The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 789 Fire Tank
The evening of April 9.

Liu Tao and his family, including Liu Honglei's family, returned to Beijing on a special plane.

They will have a seven-day long holiday during this National Day.

Panshan Group has implemented a seven-day National Day holiday for many years. The holiday implemented by Panshan Group is different from the national statutory holiday regulations.

There have been many controversies over this.

毕竟盘山集团执行的节假日一年足足有31天，分别是元旦放假3天、春节假期7天、清明节放假3天、劳动节放假5天、端午节放假3天、中秋节放假3天、国庆节放假7天。

In addition to unified holidays, Panshan Group is now also introducing annual leave, and different employees can enjoy different numbers of annual leave days.

The so-called annual leave refers to the continuous paid leave that workers enjoy every year after they have worked for a certain number of years, while retaining their jobs. Annual leave includes basic annual leave and additional leave.

目前盘山集团规定的年假，是工作满1年不满10年，年休假5天；已满10年不满20年，年休假10天；已满20年，年休假15天。

For annual leave that is not taken each year, employees will be compensated at three times the daily wage.

When Panshan Group first launched the annual leave policy this year, it caused quite a bit of controversy.

After all, Panshan Group’s salary system is much higher than that of other state-owned enterprises, and its annual holiday vacation time is also much higher than others. Now, it has also introduced annual leave.

It's hard not to cause controversy.

Panshan Group’s unified external statement is that as a reform pilot unit, this is a reform pilot.

It's normal for some people to be jealous.

After all, we are human beings and we will always make comparisons. Where there are comparisons, there will be gaps. This is human nature.

When Liu Tao and his friends returned to the courtyard, there were eight more children and the place suddenly became lively.

Liu Ziyu seemed like a child who never grew up and continued to be the leader among the children.

Liu Zhenbang handed a cigarette to Liu Tao, but Liu Tao waved his hand and did not take it. He only smoked a few cigarettes a year, and would only smoke when he was upset or anxious.

"Have you really decided to export fuel-air bombs to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait?" Liu Zhenbang asked.

The fire tank is a fire-fighting equipment. Although it looks like a tank, it is used for firefighting after all, and no one can say anything about it.

But the fuel-air bomb is different, it is known as a sub-nuclear weapon.

The power is extraordinary!
Liu Tao nodded slightly and said, "Well, we have discussed this matter with the Americans. However, there is a limit on the amount of ammunition for each fuel-air explosive bomb, and there is also a limit on the total amount."

Liu Tao had many confrontations with the Americans on this matter.

According to the Americans' calculations, Saudi Arabia and other countries can have military power, but it should not be too strong so as not to threaten Israel and affect the interests of the Americans in the Middle East.

Based on this consideration, it is naturally best not to sell fuel-air bombs, Type 80 main battle tanks, etc. to Saudi Arabia.

But Liu Tao kept emphasizing that they were fire-fighting tanks and fire-fighting oxygen-depleting agents, and finally convinced the Americans.

In return, a company under Panshan Group that specializes in agricultural crop imports purchased a batch of grain from the United States.

"When the time comes, we will convert the sealed tanks into firefighting tanks and make use of them as much as possible." Liu Tao chuckled: "In this way, the army can add some new tanks."

China actually has quite a few tanks in storage, and the quantity is still very large. It is definitely unrealistic to modernize these tanks because the tank chassis and tank engines are already there.

However, these sealed tanks can be converted into fire-fighting tanks for waste utilization.

After all, fire tanks are used to put out fires, not to fight wars.

The cost of appropriate modification is about RMB 30. When the whole vehicle is exported to the Middle East, it will cost at least RMB 150 to 350 million.

For example, the export price of a fire-fighting tank modified from a Type 59 tank can reach 350 million RMB.

The so-called fire fighting tank is a tank body with camouflage color and made of special armored steel plate. It is equipped with a large-caliber vehicle-mounted water cannon on the top, which has a longer range than ordinary fire trucks. The vehicle is equipped with flammable and toxic gas detectors. There is a hydraulic obstacle shovel on the front of the vehicle, which can rely on the huge power provided by the tank's diesel engine to hit, push and pull various obstacles, ensuring that it can approach the fire scene to extinguish the fire or open a rescue channel for other vehicles under various complex conditions.

This type of fire fighting tank has outstanding functional features such as fire prevention, explosion prevention, anti-poisoning, and obstacle removal. In the case of major fires such as dangerous chemical leaks and large-scale serious fires, the fire fighting tank plays a role with its advantages of thick skin, strong loading capacity, and strong obstacle removal ability.

Firefighting tanks played a vital role in extinguishing the fire in the Iraqi oil fields.

This type of fire tank is not only needed in the Middle East, but also in China's fire departments.

For example, the modified Type 59 fire-fighting tank has a water cannon range of up to 70 meters.

"You, Panshan Group, always come up with all kinds of wonderful ideas and are very courageous!" Liu Zhenbang said with emotion.

Firefighting tanks. Who would have thought before that tanks could be converted into firefighting tanks for firefighting?

This allows obsolete or mothballed tanks to be recycled instead of rusting into a pile of scrap metal.

Having lived through that era, Liu Zhenbang is very clear that these tanks were manufactured by the country through frugality and are the wealth of the people.

Of course, although Panshan Group is still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry, since Panshan Group took back the right of foreign exchange settlement that year, it has had a great deal of independence and autonomy.

In addition, Panshan Group is involved in many fields, so it is actually difficult for the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry to influence Panshan Group.

Even the personnel appointments of Panshan Group do not need to be approved by the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry.

Currently, the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry has nominal jurisdiction over Panshan Group.

In fact, the two sides are on equal footing in terms of administrative level.

However, the connection between the two sides cannot be erased by anyone, and this kind of friendship will always exist.

Because when tracing the history of both sides, we can always see the huge intersection between the two sides.

Every year, the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry supports a group of young cadres of Panshan Group. Every time Panshan Group changes its leadership, there is always a member of the Party Group who comes from the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry.

Panshan Group has been providing a lot of support to China North Ordnance Industry Corporation.

In fact, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building at that time has become the current China Northern Ordnance Industry Corporation and China Southern Ordnance Industry Corporation. The two parties have both competitive and cooperative relationships, and are responsible for exercising the industry management functions of the weapons industry.

You have to know that China Southern Ordnance Industry Corporation is only a part of Panshan Group, and its business is less than a quarter of Panshan Group's total business. It is conceivable how huge a tree Panshan Group has become now.

This big tree has roots extending into every aspect and every field.

(End of this chapter)