The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 1009: 002B aircraft carrier construction ceremony

After the delivery of the Type 001 light aircraft carrier, Liu Tao arranged for the Beibu Gulf Shipyard to build an order for a light aircraft carrier for Saudi Arabia.

The Beibu Gulf Shipyard has a dry dock that can build large aircraft carriers of 10 tons, and building light aircraft carriers is naturally a piece of cake.

Then the Type 001 light aircraft carrier order from Pakistan was given to Dalian Shipyard for construction.

Pakistan begged a large sum of money from the white-robed bearded tycoon and resolutely chose to order a light aircraft carrier from Panshan Group.

Because Yangcheng Shipyard was going to build the Type 002B aircraft carrier and also for the aircraft carrier construction industry layout, Pakistan's Type 001 light aircraft carrier order was given to Dalian Shipyard.

According to the contract signed by both parties, the aircraft carrier was delivered to Pakistan on July 2006, 7.

Since the two sides established friendship that year, based on pragmatic diplomacy, the friendly relations between the two sides have never been severed over the years, and have even become more friendly.

Dalian Shipyard has sufficient time to build the Type 001 light aircraft carrier, thus laying the foundation for the construction of the next aircraft carrier.

At the Yangcheng Shipyard, the Type 002A aircraft carrier was launched, and the vacated dock was used to prepare for the Type 002B aircraft carrier.

Liu Tao convened a technical meeting to conduct a technical briefing on the Type 002B aircraft carrier.

When everyone learned that the Type 002B aircraft carrier was actually a medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, they were very excited.

From conventional-powered aircraft carriers to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, this is a huge leap!

002B型航母预计在1999年12月25日举行开工仪式，2004年7月1日下水，2006年7月1日交付。

The reason why it takes longer than that of the Type 002A aircraft carrier is naturally because the nuclear reactor needs to undergo a series of tests.

The nuclear reactor test was conducted on land, located in the peninsula area. It was previously built for nuclear reactor testing of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Over the years, it has provided a large amount of electricity to the Pearl River Delta and made outstanding contributions to the power security of the Pearl River Delta.

As Hong Kong's electricity consumption continues to increase, the nuclear power and thermal power that originally belonged to Hong Kong can be sold to Guangdong Province less and less, while electricity consumption in the Pearl River Delta continues to maintain rapid growth.

The construction of the second phase of the nuclear power plant can, on the one hand, be used as an experiment for the nuclear reactor of the 002B aircraft carrier, and on the other hand, it can provide more electricity for the Pearl River Delta and ensure the power supply capacity of the Pearl River Delta.

With the inclusion of the Type 002B nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the construction plan, it has become the next most important task for the Yangcheng Shipyard.

In the blink of an eye, it is already December 12th.

This day is Christmas in the West, which is the real Chinese New Year in the West.

And on this day, many leaders came to Yangcheng Shipyard.

Because the groundbreaking ceremony for the Type 002B nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is about to be held!
The indoor dry dock blocks satellite reconnaissance from space, making it impossible for other countries to know whether ships are being built here and whether they are civilian or military ships.

As China's main warship construction site, Yangcheng Shipyard is the most watched by the Eagle Sauce and the Polar Bears. At least every day, military reconnaissance satellites will take pictures of Yangcheng Shipyard.

This is what military reconnaissance satellites do. They mainly target important military targets, including military shipyards, major military bases, etc., so any movement will be discovered by military reconnaissance satellites.

Currently, the United States has 413 satellites in space, the largest number of satellites in the world. More than 90 of them are purely military satellites. Together with dual-use military and civilian satellites, the total number of satellites that can be used for military or espionage reconnaissance missions exceeds 100. Among them, 40 military and reconnaissance satellites are top-secret satellites controlled by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, which is specifically responsible for the production and supervision of U.S. spy satellites.

Polar Bear has 288 satellites, more than half of which are military satellites, some are dual-use satellites, and some are purely civilian satellites.

China owns 339 satellites, 80 of which are purely military satellites. Together with dual-use satellites, the total number of satellites that can be used for military or espionage reconnaissance missions exceeds 100. China is at the world's leading level in satellite communications, satellite positioning services, etc.

The Three Kingdoms are also the countries with the most satellites in the world.

At the opening ceremony, leaders gave speeches, and then workers cut the first steel plate.

Christmas just passed.

A meeting was held in the Pentagon.

The first topic is none other than Saudi Arabia’s aircraft carrier fleet.

The Saudi aircraft carrier formation is clearly visible in the photo.

To be honest, the United States has always attached great importance to Saudi Arabia. At the beginning, the United States did not even sell F15 fighter jets to Israel, but sold them to Saudi Arabia.

However, due to interests and religion, the conflicts between the two sides are increasing.

In particular, Saudi Arabia is very dissatisfied with the US's favoritism towards Israel.

The United States is also very dissatisfied with Saudi Arabia's formation of the Arab coalition and its push for the Arab League to achieve integration of the Arab world.

The United States does not want the emergence of a hegemonic country in the Gulf, especially a hegemonic country in the Gulf region that is dissatisfied with the United States.

Why did the United States launch the Gulf War?

It's because they don't want to see Iraq gain hegemony in the Gulf. Saddam often criticizes the United States. If Iraq gains hegemony in the Gulf, it will be very unfavorable for the petrodollar, and the United States is still the world's largest oil importer.

Now, the United States also does not want Saudi Arabia to gain hegemony in the Gulf region.

However, things went against expectations. Saudi Arabia has become the largest economic power, the largest political power, and the largest military power in the Gulf region. In fact, Saudi Arabia is already the hegemonic country in the Gulf and the leader of the Arab world.

Now Saudi Arabia’s oil export settlement is no longer 8% in US dollars, and the proportion of US dollar settlement has dropped to %.

This is a very dangerous signal.

It’s not that the United States hasn’t been making small moves, such as supporting the Shiite armed forces in Yemen, and then encouraging Saudi Arabia to attack Yemen from the south, causing Saudi Arabia to be dragged into the Yemen war and dividing the Arab world.

But Saudi Arabia did not fall into the trap.

The United States has also created some conflicts within Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia’s high welfare has made ordinary Saudis not interested in rebellion at all.

In addition, things continue to happen in Europe, Asia, the Polar Bears, Africa, Latin America, etc., making it difficult for the United States to concentrate its forces.

The United States is now increasingly feeling stretched thin and finding it increasingly difficult to solve the problems it wants to solve.

The Pentagon is now taking this as an opportunity to demand an increase in military spending.

Even the Saudi aircraft carrier fleet was regarded as a huge threat by the Pentagon, as if this Saudi aircraft carrier fleet could match five or six US aircraft carrier fleets.

The Pentagon is an expert at asking for money from Congress. Over the years, the two sides have been engaged in a battle of wits and courage, and the best way to do it is to exaggerate external threats and make Congress feel the real threat, such as missiles falling on their heads.

It was also the Pentagon's bad luck that it encountered a young and reckless guy who started by slashing military spending, and not just for one year but every year.

A large number of plans to build warships, aircraft, tanks and armored vehicles were canceled, and the treatment of ordinary soldiers was improved, so that even if the higher-ups wanted to do something, they would not have the support of the lower-level soldiers.

(End of this chapter)