In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 276 Rejecting Involution? Can Jiangbei Factory Produce Heavy Rocket Launchers and Man-portable Air Defense Missiles?

"With the current production lines at Jiangbei Machinery Factory, producing 150mm long-range rockets is indeed difficult. We can build a new production line... You don't need to worry about that..."

Seeing that Xie Wei remained silent, Tian Guirong hurriedly offered an explanation.

In any case, they came here to secure the rocket production order from Harbin Institute of Technology.

"This isn't a question of whether you build a new production line. Although the order size is large and the delivery time is short."

Xie Wei was both amused and exasperated.

The other party has tens of thousands of rocket launchers to produce. Although most of the profits are taken by the school, the production of tens of thousands of rocket launchers can only bring Jiangbei Machinery Factory a profit of more than one million yuan.

However, since Xie Wei sold the production technology, the Jiangbei factory needed to transfer the production technology, so he gave the Jiangbei factory several million yuan for this.

The other party has tasted the benefits of cooperating with the school.

"We can pay 500 million for technology development..."

Seeing that Xie Wei did not agree with assigning part of the long-range rocket production task to Jiangbei Machinery Factory, Ning Juntao gritted his teeth and said.

500 million!
For Harbin Institute of Technology at present, this is not a huge sum of money.

For Jiangbei Machinery Factory, this is definitely not a small amount of money. They would not have spent such a large sum of money on producing tens of thousands of rocket launchers, plus technology transfer and personnel training.

"Did the Jiangbei factory make a fortune?"

Xie Wei asked the two of them curiously.

"How could that be! The profit margin on rocket launchers was too low before. Although we've invested millions in technology transfer and personnel training, it hasn't had much impact on the factory's development... We hope to produce 150mm long-range rockets, which would increase the factory's production capacity and give it the opportunity to expand its production scale..."

Ning Juntao shook his head with a wry smile and explained to Xie Wei.

Xie Wei understood: the other party wanted to secure more production orders!
"Xie Wei, although we know this might be difficult, it's really too hard for the factory to survive and develop without projects..."

"Director Ning, I understand your feelings. This rocket order has a very tight delivery schedule and is very large in scale... The final assembly was previously given to Changzheng Machinery Plant, but due to the large number of additional orders, we can only choose a factory that can produce it with slight adjustments to the production line..."

Xie Wei's face showed a serious expression.

It wasn't that he didn't want to give the order to Jiangbei Machinery Factory; the aerospace industry needed to develop.

Many cutting-edge military projects have been cancelled, while the wealthy who paid their party dues will have to wait six years to arrive. In the meantime, if some key aerospace factories fail to keep up with technological upgrades as they have historically developed, they will be unable to support some of the university's research projects.

"We're willing to pay for the technology development!"

Seeing that Xie Wei disagreed, Ning Juntao gritted his teeth and said, "We can take less profit, as long as we have production capacity!"

Should it be rolled up like this?!

Xie Wei never expected that Ning Juntao would voluntarily ask for a smaller share of the profits just to gain the opportunity to increase production capacity.

It's easy to understand after a little thought: as long as they can secure the processing business for 150 long-range rockets, and they only take a small profit, the factory can not only survive but also continue to develop.

With large-scale production, superiors are naturally willing to provide projects and funding.

More importantly, they take less profit, so if there are other orders in the future, the school will definitely give priority to Jiangbei Machinery Factory.

The rockets used in the 150mm long-range rocket artillery were sold to Iraqis, and the price remained at $4.8 per rocket, equivalent to 7.2 RMB.

The production cost of each rocket is less than 1.2. As long as the production process is familiar and the production cost of solid fuel propellant is also reduced, the cost will be further reduced, possibly even to less than 8000.

In order to allow the processing unit to have more funds for technological upgrades and the research and development of related processes and supporting technologies, Xie Wei, after discussing with school leaders such as Liu Debao, gave the processing unit a price of 2.2 yuan.

In this way, at the current price, as long as Jiangbei Machinery Factory can secure 500 production orders, it will not lose money; it will still make a profit without reducing production costs.

"Director Ning, this isn't about money."

Ning Juntao became anxious.

He really wanted to say that it was all about money.

Xie Wei shook his head. Seeing that Ning Juntao was about to speak again, he sighed and said to him, "The reason why we asked you to provide funds for technology development before was because the school really didn't have the money... You also know why we renegotiated the terms of cooperation later."

Jiangbei Machinery Factory was hesitant and inactive, which meant that the production line adjustment and initial production capacity were not completed by the time the contract was signed, putting a lot of pressure on the delivery schedule.

"We know that only by expanding our scale can we continue to develop. Long-range rockets are that opportunity!"

Tian Guirong said with a serious expression, "Xie Wei, didn't you say you needed three factories that could produce 150mm long-range rockets? Although the Jiangbei Machinery Factory has a weaker foundation, it can specialize in rocket production."

Zhang Mingqiu spoke first.

He still hopes to further cooperate with the Jiangbei factory.

"The production capacity gap between long-range rocket artillery and rocket launchers is too large."

Xie Wei looked at Zhang Mingqiu speechlessly.

Principal Zhang spoke up for Jiangbei Factory not because he received any benefits from them, but because they offered to pay an "entry fee" in exchange for a small amount of profit!

Xie Wei also wanted to keep all the profits at the school.

That won't work at all.

"Xie Wei, we can upgrade the production line... As long as you agree to give us some processing business, we will take out a loan from the bank to upgrade the production line!"

Ning Juntao said urgently.

Xie Wei's opinion is very important.

After Li Rui left, Xie Wei basically had the final say in Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao's business at Harbin Institute of Technology.

He didn't understand why Xie Wei was unwilling to give Jiangbei Machinery Factory the opportunity to produce long-range rockets.

"It's too late. Even if we build production lines and purchase equipment now, it will take at least three years for the Jiangbei plant to achieve large-scale production capacity. What good will it do after three years if we've already built up the capacity? Our contract with Iraq is only for three years!"

Xie Wei said with a displeased expression.

If you work hard to build production capacity, but then you don't get many orders after the construction is completed, then you'll just be wasting your construction funds.

Duplication of construction is unacceptable.

"Do we really have no chance at all?"

Tian Guirong looked resentful. "You've already sold the rocket launcher technology. After the Jiangbei factory builds its production capacity, it will at most recoup its investment..."

"Old Tian!"

Upon hearing Tian Guirong's complaint, Ning Juntao quickly interrupted him, urging him to continue, lest he offend Xie Wei and all future cooperation be lost.

It's not that the Jiangbei factory didn't want to do its own project research and development; the problem is that their current foundation is what it is. Not only have they not been given any projects from above, but they also have no other sources of funding.

Without money, everything is nonsense.

"Director Ning, General Manager Tian is right."

Xie Wei dismissed Tian Guirong's complaints; that was simply the truth.

With Ning Juntao stopping her, Tian Guirong didn't say anything more.

"Xie Wei, you know the current situation at the Jiangbei factory. Without new business, it won't be easy for it to continue developing... We need more business to secure funding for our own projects..."

Ning Juntao said to Xie Wei with a bitter face.

"The school is designing a 120mm diameter heavy anti-tank rocket launcher to be used in conjunction with existing rocket launchers... In addition, we have a man-portable air defense missile project, which is currently under research... Specialization is key, and I think Jiangbei Factory can start by focusing on the production of rocket launchers, man-portable air defense missiles, and short-range air defense missiles..."

Xie Wei said calmly.

The production of medium- and long-range rockets is also a preparation for the subsequent production of medium- and long-range air defense missiles.

The Jiangbei Machinery Factory has a very poor foundation. If it wants to start production, it will not only need to invest more funds, but also the problems of personnel training cannot be solved in a short time.

The production of advanced equipment cannot be decided on a whim.

"Heavy anti-tank rocket launcher?"

"Man-portable air defense system?"

The two men immediately became interested and looked at Xie Wei with shining eyes.

Zhang Mingqiu stared at Xie Wei, somewhat bewildered: When did the school have a project on heavy anti-tank rocket launchers? When did it start having projects on man-portable air defense missiles and short-range air defense missiles?
Aren't those all theoretical studies?

(End of this chapter)