The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 613 First Visit (asking for monthly ticket)

On the destroyer "Xiang Jiang".

Zhang Zhaozhong was feeling the sea breeze and felt that his life was just like a dream.

That year, he was selected to serve as the captain of the first Type 054 frigate, the 'Hong Kong Island'.

As the captain of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" in recent years, Zhang Zhaozhong has always insisted on learning and has read two books, both of which are about new frigates and future naval battles.

Zhang Zhaozhong participated in the naval battle as the captain of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" and the deputy commander of the combat formation. That naval battle achieved a brilliant record.

After the war, he was awarded the rank of colonel and won first-class merit, and was later promoted to captain of the destroyer "Xiang Jiang".

An escort formation was formed, and he was appointed as the commander of the escort formation, responsible for this arduous task.

Colonel, this is the ceiling for mid-level cadres.

Above them are senior cadres at the general level.

This step is a huge gap. It is very difficult to cross it. It requires opportunity and luck!
Otherwise, he might still be a colonel when he retires after decades.

Zhang Zhaozhong looked solemn. This time the escort fleet went to the Persian Gulf to perform an escort mission. This was the first time for the Chinese Navy to sail in the ocean, and also the first time to use military force to go overseas to safeguard national strategic interests. It was the first time for our army to organize maritime combat forces to go overseas to fulfill international humanitarian obligations. It was also the first time for the navy to protect the safety of important transportation lines in the distant seas.

It can be said that it is of extraordinary significance and carries great responsibility.

Zhang Zhaozhong commanded the formation and marched forward.

The destroyer "Xiang Jiang" is in the middle, and not far away are the frigate "Hong Kong Island" and the Saudi frigate. In the front and on both sides are Saudi Arabia's Type 022 missile boats, and in the back are Type 022A torpedo boats.

In the air, two anti-submarine helicopters were hovering.

Although this is not a battle, this is what a naval fleet does, always ready for battle to avoid being ambushed.

The entire sea route is about 5620 nautical miles!

After ten days and ten nights of continuous sailing, the first escort fleet of the Chinese Navy finally arrived at the Persian Gulf smoothly in the early morning and began to carry out the first escort operation.

Saudi Arabia's Type 022 missile boat, Type 022A torpedo boat and Type 054 frigate broke away from the formation and returned to Saudi Arabia's military port.

The escort fleet began to escort the four merchant ships from Hong Kong. Under the escort of the frigate "Hong Kong Island", the three merchant ships left the Persian Gulf and entered the Arabian Sea. No longer having to worry about the threat of attack, the crews of the three merchant ships displayed the four big characters "Long Live the Motherland" on the deck to thank the motherland for sending warships for protection.

At this time, the entire Persian Gulf seemed a bit crowded, and the Soviet Union, the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom all sent escort formations.

Among them, the escort formation sent by the United States is the most powerful. In addition to the "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier formation cruising in the Arabian Sea, there are four Perry-class frigates and two Spruance-class destroyers in the Persian Gulf.

The second is the Soviet Union. The escort formation sent by the Soviet Union consists of a "Kiev" class aircraft carrier, two "Modern" class missile destroyers, two "Grisha" class frigates, and two "Nanuchka" class light missile frigates.

The French Navy sent a destroyer and a frigate to form an escort formation, while the United Kingdom sent a light aircraft carrier and a frigate that had just been commissioned.

So many escort ships gathering in the Persian Gulf are a huge deterrent to both Iran and Iraq.

The five permanent members of the naval escort fleet protecting merchant ships in the Persian Gulf also became the biggest news in the world.

Oil prices began to fall continuously. In just over a week, the international crude oil price fell to US$34 per barrel. Shipping prices to the Persian Gulf also plummeted, but were still slightly higher than before the "Iran-Iraq Shipping War".

In addition to escorting in the Persian Gulf, the Chinese escort fleet also paid friendly visits to several countries in the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, and even paid friendly visits to Iraq and Iran.

Although Iran and Iraq were fighting fiercely, they both had friendly cooperative relations with China, and the economic and trade exchanges between the two sides were quite close.

This is also the first time that the Chinese Navy has visited a foreign country since the founding of the Republic.

Guizhou Aircraft Corporation. Three 'Eagle' advanced training aircraft were parked in the hangar.

Liu Tao, Yu Ximing and others are visiting these "Eagle" advanced trainer aircraft.

Over the past few months, test pilots have been flying the Eagle advanced trainer aircraft to conduct a series of high-intensity tests and have completed all the testing work.

Now all that’s left is the airframe life test and the engine life test. However, this will take time to complete.

Because both of these tests have to be carried out for a long time.

For example, the aircraft engine life test includes the aircraft engine life under normal use and the engine life under uninterrupted continuous use.

"According to the current test results, the performance of the 'Eagle' advanced trainer aircraft is excellent, far surpassing the 'J-7A' advanced trainer aircraft. The military is very satisfied with the 'Eagle' advanced trainer aircraft and has placed an order for 50 of them," said Yu Ximing with a smile on his face.

Since being transferred to Panshan Group, Guifei Group seems to have had a turn for the better. Employees no longer have to worry about not getting their salaries, and scientific research project teams no longer have to worry about a lack of research funds.

Moreover, at present, Guizhou Aircraft Industry Group has two flagship products, the 'J-7A' and 'Eagle' advanced trainer aircraft, and both advanced trainer aircraft currently have orders for 50 aircraft.

Liu Tao nodded slightly.

He was naturally aware of the excellence of the 'Eagle' advanced trainer aircraft, after all, it was he who developed it.

No one knows the Eagle advanced trainer aircraft better than him.

"What's the production plan? What's the current annual output?" Liu Tao asked.

Yu Ximing said: "We can now produce three 'Xiongying' advanced trainer aircraft per month, and one 'Xiongying' advanced trainer aircraft per month. In three months, the output will be increased to two per month."

This output is not low.

After all, it takes time to increase production capacity.

In addition to the final assembly plant, it also takes time for other supporting factories to adjust their production plans.

This is just an advanced trainer aircraft, not a real fighter. If it were a J-10 fighter, the production volume would be even lower.

The more advanced the fighter jet, the more complex it is, the more difficult it is to produce, and the lower the output.

According to the current situation, even if the J-10 fighter jet is designed and mass-produced, with the combined capabilities of Chengfei, it can only produce 12 aircraft a year.

One of the important reasons why the output is so low is that it is necessary to expand production and build new production lines. It takes time to train workers and mature the technology before production can slowly increase.

Of course, there is also a factor here, that is demand!
Whether there are orders or not also greatly affects production capacity.

A company like Panshan Group has a large production capacity for various weapons and equipment. One very important reason is the huge demand and a large number of orders.

However, according to Liu Tao's estimation, China will need at least two to three hundred J-7A and J- advanced trainer aircraft in the next twenty years.

As for the demand for J-10, at least 500 are needed.

In addition to domestic demand, there is also great demand abroad. These three aircraft have huge overseas demand potential.

Aircraft have always been very popular in the international market, especially advanced aircraft. Imported aircraft often have a lot of additional conditions and are expensive.

Models like the 'J-7A', 'Eagle' advanced trainer and J-10 fighter all have extremely high cost-effectiveness. Even if the export versions will have worse performance, the cost-effectiveness will still be very high.

(End of this chapter)