The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 126 I don’t feel bad for selling my father’s land

office.

Liu Zhenbang boils water to make tea.

Today he brought several people from the foreign trade working group and followed Liu Tao to the military camp.

When Liu Zhenbang saw the weapon, he wanted to strangle Liu Tao to death.

He didn't understand why such advanced weapons and equipment should be exported!

The weapons used by the troops nowadays are not so advanced!

Not to mention anti-aircraft machine guns, the troops began to equip them in small batches.

However, the troops were not equipped with any self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and were still using the old anti-aircraft guns.

What made Liu Zhenbang's heart bleed was that the Type 80 main battle tank was a third-generation main battle tank!

The troops don’t even have the second-generation main battle tanks, but Liu Tao actually wants to export the third-generation main battle tanks!

The son doesn't feel sorry for selling his father's land!
Liu Zhenbang wanted to slap his son to death.

It just so happened that these weapons and equipment were all developed by Liu Tao and manufactured by Panshan Machinery Factory. Panshan Machinery Factory was a reform pilot point for the export of weapons and equipment. Liu Zhenbang could only watch the orders negotiated by Liu Tao and could not say a word.

The job of the foreign trade working group now is to help Liu Tao get orders, and they are responsible for coordinating with customers.

To put it simply, it was to help Liu Tao.

As a father, he is a powerful department-level cadre with a lower administrative level than his son Liu Tao, and his power is far less than that of Liu Tao.

"Son, is it appropriate to export such advanced weapons and equipment?" Liu Zhenbang couldn't help but ask, "If you make a mistake, your small body won't be able to bear it."

If the higher-ups investigate, Liu Tao will definitely be in trouble.

"It's suitable, why not?" Liu Tao said: "Our own version is better!"

"If we don't make money from exports, how can we build better factories and better production lines?" Liu Tao said, "If we don't make money from exports, will the army have money to purchase?"

"If we don't use these advanced equipment as bait, why would people buy outdated tanks like the Type 59 main battle tank?" Liu Tao couldn't help but have a headache when he thought about the number of Type 59 tanks currently equipped in the country.

Even though he negotiated contracts in this year, including this one, for the export of 59 Type 3800 tanks, there are still as many as four to five thousand Type 59 tanks equipped by domestic troops.

His goal is to export these four to five thousand tanks in the next few years and then replace them all with Type 80 main battle tanks.

This means that in tank production, explosive production must be carried out to continuously increase production capacity.

Relying on the current production line is far from enough.

A more advanced production line is needed!
For example, a lot of micron processing is required here.

The previous Type 59 tank production line is definitely not up to the task.

In addition to advanced production lines, a group of skilled workers are also needed to be competent in operating the instruments.

"Don't forget, the biggest beneficiary of the order we negotiated in Beijing this time is not Panshan Machinery Factory!" Liu Tao couldn't help but said speechlessly, "The order from Panshan Machinery Factory is only US$2.132 million!"

Liu Zhenbang touched his nose and said, "Before, the Type 59 tanks could be directly transferred from the inventory, but now there are 2000 Type 59 tanks, half of which must be coordinated from the equipment of the active troops. I don't know how many people will curse me when the time comes!"

"The old must go before the new can come. If we replace them with third-generation main battle tanks in the future, their combat effectiveness will soar!" Liu Tao said.

"But the problem is that the streamlining plan focuses on reducing the number of infantry personnel and increasing the proportion of technical arms. Armored troops belong to technical arms. As a result, the number of armored troops has increased, but the number of tanks has decreased!" Liu Zhenbang said: "If you were the leader of the army, would you curse?" Liu Tao scratched his head, it seemed that this was really the case.

Even though it is only possible to withdraw 59 Type 20 tanks in service, it means a reduction of almost % in the number of tanks!

Unfortunately, this number cannot fill the gap in a short period of time.

It can even be said that this gap may never be filled.

Because Liu Tao planned to sell as many Type 59 tanks as possible.

In twenty years, the number of third-generation tanks is estimated to be three to four thousand!

Therefore, the gap will become larger and larger in the future.

"It seems that the production line of more advanced tanks needs to be accelerated!" Liu Tao felt a sense of urgency.

What he wanted was to speed up the construction of a more advanced tank production line and realize the mass production of the third-generation main battle tanks as soon as possible.

And this heavy burden must be on his shoulders, he must carry it.

No one else could help him.

"I will report to the leader later and give him a detailed report." Liu Zhenbang said.

Anti-aircraft machine guns, bullets, these things are easy to deal with.

But tanks were a problem.

"What do you think about letting the First Machine Factory and other tank factories produce a batch of Type 59 tanks?" Liu Zhenbang asked.

Liu Tao rolled his eyes: "Not so good!"

"The Type 59 tank is too outdated. Its firepower, mobility and protection are all outdated!" Liu Tao shook his head. He was too familiar with the Type 59 tank.

The Type 59 tank uses a 10mm rifled gun modeled after the Soviet D-100, with a penetration of 500mm at 160 meters and 1000mm at 150 meters. It is equipped with two 2mm machine guns and a 7.62mm anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof, which are far from meeting the needs of modern warfare. To put it bluntly, the T12.7 tank or Leopard 72 tank can fire ten shots at you without any damage, while they can destroy you with just one shot.

The main gun of the Type 59 tank can only destroy lightly armored targets.

Besides, the performance of the Type 59 tank's sight is average, and its shooting accuracy is actually unsatisfactory.

In terms of mobility, the Type 59 tank uses a water-cooled diesel engine with a maximum power of 520 horsepower. The maximum road speed is only 50 kilometers per hour, and the combat range is only 400 kilometers. Moreover, the stability of those diesel engines is unsatisfactory and they have to be sent to the factory for repairs at any time. In addition, they use manual transmissions, and the driver needs to exert a lot of effort to drive the tank.

In terms of protection, the Type 59 has 100 mm front armor and 80 mm side armor. Its survivability on the battlefield is worrying. With current anti-tank weapons, the Type 59 tank can be easily destroyed.

In the past, conditions were limited and we could only practice frugality, mending for three years, and then mending for another three years. Having something is better than having nothing.

But now that the Type 80 tank has come out, there is no need to produce the Type 59 tank anymore.

The more you produce, the more troublesome it will be to deal with later.

Unless it is produced for export, but to be honest, if it is to be exported, it would be better to make major modifications to the Type 59 tank.

However, to significantly modify a tank is no less difficult than designing a tank from scratch.

Liu Tao is really not optimistic about the Type 59 tank. In the future international arms market, in terms of tanks, the third-generation tanks will definitely play the leading role, and the second-generation tanks will be supporting roles. As for the first-generation tanks, they will be gradually eliminated and continuously consumed as battlefield consumables.

The next ten years will be the best decade for these first-generation tanks to continue to shine as consumables.

(End of this chapter)