America: My Time

Chapter 460 Disaster Strikes
Chapter 460 Disaster Strikes
"Mr. John, I wonder if we can cooperate?"

"I wonder how we can cooperate. Should we import aircraft or jointly build a production line?" John was not opposed to cooperation, as it would benefit the development of Fokker 100 and Gulfstream Aerospace. John was also naturally interested in China's huge market. If they could establish a foothold in China, it would be very important for the development of Gulfstream Aerospace.

"If possible, we hope to establish a joint venture factory, with each party holding 50% of the shares!"

“In principle, I have no problem with this cooperation. It is beneficial to both parties. However, a production line is not cheap, and the engines need to be imported. Although HP can offer the lowest price, it still requires a lot of capital.”

Establishing a joint venture aircraft manufacturing plant is no simple matter. Aircraft manufacturing requires specialized technical personnel, and a production line is indeed expensive. To meet market demand, Gulfstream Aerospace simultaneously built two production lines in the Netherlands and the United States, incurring considerable costs. Without orders from Middle Eastern tycoons and the support of Pan Am, Gulfstream Aerospace would never have dared to undertake such a rapid expansion. Funding issues have consistently constrained Gulfstream Aerospace's development. Although its various subsidiaries have a large order book, John, as the owner, is acutely aware of the immense financial pressure Gulfstream Aerospace faces. Now, any expansion requires extreme caution and cannot afford the slightest carelessness.

Now that the Fokker 100 has begun production, new research and development also needs to begin. This time, Fokker and Gulfstream Aerospace are no longer satisfied with the development of regional jets, but are moving into the development of mainline large aircraft. This requires more investment, which is why they made these remarks and are so cautious.

Cooperation is not a problem, but Gulfstream Aerospace has limited capacity to bear the costs. At this time, Gulfstream Aerospace needs to ensure funding for the development of its next-generation mainline large aircraft. Compared to Hughes Aerospace Communications, which has strong support from Middle Eastern tycoons and Japan, Gulfstream Aerospace cannot receive any assistance in its large aircraft development. Everything must be done on its own. Therefore, Gulfstream Aerospace is not as rosy as it seems on the surface.

For every day that the loan to Neon is not paid off, Gulfstream Aerospace faces enormous pressure. Many people only see Gulfstream Aerospace's amazing orders, but they do not see the enormous pressure that it has to bear behind these orders.

In such collaborations, all that's needed is a shared intention. The actual negotiations require professionals. Although John is the owner of Gulfstream Aerospace, the decision on such collaborations should ultimately be made by the CEO of Gulfstream Aerospace, since she is the one who understands Gulfstream Aerospace's current situation best and can make the right choice.

John has gradually relinquished his involvement in these specialized manufacturing processes. As Gulfstream Aerospace continues to grow and expand, John is well aware that such companies need scientific management and development, rather than making a crazy decision on a whim, which would cost them dearly and could lead to complete failure if not handled carefully.

Gulfstream Aerospace, burdened with huge debts, needs to be extremely cautious and careful. It cannot make rash decisions based on its own preferences and embark on a dangerous expansion that could plunge the company into crisis.

The emergence of the Fokker 100 has had a significant impact on the regional jet market and has also attracted the attention of many airlines. This has made Gulfstream Aerospace a focus of attention for Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus. None of them want to see another competitor in the market, and none of them want to see Gulfstream Aerospace develop rapidly.

Before anyone could react, Gulfstream Aerospace began its split, directly separating Pan Am, Princess Yachts, aircraft dismantling plants, and shipbreaking yards. The entire Gulfstream Aerospace was left with only aircraft manufacturing-related companies: Gulfstream Aerospace, Fokker Aircraft, Sikorsky, Hughes Helicopters, Hughes Aerospace & Communications, and Pratt & Whitney.

This breakup forced those who had initially wanted to criticize Gulfstream Aerospace to abandon their accusations. Pan Am was no longer a subsidiary of Gulfstream Aerospace, making it impossible to criticize their procurement practices. This kind of situation is perfectly normal within conglomerates; future mergers of major US defense contractors were also within conglomerates. Therefore, if anyone wanted to criticize Pan Am, they themselves needed to address their own issues.

Just when everyone thought John was about to reorganize his companies, another unexpected event occurred: the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident shocked the world. Although somewhat prepared, John was still stunned when the moment actually arrived. At this time, no one paid attention to John's consolidation of his companies; everyone's attention was focused on Russia. The impact of such a terrible disaster was enormous. Most shockingly, Russia's response was incredibly slow; they only began to act and evacuate people 48 hours after the disaster. This disaster dealt a huge blow to Russia's economy, exacerbating their burden and making the already precarious situation even more difficult. There were huge shortages of various essential supplies, especially food. This disaster also plunged the whole of Europe into widespread panic.

Fortunately, John had already shipped the acquired wine out of Europe, so the impact on him was minimal. However, this problem forced 7-Eleven to impose restrictions and refrain from importing European food for a considerable period to prevent food safety issues.

Despite the terrible disaster, John's charitable foundation still provided financial assistance, albeit a drop in the ocean, but it gave him peace of mind. John's charitable foundation provided help to the Russians immediately, and even though it was only ten million US dollars in material aid, it had a very good effect.

A charitable foundation in the United States could transport supplies to the Russians' homes in the shortest possible time, but the Europeans did not react at all and did not offer any help. In comparison, John's aid was much more noteworthy. The charitable foundation provided material assistance, and the Bentley Motors Group also provided a lot of engineering vehicles, at least preventing the Russians from paying with their lives. However, this was still a drop in the ocean.

This natural and man-made disaster exacerbated the collapse of the Russian empire and increased their burden. However, it also boosted John's business. The huge market demand led to an increase in trade between John and the Russians. Although they had been prepared, the disaster still resulted in a huge gap in trade, as Europe itself was also experiencing a crisis of supplies.

While everyone's attention was focused on the Russians, John's trade with them was also accelerating. Time was running out, and the Russian economy was facing even greater difficulties due to the natural and man-made disasters. They were placing greater emphasis on primitive trade such as barter, as they didn't have much foreign exchange to use and could only rely on this most basic form of trade to acquire the supplies they desperately needed. The increase in such trade also expanded Australia's shipping trade.

Because of the severe situation in Europe, trade could only take place in Asia, so trade in Asia increased, and huge amounts of goods were continuously shipped from Australia to Japan, South Korea, and China, where they were converted into various daily necessities.

The slump in oil prices has deprived Russia of its ability to acquire vast amounts of foreign exchange, and the impact of Middle Eastern oil has exacerbated Russia's problems. All of this is a conspiracy, a Western plot against Russia, and the situation is now spiraling out of control. Despite the booming trade between John and Russia, the resources he controls are a drop in the ocean for an empire, offering little benefit. This is because Russia's own development is flawed; it prioritizes heavy industry while neglecting light industry, and food supplies are a major problem, requiring huge amounts of foreign exchange expenditure every year.

Although trade with the Russians was expanding, the situation in Russia showed no signs of improvement. This was because John didn't have a large supply of grain, and he dared not engage in reckless trade. He could trade supplies from his own farm, but large-scale trade with the Russians was out of the question. Relatively speaking, luxury goods trade remained unaffected, as it offered little benefit to an empire, only drawbacks.

With the breakup of Gulfstream Aerospace and the continued frenzy of transactions with Russia, John's transactions with Russia gradually progressed further. Research and development data of many heavy industry companies were also sold. Originally, John's steel mill did not have sufficient research and development capabilities, but now, with the transactions with Russia, it has gradually developed astonishingly, and even some unimportant steel production data have become the objects of the transactions.

For sensitive matters, there was no room for negotiation. After all, John didn't want to cause trouble for himself. He just wanted to obtain useful research data and results during the period when the Russians were collapsing. After all, the Russians were very powerful in the development of heavy industry, and even a small amount of gains from them would be of vital importance to his own development.

The petrochemical industry, steel, smelting, and so on all provide John with the necessary materials. The sale of a lot of steel is accompanied by the sale of these research and development materials, which has enabled John to develop rapidly in the steel industry. The same is true for the petrochemical industry, since the Russians have enormous resources and an unimaginable foundation in the petrochemical industry.

Needless to say, in the field of smelting, some civilian research was neglected and fell into John's hands in one transaction after another, into the hands of Western Energy and Quantum Mining, which accelerated the development of the two companies and strengthened their foundation, especially in the petrochemical field, where there has been amazing development in a short period of time!
(End of this chapter)