Chapter 743 Kaizi Asan

"We have done everything we can. What will develop next is beyond our control." Qin Tao said, "If they are thick-skinned enough and build according to our plan, it will actually be most suitable."

Wu Shengli nodded: "The United States has been led astray by us. Now, if the British also take the medium-voltage exchange route, this electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception will definitely be full of problems and will not be able to serve. Their dream of a large aircraft carrier, It will take many more years.”

 Qin Tao is not only helping the development of the domestic navy, but also working hard to delay the modernization of the navies of other countries. His achievements are unparalleled.

“However, we have also calculated that with the financial resources of the UK, it is not easy to build two such aircraft carriers.” Wu Shengli continued.

 Compared with the economic strength of the country, the East is still not as good as the United Kingdom. However, the East has a huge advantage, that is, the cost of labor is low. Therefore, no matter what the East produces, it is cheaper than the West.

The Queen-class aircraft carriers built by the British in later generations went through various compromises. In the end, the cost of each aircraft carrier reached 3.1 billion pounds. They were just useless aircraft carriers that took off by ski jump. Look to the east, advanced electromagnetic catapult aircraft carriers , it only cost about three billion US dollars, has a displacement of 20,000 to 30,000 tons larger than that of the British, and also has electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception. If these are added up, the cost of each British aircraft carrier will be more than one billion. GBP. The British aircraft carrier still uses two gas turbines. If four are used according to the original plan, the cost will be hundreds of millions of pounds more.

However, from a British perspective, the cost of £3.1 billion is still very cheap.

“If they were smart enough, they would have run to find Ah San.” Qin Tao said, “If Ah San, the big guy, gets on the pirate ship, he may be cheated by the British again.”

Now, Asan is very embarrassed. Their Super Sun King, which they spent billions to buy, turned out to be worthless and cannot go to sea at all. Otherwise, they have to worry about whether they can come back. The aircraft carrier they produced themselves is now The shell has not yet been welded, and the aircraft carrier has been built before we have thought about what to use for the carrier-based aircraft.

After all, Britain is an old empire and has built many aircraft carriers. The aircraft carrier Ah San originally owned was a second-hand product purchased from the United Kingdom. So now, it is normal for the British to try to fool Ah San.

“Then what should we do?” Wu Shengli said.

 Qin Tao is very smart and has various ways to stumbling upon the British. Now, he should have thought of some good ways, right?

“There is nothing we can do. After all, this matter has nothing to do with us. We have done everything we should do. Now, if there is nothing else in the capital, I want to go to Huating.”

 “What are you doing?”

"Go to Zhenhua Heavy Industries." Qin Tao said: "They will have a big business coming to their door soon. I will go over and lay the groundwork first."

 Zhenhua Heavy Industries? This company is not owned by Mingzhou Group! Wu Shengli was very curious.

 At this moment, Zhao Ling walked over gently.

“I just received news that the British organized a delegation to go to Asan. I don’t know what they are doing.”

"What are you doing? Tao Zi just predicted that they are going to Asan to promote the aircraft carrier."

Thales Group won the bidding contract. This was the time when they were most proud. After receiving the Navy's instruction, they immediately sent a professional team to the East to promote Asan.

 The leader of this team is Mitchell. After what happened last time, his salary has been greatly improved, and his position has also been changed from an ordinary designer to a chief designer.

Now, he is full of ambition.

Asan also valued the group from the UK very highly. According to the reception procedure, he would first have a meeting in the capital, and after the meeting, he would take them to the Cochin Shipyard.

"You have had the experience of operating our aircraft carriers for many years, but later, for some reason, you became alienated from us." Mitchell gushed: "Over the years, you have made great progress in the development of aircraft carriers. There are many detours. You asked Da Mao to improve the second-hand aircraft carrier and spent billions. In the end, the aircraft carrier was scrapped. You produced the aircraft carrier yourself. Several years have passed, and the production of this aircraft carrier is still very slow. You can’t even produce steel yourself. Production. So, to you…”

 “Mr. Mitchell, what exactly do you want to say?” Sunil asked angrily.

Are these guys here just to ridicule them? If this is the case, then Sunil has no patience to continue listening.

"I mean, if you want to quickly acquire aircraft carrier power, it is the wisest choice for you to purchase our aircraft carrier now." Mitchell said, he had already seen the other party's impatience, so he quickly explained his intention.

"Your aircraft carrier? Invincible class? Sorry, we are no longer interested in this level of aircraft carrier." Sunil shook his head.

The Asan Navy has bought many British warships, including aircraft carriers, but that era has passed. Now the Asan Navy has a big appetite.

After all, the Eastern Navy already has Varyag's improved aircraft carrier, and is producing a second aircraft carrier on the slipway. Even if the Asan Navy cannot have an 80,000-ton aircraft carrier, it will have to replace it with two 40,000-ton aircraft carriers. It is invincible. What can the level do? The sea harrier was almost lost.

“No, of course not the Invincible-class aircraft carrier. That kind of aircraft carrier is of little use in our hands and will soon be eliminated. I am talking about our new generation of Queen-class aircraft carrier.”

 “Queen level?” Sunil showed a puzzled expression.

So, Mitchell was depressed, OK, after working on it for a long time, you didn’t pay attention to our British naval construction at all? Our recent procurement of two aircraft carriers is known to the whole world, but you don't know anything about it?

Isn't this too disrespectful to us?

Mitchell felt that his self-esteem had been hit, but considering the purpose of his visit, he still endured it.

"The Royal Navy has decided to eliminate the existing aircraft carriers and purchase two brand-new aircraft carriers. These aircraft carriers are large aircraft carriers with a displacement of 65,000 tons and can operate dozens of carrier-based aircraft at the same time. We have completed the bidding process. Now, We came from the distant UK just to bring this advanced aircraft carrier to you, and we know that you also need an aircraft carrier of this level."

 Displacement 65,000 tons? Sure enough, Sunil's face showed an excited expression: "Really? Can you show us the design drawing?"

"Of course." Mitchell asked his assistant to open the design drawing and hang it on the whiteboard nearby.

This design drawing has been rendered and is very beautiful. The perspective is from the upper left side of the aircraft carrier. You can overlook the huge deck. On the catapult at the bow of the ship, a JSF fighter is preparing to take off. On the catapult on the angled deck Above, there is an E-2 early warning aircraft with a mushroom disk on top. The twin ship islands are so beautiful, and the corridor at the top reflects the light in the sun.

 Beautiful, so beautiful!

Sunil was tempted, he was really tempted. In his eyes, the Asan Navy should have obtained a modern aircraft carrier long ago, and the aircraft carrier in front of him is even more modern!

"Our aircraft carrier plans to use four 40-megawatt gas turbines under development, plus a spare diesel engine. The propulsion power of the entire aircraft carrier will exceed 180 megawatts. This kind of power can allow the aircraft carrier to easily It can reach a high speed of more than 30 knots, and at the same time, there is sufficient power supply for electromagnetic catapult use."

“Electromagnetic ejection?” Sunil continued to open his eyes wide: “Do you still have electromagnetic ejection?”

There are various signs that Dongfang has acquired electromagnetic ejection technology. If nothing unexpected happens, Dongfang will use it on the next aircraft carrier. And the Blue Sky Guardian that Asan is building on the slipway still uses the ski jump take-off method. This immediately shows how useless Asan's aircraft carrier is. They don't want to see this happen, so they are looking forward to their aircraft carrier becoming more powerful.

 However, the technology of electromagnetic catapult is not something they can master. They did research and finally gave up. Even the United States has not developed mature technology, so Ah San can't even think about it.

“Yes, when it comes to high technology, we in the UK are still very powerful.” Mitchell would not say that the electromagnetic catapult was purchased from the United States. He had to put gold on his face.

"We not only have electromagnetic catapults, but also a comprehensive power system for the entire ship. Even the propulsion system, we use electric motors." Mitchell said eloquently: "How about you, do you want to obtain such an advanced aircraft carrier?" ?”

Sunil swallowed and said: "I think, but I don't know, what is the price of this kind of aircraft carrier?"

“If you want to place an order, how about our quote to you is the same as the quote to the Royal Navy, which is five billion pounds per vessel?”

Five billion pounds, converted into U.S. dollars, is enough for 6 billion U.S. dollars. To build such a warship, Asan can build three Blue Sky Guardians!

Sunil frowned immediately.

It looks very advanced, but the price is also very beautiful. Moreover, this is just the hull. If an aircraft carrier wants to have combat capabilities, it must also have carrier-based aircraft. If a batch of carrier-based aircraft are purchased, especially E- 2 early warning aircraft, then maybe it will cost another 5 billion, or tens of billions to get such a thing. Is it worth it?

“Excuse me, can we purchase your design and then build it in our own shipyard?” Sunil thought of such a compromise.

Asan has always had a dream of becoming a great nation, and they also aspire to realize independent development and production of weapons. The Air Force's LCA fighter jets, the Army's Arjun tanks, and the Navy's Delhi-class destroyers are all the result of such a dream.

However, the reality is not satisfactory. Whether it is the LCA fighter or the Arjun tank, the research and development process is quite difficult. Moreover, after spending huge sums of money to develop it, the army still does not want it. After all, the army has to fight, and it is impossible to be unqualified. The product.

Fortunately for the Navy, although the Delhi-class destroyers claim to be built by themselves, their design and weapons are large and easy to use. Apart from the messy stacking of weapons, there are no other shortcomings.

　　After that, they had bad luck frequently. The frigate they built actually broke into two pieces when they went to sea for the first time. The improved Super Sun King had a huge cost overrun. The construction schedule of the aircraft carrier they built was delayed again and again.

However, they still want to build it themselves. It would be better if they could purchase the design drawings of such an advanced aircraft carrier and then build it themselves.

 Intuitively, Mitchell wanted to shake his head. Are you kidding me? Can I give you the design drawings? However, the words came out a little more tactfully.

"It is not easy to build this kind of brand new aircraft carrier. To install the electromagnetic catapult, the deck must have a high enough flatness. The integrated power system of the whole ship will test the insulation ability of the construction process. If there is an accidental short circuit in the cable , that would be a disaster for warships. You do not have this kind of construction capability for the time being."

"Mr. Mitchell, we are starting to build the Blue Sky Guardian. We have the ability to build a more advanced aircraft carrier. Please come to our shipyard and have a look." Sunil said: "You will be surprised."

 The original plan included inviting the British to visit Asan's shipyard, but now it has a more important significance, allowing the British to see whether they have the ability to build such an aircraft carrier.

 The strength of British experts is still very strong.

 Mitchell nodded.

Cochin Shipyard is a busy scene. Countless people are carrying steel plates back and forth. Many people are walking on the ground with bare feet. There are many scraps and rust of steel plates on the ground visible to the naked eye.

The largest dry dock in the shipyard is less than 270 meters long and only 40 meters wide. The Blue Sky Guardian is being built here. The arc sparks are flying, which looks quite interesting. However, when one of the welders turned around, , Mitchell almost laughed. This guy didn't wear a mask at work today, so he found a piece of cardboard, hung it on his face with a rope, and punched two holes in his eyes.

This mask used by welders mainly uses lenses to filter ultraviolet rays to prevent eye damage. This guy is interesting. He only blocks his face. Is he afraid that the sparks of the arc will hurt his face? That's the next best thing, okay?

“Mr. Mitchell, what you see now is the Blue Sky Guardian aircraft carrier we are building. What do you think?”

"Your dock is too small. Building a 40,000-ton ship is already the limit. The aircraft carrier we designed has a displacement of 65,000 tons, and its length and width are much larger than this dock. Therefore, you cannot build it." Mitchell Finally found a suitable reason: "Moreover, your construction method is too backward. Advanced aircraft carrier construction uses a segmented construction method. An aircraft carrier is divided into several sections and finally assembled in a shipyard."

At present, Asan’s construction method is still building blocks, which has long been outdated.

 Hence, Asan is destined to be unable to build an advanced aircraft carrier by himself, so he can only hand over the construction work to the United Kingdom.

"It is indeed a problem that the dock is too small. However, we can build a large dock first, so that it can meet the needs of aircraft carrier construction." Sunil did not think that the question raised by Mitchell was a problem at all, even if he first Building a large dock and then building the ship will not be more expensive than purchasing it directly. In this way, after the aircraft carrier is built, a large dock will still be left.

“As for the segmented construction, it is indeed a problem.” Sunil knew that with the level of workers like Asan, if it was constructed in segments, there would be problems with the final welding, and the error would be so large that it would be impossible to connect.

 With this kind of construction bit by bit, even if there is a certain error, it will still be a whole when it is welded.

"What's the problem?" Mitchell asked. Of course he had already guessed something. Now he was just waiting for the other party to make a fool of himself and let the other party say in person that the accuracy of the construction was not up to standard.

Sunil was speechless. Of course, he couldn't say that the quality of his own construction was not good. Just when he didn't think of how to refute, the director of the shipyard beside him spoke.

“You plan to build in sections, but I don’t know how many sections it will be divided into?”

"About six paragraphs." Mitchell said. This has not been finalized yet, so he can only give a rough idea.

"Divided into six sections? That means that on average, each section weighs several thousand tons, and the larger ones can even exceed 8,000 tons. How do you plan to close such huge sections? Are you so big? Gantry crane?"

Now it's Mitchell's turn to be frightened, yes, why didn't he think of this?

 After being built in sections, it can be transported by ship. This is what barges are used for. However, after transportation, how do you assemble it?

 This requires a gantry crane!

8,000-ton or even 10,000-ton gantry crane. How is it possible? There is absolutely no such big gantry crane in the world.

 Far away in the east, Zhenhua Heavy Industries.

Mr. Guan excitedly looked at Qin Tao who got off the extended red flag car: "Mr. Qin, welcome to Zhenhua Heavy Industries. If you have any instructions, just tell me."

At that time, Zhenhua Heavy Industry had just started and it was very difficult. Mr. Qin extended a helping hand to help Zhenhua Heavy Industry go through the most difficult time. Now, Zhenhua Heavy Industry has developed and become the overlord in the industry, but , Don’t forget the well digger when you are ready, and Mr. Guan will never forget Mr. Qin. What’s more, there are still many cooperations between the two parties.

“Well, I came here to see how big is the largest gantry crane currently owned by Zhenhua Heavy Industries?”

 The largest gantry crane?

Mr. Guan thought for a while: "The largest gantry crane we have built so far is six thousand tons, and it is used in your Mingzhou Group. However, this is just because there is no greater need. If users have demand, this kind of gantry crane It is no problem to double the lifting capacity. What, Mr. Qin, do you plan to order a large gantry crane? "

If Makarov were here, he would be extremely emotional. Back then, the Black Sea Shipyard purchased a 900-ton gantry crane from Western Europe in order to build a heavy-duty aircraft carrier cruiser in sections. It was already considered outrageous. It could be built in one go. Nine hundred ton sections. At that time, Lao Maozi did not have this technology and could only purchase it from foreign countries.

What now? Dongfang can already build a 6,000-ton gantry crane. This gantry crane is also built for the Mingzhou Group. The 052C destroyer can even be hoisted in its entirety, which shows how incredible it is.

However, this is still nothing. If necessary, they can also build a larger gantry crane.

"We don't plan to actually buy it." Qin Tao said: "But now, there is this demand in the international market, so we need to declare to the outside world that we will purchase a brand new gantry crane from here. As for the lifting weight, 12,000 tons is enough. .”

There is demand in the international market. Mingzhou Group announced that it will purchase from Zhenhua Heavy Industry?

Mr. Guan became excited: "Okay, Mr. Qin, since you need it, let's develop and design it immediately, with the goal of 12,000 tons!"

In fact, in later generations, the largest gantry crane built in China was 22,000 tons, but it is not needed yet. After all, Qin Tao knows that the British Queen-class aircraft carrier is divided into six giant sections. This is because there are six major shipyards in the UK: Devon, Tyneside, Glasgow and Portsmouth, among others.

Among these sections, five are between 4,000 and 8,000 tons, and the heaviest one reaches about 11,300 tons. These sections were eventually transported to Rosyth Shipyard for final assembly. (It is also translated as Luoxisi)

This Rosyth Shipyard naturally needs a 12,000-ton gantry crane. This project is tailor-made for them.

 Can the largest segment be separated?

 The answer is no, because the length of this super-segment module is 80 meters, which is to ensure the flatness and connectivity of the flight deck.

These sections are larger than the sections used by the Mingzhou Group to build aircraft carriers. The fact that the British were able to build these sections perfectly and finally assemble them shows that the British still have a few skills in shipbuilding. Of course, as for launching Then it leaks, and even sea water pours in, which is another story.

Now, Qin Tao is going to tailor a set for the British.

“Well, I still have some requirements for this set of gantry cranes. If you have the ability, please fulfill them.”

 “Mr. Qin, please speak.”

"This gantry crane can only be installed once, or it can only be installed by you. If someone else disassembles the gantry crane you have installed and then reinstalls it, something unexpected will happen." Qin Tao said: "Of course. , when you sell it, it must also be written in the contract that you need to be invited to do the disassembly and assembly. If any accident occurs due to unauthorized disassembly and assembly, we will not be responsible."

To be honest, Mr. Guan was a little curious at this time and didn't know what Qin Tao meant by such an arrangement. However, Mr. Qin was very powerful. If you don't understand it now, you won't understand it. You will understand it in the future.

"Mr. Qin, we still have a way to fulfill your request." Mr. Guan said, "But this will increase the cost."

"Only you have a 12,000-ton gantry crane, so it's normal for the cost to increase a bit." Qin Tao said: "If foreigners come to purchase, it's 60 million US dollars per unit, and there will be no counter-offering. Take it or leave it. "

Gantry cranes are of course extremely expensive, but US$60 million per unit is still shockingly high. The export price of ZPMC’s gantry cranes has never exceeded US$20 million. This time, at US$60 million, we will definitely create a new one. It’s history.

PS: There are different opinions. Some say 20 million, and some say 130 million. The hero of East China is wondering, is the latter number in RMB? After much hesitation, we decided to price it at 60 million. We couldn’t lose money. According to the previous algorithm, the British guy bought it for 20 million, and after using it, he sold it to Asan for 40 million. Then we can just sell it for 60 million. If it is more than 100 million dollars, it always feels a bit incredible.

　　

 (End of this chapter)