Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 434 Leader's Talk (Second Update)

"Let's proceed according to plan. In the future, our factory will mainly produce civil airliners and general aviation helicopters."

“The other models of aircraft are limited in number,” Li Song said, looking at the testing progress.

"Understood, boss." Ma Gong had already heard Li Song mention it before.

There is a large market for civil airliners and helicopters. As for other AB model transport aircraft and turboprop transport aircraft, the market for these aircraft is limited.

The reason why military aircraft are expensive is because the large quantity leads to high costs.

Turboprop transport aircraft are primarily designed to serve aircraft carriers, with a maximum of several dozen aircraft in service.

The same applies to AB model transport aircraft; there are at most a few dozen of them.

Moreover, this type of transport aircraft has a very long service life; one aircraft can be used for decades.

However, the costs of aircraft design, manufacturing, process flow, and personnel training are all indispensable.

That's why military transport aircraft are so expensive.

They're expensive and not used much normally, but we can't afford not to equip them, just in case there's war.
Just like Aramco's aircraft carrier fleet, with so many aircraft carriers, even if Aramco reaps the benefits of the whole world, how much money is swallowed up by these military equipment every year?

How many wars have these aircraft carrier fleets participated in?
However, the US cannot reduce its aircraft carrier fleet, as it is a symbol of their strength.

Even if you use an aircraft carrier fleet to intimidate others, you can't intimidate them all day long. An aircraft carrier fleet needs maintenance and upkeep after operating for a certain period of time.

Moreover, Li Song also knew that the Xiong army was also dragged down by its military equipment. At its peak, it had 500 million troops, 6.5 tanks, 4.8 artillery pieces, tens of thousands of aircraft, more than 4 missiles, more than 1000 ships, and more than 100 nuclear submarines.

Let alone maintaining such a huge military budget, just the cost of manufacturing these things is enormous.

Therefore, weapons and equipment are a double-edged sword, and the regional defense strategy that the mainland implemented for a long time afterward was correct.

Then Li Song looked at the turboprop transport aircraft; three finished products were already undergoing testing.

"What is the annual production capacity of the StarShines aircraft?" Finally, we arrived at the StarShines aircraft production plant.

“The current production capacity is about 30 aircraft per year. If we expand production, it can reach about 50 aircraft. If we want to increase it further, we will need to open a new production line,” Engineer Ma said.

Aircraft production lines operate on a pulsed schedule, with both maximum and minimum capacity. The minimum capacity is simply to keep the entire production line running.

"Orders from Europe have increased significantly recently. You should prepare to expand production here. I'll go back to Hong Kong Island and take a look," Li Song said.

“Okay, boss.” Ma was also very happy.

Then Li Song stopped looking and didn't go to see the rocket manufacturing plant next door. The plant will be completed and put into use this year.

Li Song, who manufactures rockets, wants to utilize the mainland's official supply chain.

To be honest, rocket recovery technology is not very reliable yet. The materials themselves are not the problem; the key issue is the electronic technology.

The main purpose of rocket recovery is to let the rocket know its attitude, location, and what operations need to be performed.

It cannot function without chips, high-precision sensors, and ground support facilities, among other things.

Decades later, an American company had a man surnamed Ma who was involved in rocket recovery. At that time, mainland China had not yet developed rocket recovery technology, and many people said that it was backward.

The reason is that the levels are different. Private companies with the surname Ma can do whatever they want, but the national level seeks stability on the one hand and ensures the integrity of the industrial chain on the other.

The recovery of the first stage rocket has a significant impact on the industry chain.

At the national level, the primary responsibility is national security, because the supply chains for rockets and missiles overlap significantly.

Maintaining the rocket industry chain, including personnel and factories, is essentially ensuring the missile industry chain.

So even though we know that rocket recovery is highly efficient, we still have to use disposable technology, and of course, there are also reasons related to costs in mainland China.

If we only focus on cost and efficiency, what will happen if there are no people in the supply chain in case of an accident?
Decades later, many of Aramco's military equipment suppliers went bankrupt. For example, the steam catapult supplier, the third-in-command, couldn't buy it because it had gone bankrupt.

Does America have the capability to reinvent steam catapults? Yes!
As long as enough money is provided, restoring the industrial chain is not a problem.

Similarly, why did Aramco's space shuttle and other industries fail to recover in the 80s? It's because the industries were gone, and the workers were gone. Even if you have a lot of technology, you need people to research, test, and then apply it.

This is why the America moon landing became so difficult decades later.

Therefore, at the national level, certain technologies need to be mature on the one hand, and the industrial chain needs to be guaranteed on the other hand; the pursuit of cost-effectiveness alone will not be the sole objective.

Li Song stayed at the Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant until Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, Li Song watched as two private planes landed on the runway.

"Welcome, leaders, to guide our work." Li Song arrived at the aircraft cabin door and shook hands with the main leaders.

"I must thank Mr. Li; it's so comfortable to fly in a private jet," the leader said with a smile.

"Thanks to the support of the leaders, Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant is what it is today," Li Song said.

"Great!" The main leader glanced at the plane parked not far away. Then Li Song shook hands with the other leaders, followed by Ma Gong and some department heads.

Then Li Song and the leaders walked together to the helipad not far away, starting with the general aviation helicopters.

"Boss, this is our company's newly developed general-purpose helicopter," Li Song began to introduce.

"19.8 meters long, 4.05 meters high..." Li Song began to introduce, explaining that these data had already been reported.

"We have completed some flight tests and will soon conduct high-altitude tests," Li Song continued.

“Great, that’s the kind of helicopter we need. Once it passes inspection, we’ll place an order.” The top leader certainly knew the specifications of the general-purpose helicopter, which was far superior to the helicopters currently available in China.

Moreover, it is superior to all existing helicopters in the world. This is mainly because Li Song's engineers optimized the second-hand platform and have their own unique patented technology.

The higher authorities have already discussed purchasing aircraft from Li Song and converting them into military helicopters, since Li Song also provided the conversion technology to the mainland.

The power system for the armed helicopters was also sourced from Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.

Although Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant is a foreign-invested enterprise, all its employees are from mainland China, making it no different from a state-owned enterprise. There are no foreigners among them, only the nature of the business is different.

"Thank you for your support, leaders," Li Song said.

The leaders not only carefully observed the helicopter, but also sat on it and experienced it, though of course it didn't take off.

"This is a small turboprop transport aircraft that we manufactured." Then came the turboprop transport aircraft.

When leaders see this kind of aircraft, they know what it is for: a platform for carrier transport aircraft, carrier early warning aircraft, carrier refueling aircraft, and carrier anti-submarine aircraft.

This type of aircraft is a special-purpose aircraft; there are not many of them, but they are essential.

The leaders present boarded the plane to inspect it; they had only seen it in reports, and now they were seeing the actual object.

Finally, there's CA201, also known as Chang'an 201.

"Mr. Li, thank you for your contributions to the country."

"With these aircraft, our aviation safety will be guaranteed." After the leaders finished their inspection, they left the airport by car, and the main leader invited Li Song to join them.

"It's also thanks to the strong support from the authorities that we were able to achieve such results in such a short time," Li Song said modestly.

The leaders admitted that what Li Song said was true, but without the technology provided by Li Song and his team, the factory could not have been established.

"Mr. Li, what are your plans for the next step?" the leader asked directly.

"The next step is semiconductors. We're just waiting for chip mass production. Then we'll manufacture computers, mobile phones, and all kinds of automated equipment," Li Song said.

"Oh? You've already made the necessary preparations?" The leader knew this was cutting-edge technology.

"Yes, the designs for the mobile phone and computer are complete. As long as the chips are mass-produced and pass testing, we will apply for patents," Li Song replied confidently.

"So what model do you intend to adopt? Will you establish your own company or form a joint venture?" the leader asked.

"The semiconductor industry involves many things. We prefer to manufacture mobile phones and computers ourselves because these products are geared towards the Western market and are relatively risky."

"As for automated equipment, we prefer technology licensing. Of course, we need to establish relevant research institutions in mainland China." Li Song's model is mainly because there are already existing machine tool manufacturers in China. If we were to establish our own, it would create a competitive environment.

Therefore, Li Song decided to adopt a technology licensing approach, providing technical services on his own.

Moreover, this can reduce costs.

"Hmm." When the leader heard Li Song's words, he assumed that Li Song couldn't make the decision either.

So the leader asked, "Mr. Li, do you think we should get the TU22M3 or the TU160?"

"From a technical standpoint, according to the information I have, the TU160 has not yet made its maiden flight, but it should be soon, although there may be some problems."

“M3 technology is relatively mature.”

"Of course, from a practical standpoint, the 160 is much more advanced," Li Song said without hesitation.

"Mr. Li, from a global perspective, which is better?" the leader asked again.

“Of course, the 160 is better. Right now, it’s not appropriate for us to present something that will impress the world. If we bring back the 160, it will take time for us to perfect the technology, understand it thoroughly, test it, produce it, and optimize it,” Li Song said.

"Then what about homeland defense? Our country's territory is too large." The leader also wanted the M3 because it could carry missiles, and one shot could destroy a fleet.

"Boss, my personal suggestion is to purchase fighter jets from Aramco. In addition, our company will purchase DC-10s, which can also be converted into tanker aircraft."

“This is enough for our neighboring countries,” Li Song said.

The leaders were not surprised at all that Li Song had refueling aircraft technology, and they also knew that Ame was a refueling aircraft modified from DC10, and that the KC10 had entered service in March of this year.

"After the chips are mass-produced, our company also wants to develop civilian satellite communications, and we hope that the government will provide strong support. We can authorize the government to use our satellite technology." Li Song knew that satellite communications were a must, so he spoke directly. Li Song didn't want to give his superiors any more advice; he left it at that.

(End of this chapter)