Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 179 Is this how you assemble an aircraft carrier? (First update, please subscribe and vote)

Then the technical backbone and experts from several shipyards started working. The factory managers looked at these hundreds of tons of equipment and wondered where these things came from.

Was it transported here by this cargo ship?

Who's so awesome?
Steam catapults, something even Big Brother couldn't figure out.

Only Ami's factory can manufacture it.

That's the truth; the demand for this kind of specialized equipment is not very large.

Decades later, India wanted to build an aircraft carrier. When designing it, they planned to use electromagnetic catapults, but no one would sell them the technology, so they decided to switch to steam catapults.

Unfortunately, Aramco no longer had the manufacturing capability. After finally building it, they had no choice but to change the straight deck to a ski-jump deck and weld a ski-jump section to the front of the aircraft carrier.

Then, due to the imbalance of the weight, it kept bowing its head while sailing in the sea.

The price of these devices was far higher than their cost. Later, Amer did not need steam catapults for a long time, and then after a while, they could no longer manufacture them because the equipment was gone, the skilled workers were gone, some retired, some changed careers, and even the technical blueprints were gone.

Without the technical blueprints, it's highly likely the capitalists simply destroyed them.

If Amei wants it again later, then we have to do it all over again so we can get more money.

Besides, don't you think it costs money to preserve technical drawings and equipment? The Aramco government isn't going to pay for it.

Of course, these factories were also scared of being scammed by Amei.

The Aramco government demanded a certain number of ships during negotiations, but then only built a few and didn't want any more, causing the shipyard to suffer huge losses.

Shipyards negotiate prices based on the quantity ordered; the more you order, the lower the price.

The most famous example is the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Initially, they wanted a huge number of these ships, but later they didn't, which nearly bankrupted the shipyard.

So when these shipyards rebuilt them later, the cost skyrocketed, with prices increasing exponentially.

“Nimitz-class?” These leaders learned from the technical manual that this was actually a Nimitz-class steam catapult, which was the most advanced.

"Boss, how about we take over this? Our factory's technical capabilities are beyond question." The director of Hudong Shipyard approached his superior privately.

"Boss, are we really that weak?" the leader of the Darian Shipyard also asked.

"Let's study it first. As for who to give it to, we'll discuss that later. First, we need to find a place to store these things, and we'll also learn from them while we're doing that." The leader shook his head.

Looking at these massive structures weighing hundreds of tons, the naval leaders envisioned their aircraft carriers sailing the oceans.

These naval leaders had previously considered acquiring a secondhand one from elsewhere, even a light aircraft carrier or a piece of junk from World War II, but no one was willing to sell it!

Now that we have steam catapults, we must deploy them on heavy aircraft carriers!
Yes, there's also the F-14, and aircraft carrier materials, deck materials, and arresting gear materials.

As for the power equipment, why not just add a few more power systems like the Seawolf-class?

The rest is up to these shipyards. I can just sit back and wait for the aircraft carrier. I hope these shipyards will be efficient, otherwise someone else will be on the aircraft carrier when I retire.

The shipyard directors felt their scalps tingle under the scrutiny of these leaders. This was just a steam catapult; it was still a long way from being an aircraft carrier.

Putting aside other factors, there are aircraft carrier deck materials, overall aircraft carrier materials, as well as power systems, control systems, and so on.

We've never seen this before, what do we do?
"It will probably require the cooperation of several of you factory managers..." the shipyard's direct supervisor said.

"Boss, we don't need anyone else at all."

“We don’t need them. We have technical manuals, and all these parts are readily available. We can assemble them, test them, and reverse engineer them within six months.”

"We have three months. If we can't finish it in three months, I'm fired," several factory managers said hastily. They reasoned that if they couldn't handle it even with the technical manuals, it was impossible; they had to secure the project first.

"We also need to focus our efforts on the aircraft carrier's materials and data; this is a major undertaking that requires concentrated resources," the leader finally said.

"What!"

"There's also materials data?"

The leader nodded: "Deck materials, overall materials, arresting cable materials."

"Boss, there aren't any design drawings for this anymore, are there?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

"Yes, yes!" The shipyard managers were shocked. Which department had intervened? So many things were stolen from Amei's house.
Of course, these factory managers were unaware that there were also carrier-based aircraft.

In contrast to the jubilation of these people, a man in his fifties sighed in a conference room in Shanghai.

The order came from above: the project was over. Ten years had passed, from the 70s to the 80s. The Y-10 project had already completed its test flights, but it was still inevitable that it would come to an end.

Because of the overall weak level of industrial development, many parts and materials have to be imported.

In addition, Shanghai is in talks with McDonnell Douglas to import and assemble aircraft and then transfer the technology.

"Teacher Ma!" The other members of the project team also sighed. The project team was disbanded, and everyone went back to their original units.

No one wanted to give up. Although there were many difficulties, everyone was willing to do research, even if it was just technical research.

"No, I'm going to Kyoto!" Teacher Ma was already 51 years old, and she made up her mind to go to Kyoto.

"Teacher Ma, let's forget it. If we go to Beijing, it won't look good to the leaders."

"Yes, Teacher Ma, the talks with McDonnell Douglas in Shanghai seem to be going well, so let's just call it quits." If the others knew Teacher Ma was going to Kyoto, it would be considered a complaint. What would they think of Teacher Ma after that?

"No, who knows how things will develop in the future? I have to fight for it. We can't give up our research before McDonnell Douglas transfers its technology. If we give up, what if they don't transfer it in a few years? The gap between us and them will only widen."

"I'm going to Kyoto right away." Teacher Ma said and left immediately, taking some documents with him to Kyoto.

Teacher Ma knew that his visit would offend the leaders, but there was nothing he could do.

Teacher Ma traveled from Shanghai to Kyoto and then went directly to the aircraft manufacturing management department.

However, several high-ranking leaders were not present, so Teacher Ma could only wait.

After waiting for two days, the big boss finally returned.

"Boss, this is our..." Teacher Ma quickly took out the documents after seeing the big boss.

"Little Ma's here. Here, take a look at this blueprint first." The big boss said, taking out a blueprint.

Teacher Ma was somewhat surprised. This was not what he had expected. Wasn't the project team going to disband? Why were they giving him the blueprints?

"Huh!" Teacher Ma opened the folder and saw an overhead design drawing of a twin-engine passenger plane, with seven main beams from front to back.

Teacher Ma continued looking at the drawings, and then there were more design drawings, including the main beam design. This main beam was a single piece, and it was clearly an advanced design from Europe and America, because we simply cannot produce such a one-piece cast beam with a diameter of more than four meters in China.

The senior leader chuckled as he looked at the engrossed Xiao Ma and walked out of the office. The aircraft design drawings that Teacher Ma had brought were far more advanced than the Y-10, and there were also all the parts of the two aircraft, including a one-piece cast beam with a diameter of more than four meters. He was amazed when he saw it.

(End of this chapter)