The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 412 Expensive Naval Vessels

Air Force equipment is expensive, but Navy equipment is more expensive than Air Force equipment!
Moreover, it is often difficult to buy advanced naval equipment on the international market. The naval equipment traded on the international market now are either warships from the First World War or the Second World War.

No country has offered to trade the warships developed after the end of World War II.

But even if this old ship has been built for thirty or forty years, its price is still very high.

Because everyone knows the importance of the navy!
Liu Tao personally developed the warships and had a good understanding of how expensive naval equipment is. The more he knew about it, the more he could understand it.

It’s expensive for a reason.

First of all, the development of naval equipment requires a lot of time, which is a period of ten or even twenty years. Whether it is a surface warship or an underwater submarine, the development is not easy and requires a large number of people and a lot of financial resources. Such a large investment requires a very strong comprehensive national strength.

Since losing its status and influence as the British Empire, Britain still has a large number of naval and technical talents, but its navy has been weakening at a speed visible to the naked eye. It had a huge navy during World War II, but after the end of the war, it was gradually sealed up and sold off because Britain was no longer the British Empire and could no longer support such a large navy. Even the development of new and advanced warships seemed to be beyond its capabilities.

Secondly, the development of naval ships involves too many aspects, such as materials, electromechanical, etc. It is not so easy to make breakthroughs in these areas, and a large number of talents are needed. Without enough excellent talents, the ships developed are almost always lagging behind the world. They are backward as soon as they are manufactured. For example, this was the case with China in the past. The ships they developed were all to solve the problem of whether there was a problem or not, not whether they were advanced or not.

Finally, the cost of building ships is high. Even a frigate requires at least thousands of tons of steel to build. These steels are not ordinary steels, but high-strength steels. This kind of steel is a strategic material of various countries and is almost impossible to buy. Even if it can be bought, the price will be very high.

Even if Liu Tao gave the Navy the cost price, the Type 039 submarine would cost 5000 million RMB.

If the current transaction price of advanced submarines in the international market is taken into account, the price of a Type 039 submarine like this one would be at least $ million.

Even if it is $100 million, there will be many countries vying for it.

Of course, submarines like the Type 039 will definitely be used first to meet the needs of the domestic navy. This is the same for all warships, as their shipbuilding capabilities are limited and they cannot be mass-produced.

After the domestic navy is equipped with similar "Type 039" submarines, the export version can be launched. Moreover, the export version will not be sold alone, but will be sold together with previously produced conventional submarines to deal with those outdated conventional submarines.

The only ones that can be mass-produced now are the Type 022 missile boat and the Type 022 torpedo boat.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Liu Tao brought a group of people to the conference room to introduce the construction time nodes of the "Type 039" submarine.

According to communication between Liu Tao and other experts, the Type 039 submarine will take one and a half years of construction before it can be launched, and two years of construction before it can be officially launched, and then a series of tests will be carried out.

There are many things to do during the test phase, including mooring tests, etc., and then the first phase of navigation tests, expanded navigation tests, and third phase of inspection navigation tests will be started.

The trial phase alone will take about three years.

This 'Type 039' submarine will be equipped to the North Sea Fleet to strengthen the strength of the North Sea Fleet.

The North Sea Fleet is responsible for the important task of defending the capital. It is the most important and has the highest status among the three fleets.

If there is equipment, it is often given priority to the North Sea Fleet.

After further construction, it will be equipped to the South China Sea Fleet, and then the East China Sea Fleet.

At noon, Liu Tao was watching the news when suddenly a piece of news came on TV. This piece of news was earth-shattering.

The news lasted a full five minutes and was about Liao Chengzhi leading a delegation to hold contacts and talks with a delegation from Formosa in Hong Kong.

"I hope this is a good signal and the beginning of a new era!" Liu Tao couldn't help but mutter to himself.

I am not afraid of contact and communication, but I am afraid that both sides will be like two icebergs.

Now the mainland is actively showing goodwill, which is to break the ice. Liu Tao looked at the map and saw that the treasure island was like an unsinkable aircraft carrier, and its strategic importance was beyond doubt.

A treasure island is worth hundreds or thousands of warships.

Of course, Liu Tao knew that this was not an easy task because the resistance was very great.

Whether people who have experienced that era can let go of the hatred in their hearts is a huge question.

After all, too many relatives were persecuted back then, and the hatred was too great.

The next day, Liu Tao set off to return to Panshan Group headquarters.

When the employees saw Liu Tao, they took the initiative to greet him with admiration in their eyes.

As Panshan Group grew in size, Liu Tao's rank also became higher and higher. Whenever the employees in the group met him, they would feel a natural sense of awe.

This may be the legendary awe-inspiring power without even getting angry!

Liu Tao led the Panshan Machinery Factory from weak to strong, and now it has become the largest military-industrial enterprise in the country. This has given Liu Tao unparalleled prestige in the entire Panshan Group.

Not to mention, as the head of Panshan Group, Liu Tao can be said to be the top leader of the party and government. He has absolute prestige within the Panshan Group system, and no one can compete with him.

Liu Tao has always been fair in his work and his employees trust him.

After returning to Panshan Group headquarters, Liu Tao became busy.

He first inspected the weapons, missiles, torpedoes, etc. so that they could be put into storage or delivered.

After that, it’s time to deal with trivial matters.

The office staff has categorized the things that need his attention so that he can deal with them quickly.

The two most important things here are money and personnel!

In terms of finance, there are both income and expenditure.

Every month, the amount of money Panshan Group receives and spends is astronomical. Although there are many things that do not require Liu Tao's signature, when the amount is particularly large, Liu Tao has to come. Moreover, Liu Tao will regularly check the audit reports, which can largely prevent corruption.

As for personnel, there are always some personnel that need to be adjusted.

Finance and personnel are like two handles. Liu Tao manages the entire Panshan Group by holding finance in one hand and personnel in the other.

And he could always see some problems from some clues.

Panshan Group is like a towering tree. It is difficult for external wind and rain to destroy this towering tree. The only thing that can destroy this towering tree is its own termites.

Liu Tao has never been careless when it comes to preventing and controlling termites.

He naturally understood the principle that a thousand-mile long dam can be breached by a single ant hole.

Moreover, from various data, Liu Tao can see which companies are developing, which companies are stagnant, and which companies are retreating, so as to conduct further analysis.

(End of this chapter)