The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 648: Building an aircraft carrier is not a matter of technology but a matter of money

1999年12月20日，00:00！

This great moment is destined to be recorded in the history of the Republic.

Across the country, countless Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in Hong Kong and Macau couldn't help but cheer.

Accompanied by the tear-jerking and affectionate call of "Song of the Seven Sons", this land, which has experienced more than 400 years of vicissitudes, has finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.

Liu Tao and his family witnessed this great moment on the spot.

Zhu Lin and others arrived in Macau the day before yesterday.

And this moment is witnessing history.

Liu Tao and his family applauded, cheered and waved the five-star red flag in their hands.

This grand ceremony is enough to be remembered by people.

In the following days, Liu Tao accompanied his family to visit Macau. Macau is not big, with a land area of ​​32.8 square kilometers, which is much smaller than many towns in the mainland and is almost one thirty-eighth of Hong Kong.

However, this is the city with the highest per capita GDP in China, with a per capita GDP of over 10,000 US dollars.

There is no agriculture in Macau, only secondary and tertiary industries.

The secondary industry is mainly driven by the electronics industry invested by Panshan Group, which has a booming development. The tertiary industry is mainly based on the gaming industry, and other industries such as catering, hotels, and tourism are basically centered around the gaming industry.

They played for several days and finally left Macau on Sunday.

Zhu Lin and others returned to Beijing by plane, while Liu Tao went to Yangcheng Shipyard.

Up to now, Yangcheng Shipyard has become the largest shipyard in the country and also the shipyard with the strongest shipbuilding capacity.

In addition to building warships, Yangcheng Shipyard is also building merchant ships.

At this time, a 40-ton oil tanker was being built.

Such a 40-ton oil tanker costs as much as $1.2 million.

This is not the first 40-ton oil tanker built by Yangcheng Shipyard. A 40-ton oil tanker was built before and has been delivered. This is the second one.

As for the 50-ton oil tanker, it has not been built yet.

However, compared with cargo tankers, Liu Tao attaches more importance to the construction of warships.

There is no other reason, warships have higher profits!

Far higher than the profits of cargo tankers.

The profit from building a 40-ton oil tanker is not even as much as the profit from building a Type 022 missile boat.

Of course, 40-ton tankers have a stronger pull on supporting factories.

The next day, Liu Tao attended a meeting held at the Yangcheng Shipyard. Participants included experts in the shipbuilding field from all over the country, as well as senior naval officials and the head of the General Armament Department.

This meeting is about aircraft carriers.

A seminar organized by the Navy.

An aircraft carrier, also known as an aircraft carrier cruiser, is a large surface ship that uses carrier-based aircraft as its main combat weapon.

During World War II, aircraft carriers played a vital role, which made them popular among navies around the world. No country does not want to own an aircraft carrier.

Modern aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft have become high-tech intensive military system engineering. Currently, only the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France in the world have mastered the technology for developing aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft.

There is a world of difference between modern aircraft carriers and those during World War II. The aircraft carriers during World War II could be converted from large merchant ships, but this is not the case now.

The United States has the most advanced aircraft carriers and is leading the development trend of aircraft carriers in the world.

The second is the Soviet Union!

Next is the UK, and then finally France.

As for China, it was previously unable to independently develop even frigates, let alone aircraft carriers.

But over the years, China's shipbuilding industry has made rapid progress, with advanced missile boats, torpedo boats, minesweepers, frigates, destroyers, new conventional submarines and electronic reconnaissance ships.

This makes the navy eager to own an aircraft carrier.

This meeting shows the navy’s desire for aircraft carriers.

After the meeting started, each expert spoke based on his or her own expertise. Some experts have capabilities in some professional fields, but others are still far from it.

Liu Tao kept listening, feeling quite helpless.

He has stated three times that China cannot afford aircraft carriers at present. This includes the high cost of building aircraft carriers, the high cost of constructing aircraft carrier battle groups, and the high annual cost of investing in aircraft carriers and aircraft carrier formations.

Unfortunately, the navy seems to be possessed by a demon and has a morbid obsession with aircraft carriers.

In Liu Tao's opinion, China's current navy, which uses frigates and destroyers as its main force and missile boats as auxiliary ships, can already meet the future development of the Chinese Navy.

As long as we have 60 more frigates and 50 destroyers, it will be enough to ensure China's advantage within the range of 1000 to 2000 nautical miles, and also ensure the safety and interests of China's main shipping routes.

"Comrade Liu Tao, you are an authority in this area and you know our country's warship-building capabilities best. Can you tell me what you think?" He said, looking at Liu Tao who had been silent.

Liu Tao paused for a moment and said, "I have always emphasized that my country's construction of aircraft carriers does not depend on its warship construction capabilities. From a technical perspective, we have the ability to build them. At most, we just need to tackle some technical problems."

"The real constraint on building aircraft carriers is my country's economy and military spending!" Liu Tao said. "The USS Lincoln, which just entered service, began construction in 1984 and was completed in 1989 at a cost of $36 billion. If we add the aircraft carrier battle group built for it, the cost would exceed $140 billion."

"It will take us about 6 to 10 years to build an aircraft carrier of the same standard as the USS Lincoln, and the cost will be about 120 to 150 billion RMB. If we add the aircraft carrier battle group built for it, the cost will exceed 500 billion RMB." Liu Tao listed the figures, "Don't forget, this year our military budget is only 270 billion RMB, and next year's military budget will be about 300 billion RMB!"

"It takes almost two years of military budget to build an aircraft carrier battle group," Liu Tao said. "This is just the construction cost. As for the operating cost, based on the current price situation, the annual operating cost of an aircraft carrier is about 5 million yuan, and the annual operating cost of an aircraft carrier battle group is about 20 to 30 billion yuan."

"How much is the Navy's annual military budget?" Liu Tao asked in return: "Can the Navy come up with 120 billion RMB for construction? According to the current situation, with the increase in labor costs and material prices, the final cost is likely to reach 150 billion RMB, or even more than 150 billion RMB."

It is impossible for Yangcheng Shipyard to advance such a large amount of money!

The country probably won’t agree.

After all, the advance payment will be deducted from the profit and tax paid, and the State Administration of Taxation will not agree to it.

If they advance 20 to 30 billion yuan every year, it's not a big deal. The State Administration of Taxation will just do that if the leaders give the order. If they advance tens of billions every year and the State Administration of Taxation still can't collect much tax from Panshan Group, then they will be very angry.

Now, many aspects rely on the profits and taxes paid by Panshan Group.

If so many people from the navy and the army go, how can we talk about focusing on economic development?

(End of this chapter)