a pod under the belly. Moreover, the pod under the belly is the largest in size and has the largest capacity.

The three together make this Silent Hornet's loadout reach the level of a normal Super Hornet.

Of course, stealth aircraft can also carry this kind of pod. After carrying it, the weapon capacity can be expanded. It doesn't matter in air combat, but for ground attack, the small pod of F-35 is really not enough.

The big guy breathed a sigh of relief, Mr. Qin is really good, and he directly gave a solution. Now, the stealth change has obviously attracted these foreigners. As long as they can fool them, this order will not go away. Thanks to Mr. Qin's adaptability, the answer is satisfactory!

The big guy looked at the other party's excited expression amidst emotion.

"That's right, the stealth pod will do, we're really looking forward to this stealth variant, and we're placing an order now!" Pino said.

"Mr. Pinault, we only have $2000 million."

"This money can be used as a deposit, and the rest of the money will be offset by wood." Pino said, "We will apply after we go back."

"What if I can't apply?"

"Can't apply? Then our deposit will be in vain? They have to apply. This is related to the future of our air force!"

Pino is really tempted. He has always been very courageous. He dared to defy military orders on the battlefield and fly a plane to rescue the patrols on the ground. Now that he is in a high position, he is of course even more courageous. It is only [-] million US dollars of wood. He can make decisions without authorization!

This is to cut first and play later, as long as the contract is signed here and the deposit is paid, then the country must agree.

"Since you have made up your mind, let's sign the contract first. The fighters currently on the production line are all produced for the Air Force. If you need them, we can transfer one of these fighters to you first." Qin Tao is straightforward.

"Really? That would be great! But how do you plan to send it to us?"

It's unrealistic for such a small plane to fly directly there. Should it be shipped across the ocean?
"Remove the wings, put them in our transport plane, and send them directly to you."

Mingzhou Group has the largest transport aircraft in the world, so it is certainly easy to perform this kind of task.

In addition to airplanes, logging equipment can also be installed in batches, and work can be started quickly. Those logs are very precious.

The contract was negotiated in this way, 12 trainer L-15s, each 1000 million, for 320 factory, this is a historic breakthrough!Back then, with 8 K-2000s plus the production line, the total contract value was only over [-] million. Now there are only [-] fighters, which is already [-] million.

Sure enough, if you want to do arms business, you can't be at the low end, you have to go up!
After signing the contract, paying the deposit, and completing all the procedures, and sending the client to the plane, Mr. Shi still felt like he was dreaming.

This is it?

"Mr. Qin, thank you for helping us complete the first export contract of L-15. According to the usual practice, we will pay you the relevant promotion fee."

Mr. Qin helps to sell, so he must pay the intermediary fee!

Qin Tao smiled: "This is just a small business. If I draw a sum of money, can you still make a profit? Besides, the planes you sell are also equipped with the engines of our Genghis Khan Aviation, and we can also earn profits from the engines. That's enough."

"Thank you, Mr. Qin."

"This is just the beginning. In the future, any customer who buys our fourth-generation stealth aircraft will be able to fool them into buying a batch of trainer aircraft. You should hurry up and develop the ground-attack type. The market will be wider in the future."

"Yes, Mr. Qin, we will never disappoint your expectations."

Qin Tao nodded. This time the layout is considered complete. Through the arms sale, he has established a relationship with Cuba. This is a chess piece for the future. Make decisions before moving!
Next, it's time to continue south and find Max.

All the way south, to Qiongzhou, the starship company is a busy scene.

"President Qin, did you come here because you knew our starship was going to be tested?" Max said excitedly to Qin Tao.

"Test?" Qin Tao really doesn't know how far the starships here have developed.What else to test?
"Yes, we are going to conduct a 150-meter jump test flight of Starworm this time." Max said: "This test is of great significance to us. This is a technology that must be broken through to land on Mars!"

"Starworm?" Qin Tao really hasn't paid attention to Max recently, so he doesn't know what he's up to after he comes back.

"It's a small spacecraft that only uses one engine." Max said: "We need to use it to carry out technical exploration of landing on Mars first, which will save money after all. Of course, when the technology is mature, we can also use it on existing rockets for recycling exploration."

As Max said, he brought Qin Tao to the test site, where he could see a cylinder with a stainless steel shell standing there.

It cannot be called a rocket, because the top of it is a hemisphere, and there are many test equipment on it. In appearance, it looks like an extra-large thermos bucket, the kind used in the cafeteria, with three legs underneath.

"If you want to explore Mars, you must enter space at a low cost, so you must have recovery technology. We have already begun to explore recovery technology." Marks said: "In the future, the rocket hull after launch will vertically land on the recovery site, and then transported back for reuse."

Qin Tao nodded: "Come on, I don't understand these technologies, but I support you. I believe that the technical route you have chosen is correct. Hey, why is there a launch pad over there?"

"Mr. Qin, this is the launch pad, and that is the recovery pad. We test here. After ignition, we ascend to 150 meters, and then land on the recovery pad. This is equivalent to jumping from A to B, so we call this jump test flight, which is what I named it."

That thermos is called a star bug, so of course this test is about bugs jumping.

"Attention, the test is counting down!"

The atmosphere at the scene became tense.

When the count reached zero, a flame burst out from under Starworm's buttocks. Driven by an engine, it began to climb, but the speed of ascent didn't get faster and faster. Obviously, this was an engine with adjustable thrust!
When the starworm rose to 100 meters, it began to deflect its direction, which made it translate a certain distance in the horizontal direction, and at the same time climbed another 50 meters in the vertical direction to reach the highest point.

"The jump was successful, now it's up to the landing." Max was very excited.

"This is very similar to the way the American spacecraft landed on the moon." Qin Tao said.

The lunar landing spacecraft also uses rocket engines to slow down, and lands on the surface of the moon on four supporting legs.

"The technical difficulty is completely different." Max shook his head: "The lunar landing spacecraft has no target, and can land at will, as long as it picks a flat ground. Our landing must be precise, and we are still in the atmosphere."

While speaking, the star worm had already fallen. Looking at this scene, Max was shocked: "Increase the thrust, the descent is too fast, I don't want to see the star worm fall in front of me!"

The flames at the bottom of the star worm became more intense, and the falling speed became slower and slower.

Boom!
The Starworm hit the landing platform, then turned sideways, and one of the outriggers bent visibly to the naked eye.

"Okay, it's a success." Max wiped the sweat from his forehead: "The engine thrust of this old man is difficult to control, we still have to develop our own engine!"

The original rocket engine works at full speed as long as it is ignited, consumes tens or even hundreds of tons of fuel in a few minutes, and then turns off at the right time, that's all. Now if you want to realize the landing of the starship, you have to adjust the thrust at any time.

Qin Tao frowned, does this thing cost money?
"Thanks to this accident, it has attracted the attention of many people and received a lot of investment. Otherwise, I really don't have this ability."

Hearing what Max said, Qin Tao was finally relieved.

(End of this chapter)