The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

"How about we learn from the British and buy aircraft carriers from China?"

A middle-aged and elderly man in military uniform suddenly said, and the eyes of the whole conference room turned to him, with incredible eyes.

How can you say such a thing?

Stupid!

Asshole!

If eyes can kill, this man has been killed dozens or hundreds of times!

You know, in the Soviet era, the Soviet Union was the big brother, and China was the little brother.

Psychologically, the Soviets have a great advantage.

Back then, whether it was the army, the air force, or the navy, in the eyes of the Soviets, China was quite weak, not to mention compared with the Soviet Union, even many Warsaw Pact countries could not compare.

The national strength of Yugoslavia at that time, whether it was economic strength or military strength, was stronger than China!

If it weren't for the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, China would have fought so well, and the Soviets would not even look at it.

Russia inherited most of the Soviet legacy and also inherited this psychological advantage.

Now this person actually proposed that Russia should learn from Britain to buy aircraft carriers from China. This is simply outrageous!

Let alone whether Russia can afford to buy aircraft carriers. Even if it can afford it, it can't get over the psychological barrier!

This middle-aged soldier was stared at by so many people, and he couldn't help but shrink his head.

However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said.

Since he couldn't produce it himself, why not buy it from China?

The trade between the two sides has been going on all the time, and the total trade volume between the two sides has been setting records every year.

Moreover, China is no longer the China of the past, and Russia is no longer the Soviet Union of the past.

In the past ten years, Russia's economy has been relatively good, because it can sell oil and natural gas to Europe and China, and can export a large amount of iron ore, copper ore, wood, etc. to China. Russia lives a relatively comfortable life, because it can import all kinds of goods needed by Russia from China, including all kinds of light industrial goods, as well as all kinds of electronic products, cars, and motorcycles!

Even some of Russia's electronic products use chips, which are also imported from China.

Now it is nothing more than importing aircraft carriers. For China, aircraft carriers are just a commodity!

Look at how many light aircraft carriers China has exported in recent years! Even the 002 aircraft carrier, which is more advanced than the Varyag, was exported to the UK.

If it can be exported to the UK, can't it be exported to Russia?

That doesn't make sense!

As for Russia building its own aircraft carrier?

Family members know their own business, so why deceive themselves!

When the family was divided, the Black Sea Shipyard was divided into Ukraine. Since then, the Black Sea Shipyard has been divided into four parts: general assembly plant, machine manufacturing, fishing boats, and casting and forging. The Black Sea Shipyard was the largest shipyard in the Black Sea region during the Soviet era. It was the only aircraft carrier assembly plant in the Soviet era. Several aircraft carriers in the Soviet era were all built at the Black Sea Shipyard.

At its peak, the Black Sea Shipyard had more than 25,000 people, covering an area of ​​302 hectares, with a total length of 2,675 meters for outfitting docks, a total length of 29 kilometers for roads, a total length of 49 kilometers for railways, and a total of 2,100 cranes.

Without the Black Sea Shipyard, which shipyard in Russia can build aircraft carriers?

None!

There is no shipyard in Russia that can build aircraft carriers!

Even if a site is selected, a suitable site cannot be found.

Because the site selection of such a large shipyard takes all aspects into consideration, including the need for deep-water areas, national defense security is the first consideration.

After all, a large shipyard is an important military facility. Once a war breaks out, it will inevitably be the first target of attack!

And there is no area in Russia suitable for building such a large shipyard!

You can't build a large shipyard in a location that may be attacked at any time!

As for other areas, they are not ice-free ports. The ice often freezes for a long time every year and is not suitable for building shipyards.

Why did Russia restart the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier plan a few years ago, intending to rebuild the "Ulyanovsk" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but it has been delayed?

The most important thing is not the lack of funds, but facing various difficulties!

For example, the first difficulty is the choice of shipyard. Looking through the entire Russian shipyard, no shipyard can build an aircraft carrier!

Now Russia's main naval shipyards are only the Red Star Shipyard, the Baltic Shipyard, the Admiralty Shipyard, the Northern Shipyard, and the Severodvinsk Shipyard.

The Red Star Shipyard, located in Vladivostok, is a large shipyard that Russia has built with all its strength after the Soviet Union. It was originally just a naval shipyard responsible for the repair and modification of submarines for the Russian Pacific Fleet. Later, Russia spent a huge amount of money to modernize it, hoping to build it into Russia's largest modern shipyard so that it can build large icebreaking ships, especially large icebreaking LNG ships, to support oil and gas development projects in the Russian Arctic. Now, Red Star Shipyard can naturally build some warships, and in the future, Red Star Shipyard can even build large destroyers!

In theory, it is not impossible for Red Star Shipyard to build aircraft carriers in the future! However, from the perspective of national defense and security, Red Star Shipyard is not suitable for building aircraft carriers, because every move is under the eyes of others!

The Baltic Shipyard, codenamed Shipyard 189 during the Soviet period, was established in 1856. The Kirov cruiser during the Soviet period was the work of this shipyard. In addition, the shipyard is also the work of the nuclear-powered icebreakers, ocean-going survey ships, and Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruisers built by Russia/Soviet Union. This shipyard is also the only shipyard in Russia that can build commercial ships with a maximum displacement of 100,000 tons. This large shipyard in St. Petersburg can also build aircraft carriers, but if you want to build aircraft carriers, you must undergo a lot of modernization!

Furthermore, the Baltic Shipyard is located in St. Petersburg, where aircraft carriers are built, and every move is under the eyes of NATO. If you want to leave the Baltic Sea after it is built, you have to look at people's faces.

The Admiralty Shipyard, codenamed Shipyard 194 during the Soviet period, was established in 1704 and was built by order of Peter the Great. It is located in the central area of ​​St. Petersburg. The shipyard mainly builds submarines and large military auxiliary ships. It is also one of the few shipyards in the world that has the ability to process titanium alloy submarine hulls.

The Northern Shipyard, code-named Shipyard 190 during the Soviet period, also known as Zhdanov Shipyard, was established in 1912. Russia's Modern-class destroyers and Dreadnought-class anti-submarine destroyers are all works of this shipyard. The Northern Shipyard currently does not have the ability to build large aircraft carriers. If it wants to have this ability, it must invest heavily in modernizing the Northern Shipyard.

It can be said that the Soviet Union's industrial layout at that time, after the Soviet era, was gone, the entire Soviet industrial system was also scattered, and Russia's industry no longer had the Soviet industrial system.

Russia has all the Soviet-era weapon design data, but it cannot produce all weapons based on these design data because Russia no longer has the Soviet industrial system.

This is the case with aircraft carriers, and the same is true for the Tu-160 strategic bomber!

Of course, some people have also proposed to negotiate with Ukraine, rent the Black Sea Shipyard, and build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at the Black Sea Shipyard.

But the resistance to this matter is quite large.

Many people do not want Russia to have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. This is not only true for European and American countries, but also for Ukraine!

In short, it is not so easy for Russia to build a modern aircraft carrier by itself.

Money is one aspect, but money does not represent all problems!

Compared with Russia's headaches for aircraft carriers, France also held a meeting.

France is one of the only three countries in the world that has nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and the "Charles de Gaulle" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier owned by France. ,

France's insistence on its consistent "force autonomy" policy can be confirmed by the expensive Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. Most of the equipment on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, including power, weapons, electronics, etc., are made by France. Therefore, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is also regarded as a beautiful report card handed in by France's strong defense industry, and is also used as a symbol of the French Navy.

However, as the national strength declines, France has difficulty maintaining its defense industry capabilities, and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which is extremely expensive to build and maintain, is also a major burden on the French finances. From the slow and arduous construction and testing process of the Charles de Gaulle, it can be found that in addition to the engineering difficulties, the French Navy has tightened its belt and gritted its teeth to allow this expensive warship to slowly and gradually form combat power.

Moreover, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which appears to be bright and beautiful, has a lot of problems during the test, which makes the French Navy in the stereotype of "flashy".

In fact, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is much worse than the outside world knows.

France does not want to develop large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, because according to France's own needs, only medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are enough.

Moreover, with France's comprehensive national strength, it is not enough to support large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

A "Charles de Gaulle" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has made France use all its strength, and various problems have occurred frequently, not to mention large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

This meeting was not about whether France should develop large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nor was it about discussing the construction of a second "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier, but about the next generation of French medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

France's goal is a medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

No mistake, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

To be honest, although the "Charles de Gaulle" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been in service and has slowly formed combat effectiveness, the French Navy is not satisfied.

So the French Navy hopes to have a medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with advanced performance.

However, the needs of the French Navy conflict with other French departments.

Losing its core interests in Africa, the reason why France has maintained its influence in the world over the years, in addition to inertia, is most importantly because it has reached a Franco-German alliance with Germany, which has largely determined the EU and confronted the United States.

Once there is no Franco-German alliance, France will inevitably follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom.

Now France is still mired in the quagmire of the economic crisis and is simply unable to broadcast a large amount of funds to develop the next generation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

You know, modern aircraft carriers are not only expensive to build, but also frighteningly expensive to use.

It was this contradiction that caused the meeting to start arguing.

As an old capitalist power, France's current comprehensive national strength in Europe is second only to Germany, and even stronger than the United Kingdom.

Of course, for France, Russia is not a purely European country.

"Our current military expenditure accounts for a high proportion of GDP. The most important thing for us now is economic issues, not military expenditure issues. The current strength of our army can ensure the security of our country!"

"If we don't use the money to build national defense, will we use it for compensation? Don't forget that the current situation is very similar to that before World War II. A large-scale world-class war may break out at any time. Shouldn't we prepare in advance?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! With nuclear weapons, a world-class war cannot break out!"

"Who would believe that a world-class war would break out during World War I and World War II? Don't forget that the British navy is now much stronger than ours. Who knows if the British are preparing to fight Europe if they are not fighting the Argentines now!"

"."

The whole conference room was arguing!

The conference room was arguing in a meeting, and it was snowing outside, but many French people on the street were protesting the decision to delay retirement.

Because this means that the French have to work until they are 64 years old before they can retire!

And the working hours now are much longer than before.

In the past, I worked four or five hours a day, and there was plenty of time to drink coffee and fish during the period. Now I have to work seven or eight hours. This is simply unreasonable!

The French feel that life is getting worse day by day. In their view, this is not a developed country, but a developing country!

The angry French people vowed not to give in easily. Some French people even shouted that they would let the capitalists understand why Paris is an old revolutionary area!

In recent years, more and more people in Europe and the United States miss the Soviet Union. They realize that the reason they could live a good life in the past was because the Soviet Union existed, and the capitalists had to give profits to ordinary people, otherwise they would be hung on the street lights.

After the Soviet Union was gone, the capitalists were no longer afraid and turned their attention to ordinary people again.

In recent years, everyone in Europe generally feels that life is getting harder and harder every year.

Until now, European integration is still being promoted, firstly because the Franco-German alliance has taken up the banner, and secondly because everyone is huddling together for warmth.

But now, the policies implemented by France are related to everyone's interests. This feeling is very obvious, and the French people naturally don't do it.

In their view, the difficulties facing France now are the incompetence of the rulers!

It's not just the people who have jobs. The unemployed are even more radical. They hate the current French government and think that the French government would rather give money to refugees who have fled to France than to provide them with relief. What is the purpose of such a government?

The opposition parties, especially the extreme right-wing parties, are taking this opportunity to stir up trouble in an attempt to win the next election.