The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 127 You Can’t Give It Away for Free
Liu Zhenbang looked at Liu Tao unkindly.

Once upon a time, China spent a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources, and with the help of technical personnel sent by the big brother in the north to teach, it finally produced the first batch of Type 1959 tanks in 59, making China finally capable of producing medium tanks.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Type 59 tank makes countless Chinese people proud.

But now, in Liu Tao's words, the Type 59 tank has been devalued to nothing.

Liu Zhenbang even wanted to knock him on the head twice.

But when he thought about the Type 80 tank he saw today, he had to admit that Liu Tao had enough confidence to despise the Type 59 tank.

很简单地道理，59式坦克有效射程700~1200米，而80式坦克仅仅是出口版最远射程可以达到4000m，有能力击穿2000米之外敌军800mm厚的装甲。

This means that the Type 59 tank can still detect the Type 80 tank and will be directly killed by a single shot from the Type 80 tank.

As for all aspects, the Type 80 tank completely crushes the Type 59 tank.

Even when the tanks were fighting in close combat and colliding with each other, the Type 59 tank could not beat the Type 80 tank.

"The armor of the Type 59 tank is too thin and its survivability is too poor. Not to mention a tank battle, it can be easily destroyed even if facing anti-tank artillery or anti-tank missiles." Liu Tao shook his head.

During the Iran-Iraq War, nearly a thousand Type 59 tanks were destroyed, which also reflected that the survivability of the Type 59 tank on the battlefield could no longer adapt to modern warfare.

Even in the Iran-Iraq War, a conflict between two rookies, nearly a thousand Type 59 tanks were destroyed. It is hard to imagine that in a modern war, thousands of tanks would be destroyed at once.

Often, the destruction of a tank means that all four crew members inside the vehicle are basically killed.

"Mass production of the Type 80 main battle tank is the top priority. As long as the production capacity increases, the output will continue to increase." Liu Tao said, "As long as there is money, not to mention third-generation main battle tanks, even or main battle tanks will not be a problem."

"The export version sells for 150 million US dollars, and the self-use version must be more expensive. How can the army afford it?" Liu Zhenbang felt a headache when he thought of the price.

"That can't be helped. The third-generation tanks have advanced performance and are naturally expensive. We can't just give them away for free. Our factory also needs to develop." Liu Tao shrugged. He was helpless about this. "Even if one tank costs 100 million RMB, 10 tanks would be 20 billion RMB, and tanks would be billion RMB. This is half-selling and half-giving away!"

When Liu Zhenbang heard the price, his teeth ached.

It’s really expensive!
As for what Liu Tao said about half selling and half giving away, Liu Zhenbang had no doubts about it.

Everyone knows that the third-generation main battle tanks are very expensive, and there is nowhere to buy them even if you want to.

At least China gritted its teeth and spent precious foreign exchange to buy third-generation main battle tanks from the northern big brother or West Germany. Neither the T72 tanks nor the Leopard 2 tanks would be sold to China.

Even if China offers 200 million US dollars for one car, it still cannot be bought!

"The money saved from the troop streamlining plan is not enough to buy self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and third-generation tanks," Liu Zhenbang said with a wry smile.

This year's military expenditure is about 170 billion yuan, which is about 600 million people. If we cut 100 million troops, it will save an average of 28.3 billion yuan in military expenditure per year.

All the money was given to Panshan Machinery Factory, which sold and gave away the products at a half-price rate, which was equivalent to two thousand main battle tanks or six or seven hundred self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

Not to mention, the streamlining plan focuses on the infantry, so the savings in military spending will definitely not be that much.

"So, we have to export more arms to make money. The more dollars we earn, the faster the country can develop its economy. As the economy improves, military spending will also increase, and the troops will have money to replace better weapons and equipment." Liu Tao said: "Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and third-generation tanks are expensive, but compared with warships, they are dwarfed." Warships, whether surface ships or underwater submarines, are notoriously expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, or even more than one billion dollars!

His troops can buy his self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and third-generation tanks with RMB, but it is difficult for them to buy overseas warships with US dollars.

Not to mention whether Europe, the United States and the Soviet Union are willing to sell, the price is so high and the army does not have that many US dollars.

The corners of Liu Zhenbang's mouth twitched.

Among the weapons and equipment of the three services, the army's weapons and equipment are generally the cheapest, followed by the air force, and the most expensive are the navy's weapons and equipment!
That high price will make anyone who thinks about it feel sick!

"The country's decision to focus on economic development is correct. Wars between major powers are unlikely. Peace and development are the themes of the times. Too high a proportion of military expenditure is not conducive to economic development." Liu Tao said, "That is why I have been promoting arms trade and making money from arms trade to develop and build military factories."

华夏军费1967年~1977年所占GDP比例大概在6.51%，到了1978年飙升到17.37%！

And this was only the military expenditure used for the troops, and another large sum of money was used for the Third Front construction. The investment in the Third Front construction was much greater than the total military expenditure of that period.

Adding these two items together, the cost of preparing for war is terrifying!

But there was nothing that could be done. The world situation was like that at that time. War could break out between the two camps at any time. It was like a powder keg that could be ignited and exploded at any time. The S3 season started immediately.

If we don’t make preparations, our country will be destroyed and our race will be extinct!
Even with such a huge investment, large tracts of territory will still fall, just like the situation during the Anti-Japanese War.

The most unfavorable situation at that time was that the iron torrent of the big brother in the north rolled southward, the Eagle Sauce and its allies landed on the coast, and the United States and the Soviet Union faced such regional-level difficulties.

Maybe for other countries, surrender is nothing.

But the people of that era were strong-willed and prepared to wage a long-term guerrilla war relying on the Third Front construction.

No matter how bad it is, can it be worse than the Anti-Japanese War! ?

Now the decision-makers have made new decisions in response to changes in the international situation. Peace and development are the themes of the times, and the country's focus has shifted to economic development.

Streamlining the troops is only one aspect!

On the other hand, it is to reduce investment in military factories and military industrial projects.

It is precisely for this reason that many third-line factories fell into difficulties. Even after reforms were carried out and the third-line factories were transferred to local industrial bureaus, many of them still ended up bankrupt. Many military scientific research projects were forced to be discontinued.

It was against this backdrop that the Y-10 project was sadly discontinued, becoming an eternal pain in the hearts of the Chinese people.

It was not until the birth of the Y-20, the emergence of domestically-produced large aircraft, that the regrets and pain in the hearts of the Chinese people were healed!

Liu Tao constantly tried every possible way to export arms, even going so far as to help other factories get orders, hoping to maintain the survival and development of the military factory by earning foreign exchange.

Without a strong military industry, there can be no strong military!
The military factory is dedicated to making sharp swords, spears and strong shields for soldiers!
How can we build a strong army without sharp swords, spears and strong shields?

China also suffered losses and great humiliation in this regard, and only then did it make up its mind to vigorously develop its military industry again.

(End of this chapter)