Don't talk about martial arts, I'm a war contractor

Chapter 491: All 77 planes are taken down, I want the Bison (asking for a monthly ticket!)

After seeing off the Air Force Chief of Staff, an Air Force colonel led the couple to a training squadron using F-16C/D Block 30 to inspect the quality of these old Fighter Falcons.

"There are only 16 at Larissa Air Force Base. Once your company has seen their condition, we will go to another detachment."

Entering the spacious hangar, they saw two F-16s being maintained. The colonel named Pavlos introduced them to Xia Yu.

"Here are records of each Fighting Falcon's flight hours and each maintenance and repair."

Taking a tablet from a lieutenant, Pavlos switched the language from Greek to English and handed it to Xia Yu.

According to the indicators planned by the Chinese, every time an F-16 accumulates 400 flight hours, it will require 1500 hours of phased maintenance, involving more than 800 projects in total.

If the system is used, the working hours can be reduced to 1.5, but except for a major maintenance after the machine is put into use, he can no longer save these working hours, as the maintenance team of hundreds of people cannot be without work.

"None of them have mid-term life extension?"

Looking at this batch of training aircraft which generally have five to six thousand flight hours, Xia Yu asked Pavlos.

"No, only the new batches of F-16s are worth upgrading and extending their service life. The limited budget should be used in more appropriate places."

The other party answered very honestly.

The official data given for a newly manufactured F-16 is 8000 hours of service life, but various high-G maneuvers will reduce this theoretical lifespan.

Therefore, the remaining flight hours for this batch of Block 30 Fighting Falcons are only about 1500 to 2000, which is slightly more than the F-16A/B platform used by the two red Fighting Falcons.

However, as long as money is spent to strengthen the structure of the aircraft, its life can be extended, and the theoretical life span can be extended to 1.2 hours.

Good steel should be used on the blade. The Xila people obviously do not intend to spend double the budget to extend the life, because the maintenance cost will also increase after mid-term life extension.

But for small and poor countries, as well as private military contractors like Firestar Defense, installment investments with high maintenance costs are always better than a one-time investment with high aircraft purchase costs.

It is hard for ordinary people to believe how much Lockheed Martin offered for a brand new F-16V. To be honest, it is not as good as buying a new Rafale.

The batch of F-16C/Ds that Xia Yu purchased were delivered as needed, converted into unmanned target aircraft as needed, and those that were to be used with the Red Fighting Falcons were directly pulled back.

Well, none of the aircraft have mid-term life extension or avionics upgrades. For personal use, a 3000-hour flight life is enough. After all, if it flies 300 hours a year, it can last for 10 years!

"I will test-fly these next. Please help me arrange it."

Xia Yu circled out the eight aircraft with the worst conditions on paper and asked the other party to coordinate the next test flights.

Needless to say, target drones only need to be able to take off. For those put into the civilian market, given the physical fitness of the wealthy, they won't be able to do any high-G maneuvers. Besides, it's just a big toy, so it won't fly 300 hours a year like an operational aircraft.

A remaining lifespan of about 2000 hours is enough, and only the cannon's firing function is removed. The radar and fire control are all there, so you can team up with three or five friends to play simulated air combat.

Then we would train with live ammunition according to PMC’s indicators until we got tired of the fun and flew directly to Afika to have a good fight.

"As you wish, Mr. Sherlock!"

After confirming the numbers of the 8 F-16s, Pavlos immediately assigned people to work overtime.

"Om~~"

Two days later, Xia Yu flew into the sky in an F-16D, testing various maneuvers while opening the system interface.

【Project: F-16D Block 30】

[Completeness: 99.8% (can be repaired)]

The 0.2% loss is basically the accumulated wear and tear of the aging airframe and parts, which is normal for an old aircraft with only 1400+ hours of flight life left.

However, since it is a two-seater aircraft, it has escaped the fate of being a target aircraft.

"Get ready!"

Xia Yu started maintenance according to the 2000-hour standard, which is estimated to consume 0.8 working hours. Once this test is completed, it will be ready for delivery.

The Xila pilot in the back seat didn't know what happened to the F-16D. He only knew that Mr. Sherlock had very good skills.

"Mr. Sherlock, you fly beautifully in the sky."

After preparation and testing, Xia Yu controlled the plane to land on the runway. When turning onto the taxiway, Pavlos also ran over and said.

As a former squadron leader, he ranks in the top ten of all F-16 pilots in the Air Force, so his words carry a lot of weight.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I haven't shot down an enemy plane with an F-16 yet!"

There are too few opportunities for air combat to break out in this era. Most of them are fights between PMC companies. Even if the Red Fighting Falcon of Focus Fire Defense has upgraded its expensive air defense radar, it basically only carries out ground attack missions.

Pavlos said that I didn't either. They had constant friction with the local chickens, but both sides were still very restrained and no one wanted to really start a fight.

"Your batch of F-16C/D aircraft is in good condition, but the semi-reclining seats of the Viper can easily cause cervical spondylosis."

Xia Yu moved his neck and continued to talk to Pavlos.

"Yes, it's okay for beyond visual range strikes, but it's very uncomfortable for close-range dogfights. I heard that the reclining seats of the Rafale don't have this problem."

Lao Pa said in agreement, while also expressing his desire for a gust of wind.

As a popular candidate for promotion to brigadier general in the next batch, he can fly three types of fighter jets: Mirage 2000, F-16 and F-4, so he has a comparison of the seats of the three models in his mind.

"I've experienced the Rafale in the country, and its seats are really nice."

The two have a lot in common in this regard, and when the ultimate Ghost is developed, the final mass-produced model must be equipped with this kind of seat.

…………

In the following period, the speed of testing one F-16 every day was very fast, and the old lieutenant general soon received news.

The Department of Defense approved the sale of the F-4Es and 50 spare parts.

After testing 16 F-16C/Ds, Xia Yu, who had finalized the purchase of 12 of them, also came to the base where the Xila people sealed up the old ghosts.

All retired RF/F-4Es are parked in the semi-open hangar. Their preservation condition is better than that of the British ones, perhaps because they still need to dismantle the parts.

But now Xia Yu wants to take most of them away, transport them all via the Mediterranean to Tripoli, and then transport them to Mari by land.

The first layer of barbed wire, the second layer of ton bags, and an aircraft graveyard with cameras and millimeter-wave radar monitoring blind spots have been built around Kidar Airport.

Now we are just waiting for the zombie planes, spare parts planes and scrapped planes to move in. These old Phantoms will be the first tenants, and the 12 F-16s will be shipped to West and the Philippines by sea.

【Project: F-4E】

[Completeness: 61.4% (cannot be maintained)]

I casually touched an old Phantom with its engine dismantled. In addition to the low degree of integrity caused by the lack of large parts, the lack of small parts and the damage of components were also very serious.

However, after installing two scrapped engines, it was better maintained than the British Spey Phantoms.

"How much do you plan to sell this spare part machine that was retired in 97 without any upgrade?" Xia Yu asked Pavlos who was talking to him in detail.

Compared to the strong and clear price of the F-16 in the second-hand market, the old Phantom is too old, and there are only sales records in the civilian market recently.

The price of a complete F-4H with two spare engines is US$395 million excluding tax.

"20 euros, 20 euros for each spare part, and the engines that were removed were also replaced in full according to the quantity."

Therefore, in the case of retail, Xia Yu's profit margin for a single aircraft can be as high as 300 million dollars, but this requires the aircraft to be in good condition. The profit of a target aircraft can reach 200 million at most, which is a few hundred thousand more than the MiG-21.

"Okay, 50 is 1000 million euros, so what about the 15 F-4Es based in Andraveda?"

Xia Yu continued to ask the price.

The prices for the first 12 F-16C/D Block 30s have already been set. Even if they are trainer aircraft for training squadrons, the batch numbers are listed here and the prices are more expensive than the market prices of F-16A/B.

Thompson also contacted the three customers specifically, and they expressed their understanding and acceptance of the price increase.

His purchase price was 850 million euros per aircraft on average, and after selecting those in good condition for delivery, the final selling price rose to 1200 million US dollars per aircraft.

This price is slightly cheaper than a used Gulfstream G450, but even though the F-16 is known as a money-saving machine, its operating cost per hour is more expensive than that of a business jet.

But will the wealthy people who make money by breathing care about the price of each ton of jet fuel, the maintenance labor hours and the price of spare parts?
They don't care at all. In their eyes, environmental protection is just political correctness and a slogan they shout out.

As a part-time arms dealer, Xia Yu even planned to sell two F-16s to each of them.

In this way, the package price of the Phantom accessories machine is 1000 million US dollars, plus the 12 Fighting Falcons, totaling 1.12 million euros.

他本来想多买一些的，但32架F-16C/D Block 30中剩下的20架，平均价格一下子飙升到1500万欧元。

Xia Yu thought about it carefully and decided that if he really needed target aircraft in the future, he should buy older F-16A/B. This would be good for both him and the customers. Even the earlier batches of F-16C/D were not much cheaper.

Of course, even more expensive is the batch of Mirage 2000, with each unit priced at over 2000 million, truly living up to its name.

This model can only be bought cheaply by those third-hand zombie machines that Bashi had that couldn’t even fly, and it is also the correct way for Xia Yu to get it.

"That's the best Phantom we have, €400 million each."

Pavlos said, holding up four fingers.

"Okay, I won't bargain. How about two more engines for each plane?"

The old Phantom with medium-range missiles that can hit AIM-120 but not AIM-7 is indeed worth the price. Of course, the retail price will also soar to 800 million US dollars.

This is a little bit beyond the budget of the six wealthy people, but who can refuse the most powerful Phantom?

If the ultimate Phantom does not come out, the old Phantoms of Xila that were upgraded after 97 can be called the No.1 mass-produced combat power, and the Spey Phantom of the Fire Defense is the limited edition No.1.

However, just like the passing of the storm, the bomb truck of Jihuo Defense has also reached the age to go into the museum. The T-64B1M that followed Xia Yu on the first day of its establishment has already gone in.

"Okay, so the total is 6000 million euros?"

Seeing Xia Yu so straightforward, Lao Pa also agreed within his authority.

"Yes, a total of 1.72 million euros!"

He did not purchase the Mirage 2000 and also controlled the purchase quantity of F-16C/D. The total price of this purchase was not high, and it only cost him more than half of the funds he raised.

But since I'm here now, if I don't buy something to take back, I'll feel like I've wasted this trip to Xila.

"Do you have any plans to sell your navy's Bison hovercraft?"

A contract to purchase 77 fighter jets was signed, and Xia Yu and Pavlos mentioned it casually.

This is also an old star during the Cold War. In order to compete with the native chickens in the Aegean Sea, the Xila people purchased a total of four Bison hovercrafts.

However, due to the complete lack of logistics, these four ships were either at rest or on the way to rest every day, and did not serve the purpose envisioned by the Xila Navy when they were purchased.

Then a few years ago, my hometown company took action and wanted to package all four Bisons. However, due to various reasons, the contract eventually fell through.

In order to sell these money-losing goods and reduce financial pressure, the Xila people had to continue operating these air-cushion landing craft, but only two of the four were in good condition.

The other two have been on the shore all the time. Xia Yu estimated that sooner or later they would become spare parts for these two boats, so it would be better to sell one to him.

Although no amphibious landing ship or dock landing ship can accommodate such a large guy, it is still quite attractive to be able to transport three T-80s at a time.

The key is that this type of air-cushion landing craft is fast, capable of running 63 knots, and the firepower of its two Gatling close-in defense guns is strong enough. It can be operated as a branch business of the aircraft carrier museum in the waters near the Gulf of Guinea.

As for the UGT-6000 gas turbine being notoriously difficult to maintain, Xia Yu said that this is exactly what the profession requires!
In this way, you can earn money to support yourself when you are free, and help pull tanks and equipment when you are busy.

Besides, now that we are in Xila, we must buy one to take back with us!

"Well, we can only help with the contact. Whether it will work depends on the situation at the Ministry of Defense."

Lao Pa can't guarantee the navy's equipment, but it would be good to sell one ship to raise some funds.

"Then please."

Entrusting this matter to Pavlos, Xia Yu was also busy with the transportation of fighter jets.

The price given by the Xila Air Force did not include freight, so he had to contact the cargo ship himself. This period of time was just right for advancing the Bison project.

The wings of all the spare aircraft were removed, and a cargo ship with a displacement of less than 1 tons loaded with 50 aircraft sailed to Libya.

剩下27架加油就能飞的适航战斗机则分为两批，3架F-16C/D和6架F-4E装船发往了大西洋对岸。

Once arriving in Magnesium, Thompson will be responsible for receiving and registering these fighter jets.

Without the help of local tyrants, it is difficult for foreigners to sell second-hand fighter jets to Magnesium. Xia Yu's connections can only get him a few antique planes at most, but it is impossible for him to get post-Cold War jets.

"Du~~"

After watching the cargo ship carrying nine fighter jets sound its horn and set sail, he then watched the remaining 9 fighter jets being loaded onto the ship and shipped to West Africa over the next two days.

After all these were settled, good news came from Lao Pa.

"We are willing to sell a Bison, but we must state one thing up front: the boat is broken."

What Xia Yu bought was a broken bison, he didn’t even want the good one!
"Okay, we can fix it ourselves, but what's the price?"

The price that the Xila people paid for the bison was US$5000 million per ship. They only bought four ships and did not introduce any technology.

Up to now, more than ten years have passed, and it is still a lying boat. How much will the other party's offer be?

"1200 million euros!"

(End of this chapter)