Chapter 974 Everyone has their own tricks

  April 1, 2003.

It sounds a bit funny that Damao held a bidding meeting for amphibious assault ships on this day. After all, although this day is not a legal holiday, it is a convention.

However, no one dares to ignore this bidding meeting just because it is April Fool's Day. After all, this involves a billion-dollar business. Except for Mingzhou Group, no shipyard will give up such a large sum of money. Business.

In addition to France and the East, there are also unknown Spanish manufacturers participating in the bidding. More than ten years ago, when Qin Tao went to Siam to bid for an aircraft carrier, the Spanish were the main opponents, but after that, they did not encounter them much. However, after all, the Spaniards have always been very low-key and have no sense of presence in international affairs.

This time they came to participate in the bidding, which made Qin Tao a little curious. France is not in the NATO camp, so it can sell weapons at will. Are you sure you can sell weapons to Da Mao?

However, the visitor was an old acquaintance. When Rodriguez saw Qin Tao, a smile appeared on his face: "Mr. Qin, we meet again. Over the years, we have watched your company develop rapidly. To become the strongest and largest shipyard in the world is nothing short of a miracle.”

“Yes, we will continue to create miracles.” Qin Tao said: “We in the East have hard-working people, advanced technology, and the spirit of catching up and surpassing. We are moving forward on the road of our own great rejuvenation.”

Rodriguez has nothing to say, is this Mr. Qin too arrogant? When can I be humble?

　　Duquesne also walked in with a smile on his face. He greeted his competitors and sat in his seat.

 On the rostrum, a group of people also came up.

Nicola, who was dressed in military uniform, and Lao Maozi, who was wearing a suit and leather shoes, walked onto the rostrum, and the two sat side by side.

“Everyone, please be quiet. First of all, let me introduce to you the leader of our jury this time, Mr. Boris!”

Boris did not stand up and bow to everyone, but just said with a calm expression on his face: "Everyone, I am very happy that you can come to participate in our bidding. Please rest assured that there will be no personal factors involved in this bidding." Among them, everything is based on the principles of justice, fairness and openness. Whoever provides the best solution and the equipment with the strongest performance will be chosen. Now, we will draw lots to determine the first bidder. business."

 After speaking, Boris reached out to the glass box in front of him and took out a piece of paper.

 “IZAR Group is the first!”

Down below, Zhao Ling frowned. She looked at the people on the rostrum and then at Qin Tao beside her: "Brother Tao, what this person just said seems to be talking about us."

Qin Tao smiled: "It doesn't matter. Even if it doesn't work this time, we won't have anything to lose. Instead, it will let Lao Maozi know that the West is unreliable."

Mingzhou Group has contracted almost all of Lao Maozi’s warship modification contracts, which will of course cause dissatisfaction among some people. If the amphibious assault ship contract is taken away again this time, Nikola will be under greater pressure.

Therefore, if other companies win the bid, Qin Tao will not feel defeated. On the contrary, a few years later, when Lao Maozi discovers that the amphibious assault ship he has longed for cannot be obtained, he should know that Westerners are unreliable. , only the East is their real good friend.

Those who once supported giving orders to Europe will also be despised by the big guys. Without the green leaves, there are no red flowers. Therefore, no matter what the result is this time, it will be good for the Mingzhou Group.

Rodriguez was the first to step forward.

The company that competed with the Mingzhou Group was the Bazin Shipyard. However, this shipyard was integrated into the IZAR Group in December 2000. However, this group did not exist for long. In 2005, it was reorganized and renamed Navantia. shipyard.

However, the people are still the same people, and the shipyard is still the same shipyard.

The aura of the Mingzhou Group is so strong that other shipyards live in the shadow of the Mingzhou Group and are dim. In fact, this group is very powerful and is the ninth largest shipyard in the world. At the same time, it has built Eighty percent of the ships in Spain.

They also have a lot of experience in the manufacturing of aircraft carriers. In 1988, they commissioned the "Prince of Asturias" aircraft carrier. This kind of aircraft carrier gave many countries hope. Small countries can also realize their dream of aircraft carriers. ! This aircraft carrier is only 195.9 meters long and 29 meters wide respectively. It has a maximum displacement of 17,000 tons and a speed of 26 knots. It can carry more than 20 carrier-based aircraft.

But soon, they discovered that this aircraft carrier was too small and not very efficient to operate. Therefore, they also began to continue to develop the next generation of aircraft carriers. Like many countries, they could not afford a large number of warships and could only build It is a special warship that has both aircraft carrier and amphibious functions.

"Everyone, I am very happy to be the first to take the stage. Just last December, we won a contract from the Ministry of Defense to carry out the research and development of SPS warships. This SPS is a Strategic Projection Ship, which is a strategic force projection ship. It combines aircraft carriers and amphibious forces. The function of the attack ship will be the trend in the future. Now, I will introduce to you the design of this warship."

They can't design a warship specifically for Da Mao from scratch. They can only introduce their own warships first, and then wait to make requests to Da Mao and modify them according to the requirements.

This strategic force projection ship was named by them themselves. It sounds like a dream, it is very tall, and it combines the advantages of both. In fact, after NATO took a glance at it, they attributed it to a landing logistics ship. It's not even considered a logistical battleship.

“First of all, let me introduce the basic parameters to you.” Rodriguez was the first to take the stage. He spoke very hard and wanted to leave a deep impression on everyone.

"This warship is 231.8 meters long, 29.5 meters wide, and has a full load displacement of 27,000 tons. In front of it is a jump deck, so that carrier-based aircraft can be taken off by ski jump, and there are six helicopters behind it to take off and land. point, it can also land vertical take-off and landing fighter jets.”

When she heard this, Zhao Ling finally relaxed her nervous mood: "It seems that even if Lao Maozi purchases this kind of amphibious assault ship, we will still have business."

If Lao Maozi adopts the French plan, then he can sell gas turbines. If he adopts the Spanish plan, he can sell vertical take-off and landing fighter jets!

 Lao Maozi's Yak-38 has been retired, and the Yak-141 is ill-fated and destined to be abandoned halfway. Lao Maozi simply does not have a suitable vertical take-off and landing fighter. The Spanish design plan is to purchase vertical take-off and landing fighter jets from the United States, but Da Mao definitely does not have the qualifications.

 Then the only thing left is to purchase from the East.

If Mao purchased twenty J-31A carrier-based aircraft at a cost of 50 million each, that would also cost one billion U.S. dollars. However, since Mao does not give the warship contract to itself, then it will never give the best deal to Mao. At that time, citing inflation, rising costs and other factors, one ship will cost at least 80 million U.S. dollars, which is 1.6 billion U.S. dollars. If there are two ships, it will cost 40, and 3.2 billion U.S. dollars will be earned. More than warships.

 Don’t worry, no matter what the result is, you will still make a profit!

Rodriguez obviously did not think of this, and continued to talk: "Under the tail of the warship is the dock, and above it is the elevator. This can achieve multi-functional purposes. Below the flight deck is a multi-purpose large warehouse space, which can be used as a The hangar can store vehicles and supplies, and can even store aircraft and vehicles separately through detachable compartments.”

"If used separately, the hangar area is a full thousand square meters, which can accommodate 12 medium-sized helicopters or eight vertical take-off and landing fighter jets, and there is still space for 100 cars. If all used as aircraft The garage can accommodate more than twenty aircraft. In addition to these, there is also a heavy tank garage with an area of ​​1,410 square meters under this multi-purpose space, which can be driven in and out through ramp entrances on both sides. There is also a dock at the back that is 69.3 meters long and 16.8 meters wide, which can accommodate two air-cushion landing craft."

After this introduction, the entire warship is like a Transformer, which can transform back and forth between different modes. Needless to say, Boris and even Nicholas stared at such a warship with their eyes wide open.

The amphibious assault ship does not have an external floating deck because there is an extra layer inside the hull. An ordinary aircraft carrier has a layer of hangar, and it also has an extra layer of dock cabins and heavy tank garages below. This will of course result in a higher deck. , if it drifts outward, the center of gravity will easily become unstable.

Now, after listening to this design plan, Da Mao was very happy, but Dikaina below could no longer sit still.

 “What power system do you plan to use?”

Duquesne's interruption made the people on the stage a little unhappy. This behavior was so rude, but they did want to know what power system was used.

"We are using all-electric propulsion on this warship." Rodriguez continued: "We will use one LM2500 gas turbine and two German MAN324016V diesel engines, the former is 20 megawatts and the latter is 7.7 megawatts each, so The electrical power of the entire ship will reach 35.5 megawatts. We hoist two rotatable pod electric thrusters at the stern of the ship, each with a power of 11 megawatts. In this way, in addition to being used for the propulsion system, the warship can also Gaining 13.5 megawatts of additional power."

Of course, these engines are not all started. Under normal circumstances, just turn on two diesel engines. This saves fuel. When necessary, turn on the gas turbine and turn off the diesel engine. Only when you need to sail at full speed, you need to turn them all on. The power system is very flexible. This is also The benefits of all-electric propulsion are that it is difficult to integrate diesel engines and gas turbines using traditional methods.

As for this rotatable pod electric propeller, it is also an innovation. The motor is stuffed into the streamlined propeller shell and is suspended from the hull through a rotating shaft. This thing can rotate, and even rotate 360 ​​degrees. Therefore, this kind of ship does not need a rudder, and can complete the steering operation by turning the propulsion system, and it is more flexible. The one the Spanish planned to adopt had propellers at the front and rear, making it more efficient.

“When sailing at full speed, this warship can reach a speed of 20 knots. Under normal circumstances, we use a speed of 15 knots and have an endurance of 8,000 nautical miles. At 12 knots, it will reach 9,250 nautical miles.”

 “Not bad!” Boris nodded immediately: “How much does this kind of warship cost?”

“If the design is not changed and the electronics and weapons systems are not included, we quote a price of US$600 million per vessel.”

 600 million US dollars for a 27,000-ton giant ship, this sounds like a good deal! The people above were even happier. As for electronics and weapon systems, Lao Maozi must not use Western ones, otherwise not only will they not be matched, but problems may also occur. Fortunately, the amphibious assault ship is not a front-line combat warship. It only needs to be equipped with some equipment such as close-range defense guns and communication radars. Okay, these old idiots can handle it themselves.

The people below were unhappy, and Duquesne's expression changed on the spot. If you offer this price, how can we bid? Aren't you sabotaging the market?

The original Mistral class has a full load displacement of only 21,500 tons. They plan to quote a price of 600 million, and it is still in euros. When converted into US dollars, it will cost more than 700 million. Now that the Spaniards are doing this, they have no chance of winning the bid. . Although French products have never been about cost-effectiveness, it depends on who they are compared with. If they are compared with the East, they will definitely be higher, but now compared with Spain, which also belongs to the Western camp, there is no competitiveness. How to do how to do?

Just when Duquesne had not thought of a response plan, Rodriguez had already walked down, and Boris continued to draw lots: "This time, please invite the French team to come up and introduce the plan to us!"

Lucas, who was sitting next to Duquesne, stood up.

Although Duquesne is the person in charge, Lucas is the chief designer of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, so he was naturally the one to introduce this bidding.

"Everyone, let me introduce our design plan. In July last year, the first keel of our Mistral-class amphibious assault ship was laid. Before the end of this year, the various sections of the Mistral-class will be closed. By next year, this This warship can be launched into the water.”

 Hearing Lucas say this, Duquesne breathed a sigh of relief.

This Spanish warship is highly praised, but in fact there is only an initial concept, and even the detailed design drawings have not yet been released, and construction will take a long time. However, our own side is different. The Mistral-class plan is in It was proposed in 1997, and construction officially started last year. If it were not for the delay of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, I am afraid it would have been built by now.

However, even if they started construction last year, it was not too late, because they used a tall and segmented construction method, and the construction speed was very fast, and it could be completed in one or two years.

 For Lao Maozi, he must also look forward to obtaining this kind of warship as soon as possible, right?

The Spaniards rely on cost-effectiveness, but we rely on speed.

 “So fast?” The people on the stage were very interested.

“Yes, this is our specialty. We contract the entire ship to different shipyards and then put it together in sections, which can greatly speed up our construction.”

 “Aren’t you afraid of errors?”

“Of course not, we’re not British.”

Orientals have long been building in sections, so how could we fall behind? As for the errors, only stupid British people would make such stupid problems. How could we in France have such an accident? You are insulting us by asking this question!

 “Okay, you continue.”

"Next, let me first introduce our original Mistral-class warship. This warship combines the functions of a helicopter carrier, a dock landing ship and a dock transport ship. It is the most advanced design solution. In order to reduce the construction cost, we have also adopted certain The civil ship standard, but in order to enhance reliability, we adopted a double-hull structure, which greatly increased the ability to resist battle damage. Its flight deck is 199 meters long and 32 meters wide. It is a rectangular fully-passed flight deck. There is a helicopter hangar with an area of ​​1,800 square meters, which can also be used as a warehouse for vehicles, and below there is a dedicated vehicle deck with an area of ​​1,000 square meters and an in-ship dock."

 “Helicopter hangar?”

"Yes, helicopter hangar. Our Mistral class only intends to operate carrier-based helicopters and has no plans to put fixed-wing aircraft on board. After all, we know that you do not have such an aircraft, and there is no need for you to spend a huge amount of money. We need to purchase such impractical fighter jets.”

 “How can vertical take-off and landing fighter jets be impractical?”

Hearing this question from the rostrum, Lucas smiled: "Whether it is practical or not, your four heavy-duty aircraft-carrying cruisers have already explained this issue, and you should be the one with the most say."

 Underneath, Qin Tao frowned.

Zhao Ling whispered from the side: "We ignored this person before. He is much more difficult to deal with than that Dikaina."

“Yes, his vision is very unique.” Qin Tao nodded.

"In contrast, your carrier-based helicopter technology is mature. There used to be a dedicated carrier-based attack fighter Ka-29. Now, the Karimov Design Bureau is still designing the Ka-50. Your navy can completely This kind of armed helicopter is mounted on an amphibious assault ship and used as an air force for cross-sea landing. This can also save you a lot of outsourcing funds."

“Armed helicopters are not acceptable. They cannot operate in enemy territory where they have air superiority. This is suicide.” Rodriguez couldn’t help it anymore.

"Yeah, armed helicopters can't do it, but carrier-based vertical take-off and landing fighter jets can? Whether it's the Yak-38 or the Sea Harrier, which aircraft has the ability to compete with modern third-generation or even fourth-generation aircraft? It's not a weakling. ?”

“The performance of Dongfang’s J-31A is advanced enough!”

 “Yes, the performance is advanced, but purchasing costs money!”

 “Ahem, Mr. Lucas, please continue the introduction.”

Lucas raised his head like a victorious rooster: "Okay, let me introduce it next. We have two elevators. In addition to the one at the stern, there is also an elevator on the side. Both are 13 tons. Level, this lift can fully meet the needs of existing ship-based helicopters..."

Lucas talked non-stop for half an hour, describing the Mistral class inside and out.

“Excuse me, how much does your warship cost?”

“We plan to sell it for 600 million euros.”

Rodriguez immediately sneered: "Huh, no one knows whether the quality of French products is high, but the price is definitely the highest."

Lucas ignored him and continued to look at the rostrum: "If you order two ships, we can hand over all the design drawings to you for free, so that you can continue to build as many ships as you want based on the drawings. How many."

Everyone on the rostrum suddenly became excited.

 What has Lao Maozi been pursuing?

 Be independent and produce by yourself! Revitalize your own industry!

With so much money given to foreign countries, it would be better to give it to ourselves to improve our industrial strength. And now, the French plan is exactly what they like.

Qin Tao below also sighed with emotion. The French can sell weapons at high prices and they also have a few brushes. This skill is very beautiful! I didn't expect that they actually had so many tricks up their sleeves!

 What about our own side?

 Is our side going to encounter Waterloo this time?

"Of course, if you need it, we can always make improvements. We have ready-made plans for 24,000 tons and 13,000 tons. If you want other tonnages, we can also meet them." Lucas After introducing the plan, proceed with satisfaction.

Duquesne gave him a thumbs up.

"Okay, finally we invite the Mingzhou Group to come on stage." Boris said: "The Mingzhou Group is the most important warship supplier in the world. Currently, there are two or three aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships under construction on their slipway. , we attach great importance to their projects.”

What Boris said was just for the occasion. Qin Tao already knew what Boris was thinking, so he could only smile and stand up.

“Okay, then, let me introduce our plan to you. Compared with the other two plans, the biggest feature of our amphibious assault ship is its large size. Our full load displacement is 40,000 tons.”

 Lao Maozi also likes big guys. The two introduced earlier have a displacement of more than 20,000 tons, and the one introduced by Mingzhou Group has a displacement of 40,000 tons.

 This is not an order of magnitude.

This bidding is also very interesting. Generally speaking, when a country's navy wants to bid, it must have restricted these basic data in advance: how long, how wide, how large a displacement, how many aircraft carriers, etc. Lao Maozi did not stipulate these. Because they themselves don’t know what they want, they hope to learn from the strengths of others and find the most suitable solution.

 Now, Qin Tao introduced them to the 40,000-ton plan, which immediately attracted their attention again.

"The deck length of our amphibious assault ship is 250 meters and the width is 36 meters. We believe that only an amphibious ship of this level can meet the needs of users. Its biggest feature is that it is easy to dispatch. The width of 36 meters is divided into two halves. , the 18-meter width can directly place carrier-based aircraft horizontally, and the other 18-meter width can be used as a take-off and landing platform for carrier-based aircraft. You can also take a look. This is how the amphibious assault ship of the US Marine Corps is placed. It needs When the time comes, you can just drag it out, which is very convenient.”

 France previously did not have amphibious assault ships with direct access to the deck, but only a helicopter carrier on the rear deck. Spain did not even have a helicopter carrier, so they did not have practical operational capabilities.

 Only Dongfang has this ability, and the needs of users must be taken into consideration in the design stage.

 (End of this chapter)