The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 117 Launch a Big Satellite (First Order)
"dong dong dong~~"

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in~~" a slightly old voice sounded.

Wang Baoguo took Liu Tao into the office.

The two of them saw Zhang Zhen, the head of the Fifth Machine Department.

This old man is about the same age as Wang Baoguo, both of them are over 70 years old.

He is in charge of the entire department and the national weapons industry is under his jurisdiction. You can imagine how many things he has to deal with every day.

"Comrade Zhang Zhen, I have something important to report to you." Wang Baoguo said solemnly.

Zhang Zhen is slightly older than Wang Baoguo, but Zhang Zhen joined the revolution in 1927 and joined the party in 1928, so his party membership is longer than Wang Baoguo's. Zhang Zhen is also a top student who graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Fu Jen Catholic University, so his academic qualifications are much higher than Wang Baoguo's.

So when he arrived at the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, Wang Baoguo respected this squad leader very much.

"It's Comrade Baoguo and Comrade Liu Tao, sit down!" Zhang Zhen stood up and looked at Liu Tao. Zhang Zhen smiled and said, "Our God of Wealth has returned to Beijing this time, but has he brought back wealth again?"

Last year, thanks to the large orders brought by Liu Tao, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building can be said to have launched a big satellite.

Even the leaders above were alarmed and praised the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

No one expected that the proposal to transform gratuitous military aid into paid military aid would yield such a great harvest.

Add to that this year's orders, which are nearly worth US$20 billion in total, and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building will be able to make a name for itself.

With the money, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building can also conduct research on some weapons projects and allow military factories to upgrade their production lines.

More importantly, the several types of firearms developed by Liu Tao have saved the country at least tens of billions in firearms development funds, and more importantly, they can save a lot of time.

As a result, Panshan Machinery Factory was upgraded to a large military factory, creating the first such case since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Liu Tao was promoted to deputy department-level cadre at the young age of 25.

You know, 25 is too young. Many people actually have objections to this, thinking that young people are good at talking and not reliable. It was Wang Baoguo who argued with reason, and Zhang Zhen made the decision that a man of ambition has no age limit and that talents should be recruited regardless of background. That's why Liu Tao continued to be in charge of Panshan Machinery Factory, instead of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building parachuting in someone to be the director of Panshan Machinery Factory.

What Zhang Zhen wanted to hear most was that Liu Tao brought another arms order.

Wang Baoguo laughed and said, "This time, Comrade Liu Tao quietly launched a big satellite, which will shock the whole country!"

"Oh? Tell me about it!" Zhang Zhen's eyes lit up.

Wang Baoguo said: "Comrade Liu Tao has been developing a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun for some time, which is similar to the West German 'Cheetah' self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. Now he has finally succeeded in developing it. He came back to Beijing this time to report the good news."

"Really!" Zhang Zhen was shocked.

The West German "Cheetah" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun shocked the world as soon as it was born.

After the news was reported back to China, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building also began to organize experts to conduct demonstrations, set up a project team, and began to carry out technical research and development in this area.

But after a few years, there have been no major results so far.

Every time there is some big surprise, it turns out to be a white surprise. It’s simply because some people are too ambitious and take small achievements as big ones, and only report good news and not bad news.

"Comrade Liu Tao, please report to Comrade Zhang Zhen." Wang Baoguo looked at Liu Tao.

"Okay, leader!" Liu Tao nodded and began to report. The more Zhang Zhen listened, the more shocked he became.

He is not a professional, but he can feel the power of this self-propelled anti-aircraft gun just from its speed, weight and range.

Speed ​​represents mobility, which allows for rapid transfer. It can not only quickly establish medium and low altitude defense positions, but also quickly move to other places to increase the chance of survival and avoid being hit by fighter jets or missiles.

Weight represents armor defense. The stronger the armor defense, the heavier the armor. It also reflects the performance of the diesel generator.

Range is an important indicator of anti-aircraft guns. The longer the range, the larger the area that can be defended.

But what shocked Zhang Zhen even more was Liu Tao's next words: "Leader, it won't be long before I can develop a third-generation main battle tank based on this!"

"The third generation main battle tank!?" Zhang Zhen's eyes were filled with shock.

You should know that the Type 59 main battle tank currently used by China is only the first generation of main battle tanks.

There is not even a second-generation main battle tank.

The only third-generation main battle tank currently in service in the world is the Soviet T-72 main battle tank.

Although West Germany developed the Leopard 2 main battle tank, which is also a third-generation main battle tank, it has not yet been put into service in large quantities.

The M2 tank developed by the United States is also a third-generation main battle tank, but it was only reported last year that it would be mass-produced.

China naturally also feels the urgency and wants to develop more advanced main battle tanks.

The previous Type 69 main battle tanks were so despised by the armored soldiers that they were reduced to training tools. Now they have all been packaged and sent to Iraq. The Type 59 main battle tank is still the first generation of main battle tanks. We can't let the Type 59 main battle tank fight against the third generation main battle tanks.

Two years ago, in order to improve the army's main battle tanks and develop a new generation of main battle tanks with independent intellectual property rights, a large sum of funds was allocated to allow a large tank manufacturer in the north to begin developing a new domestic main battle tank.

Although there have been some achievements, it is still unknown how many years it will take to complete the development of the domestically produced second-generation main battle tank.

Now Liu Tao actually said that a third-generation main battle tank can be developed soon!
This is even more shocking than Liu Tao's development of advanced self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

"Leader, we have overcome many technical difficulties in developing the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun this time, and many technologies can be used in third-generation main battle tanks." Liu Tao said, "But in order to complete the development as soon as possible, please ask the superiors to transfer a group of experts to assist me!"

Liu Tao really didn't want to spend a lot of time and energy on drawing.

The technical staff of Panshan Machinery Factory, after all, have limited skills.

If there were a group of researchers in the field of armored vehicles, his energy in drawing would be greatly reduced.

"This time, the ministry will organize an expert group to go to your Panshan Machinery Factory to examine and accept the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. If it is as you said, the expert group will stay in the Panshan Machinery Factory, and a group of engineers will also be coordinated for you!" Zhang Zhen said.

Wang Baoguo smiled and said, "I told Comrade Liu Tao before that if he successfully developed an advanced self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, Factory 256 would be placed under the jurisdiction of Panshan Machinery Factory. He just came to my office today and asked me to fulfill this promise."

"Haha!" Zhang Zhen laughed. "You are so good, Old Wang. You are scheming Comrade Liu Tao. Factory 256 doesn't have any orders. You are just throwing thousands of hungry workers to Comrade Liu Tao."

Others may not know the situation of Factory 256, but as the head of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, doesn't he know?
As the country's focus shifted to economic development, military spending was greatly reduced, and troop procurement naturally also decreased greatly.

In the past, 256 was still able to produce tanks, armored vehicles, and military vehicles, and the factory was still operational.

However, since the second half of last year, Factory 256 has had a hard time.

(End of this chapter)