Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1332 I have a lot of wool in Great Britain (third update, please subscribe)

Cooperation has always been a two-way process, otherwise it is not called cooperation, it is called self-sentiment.

The cooperation between NBC and the UK is undoubtedly a two-way effort. After all, to a certain extent, the scientific and technological cooperation between the two sides is highly complementary.

As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Britain has a very strong foundation in various fields such as aviation, shipbuilding, metallurgy, and chemistry.

In contrast, NBC has made breakthroughs in many technical and scientific fields and achieved considerable development thanks to German engineers and scientists.

However, this does not change the reality that NBC has a weak foundation in some technical fields, and cooperation with the UK will help to make up for this shortcoming.

On the other hand, Britain's economic difficulties after the war made British companies and universities willing to cooperate with NBC's companies and schools in order to obtain financial support for more in-depth research.

Over the past decade, the cooperation between the two sides has continued to deepen and cover all aspects.

Of course, in this process, the government's promotion plays a big role. Compared with the private sector, in fact, for Downing Street, they need to cooperate with Nanyang more. After all, in many areas, Britain is actually lagging behind.

For this reason, just after the New Year, British Prime Minister Macmillan flew to NBC, and this visit was more like seeking help from NBC than a visit.

A BOAC VC10 passenger plane was flying over the South Asian subcontinent. Because all four engines were installed at the tail of the plane, its cabin was relatively quiet.

"Jet aircraft are a miracle. With them, it only takes a dozen hours to travel from the UK to Asia. How come we missed this market?"

The reason why Macmillan was so emotional was because of the "Comet". The British invented the jet passenger plane, but the successive crashes of the "Comet" even took away the king's husband. This not only led to the failure of the "Comet", but also dealt a heavy blow to the British aviation industry.

Although the Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft Company launched the VC10 passenger aircraft two years ago, the sales of this four-engine long-range passenger aircraft in the market were not ideal. Although dozens of them were exported, they were far from comparable to the C707, B407, and even the Tu-114.

A few years ago, the accident that sent the Duke flying made British aircraft notorious overnight.

Even now, McMillan couldn't help but worry whether the plane would plummet. Of course, it was just a thought in his mind.

In fact, the performance of VC10 aircraft is still very good, and there is still a certain overseas market. Just over a month ago, the Dongda representative office in the UK contacted Vickers. Vickers, who was struggling to sell CV-10, was naturally willing to accept the purchase intention. The two sides hit it off and the intention negotiation went very smoothly. Soon, they reached an intention contract to sell 10 VC-10 standard models to Dongda Civil Aviation.

However, Macmillan was still very conflicted about whether to approve the contract. After all, the moral and material support provided by the University of the East to the colonies in their struggle for independence was in serious conflict with British interests. But on the other hand, Vickers needed this large order.

So, for now, McMillan is still under consideration.

"It's just a few passenger planes..."

Thinking this in his mind, McMillan looked towards the direction of the snow-capped mountains. The conflict there had ended, but the confrontation was long-term. At this time, would selling aircraft to them cause dissatisfaction in India?

While McMillan was thinking about these questions, the plane quickly flew over the South Asian subcontinent, entered Southeast Asia, and headed towards its destination. A few hours later, the plane arrived in Chang'an.

As the Spring Festival was approaching, MacMillan began his visit to NBC. As soon as the plane entered Chang'an airspace, Li Yian and his party arrived at Chang'an International Airport.

When the VC10 plane landed, Li Yian smiled and said:
"VC-10 Ski has arrived."

This is a nickname given to it by people with good intentions, because it is very similar to the Tu-114, both of which have four engines installed at the tail. However, the special structure of the VC-10 passenger aircraft is consistent with its design for taking off and landing at British colonial airports in Asia and Africa. The high-positioned engine can avoid inhaling foreign matter that is common on low-grade runways in the former British colonies in tropical areas of Asia and Africa during takeoff and landing, which may damage the engine. In addition, the aircraft uses low-pressure tires to adapt to those unhardened low-grade runways. In this regard, the Soviet Union is somewhat similar to it - the conditions of Soviet airports are generally poor, so at most it is just coincidence.

"You..."

Margaret smiled and said:

"You always look like you're laughing at a joke. Are you happy if it doesn't sell, so you can sell more C707s?"

"No,"

Shaking his head, Li Yian said:

"In fact, the performance of the VC-10 aircraft is quite outstanding. It is very fast, and its onboard avionics and cockpit technology are world-class and very advanced. It is equipped with a quadruple automatic flight control system, also known as the 'super autopilot', which can assist pilots in achieving automatic landing in zero visibility. These sub-series are still very advanced."

This is proof of the strong technological foundation of British aviation, and it is also the most enviable thing. Even though the British aviation industry is now in a continuous decline, its technological foundation is still very strong.

Not only the UK, but also Canada, which is also a member of the Commonwealth, has a very good technical foundation. Just like the standard "fly-by-wire system" of the third-generation aircraft, who would have thought that the world's first fighter jet using a fly-by-wire system was actually developed by Canada. This fighter jet was the CF-105 "Arrow" interceptor, which was discontinued several years ago.

However, after the Canadian government ordered a halt to research and development, NBC Aviation Industries introduced its fly-by-wire system. Although it has not yet been used on fighter jets, research is continuing.

All these are enough to show how many treasures are hidden in this century-old store in the UK, and what NBC needs is to dig out these treasures. Of course, it is through cooperation. VC10 may be good, but its system is more meaningful for reference.

However, the biggest feature of many industries in post-war Britain, including aviation companies, is that a bunch of first-class subsystems are used to produce a mediocre product.

The most amazing thing is... this phenomenon lasted for decades.

I have to say this is definitely a miracle for my country.

But for NBC, these advanced subsystems are exactly what NBC needs to introduce.

While he was thinking about how to squeeze Britain dry, the plane landed. After Macmillan got off the plane, before shaking hands, he first saluted Margaret. It was true that he was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but... Margaret was a princess.

After a simple welcoming ceremony at the airport, Macmillan went to the hotel. The next morning, the formal meeting was held at the "New Residence". As soon as they met, Macmillan said straight to the point:

"Last December, I held talks with Kennedy in Nassau, Bahamas. At the meeting, the United States expressed its willingness to provide us with Polaris submarine missiles, on the condition that Britain must support the United States' multilateral nuclear force plan. The United States can use Britain's nuclear strike force through NATO. Only when Britain's highest interests are seriously threatened, Britain will be allowed to use its own nuclear force."

Although McMillan's words and expression seemed calm, Li Yian could still feel his dissatisfaction.

So Li Yian deliberately said:

"That is to say, the UK's nuclear forces will become subordinate to the US's nuclear forces."

In fact, Li Yian had already known the results of the Nassau talks between Britain and the United States in December last year. Even a copy of the content of the meeting was sent to him. Of course, it was not provided by Downing Street, but by people in Downing Street.

The Cambridge Five can infiltrate Downing Street into a sieve, and NBC can do the same by turning Downing Street into a public toilet where people can come and go as they please.

Therefore, Li Yian knew very little about McMillan's trip to NBC, except for one thing... How was little McMillan going to convince himself?
This kind of thing involves the fundamental interests of the country. Even if Elizabeth herself came to persuade me, she would not be able to do so!
For some things, you must stick to principles. Who would do something that has no benefits?

"This is obviously not in the interests of the United Kingdom! It is also not in the interests of the Commonwealth!"

When mentioning the "Commonwealth", Li Yian deliberately emphasized the tone. The Commonwealth... is still very useful now. Although we have the "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade", can it compare with the zero tariffs of the "Imperial System of Preferences"?

There wasn’t a lot of wool in the British Empire, but there were still a few!
This time when he came to NBC, Macmillan was already prepared, or rather, the cabinet had reached a consensus and was ready to pull out another wool for NBC. As for the wool, although the British Empire could not compare with the past, it still had some wool on its body!

Macmillan nodded and said:

"Yes, so after careful consideration, we still rejected it, but Britain needs submarine-launched missiles, especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Britain needs submarine-launched ballistic missiles as a countermeasure!"

The UK does have missiles. Back then, the UK spent tens of millions of pounds to purchase dozens of Wanhu-4500 missiles from NBC. The Wanhu- missiles with a range of kilometers can cover the European region of the Soviet Union, which is enough to deter the Soviet Union. It is also the only European country with long-range nuclear deterrence.

However, after the Kennedy administration came to power, the United States began to oppose Britain's independent nuclear power because it was worried that Britain might use nuclear weapons in a similar situation to the Suez Canal crisis. However, Conservative MPs demanded that Britain be guaranteed to have independent nuclear power.

In fact, Macmillan preferred to rely on US aid because the British economy was relatively backward and could not afford to develop new missiles. Purchasing US Polaris missiles became Macmillan's option, but the US insisted on requiring Britain to incorporate nuclear weapons into the "multinational force". This was based on the premise that Britain gave up its nuclear weapons autonomy and handed over its nuclear weapons to the US for command in exchange for missile technology.

This obviously goes against the "independent nuclear power" demanded by the majority of the Conservative Party. Therefore, in this case, seeking help from NBC is the most realistic option.

After all, NBC is not inferior to the United States in submarine-launched missile and even nuclear submarine technology - NBC is the only country in the free world besides the United States that independently develops nuclear submarines. The S5W pressurized water nuclear reactor and the entire mechanical system used in the British Dreadnought-class nuclear submarines were all introduced from the United States, while NBC developed them independently.

However, relying on technology introduced from the United States and its own technological foundation, Britain has developed its own submarine nuclear reactors and transmission machinery. It must be said that the technological foundation of the British Empire is still very strong.

"So, I came here hoping to buy your "Breaking Wave" submarine-launched missiles from NBC. We plan to order 4-5 7000-ton ballistic missile nuclear submarines, each equipped with 16 ballistic missiles, so the number of missiles purchased will not be less than 70."

Why direct sourcing?

Because it’s cheap!
Although the current economic conditions in Britain are much better than those in the other world, it does not matter. Various expenses are still huge. In particular, the improved economic situation has made Britain more resolute on the colonial issue. After all, now relying on the Indian Ocean Bank and the "Ocean Pound", Britain can obtain huge returns from the colonies every year. In order to maintain this blood transfusion mechanism, Britain naturally needs to increase spending on colonial affairs.

Britain has been facing financial challenges since the war, and its economic growth is far behind that of France and Germany. A penny makes a hero fall, and now Britain is short of money, which makes it difficult for Britain to independently develop missiles. Purchasing missiles directly from foreign countries has become an inevitable choice.

The Wanhu-4 was purchased directly, and now of course, the submarine-launched missiles are also tended to be purchased!
Seeing that Li Yian was silent, McMillan directly brought out his other "bait" and said:

"In order to facilitate this deal, taking into account the current strength and needs of the Royal Navy, and to ensure the interests of the entire Commonwealth, we will lease Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean to NBC!"

(End of this chapter)