The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 260: Still think the price is too high?
An old veteran looked at the majestic Type 80 main battle tank in front of him with shining eyes, and couldn't help but touch the tank's armor with his hands.

This person is in charge of the armored forces.

According to the intelligence collected so far, this tank has indeed reached the world's leading level, and it is not Liu Tao's self-boasting.

During the Iran-Iraq War, the US military's main tank equipment M60 was completely crushed by the foreign trade version of the "Type 80" main battle tank. Often the M60 tank was destroyed by the "Type 80" main battle tank before it even discovered the "Type 80" main battle tank.

Even if the Iraqi army's use of the "Type 80" main battle tank was a bit foolish, and they just stopped and fired at it, the M60 tank's main gun shells hit the "Type 80" main battle tank, but they could not break the armored defense of the "Type 80" main battle tank.

Even the Type 80 main battle tank can withstand attacks from anti-tank missiles.

This is truly a test of war, where those world-famous main battle tanks were blown up.

"Good stuff! If only it were cheaper!" the veteran couldn't help but say, his words full of regret.

Liu Tao couldn't help but say, "It's already very cheap. The American M60 tank is already a 20-year-old product, and its performance is far inferior to our Type 80 main battle tank. The current price is 153 to 170 million US dollars per vehicle!"

"The price we give to the troops is already the cost price, or even a subsidy to the troops. It really can't be any lower!" Liu Tao didn't even want to complain. The self-use version of the Type 80 main battle tank costs 100 million RMB, but the troops still think it's too expensive.

100 million RMB, based on the current bank exchange rate, is roughly equivalent to 56.28 US dollars.

This price is even lower than the price at which the US military purchased the M1979 main battle tank in 60.

1974年美军采购M60主战坦克的价格是45.8万美元/辆，1979年美军采购M60主战坦克的价格已经上升到了83万美元/辆，至于今年采购M60主战坦克价格已经飙升到153万美元/辆。

As for why the price of the M60 main battle tank continues to rise, it is naturally because the US dollar has depreciated.

If other countries purchase the M60 main battle tanks from the United States, the price will naturally not be this high. The performance will be reduced and the price will increase.

The price of the self-use version of the Type 80 main battle tank is 100 million RMB per vehicle, but even its own troops think it is too expensive.

This is totally unjust.

The veteran's face turned slightly red, and he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

The army would rather purchase more Type 81 medium tanks than Type 80 main battle tanks. One reason is that a Type 80 main battle tank costs 100 million RMB, while a Type 81 medium tank only costs 70 RMB, which is about 80% of the Type 30 main battle tank. Don't think that the difference is only 3 RMB, but tanks cost million RMB. Add the difference in the price of artillery shells, and the difference is at least to billion RMB!
Secondly, the Type 81 medium tank is about the same weight as the Type 59 tank and has a wider range of uses. Unlike the Type 80 main battle tank, which is too heavy and many bridges have to be specially reinforced or rebuilt, which is definitely very disadvantageous during marches and battles.

All Type 80 main battle tanks currently purchased by the entire army are in the north. Even the additional orders will be equipped in the north when the time comes.

This is the limitation of the current Type 80 main battle tank. It is currently more suitable for the north and faces transportation difficulties when operating in the south.

However, the veteran also knows that the price of the Type 80 main battle tank is indeed very cheap.

Even the prices of various weapons provided by Panshan Machinery Factory to the troops were far lower than foreign trade prices.

80式主战坦克外贸版价格已经攀升到216万美元/辆，80式自行高炮外贸版价格则是攀升到600万美元/辆。结果给部队的价格，还是每辆80式主战坦克100万人民币，每辆80式自行高炮300万人民币。这方面的优惠，已经确实是非常大了。

Of course, people always want things to be as cheap as possible.

"Once the plan to streamline the troops is completed, we will be able to purchase more Type 80 main battle tanks and Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns!" The old man said with a smile, "What we want to pursue is the quality of the troops, not the number of troops! No matter how many there are, they are useless without combat effectiveness!"

Liu Tao said: "It is indeed imperative to streamline the troops. Troops without combat effectiveness are just cannon fodder no matter how many there are!"

Although the army had been prepared for war at any time in the previous thirty years, and not a local war but a world-class war, it was obvious that the army had many shortcomings.

The first point is the overabundance of officials and government. Who could have imagined that the officer-to-soldier ratio reached an unimaginable 1:2.45? At the same time, the Soviet Union, although it had a similarly large number of personnel, had a ratio of 1:4.65. Military powers in the West, such as France, only had a ratio of 1:17. It can be seen how huge the difference is in this regard.

In addition to the overly complicated and redundant organization, many leadership positions have a large number of almost useless deputy positions. Under a principal leader in a unit, there are dozens of deputy leaders, and no one can tell who these deputy leaders are behind closed doors. As a result, many strange roles such as "regimental confidentiality officers" and "battalion-level typists" have emerged.

Anyone with a little bit of common sense knows that it is difficult to maintain high morale and reliable combat effectiveness for such an army, so streamlining the troops is imperative.

Although the number of troops was as high as 602 million before, many veterans complained that the combat effectiveness was not as good as the 500 million thirty years ago. In other words, judging from the data on paper, the number of troops increased by 102 million, and the weapons and equipment were much stronger than thirty years ago, but the combat effectiveness of the troops did not increase but decreased.

As for streamlining the troops, this has been done for the past 30 years, because the leaders have all come from the war years and know what the combat effectiveness of the troops depends on, and it is not quantity.

Last year's troop downsizing was just a supplement to a troop downsizing that was not implemented a few years ago.

This year, the army will begin to streamline its troops again, from 530 million to 430 million.

The number of troops will decrease, but the combat effectiveness of the troops will not necessarily decrease, but will increase instead.

But Liu Tao knew that this streamlining of the troops was not the end, but the beginning of a new round.

"Oh? You also think the troops should be streamlined?" The leader was a little surprised.

Liu Tao said: "Quality is more important than quantity! The army needs to be built into a mechanized force, and streamlining the army is imperative!"

Several leaders nodded. They had all been through war and naturally knew that quality of soldiers was more important than quantity.

To be honest, the huge casualties of "Red Dragon's Roar" shocked many leaders. According to their original assumptions, even if the army came to fight in the past 30 years, it would be a serious loss of tens of thousands of casualties.

When summarizing the situation, the leaders realized that the combat effectiveness of the troops had seriously declined. The soldiers had never fought in a war. In fact, the soldiers who had never fought in a war were all rookies.

In addition, even the grassroots commanders and fighters have never experienced war, and their execution and command capabilities are very average, far from being comparable to the battle-hardened troops of thirty years ago.

(End of this chapter)