The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

"How about we also learn from the UK and buy aircraft carriers from China?"

A middle-aged man in military uniform suddenly said this. As soon as he said this, everyone in the conference room looked at him with an incredible look in their eyes.

How can you say such a thing?

Stupid!

Damn it!

If looks could kill, this guy would have been killed dozens or even hundreds of times!
You know, in the Soviet era, the Soviet Union was the big brother and China was the little brother.

Psychologically, the Soviets had a huge advantage.

At that time, whether it was the army, the air force, or the navy, in the eyes of the Soviets, China was quite weak. Not to mention compared with the Soviet Union, it was not even comparable to many Warsaw Pact countries.

At that time, Yugoslavia's national strength, both economic and military, was stronger than China's!
If it weren't for the Korean War, China would have fought so well that the Soviets wouldn't even look at it.

Russia inherited most of the Soviet Union's legacy and also inherited this psychological advantage.

Now this person actually proposed that Russia should learn from Britain and purchase aircraft carriers from China. This is simply outrageous!

Don’t even mention whether Russia can afford to buy an aircraft carrier. Even if it can, it can’t get over the psychological barrier!

The middle-aged soldier couldn't help but shrink his head when being stared at by so many people.

But he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said.

Since we can’t produce it ourselves, why not buy it from China?

The trade between the two sides has been going on all the time, and the total trade volume has been setting records every year.

Moreover, China today is no longer the China of the past, and Russia today is no longer the Soviet Union of the past.

In the past ten years, Russia's economy has been relatively good, because it can sell oil and natural gas to Europe and China, and can export a large amount of iron ore, copper ore, wood, etc. to China. Russia's life is relatively comfortable, because it can import all kinds of goods needed by Russia from China, including various light industrial goods, as well as various electronic products, cars, and motorcycles!

Even the chips used in some Russian electronic products are imported from China.

Now it’s nothing more than importing aircraft carriers. For China, aircraft carriers are just a commodity!
Look at how many light aircraft carriers China has exported in recent years! Even the Type 002 aircraft carrier, which is more advanced than the Varyag, was exported to the UK.

If it can be exported to the UK, why can’t it be exported to Russia?
That doesn't make sense!
As for Russia building its own aircraft carrier?

Our own family knows our own business, so why deceive ourselves?

When the family was split, the Black Sea Shipyard was divided into Ukraine. Since then, the Black Sea Shipyard has been divided into four parts: assembly plant, machine building, fishing boats, and casting and forging. In the Soviet era, the Black Sea Shipyard was the largest shipyard in the Black Sea region and the only aircraft carrier assembly plant in the Soviet era. Several aircraft carriers in the Soviet era were all built at the Black Sea Shipyard.

At its peak, the Black Sea Shipyard had more than 2.5 employees, covered an area of ​​302 hectares, had an outfitting dock with a total length of 2675 meters, a total length of roads of 29 kilometers, a total length of railways of 49 kilometers, and a total of 2100 cranes.

Without the Black Sea Shipyard, which shipyard in Russia can build aircraft carriers?
No!

There is not a single shipyard in Russia that can build an aircraft carrier!
Even if we choose a location, we can't find a suitable one.

For such a large shipyard, the site selection takes many aspects into consideration. In addition to the need for a deep-water area, national defense security is the first consideration.

After all, large shipyards are important military facilities. Once a war breaks out, they will definitely be the first target of attack!
But in Russia, there is no region suitable for building such a large shipyard!

You can't build a large shipyard in a location where it might be attacked at any time!
As for other areas, they are not ice-free ports. The ice lasts for a long time every year and is not suitable for building shipyards.

Why did Russia restart the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier plan a few years ago, intending to rebuild the "Ulyanovsk" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but has been slow to move forward?

The most important thing is not the lack of funds, but facing various difficulties!
For example, the first difficulty is the choice of shipyard. After searching all the Russian shipyards, there is no shipyard that can build an aircraft carrier!
Russia’s main naval shipyards now include Red Star Shipyard, Baltic Shipyard, Admiralty Shipyard, Northern Shipyard and Severodvinsk Shipyard.

The Red Star Shipyard, located in Vladivostok, is a large shipyard that Russia has built with all its strength after the Soviet Union. It was originally just a naval shipyard, responsible for the repair and modification of submarines for the Russian Pacific Fleet. Later, Russia invested heavily in modernizing it, hoping to build it into Russia's largest modern shipyard so that it can build large icebreaking ships, especially large icebreaking LNG ships, to support oil and gas development projects in the Russian Arctic. Now, the Red Star Shipyard can naturally build some warships, and in the future, the Red Star Shipyard can even build large destroyers!

Theoretically, it is not impossible for the Red Star Shipyard to build aircraft carriers in the future! However, from the perspective of national defense and security, the Red Star Shipyard is not suitable for building aircraft carriers because every move is under the eyes of others!
The Baltic Shipyard, codenamed Shipyard 189 during the Soviet era, was established in 1856. The Kirov cruiser during the Soviet era was a product of this shipyard. In addition, the shipyard also built nuclear-powered icebreakers, ocean-going survey ships, and Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruisers for Russia/Soviet Union. This shipyard is also the only shipyard in Russia that can build merchant ships with a maximum displacement of 10 tons. This large shipyard in St. Petersburg can also build aircraft carriers, but if you want to build aircraft carriers, you must undergo a lot of modernization!
Furthermore, the Baltic Shipyard is located in St. Petersburg. The aircraft carriers built there are under the watchful eyes of NATO. If they want to leave the Baltic Sea after they are built, they have to rely on NATO.

The Admiralty Shipyard, codenamed the 194th Shipyard during the Soviet era, was founded in 1704 and built by order of Peter the Great. It is located in the center of St. Petersburg. The shipyard mainly builds submarines and large military auxiliary ships. The shipyard is also one of the few shipyards in the world that has the ability to process titanium alloy submarine hulls.

The Northern Shipyard, codenamed Shipyard 190 during the Soviet period, also known as Zhdanov Shipyard, was established in 1912. Russia's Sovremenny-class destroyers and Dreadnought-class anti-submarine destroyers are all works of this shipyard. The Northern Shipyard currently does not have the ability to build large aircraft carriers. If it wants to have this ability, it must invest heavily in modernizing the Northern Shipyard.

It can be said that after the Soviet era, the Soviet Union’s industrial layout was gone, and the entire Soviet industrial system became scattered. Russia’s industry no longer has the Soviet industrial system.

Russia has all the weapons design data from the Soviet era, but it is unable to produce all the weapons based on these designs because Russia no longer has the Soviet industrial system.

This is true for aircraft carriers and the Tu-160 strategic bomber!
Of course, some people have also suggested that through negotiations with Ukraine, the Black Sea Shipyard be leased and a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier be built at the Black Sea Shipyard.

But the resistance to this matter is quite great.

There are many people who do not want Russia to have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. This is not just the case in Europe and the United States, but also in Ukraine! In short, it is not so easy for Russia to build a modern aircraft carrier on its own.

Money is one thing, but money does not represent all problems!
Compared to Russia's headache over its aircraft carrier, France also held a meeting.

France is one of only three countries in the world that owns nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and the Charles de Gaulle is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier owned by France.
France's insistence on its consistent policy of "military autonomy" can be confirmed by the expensive Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. Most of the equipment on board the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, including power, weapons, electronics, etc., are made in France. Therefore, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is also regarded as a beautiful report card handed in by France's strong defense industry, and is also regarded as the symbol of the French Navy.

However, as the country's power declines, France has difficulty maintaining its defense industry capabilities, and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which is extremely expensive to build and maintain, has become a major burden on the French finances. From the slow and arduous construction and testing process of the Charles de Gaulle, it can be seen that in addition to the engineering difficulties, the French Navy has tightened its belt and gritted its teeth to allow this expensive warship to slowly and gradually form combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the seemingly glamorous Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier encountered many problems during the test, which gave the French Navy the stereotype of being "flashy".

In fact, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was much worse than the outside world knew.

France does not want to develop large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers because according to France's own needs, only medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are enough.

Moreover, France's comprehensive national strength is not enough to support a large nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Just building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, has already exhausted France's efforts, and various problems have arisen, not to mention a large nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

This meeting was not about whether France should develop large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nor was it about discussing the construction of a second "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier, but about France's next generation of medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

France’s goal is a medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

To be honest, although the 'Charles de Gaulle' nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been in service and is slowly building up combat effectiveness, the French Navy is not satisfied.

Therefore, the French Navy hopes to have a medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with advanced performance.

However, the needs of the French Navy conflict with those of other French departments.

Despite losing its core interests in Africa, the reason why France has maintained its influence around the world over the years is not only because of inertia, but most importantly because it has reached a Franco-German alliance with Germany, which has largely determined the EU's confrontation with the United States.

Without the Franco-German alliance, France would inevitably follow in Britain's footsteps.

France is still mired in the economic crisis and is unable to allocate large amounts of funds to develop the next generation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

You know, modern aircraft carriers are not only expensive to build, but their operating costs are also frighteningly high.

It was this contradiction that caused a quarrel as soon as the meeting began.

As an old capitalist power, France's current comprehensive national strength in Europe is second only to Germany, and is even stronger than that of the United Kingdom.

Of course, for France, Russia is not a purely European country.

"Our current military expenditure accounts for a very high proportion of GDP. The most important thing for us right now is economic issues, not military expenditure issues. The current strength of our military can ensure the security of our country!"

"If we don't use the money to build national defense, should we use it for compensation? Don't forget that the current situation is very similar to the period before World War II. A large-scale world-class war may break out at any time. Shouldn't we be prepared in advance?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! With nuclear weapons, a world-class war cannot break out!"

"During World War I and World War II, who would have believed that a world-class war would break out? Don't forget that the British navy is now much stronger than ours. Who knows if the British are preparing to attack Europe by not attacking the Argentines?"

"."

The whole conference room was filled with noise!
There was a meeting and an argument in the conference room and it was snowing outside, but many French people on the streets were protesting against the decision to delay retirement.

Because this means that the French have to work until they are 64 years old before they can retire!
Moreover, the working hours are much longer now than before.

I used to work four or five hours a day, and had plenty of time to drink coffee and do nothing. Now I have to work seven or eight hours a day. This is totally unreasonable!

The French feel that their lives are getting worse day by day. In their view, this is not a developed country but a developing country!
The angry French people vowed not to surrender easily. Some French people even said they wanted to make the capitalists understand why Paris is an old revolutionary base!

In recent years, more and more people in Europe and the United States miss the Soviet Union. They realize that the reason they were able to live a good life in the past was because of the Soviet Union. The capitalists had to give concessions to ordinary people, otherwise they would be hung under the street lights.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, the capitalists were no longer afraid and once again turned their attention to ordinary people.

In recent years, people across Europe generally feel that life is getting harder and harder.

European integration is still being promoted today, firstly because the Franco-German alliance is taking up the banner, and secondly because everyone is sticking together for warmth.

But now, the policies implemented by France concern everyone's interests, and this feeling is very obvious, so the French people naturally will not accept it.

In their view, the difficulties France is facing now are the incompetence of its rulers!

It's not just those who have jobs, the unemployed are even more radical. They hate the current French government and believe that the French government would rather give money to refugees fleeing into France than provide them with relief. What is the purpose of such a government?
The opposition parties, especially the far-right parties, are taking this opportunity to stir up trouble in an attempt to win the new general election.

(End of this chapter)