The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 517 Guilt (asking for monthly tickets and rewards)
Seeing that the old man was in a good mood, Liu Tao took the opportunity to bring up the matter of Saudi Arabia's purchase of medium-range ballistic missiles.

The old man took out a cigarette, lit it and started smoking, looking thoughtful.

Medium-range ballistic missiles are the national treasures of major military powers.

Medium-range ballistic missiles are absolutely genuine high-tech weapons, and there are only a handful of them developed in the world.

This is not a small matter, but a big matter!
"What do you think?" The old man looked at the two leaders of China North Industries Corporation. After all, they were experts in the weapons industry, although they were experts in the weapons industry, not the aerospace industry.

"Leader, we definitely cannot export them. Who in the world exports medium-range ballistic missiles?" Zou Jiahua said without hesitation.

No country in the world exports medium-range ballistic missiles.

There is no precedent for this.

"Yes, we only put medium-range ballistic missiles into service more than ten years ago!" said another leader.

China's missile development is developing at an incredibly fast pace.

The early source of China's ballistic missile technology was the P1 and P2 missile technology provided by the Soviet Union, and its domestic imitation was the Dongfeng 1. The Dongfeng 1 was successfully tested in 1960. It has never been equipped. Through it, China has fully mastered the missile technology and established a missile research and development system.

The Dongfeng 2 is China's first independently developed ballistic missile, with a NATO designation of CSS-1, a range of 1250 kilometers, a warhead of 1.5 tons, and a nuclear warhead equivalent of 2 tons. In 1960, Marshal Nie proposed to develop a missile with a range of 1000 to 1200 kilometers based on the P series missiles. Test launches began in 1962 and were completed in 1964.

The most glorious thing about the Dongfeng 2 is that in 1966, its improved version carried a real nuclear warhead for a two-bomb combination test. The success of the test marked that China had fully mastered the missile nuclear weapon technology. Even more than years later, even India cannot say that it has mastered this technology.

While the DF-2 shocked the world, what puzzled intelligence agencies of various countries was that it was not deployed in large numbers.

Of course, the reason for this is that as a short-range missile, the Dongfeng 2 not only uses liquid fuel, but also must be refueled before launch, which is not suitable.

For this reason, in 1966 Marshal Nie decided to produce as few DF-2s as possible and to produce more DF-3s in the future.

Dongfeng 3, NATO code CSS-2, is China's first independently developed medium-range ballistic missile, with a range of 2800 kilometers and a thermonuclear warhead of 300 million tons. It was developed in March 1965, tested in 3, successfully developed in 1966, and entered service in May 1967.

Dongfeng 4, NATO code CSS-3, is China's first medium- and long-range missile, with a basic range of 4000 kilometers and an improved range of 7000 kilometers. It uses a 1-kilogram 2200-million-ton equivalent thermonuclear warhead, or multiple sub-missile warheads, each with a mass of about 300 to 5 tons. Development began in 10, the experiment was successful in 1964, and the Dongfeng 1970 unit was established in 1971, and then deployed in Qinghai and other bases in the northwest.

As for who the target of deterrence is, it goes without saying and everyone knows it.

Dongfeng 5, NATO code CSS-4, Dongfeng 5 intercontinental ballistic missile is my country's first intercontinental launch ballistic missile, since its service has been the center of my country's nuclear strike force. The missile began to be developed in 1965, using storable liquid fuel, unlike previous missiles, low missile test in 1971, multiple telemetry missile tests in 1972, and successfully developed in 1980. The warhead equivalent is 400 million tons of TNT, and the range reaches 12000 kilometers.

From the 60s to the 70s, China began developing short-range, medium-range, medium-to-long-range and then intercontinental missiles almost at the same time, and they all achieved success quickly.

Not to mention that the 'Eagle Strike' series of anti-ship missiles and the 'Aegis' series of air defense missiles developed by Liu Tao have reached the world's leading level.

"What do you think?" The old man looked at Liu Tao.

Liu Tao smiled and said, "My opinions can be expressed!"

"Hmm?" Zou Jiahua and the other man couldn't help but look at Liu Tao.

Liu Tao is a bold young man who dares to sell anything.

We used to sell guns, tanks, and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and now we sell advanced warships.

Wow, now they even dare to sell medium-range ballistic missiles!

Fortunately, Panshan Group did not produce medium-range missiles, otherwise they would have already negotiated and signed the contract, but would have made the decision first and reported later. "Leader, missiles have a shelf life!" Liu Tao couldn't help but remind him.

Missiles also have a shelf life, or in other words, missiles and nuclear weapons also have a shelf life.

Normally, missiles have a shelf life of 20 to 25 years, and nuclear weapons have a shelf life of 30 years. The shelf life of different propellants varies, such as liquid missiles have a longer shelf life.

The humidity and temperature of the storage location will also affect the shelf life of the missile.

"Besides, this time Saudi Arabia is preparing to spend 50 billion US dollars to purchase medium-range ballistic missiles." Liu Tao reminded, "That's 50 billion US dollars, it's not a small amount!"

"Five billion dollars!?" The old man couldn't help but stand up. "Saudi Arabia is planning to buy 50 Dongfeng-500 missiles?"

The current cost of a DF-3 missile is about $100 million.

If China were to sell it, it would be around 1000 million US dollars per coin.

Just like the saying goes, if there is a 10% profit, it is guaranteed to be used everywhere; with a 20% profit, it becomes active; with a 50% profit, it will take risks; for 100% profit, it will dare to trample on all human laws; with a 300% profit, it will dare to commit any crime, even the risk of being hanged.

The cost of building it was 100 million U.S. dollars and it was sold for 1000 million U.S. dollars, which is already a profit of 900%!

With such high profits, even the devil can make the world go round.

Liu Tao rolled his eyes. As expected, the leaders of their generation still didn’t understand what a tycoon was.

"What 500 Dongfeng-3s? At most 35 Dongfeng-3s!" Liu Tao said, "Then we will help them build missile launch bases and train their personnel."

Liu Tao knew the inside story. In order to build their strategic deterrence capabilities, Saudi Arabia budgeted a full 50 billion US dollars, and only wanted to purchase 25 missiles. However, in the end, it only spent million US dollars per missile, which made Saudi Arabia shout that it was a bargain.

China originally planned to sell one for US$1000 million, and was ready to let the other party bargain.

After all, China has always emphasized asking for a high price and paying back on the spot!

As a result, he raised one finger, representing a price of 1000 million US dollars per coin. Saudi Arabia mistakenly thought it was 1 million US dollars per coin and agreed immediately, leaving the Chinese dumbfounded.

The leader hesitated for a moment, "Comrade Liu Tao, this... this is not a good thing. Saudi Arabia has established diplomatic relations with us, and we have signed a bilateral trade agreement. It is a friendly cooperative partnership!"

"This is too bullying. How can we cooperate with each other in the future if the price is so high?" The leaders felt very guilty.

"Yeah, it's not a good thing to do to a friend, right?" The old man also looked hesitant.

I feel so guilty about making this money.

Liu Tao was a little dumbfounded. Wouldn't it be better to make more money?

In his opinion, the selling price of a product depends mainly on whether the customer thinks it is worth it. If the customer thinks it is worth it, then he will be very satisfied. How could it affect the relationship between the two parties?

Is it true that good things have to be sold at a very low price?

Liu Tao vaguely understood why the prices of all products made by China were kept very low, and the prices of all materials that China needed would skyrocket.

I don’t know whether to say this is a kind of conscience or a kind of great wisdom.

(End of this chapter)