The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 532: National defense construction cannot be built by purchasing!

Together with the head of the railway company, we rode the "Fuxing" EMU southward.

Each section of railway, bridges, tunnels and stations were carefully inspected.

Red flags and red banners can be seen everywhere, with motivational slogans urging people to work faster.

There's also a countdown!
By the way, repair the 'shield machine' so that it can continue construction in good condition without breaking down due to wear and tear.

All the way south, except for a few bridges and tunnels that have not yet been opened, most places have been opened.

Several sets of "Fuxing" EMUs have been tested in different sections, transporting cargo and providing personnel training.

After arriving at Pengcheng Station, Liu Tao did not continue south to Hong Kong, but went to Yangcheng Shipyard.

However, the Type 054 frigate "Qujing" warship is about to be officially put into service.

After a series of work during this period, the "Qujing" has completed the testing work excellently and can be officially delivered to the navy.

Originally, it was expected to be officially put into service before or after the Spring Festival.

However, because the performance of the "Qujing" ship was so outstanding and it completed its work ahead of schedule, it was officially put into service ahead of schedule.

In addition, the Type 039 conventional submarine 'Yuanzheng 20' will also be officially put into service.

Compared with the service of the 'Qujing', there is no doubt that the service of the Type 039 conventional submarine 'Yuanzheng 20' is more important, which means that the Chinese Navy submarine force will soon have advanced conventional submarines.

The day is not far away when China's naval submarine force will be able to freely enter and exit the first island chain.

Since the waters in my country's eastern waters are not deep enough for submarines to hide, the East China Sea Fleet's submarine force needs to move eastward into deeper waters to obtain better concealed combat space.

After all, the East China Sea continental shelf area is only a few dozen meters in area with an average depth of five or six hundred kilometers, which is really a scam.

However, China's current conventional submarines have an underwater cruising range of only two to three hundred nautical miles or three to four hundred nautical miles. This means that when a submarine sets out and maintains an underwater submerged state, by the time it reaches the limit of its underwater cruising range, it has not yet left the East China Sea continental shelf, making it too easy to be discovered.

The US military and Japan have very strong anti-submarine capabilities, and we don’t know how many sonars they have deployed.

Besides, the underwater cruising range of existing conventional submarines is two to three hundred nautical miles or three to four hundred nautical miles. This is just in theory. In actual use, they usually need to surface to charge when the remaining power is about half.

Therefore, submarine forces have always been tracked by anti-submarine aircraft of island countries when leaving the island chain.

The same situation also occurred in the submarine force of the South China Sea Fleet. Although it can sail for a long time under the air cover of the naval aviation, it is basically out of the air cover range of the naval aviation after passing the Dongsha Islands.

However, there are also many anti-submarine patrol aircraft there, both American and Soviet. This makes it easy for submarine forces to be discovered and tracked by anti-submarine aircraft when they move out of the island chain.

The Type 039 conventional submarine is different. It has a stronger underwater endurance, is quieter, and is more concealed and difficult to detect.

Fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft mainly rely on airborne radar and forward-looking infrared search sensors and other surface search equipment to improve their submarine search efficiency and search range. This results in a significant decrease in the efficiency of fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft when searching for submarines that do not need to use snorkels for charging, which is equivalent to making the fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft lose its radar search capability.

This also means that the Type 039 conventional submarine can easily break through the sea blockade and freely enter and exit the Pacific Ocean. This is a killer at a critical moment and can achieve effective strategic countermeasures.

When Liu Tao developed the Type 039 conventional submarine, in addition to the fact that the cost of this conventional submarine was much lower than that of a nuclear submarine and the navy could afford it with a little effort, another important reason was that the Type 039 conventional submarine was very suitable for the current Chinese navy. It would greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the submarine force and could better deter jackals, tigers and leopards.

And now, the Type 039 conventional submarine is finally going to serve.

Several leaders came in person this time. They came not for the official commissioning of the "Qujing", but for the commissioning of the Type 039 conventional submarine.

"How long will it take for the Type 039 conventional submarine 'Expedition 20' to become combat-ready after it is put into service?" the old man asked, looking at the Type 039 conventional submarine.

The fact that a warship is in service does not mean that it is combat-ready.

There are two main factors that make it take time to form combat effectiveness. One is the equipment of the ship itself. Because naval ships are different from other arms, naval equipment is complex and has a lot of technical content. It is not enough for only one or a few pieces of equipment to play a role. It requires that all equipment can be coordinated and meet the technical requirements of ship design.

If it is new equipment, it will take a little longer for it to form combat effectiveness, perhaps a year or even several years.

After new equipment is put into service, it must undergo multiple debugging sessions, and the weapon system must undergo live-fire testing to examine its stability and reliability.

The second factor that affects the formation of combat effectiveness is the human factor, which is the quality of officers and soldiers. For a ship to form combat effectiveness, the captain and other officers and soldiers must pass the full training assessment, that is, full-subject training. Even if the ship is well-equipped, if the quality of officers and soldiers is not good, it will be useless and combat effectiveness will not be formed.

New equipment like these are all produced by college students who graduated from naval military academies, in order to be able to master the equipment faster and better, and to form combat effectiveness faster and better.

However, the first Type 054 frigate 'Hong Kong Island' has just begun to form combat effectiveness, and the first Type 052 destroyer 'Hong Kong River' has just been put into service. There is no question of forming combat effectiveness. It will take at least one year, or even two or three years, to form combat effectiveness.

The more advanced and complex the equipment is, the more time it takes to form combat effectiveness.

Liu Tao hesitated for a moment and said, "It will probably take a year, or at least half a year!"

"The army is building up faster, and we are also building up the air force faster as we are introducing advanced fighter jets from the United States. Now the only thing left is the navy. We can't buy naval ships, and no one will sell them to us, not even the Americans. We have to build them." The old man said in a deep voice, "For fighter jets, the Americans have raised the price a lot recently. They want 14 million US dollars for an F-4400 'Panda' fighter, and they say we are friendly and close friends. Now it seems that we must also develop air force equipment ourselves, so that there won't be any secret doors left, and we don't have to spend so much money."

之前华夏采购F-14‘熊猫’战斗机，价格是一架1900万美元，F-15的价格是1200万美元，F-16的价格900万美元。

Even at this price, Hua Xia was already heartbroken and gritted her teeth.

Now, due to the depreciation of the US dollar and the war, the price of an F-14 'Panda' fighter is 4400 million US dollars, an F-15 fighter is 3910 million US dollars, and an F-16 costs 1900 million to 2000 million US dollars.

China simply cannot afford such a high price.

After all, military expenditures are limited, and one US military aircraft now is equivalent to two or three that China purchased before.

This has also led to the voice of "it is better to rent than to build, and it is better to buy than to rent" being constantly heard in recent years regarding the air force's equipment, which has been criticized.

Facts have proved that weapons and equipment related to national defense construction cannot be purchased, and we must rely on ourselves.

(End of this chapter)