The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 500 Type 039 submarine launched

The ceremony will begin soon.

A group of leaders took their seats.

One by one, the main leaders delivered speeches, and Liu Tao was no exception.

Liu Tao highly praised the work of all parties involved, praised the efforts and rigor of the engineers and workers, and praised the Type 039 conventional submarine as the crystallization of collective wisdom and the result of unity.
Liu Tao was already very good at coming up with such polite remarks, without even having to draft them.

This kind of polite talk may seem meaningless to others, but it is affirmation and praise to the participants, which is encouragement.

Moreover, this method will not make mistakes and will not become a handle for others to make trouble.

Afterwards, the workers started a series of work for launching the submarine.

The submarine was seen sliding slowly towards the harbor on a special track cart carried by nearly a hundred small wheels. Its speed was not fast, but everyone present stared at it closely.

Everyone was very excited. This was a conventional submarine that represented the most advanced technology of China's military industry. Its launching represented the beginning of a new era for China's naval submarine force.

Soon, under the attention of everyone, the submarine slowly sailed into the harbor, and everyone present was nervous.

However, the harbor had not been filled with water at that time. After the submarine entered completely, the gate at the back was closed, and then water began to fill the harbor.

When the water level in the entire harbor rose, the submarine also floated up.

The first Type 039 conventional submarine was launched successfully!

There was an immediate round of warm applause and cheers at the ceremony site. The workers beat drums and gongs, sang songs and danced to celebrate the successful launching of the first Type 039 submarine!
This scene was filmed by reporters.

These will become valuable information, and perhaps they will be reported someday.

Liu Tao was also very emotional that the submarine had finally been launched.

Of course, after this submarine is launched, it still has some time before it can be put into service.

However, the vacant space can be used to build a second submarine.

In view of the enormous pressure currently faced by the navy, in order to enhance the navy's strength and enable the navy to better defend the sea borders, it has been decided to build two more Type 039 conventional submarines.

Of course, the main reason why the higher-ups made this decision was that Panshan Group’s overall tax payments were too high, which gave them the courage to make the decision.

However, the leaders still remained rational and did not think about building warships in large quantities like making dumplings.

Because China's shipbuilding industry is still limited, and there is not such a large shipbuilding capacity. Improving the shipbuilding industry's capacity is not achieved overnight, and it takes time. Now, after receiving orders, shipyards across the country are recruiting and updating equipment, but skilled workers, shipbuilding technology, etc., all of these take time.

Secondly, warships are expensive. They are expensive to build and use after they are put into service. The navy and the army, which have limited military expenditures, cannot afford too many warships. Otherwise, even if the army's annual military expenditures were given to the navy, it would not be enough.

Like the Type 039 conventional submarines, a total of 10 will be built in the next ten years.

Only when China has five Type 039 conventional submarines in service can it accept purchases from overseas countries.

At the end of the ceremony, individuals and teams who made important contributions to the construction of the new conventional submarines were commended.

This kind of recognition is both spiritual and material.

Obviously, everyone is much happier when they receive a medal, award, or certificate of honor than when they receive a bonus.

Many noble people are like this, they pursue spiritual things more, and it is precisely because of their noble sentiments that they devote themselves to their careers and work tirelessly. In the afternoon, the air in Yangcheng Shipyard seemed to be filled with a festive and joyful atmosphere.

Liu Tao accompanied the Navy Commander and others to visit the Type 052 destroyer under construction. Compared with the Type 039 submarine, the Type 052 destroyer is much larger.

In the dock, the Type 052 destroyer has already taken shape. At this time next year, the Type 052 destroyer will also hold a launching ceremony.

After the first Type 052 destroyer, 'Xiang Jiang', was commissioned, a series of tests and training were carried out. The superior performance of 'Xiang Jiang' was unanimously praised by the navy.

The "Xiang Jiang" destroyer has become the most advanced and powerful warship among China's current surface ships.

Now the navy is eagerly watching the two Type 052 destroyers under construction, hoping that the two Type 052 destroyers can be completed as soon as possible so that the navy can upgrade its guns.

A total of ten Type 052 destroyers will be built!
After all, only one ship, and only the South China Sea Fleet, is definitely not enough. The North China Sea Fleet, the East China Sea Fleet, and the South China Sea Fleet must all have one ship, and it is not enough for each of them to have only one ship, there must be at least three ships, and the North China Sea Fleet needs one more ship to protect the capital.

A total of twenty Type 054 frigates will be equipped.

All of these need to be accomplished in the next ten years.

As for the original construction plans of Type 051 destroyers and Type 053 frigates, they have been cancelled.

We all have cars, so why do we need bicycles!

Now the navy no longer looks down on the Type 051 destroyers and Type 053 frigates, and only has its eyes on the Type 052 destroyers and Type 054 frigates.

"It would be great if we could build an aircraft carrier!" Liu Huaqing said with some regret.

Liu Tao couldn't help but roll his eyes. This guy was obsessed with the aircraft carrier.

But the problem is that building an aircraft carrier is not easy. Technically he can overcome them one by one, but that requires a huge amount of money. Now the navy is extremely poor and lives a tight life. It is said that they are still fishing in the sea to supplement their lives.

Where does the Navy get the money to build aircraft carriers?
Besides, an aircraft carrier alone is not enough. If an aircraft carrier wants to exert its combat effectiveness, it needs an aircraft carrier fleet. An aircraft carrier fleet, various warships, submarines and the weapons on board will cost at least 10 to 20 billion US dollars. According to the current exchange rate, it will cost tens of billions of RMB.

No matter how big and powerful Panshan Group is, it cannot advance the money.

In the final analysis, the strength of the military is inseparable from the investment of a large amount of funds. And a large amount of military expenditure, in the final analysis, depends on the development of the national economy.

The national economy has developed, and even if the proportion of military expenditure to GDP is not high, the annual military expenditure will not be low.

If the economy is not developed but a lot of money is invested in the military, that would be militarism.

The consequences of militarism have been vividly demonstrated in all dynasties of China.

"We will have aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines!" Liu Tao said with a faint smile, "But not now, but in the future!"

This era belongs to the Soviet Union and the United States, a bipolar structure. The meanings represented by these four words are very profound and clearly reflected.

The two poles determine the entire world, and everything else is nothing more than the spillover of the two poles. This is true for European countries, Japan, and China as well.

China's economy is developing very well now, but China now plays a supporting role in the world, earning some hard-earned money.

As for military strength, economic strength, political influence, culture, education, technology, etc., China is still far behind the United States and the Soviet Union.

(End of this chapter)