The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 515: $4 million warship
It is an international practice that advanced warships are rarely exported.

For example, when China and the Soviet Union were in their honeymoon period, they negotiated arduously to purchase the Type 17 destroyers that were about to be decommissioned at a high price equivalent to 07 tons of gold at the time, and then happily named them the Four King Kongs.

Calculated at the current gold price, it is roughly equivalent to a ship worth two to three hundred million US dollars.

The same principle also applies to the third brother.

This year, India gritted its teeth and spent 2500 million pounds to buy the aircraft carrier "Herse" which was retired last year from the UK. This aircraft carrier was built in 1944 and it has been 42 years so far. It is an absolutely old ship.

Liu Tao is the only one in the world who can export advanced warships.

Only Liu Tao is afraid that the world will not be in chaos!

The United States, the Soviet Union, European countries, Japan, etc. do not want to see Saudi Arabia have powerful and advanced warships, lest Saudi Arabia's voice in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea increase greatly and become difficult to control. In other words, they do not allow the emergence of a naval power in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

But Liu Tao is not afraid. He is happy to see the arrival of a multipolar world rather than a bipolar structure.

In a multipolar world, there will be more room for development and more opportunities for both Panshan Group and China.

Prince Sultan had only one thought in his mind at this moment, that is, the Chinese people are going crazy because of poverty!
If the Chinese were not so poor, how could they possibly export such advanced frigates?

"On this frigate, these missiles are either the 'Aegis-0' air defense missile system or the 'Aegis-2' air defense missile system." Liu Tao pointed to the guided missiles.

"'Aegis-2' air defense missile system?" Prince Sultan asked curiously.

Liu Tao smiled and explained: "You can think of it as the 'Aegis-1' air defense missile system, but it is a ship-borne 'Aegis-1' air defense missile system. This is specially debugged. After all, as you know, the ship shakes at sea due to the action of waves, so it has to be specially improved to ensure performance."

Prince Sultan suddenly realized that this was the case!
Taking Prince Sultan aboard the frigate and arriving at the command and operations room, Liu Tao introduced: "Our frigate has a specially built command and operations system. The computers are all high-end versions specially customized by Jinlong Computer. There is a computer in it that is much more powerful than the most advanced supercomputer in the world today."

Naturally, Liu Tao had to brag a lot. After all, he wanted to sell it at a high price. Without bragging, how could Saudi Arabia be willing to pay for it?

Prince Sultan's eyes widened as he saw the officers and soldiers sitting in front of a computer with various interfaces on the screen. When he heard that it was more advanced than the most advanced supercomputer in the world, his heart beat faster and excitement appeared on his face involuntarily.

Saudi Arabia wants this frigate!

No matter how much money it costs, Saudi Arabia will take it!

This is the warship Saudi Arabia wants most!
Prince Sultan had a premonition that if he missed this opportunity, he would miss that opportunity again!
If Saudi Arabia owned a few of these frigates, wouldn't the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea still be under Saudi control?

Even the United States and the Soviet Union had to be polite to Saudi Arabia!
Especially when the frigate went out for a tour, Prince Sultan became even more determined!

"Liu, go ahead and talk. I've got the money ready!" Prince Sultan looked at Liu Tao with burning eyes.

Liu Tao smiled with satisfaction.

Prince Sultan is indeed very smart!

He likes to make friends with such local tycoons, who are straightforward and generous!
"US$4 million per ship!" Liu Tao held up four fingers. "You know, the price of the Perry-class frigates purchased by the US military has risen to US$1.6 million. If the US exports them, it will cost at least US$4 million. Our frigates are more advanced, so US$4 million is definitely a fair price!"

Prince Sultan couldn't help but nodded.

He deals with the United States frequently, spending more than one month or even two months in the United States each year. He knows the character and style of Americans too well.

When foreign countries purchase weapons and equipment from the United States, the price will definitely be much higher than that of the U.S. military, and there will also be a series of additional conditions, either political conditions, economic conditions, or both political and economic conditions.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia likes to purchase weapons and equipment from Panshan Group, because there are no additional political or economic conditions when purchasing weapons and equipment from Panshan Group. It is pure trade!
Agree on the amount and just pay!

We never increase the price at the last minute, nor do we delay for various reasons. So far, we have delivered on time as specified in the contract agreement.

Unlike in the United States, temporary price increases are commonplace, and delayed delivery is not uncommon.

Some of the aircraft purchased by Saudi Arabia ten years ago have not yet been delivered.

4 million US dollars is certainly not cheap, but it is definitely not expensive!

Because there is no such thing as cheap when it comes to the world's most advanced warships!
And I can’t buy it even if I want to.

"Ten ships. We Saudi Arabia will buy ten ships!" Prince Sultan said firmly.

Even today, the total procurement contracts have been quite a lot. The purchase of Type 022 missile boats and Type 022A torpedo boats alone cost US$13 billion.

Ten Type 054 frigates, that would be $40 billion.

The total is $53 billion.

But Prince Sultan didn't blink an eye. As long as the current oil price lasts for about a month, all the money will be there, with some left over.

Making money is so easy that spending it doesn't feel like anything.

Anyway, Saudi Arabia spends some money every year to buy U.S. debt. Instead of buying U.S. debt, it might as well buy warships.

Warships are real, but U.S. debt is full of uncertainty.

The idea that the best assets are US bonds is just a lie to fool people with low IQ.

Liu Tao was secretly amazed. He originally thought that Prince Sultan would only purchase two or three ships, but he didn't expect that he would ask for ten ships, which were worth a total of 40 billion US dollars.

This rich man is really inhumane.

With such a large purchase, he could easily build three or four more Yangcheng shipyards!

A huge amount of money was spent on expanding the Yangcheng Shipyard in the beginning, and now it seems that this transaction alone can make back the money, and a lot of it.

Liu Tao's attitude became more and more enthusiastic. He felt sorry for himself if he didn't make a lot of money from Prince Sultan.

He is now looking forward to seeing how many Type 052 destroyers Saudi Arabia will purchase!
After all, the combat capability of the Type 052 destroyer far exceeds that of the Type 054 frigate!

It is no exaggeration to say that a Type 052 destroyer is enough to pose a serious threat to an aircraft carrier formation.

As long as there is a Type 052 destroyer, no one dares to underestimate it. Anyone who underestimates it will suffer a great loss.

The excellent performance of the Type 052 destroyer is absolutely very suitable for Saudi Arabia. It can produce a very strong deterrent force whether in the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea.

As long as Saudi Arabia has two Type 052 destroyers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia will have enough confidence to speak, and all parties will have to listen to Saudi Arabia's opinions instead of leaving Saudi Arabia aside.

Of course, the purchase of those Type 022 missile boats, Type 022A torpedo boats and Type 054 frigates is enough for Saudi Arabia to dominate the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

(End of this chapter)