"We have done everything we can. What will happen 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 follow the medium-voltage communication 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 other countries' navies. His achievements are unparalleled.
"However, we have also calculated that with the financial resources of the UK, it is not easy to build such two aircraft carriers." Wu Shengli continued.
If we compare 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 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.
Pounds. 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, if you look at it from a British perspective, the cost of 3.1 billion pounds is still very cheap.
"If they were smart enough, they would have gone to look for Ah San." Qin Tao said, "If Ah San, the enemy, 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 construction of the aircraft carrier has begun before we have thought about what the carrier-based aircraft will be used for.
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 completely 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 stumble 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?"
"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 why."
"What are you doing? Taozi just predicted that they are going to Asan to sell aircraft carriers."
Thales Group won the bidding contract, and this was the moment when they were most proud. After receiving the Navy's instruction, they immediately sent a professional team to the east to sell it to Asan.
The leader of this team is Mitchell. After what happened last time, his salary has been greatly increased, and his position has also been changed from an ordinary designer to a chief designer.
Now, he is full of ambition.
Ah San also attached great importance to the group of people from the UK. 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, for you…”
"Mr. Mitchell, what exactly do you want to say?" Sunil asked angrily.
Are these guys here just to ridicule them? If that's the case, then Sunil won't have the patience to continue listening.
"I mean, if you want to quickly acquire aircraft carrier power, purchasing our aircraft carrier now is the wisest choice." 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.
Asan Navy has purchased many British warships, including aircraft carriers, but that era has passed. Now Asan Navy has a huge 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 I do? The Sea Harrier is almost dead.
"No, of course it's not the Invincible class. That kind of aircraft carrier is no longer useful in our hands and will be phased out soon. I'm talking about our new generation 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?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Isn’t this too ignoring us?
Mitchell felt that his self-esteem had been hit, but considering the purpose of his visit, he still held back.
"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 of 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 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 was 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 indications that Dongfang has obtained 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 Asan 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 catapult, but also a comprehensive power system for the whole ship. Even the propulsion system, we use electric motors." Mitchell said: "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, our quotation for you is the same as the quotation for the Royal Navy, which is five billion pounds per ship. How about that?"
Five billion pounds, converted into U.S. dollars, is enough for six billion U.S. dollars. To build such a warship, Ah San 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 the E-
2 early warning aircraft, then it might cost another five billion or tens of billions to obtain such a thing. Is it worth it?
"Excuse me, can we purchase your design drawings and build them in our own shipyard?" Sunil thought of such a compromise.
Ah San has always had a dream of becoming a great nation, and they are also eager to realize the 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 are claimed 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 it went to sea for the first time. The improved Super Sun King had huge cost overruns. 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, he spoke 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 such construction capabilities 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 meaning, allowing the British to see whether they have the ability to build such an aircraft carrier.
British experts are still very capable.
Mitchell nodded.
The 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. To the naked eye, there are many scraps and rust of steel plates on the ground.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The largest dry dock in the shipyard is less than 270 meters and only 40 meters wide. The Blue Sky Guardian is being built here. The sparks of the arc are flying, and it looks pretty good.
It was funny, but 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 dug his eyes out.
Make two holes.
This mask used by welders mainly uses lenses to filter ultraviolet rays to prevent eye damage. This guy is interesting. He only covers his face. Is he afraid that the sparks of the arc will hurt his face? That is secondary, 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."
The current construction method of Asan is still building blocks, which has long been outdated.
Therefore, Asan was destined to be unable to build an advanced aircraft carrier by himself, so he could 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 is no more expensive than purchasing it directly. In this way, after the aircraft carrier is built, a large dock is left.
"As for the segmented construction, it is indeed a problem." Sunil knew that with the level of workers like Ah San, if it was constructed in segments, there would be problems during the final welding, and the error would be so large that it would be impossible to connect.
In this way, even if there are certain errors in the construction bit by bit, the welded part will still be a whole.
"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 his own construction quality was poor. Just when he didn't think of how to refute, the shipyard director who was following him spoke.
"You plan to build it 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 was Mitchell's turn to be shocked, yes, why didn't he think of this?
After being built in sections, it can be transported by ship. That’s what barges are for. However, after transportation, how do you assemble it?
This requires a gantry crane!
How is it possible for an eight thousand ton or even ten thousand ton gantry crane? There is absolutely no such big gantry crane in the world.
Far 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 ZPMC?"
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-carrying cruiser in sections. It was already unbelievable that 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 build a larger gantry crane.
"We have no intention of actually purchasing it," Qin Tao said, "but now, there is a demand for this 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, and Mingzhou Group has announced that it will purchase from Zhenhua Heavy Industry?
Mr. Guan became excited: "Okay, Mr. Qin, since you need it, we will 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 now. 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. (
Also translated as Luo Xisi)
The Rosyth Shipyard naturally needs a 12,000-ton gantry crane. This project was 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 if water leaks or even seawater pours in, that's another story.
Now, Qin Tao wants 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 realize 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 this arrangement. However, Mr. Qin is 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, "It's just that 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 a foreigner comes to purchase a crane, it costs 60 million US dollars. There will be no counter-offering. Take it or leave it.
"
Gantry cranes are of course extremely expensive, but 60 million US dollars per unit is still shockingly high. The export price of ZPMC’s gantry cranes has never exceeded 20 million US dollars. This time, at 60 million US dollars, we are definitely going to create a new one.
It's history.
PS: There are different opinions. Some say 20 million, some say 130 million. The Hero of East China is wondering if the latter number is in RMB? After much hesitation, we decided to price it at 60 million. We cannot lose money. According to the previous
That algorithm, the British guy bought it for 20 million, and after using it, he sold it to Asan for 40 million, so we just sold it for 60 million. If it's over 100 million dollars, it's a bit unbelievable.