The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Barack's announcement that the United States would withdraw its troops from the Iraqi battlefield and end the Iraq War has become the biggest news in the world recently.

Many Americans cursed Barack and believed that he was the worst president in American history.

Of course, there are also many Americans who praise Barack and think that Barack is a peace-loving person. No wonder Barack was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Barack deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and he has made contributions to world peace.

But Israel was very unhappy!
It is because of the large number of US troops in Iraq that Israel has been living quite well in recent years.

Apart from the initial failure in its attempt to seize the Golan Heights, Israel has been going smoothly in recent years. With the help of its firm alliance with the United States, Israel has recovered in just a few years.

If there is a country in the world that least wants the United States to withdraw its troops from Iraq, it must be Israel.

Israel strongly opposed Barack's desire to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Many American media outlets have criticized Barack's speech on troop withdrawal as irresponsible, and the reason behind this is that most of the media owners are Jewish.

Jews have enormous influence in the United States, covering areas such as finance and media. Many very famous super-rich people are actually Jews.

Many Wall Street tycoons are also Jewish.

The Jews have embedded themselves into the United States in a very peculiar way and have become the upper class of the United States, the absolute elite.

It is precisely because of the extremely huge influence of Jews in the United States that Israel and the United States have formed an extremely unique conjugate father-son relationship.

For Israel, the United States will even sacrifice its own national interests.

The United States has suffered several setbacks in its Middle East policy and has a very bad image in the Arab world. One very important reason for this is that in every Middle East war, the United States has sided with Israel, causing huge losses to the Arab world.

This time, Barack's withdrawal speech attracted huge capital from Jewish capital, which naturally would not make life easy for Barack.

In addition to launching media attacks on Barack, Jews also reduced their support for Barack.

Look, Barack wanted to pass a bill, but he suffered a huge setback and it failed to pass.

Barack faced huge opposition and enormous resistance and had to compromise in some areas.

In order to win the support of Jewish capital and appease Israel, Barack announced that he would send 20,000 US troops to the Palestinian-Israeli border, the Syrian-Israeli border and the Lebanese-Israeli border as peacekeeping forces to maintain stability in the region.

As soon as the news came out, it caused a huge stir in the Middle East.

Everyone knows that these 20,000 US peacekeeping forces are actually protecting Israel, and the Americans' attitude is obvious.

This made some people who were hoping for a lucky break suddenly lose all hope and became firm in their stance.

Amid the noise, the first batch of 1 US troops evacuated Iraq by plane before Christmas. The entire withdrawal process will last for two years, and all US troops will be withdrawn before Christmas 2.

The US military did not withdraw many weapons and equipment because the cost of withdrawing them would be even higher than purchasing new ones. Therefore, the United States decided to leave these weapons and equipment to the Iraqi puppet government forces to strengthen the government forces' military strength.

Everyone knows that the United States really wants to end the Iraq War this time.

Barack's withdrawal speech is also seen as an extremely important turning point in the Iraq War and is destined to be recorded in world history.

The Nobel Prize ceremony was held grandly.

Liu Tao did not attend the award ceremony. Although this would disappoint many people, there was nothing he could do. For safety reasons, he tried not to go abroad if possible.

While many people around the world were watching the Nobel Prize ceremony, Liu Tao was on a warship in the South China Sea.

This warship is a specially built experimental warship. If an expert who studies naval ships sees it, he will definitely exclaim - a cruiser.

This warship is indeed a cruiser with a standard displacement of 25000 tons and a full load displacement of 31000 tons. It is powered not by traditional power but by nuclear power.

However, this heavy cruiser named 'Type 058' is different from any current cruiser. It is not only a nuclear-powered cruiser, but also its weapon system is very different. It is precisely because of the use of nuclear power system and new weapon system that the shape of the Type 058 heavy cruiser is very different from existing cruisers. From the appearance, it is full of science fiction.

Zhang Zhaozhong, who had just been appointed as the head of the navy, personally accompanied Liu Tao to participate in this experiment.

The Type 058 heavy cruiser is not a finalized warship, but an experimental warship that is specifically used to experiment with new technologies.

Although it is an experimental warship, its cost is not cheap. It is even higher than the latest Type 055 missile destroyer.

The two of them were riding on Liu Tao's "Ray Sculpture" helicopter, looking at the steel behemoth with binoculars.

As a warship with a full load displacement of more than 3 tons, the Type 058 heavy cruiser is a veritable steel behemoth.

The appearance of the Type 058 heavy cruiser looks full of science fiction.

Because of its stealth design, this cruiser has a very unique shape and beautiful lines.

Zhang Zhaozhong looked at this steel behemoth in amazement and couldn't help asking, "Leader, will this really be our main warship in the future?"

The Chinese Navy did not have any cruisers before. Its large warships were composed of frigates, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. Other large warships were also supply ships. Underwater, it was composed of Type 039 conventional-powered submarines, Type 093 attack nuclear submarines, and Type 094 strategic nuclear submarines.

According to the Navy's plan, in five years, the main destroyer will no longer be the Type 052 guided missile destroyer, but the Type 055 guided missile destroyer, a 003-ton destroyer. As for the aircraft carrier, the Type 003 nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be the main aircraft carrier and the core of the aircraft carrier formation.

China's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are very different from those of the United States. In addition to the use of electromagnetic catapults, the most important difference is that China's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have very strong air defense capabilities. The defense capabilities of those laser cannons are very powerful, and it is not so easy to penetrate. Ballistic missiles can hit American aircraft carriers, but they cannot hit Chinese aircraft carriers.

As for the Type 055 missile destroyer, a -ton destroyer, it is the most advanced missile destroyer in the world today. It is a true integrated offensive and defensive ship with strong attack capabilities and incredibly strong air defense capabilities.

It once set a record, that is, a Type 055 missile destroyer forced back an aircraft carrier formation.

According to simulations, a Type 055 guided missile destroyer could potentially destroy an aircraft carrier formation if it is not careful.

Zhang Zhaozhong was even more aware of how abnormal this steel behemoth in front of him was!
The Type 058 heavy cruiser is not a conventionally powered cruiser, but a nuclear-powered cruiser.

When it comes to nuclear-powered cruisers, many people may not know that this is not a technology originally created by China, but a product of the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, with the end of the Soviet era, only Russia is left to transform it.

The so-called nuclear-powered cruiser is a warship that uses a nuclear reactor as its main power system. It can provide long-term continuous power and high speed, making it a very combat-capable ship. This type of ship is often used to perform maritime combat missions, such as anti-submarine, anti-ship and land attack. At the same time, due to its powerful power system, it can also be used for scientific research, rescue and monitoring missions.

The world's first nuclear-powered cruiser was the USS Long Beach, which was built by the United States in the 60s and had a full load displacement of about 17525 tons. The appearance of the USS Long Beach set two world firsts: one was the first surface warship equipped with a shipborne phased array radar. The other was the world's most expensive surface warship. Although the price of the USS Long Beach was $1957 million in 8700, it had cost $1961 million by the time it was completed in 3.32. Compared with the conventional-powered aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, which was put into service on April 1961, 4, its price was $29 million higher; at the same time, it was only $6000 million cheaper than the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, which was put into service on November 1961, 11. Therefore, because the USS Long Beach was slender and expensive, the US Navy gave it the nickname "Lady" at the time.

Despite its high price, the USS Long Beach played a significant role. It was one of the few nuclear-powered warships that participated in actual combat. During the Vietnam War, the US Navy relied on it to provide ground forces with air defense cover because it was not equipped with naval guns. It also shot down two MiG-2 fighters, creating a precedent for ship-to-air missiles to shoot down fighters. After that, the US military built four models and eight cruisers.

However, the "Long Beach" is not the largest cruiser. At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing for hegemony. Seeing this, the Soviet Union developed the "Kirov" class nuclear-powered missile cruiser, which can reach a tonnage of 24000 tons, second only to aircraft carriers. Moreover, one ship can be equipped with 500 missiles of various types. It was once the most powerful surface combat ship in the Soviet era.

After the end of the Soviet era, the United States did not focus on expensive cruisers, but on developing aircraft carriers. Instead, Russia, which has a weaker economy, maintains and upgrades the remaining Soviet cruiser, the Peter the Great, every year, trying to increase its service life.

There is a consensus in the development of the world's navy that aircraft carriers will replace cruisers, and cruisers, including nuclear-powered cruisers, have no development prospects.

Since the reform and opening up, China has not developed cruisers. Large surface ships mainly develop frigates, destroyers, and later aircraft carriers.

As for this Type 058 heavy cruiser, it was a few years ago when Liu Tao had a sudden inspiration and came up with a new idea when developing laser defense weapons.

The positioning of the Type 058 heavy cruiser is the navy’s future main surface combat ship!

In addition to nuclear power, there are various new types of weapons.

The air defense weapons used are not air defense missiles, but laser cannons. Laser cannons replace air defense missiles for air defense.

Moreover, the laser cannon on the Type 058 heavy cruiser is powerful enough to shoot down any spacecraft in Earth orbit.

The missile launcher is equipped with 800 missiles, mainly anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles.

In addition to missiles for attack, there are also electromagnetic guns!
The so-called electromagnetic gun is an advanced kinetic killing weapon made using electromagnetic launch technology. Unlike traditional cannons that use the pressure of gunpowder gas to act on projectiles, electromagnetic guns use the Lorentz force generated by the electromagnetic field in the electromagnetic system to accelerate metal shells to achieve the kinetic energy required to hit the target. Compared with traditional gunpowder-propelled cannons, electromagnetic guns can greatly increase the speed and range of projectiles.

In the 19th century, British scientist Faraday discovered Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction, which states that charges and currents in a magnetic field will be affected by the Lorentz force, that is, a wire in a magnetic field will be pushed by a force when electricity is passed through it. At the same time, if the wire is allowed to move in a magnetic field to cut through the magnetic lines of force, current will also be generated in the wire.

In the early 20th century, some people proposed the idea of ​​using the Lorentz force to launch projectiles. During the two world wars, France, Germany and Japan had studied electromagnetic guns. After World War II, other countries also conducted research in this area.

This Type 058 heavy cruiser is equipped with four electromagnetic guns for attacking surface ships and road targets.

In addition to increasing speed and range, using electromagnetic guns as attack weapons is also very attractive to various countries because of their cost. The cost of launching an electromagnetic gun is much lower than that of a missile.

The ammunition carried by the Type 058 heavy cruiser can carry more than 20 shells at a time!

It is no exaggeration to say that just one Type 058 heavy cruiser, once the technology is mature and finalized for production, can destroy a medium-sized power.

And like the 055-type -ton destroyer, it is also an integrated offensive and defensive capability.

It's just that their tendencies are different.

"If all goes well, it is expected to be put into use by 2025!" Liu Tao nodded.

At present, many technologies of this cruiser are experimental in nature, and there are inevitably many shortcomings, which require experiments and then solving problems.

"But the electricity generated by current nuclear reactors is far from meeting the target!" Zhang Zhaozhong frowned slightly.

Liu Tao smiled faintly and said, "It's not possible with the current nuclear reactors, but it may not be possible in the future!"

Liu Tao’s goal is not to use a nuclear fission reactor, but a controlled nuclear fusion reactor. The difference between the two is huge.

This is also why this cruiser is only experimental in nature, conducting experiments and verifications on a series of new technologies.

A hint of doubt flashed across Zhang Zhaozhong's eyes, but he didn't ask any more questions.

Anyway, let alone 2025, even if it is 2030, given his current physical condition, there should be no problem for him to live to that time.

Although he would probably have stepped down by then, he would definitely be able to see it.

"Leader, it's almost time, why don't we go down?" Zhang Zhaozhong looked at Liu Tao.

Liu Tao nodded, and then the pilot operated the helicopter and began to fly towards the cruiser's helipad.

The entire cruiser only has two landing pads, both for helicopters. (End of this chapter)