Great warships

Chapter 1196: No Way to Compare with the East
"The mission I came to Africa to carry out is codenamed Grassland Fire. The goal of this mission is to spread civil unrest throughout Egypt, because this country is developing and growing, and we don't want to see a prosperous and strong Africa..."

The video quickly spread all over the world. Everyone was shocked when they saw it. Is this true?
The Americans couldn't sit still anymore, and someone immediately came out to refute the rumor.

"This is a complete slander. We have no idea who Bennett is. This is absolutely slander! We would never do such a thing!"

Of course they can’t admit it. If they admit it, their image will be completely ruined!
The Americans had just come out to refute the rumor when the second video came out.

"There are a total of 418 people carrying out this mission. They are distributed all over the country to help train various local organizations. We have also established five arsenals with a large amount of weapons and equipment... Now, let's play the video of these organizations being attacked."

Can we continue to dispel rumors this time?
At the same time as the first video was released, all the local organization camps throughout Egypt were destroyed in an instant. Their intelligence was so accurate that those people had no time to escape. American advisers were also arrested. So many people, are they all slandered? Especially, two of them have appeared in public.

In addition to the arsenal, those automatic rifles and rifle grenades that were discarded by the US military all represent the origin of the mastermind behind the scenes!
Now let's see how they deny it.

Just when the Americans didn't know what to explain, Qin Tao, Vitalia and others had already arrived near the capital of Egypt, where they met important figures who had come out of the capital.

"Thank you, President Qin, thank you, Wana. Without you, our government might have been overthrown. Thanks to you for seeing through their conspiracy in advance!"

"We just happened to meet you, but if this happens for the first time, it will happen a second time and a third time, and we in Wana will not help you again and again," said Vitalia.

"Yes, you can't rely on others, you can only rely on yourself." Qin Tao said: "You should show more sincerity."

"We want to invite Wana to train our army like other countries do, so that if we encounter similar situations in the future, we can deal with those people ourselves."

"Okay, of course I'm willing to help."

Whoever becomes the instructor will have the power of command. It can be said that this country with the second largest population will have to work in the same boat with Vana in the future.

Vana's roots in Africa have become deeper.

"Boss Qin, we also want to purchase some advanced weapons, especially fighter jets."

"Of course there is no problem with this. Our advanced fourth-generation stealth aircraft is prepared for all customers. It doesn't matter if you don't have money. We have a package of projects to make weak countries strong armies."

"Dongfang is our best friend. We feel very relieved to let you mine the minerals."

"Okay, then we'll have a pleasant cooperation in the future."

Therefore, several mines in Egypt were handed over to Mingzhou Group. Although they were not treasures like gold mines and diamond mines, Qin Tao would not despise even iron ores and copper mines.

Moreover, there is no need to worry about safety issues, after all, we have Wana to protect us.

Passing through Egypt, we entered the Soviet Union, a place that has been plagued by wars for many years, making it a place where Vana could thrive.

"There is a lot of oil here, but it cannot be transported out, so we have organized a special transport fleet. When we completely control this place, we can also build an oil pipeline. Pipelines are more convenient."

"When you deal in high-value minerals, such as gold and diamonds, long-distance transportation is most suitable, but I don't think oil transportation is reliable."

Hearing Qin Tao's words, Vitalia was very curious: "Then what should we do?"

"Build an oil refinery, refine the oil here, and then sell it to the whole of Africa. You can produce and sell your own products. In this way, you can develop Africa's economy and gain a good reputation."

"Building an oil refinery costs a lot of money." Vitalia said that she is good at destruction but not construction.

"That's because you haven't seen us in the East. In Dongshan Province, there are many small refineries, and even underground workshops can refine oil. If there is no petroleum, waste plastics will do. As long as you can smelt it, it doesn't matter if the quality is poor. Anyway, there is no environmental protection here."

The main means of transportation in Africa is bicycles, but there are also cars. Vitalia's mechanized troops also need fuel, so it is just right for them to refine it for their own use.

"Okay." Vitalia nodded.

Qin Tao went west all the way, walking and sightseeing, which was a rare journey. In the Red Sea, everything was proceeding in a tense and orderly manner.

The port base has begun to take shape. In fact, after the first garrison troops arrived, the base was already firmly under control. The next step is to continue construction. Various buildings are being built rapidly and the port has begun to be expanded. This bustling construction scene shows the speed of the East.

075 amphibious assault ship on the Red Sea.

"Attention, prepare to recover the drone."

Following this order, the deck became busy again, and the entire deck on the left was cleared to make room for carrier-based aircraft to land.

A slight buzzing sound was heard in the distance, and the outline of the drone gradually became clear.

"We flew for forty hours straight before coming back. This is the advantage of drones." On the island, Zhang Yu looked towards the deck with emotion on his face.

If you are on a manned aircraft, it is very uncomfortable after four hours, and you will have to wear diapers for six or seven hours. If it is longer, you need a strong will to accept it.

However, it doesn’t matter for drones. There is no man on board, and the endurance is only related to the amount of fuel it carries. It can fly for forty hours before coming down, which is equivalent to sending ten fighter jets, and the cost-effectiveness is quite high.

The captain of the carrier-based aircraft wing had a complicated look. Will they really be replaced by drones in the future?

The difficult landing is not a problem for drones!
With the help of a high-precision landing assistance system, the drone gradually approached the deck and finally landed lightly. At the moment the wheels touched the deck, the torque of the tail propeller began to change from forward propeller to reverse propeller, from providing backward thrust to forward resistance. Combined with the effect of the brakes, the drone stopped steadily at a distance of more than 100 meters.

If it's a jet, it really can't be stopped.

After the drone came to a complete stop, it turned off its engine, and the refueler ran over dragging the refueling hose. Compared to fighter jets that often require several tons or even dozens of tons of fuel, this small drone only needs 165 kilograms of fuel. It can be filled up in just one minute by just stuffing the refueling hose in.

Other technicians checked the various conditions of the drone. Ten minutes later, the drone aimed at the center line of the runway, started the engine again, and flew out.

Not only does it have strong endurance, it also has strong ability to be deployed repeatedly!

Ordinary fighter planes need to be maintained after flying in the sky. The simplest maintenance is to refuel and load bombs, and they can continue flying after a visual inspection. However, after flying a few times, they have to be carefully inspected. When the flight time is up, the engine needs to be overhauled and replaced, which will take longer.

On average, it will be measured by the number of maintenance hours required for every hour of flight. In the previous second-generation aircraft era, it took more than fifty hours or even a hundred hours to maintain. In the third-generation aircraft era, it has been reduced to twenty or thirty hours, which is already very good.

But what about drones?
Without people, there are no equipment to provide protection, which consumes a lot of resources. Before the breakthrough of molecular sieve oxygen production technology, fighter planes had oxygen cylinders, which had to be refilled every time they came back. Even with molecular sieve technology, it depends on whether this thing works well. It might not work and suffocate the pilot.

The maintenance of the cockpit alone would consume a huge amount of resources, but now that is no longer necessary.

Another important point is the engine. The life of aircraft engines is quite short. Even if the United States has advanced technology, the F22 engine is said to have a life of 6800 hours. It still needs to be overhauled every one or two thousand hours. After two or three overhauls, the entire engine parts are probably replaced.

As for ordinary engines, it is common to overhaul every two or three hundred hours. However, this drone uses a piston engine, which is very mature. To put it more impressively, it is possible to go 100,000 hours without overhaul. There is no need for maintenance at ordinary times, and at most you just need to be careful about faults such as carbon deposits in the cylinder.

So, after this drone comes back, it will be refueled and checked, and then it can take off again, working tirelessly and diligently like a workhorse.

Watching the drone fly back into the sky, the captain of the carrier-based aircraft wing had mixed feelings. Perhaps he really wouldn't need to fly in the future. This drone was so powerful, why would he need ordinary carrier-based aircraft!
The one in front of us is just a reconnaissance type. There are also attack types, and some are even stealth attack aircraft with the same flying wing layout as the B2. Our drone technology is really amazing!
Not only did he see it, many other people saw it too.

Since we have come to the Red Sea, we are sure to encounter the navy of the big dog, not to mention that their navy took the initiative and sent a 052 to greet them. At this time, this export version of the Aegis ship was sailing nearby, watching the drone land and take off, it was a shock.

"Reporting to the superiors, we have seen a very unique ship-borne drone in the East! We can equip our aircraft carriers in large quantities in the future. Yes, it should also be installed on the two amphibious assault ships of the Egyptian Navy!"

The news quickly spread to the capital.

After hearing this, Salman's eyes widened. "What? It can be operated on an amphibious assault ship, and no additional equipment is needed for launching and recovering? We certainly need such an advanced drone! Yes, we also hope that it can be exported to our production line. We want to produce it ourselves. Contact Mingzhou Group for me. I want to talk to President Qin!"

After sending the message, the answer he got made him a little frustrated: No, Mr. Qin is not here!
"Boss Qin must have something to do, otherwise he would never miss the meeting. Could it be that Boss Qin didn't mention it in Ji?" Salman pondered for a moment and said, "Forget it. Boss Qin's safety is important. Since he doesn't want to talk about it, I won't force him. I'll talk to him when he has time."

The Americans also got the news and they were a little shocked.

Even if it is a drone, it is still an airplane. It is not easy to land on the narrow deck of an aircraft carrier!

"This shows that the East has an advanced landing aid system that can be fully automatically operated. Since it can be used on drones, their fighter jets can definitely use it! It will be easier to train their carrier-based aircraft pilots. Damn it, we haven't developed a similar system yet!"

"Yes, our Ford-class aircraft carriers must use a similar system. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit pilots for naval carrier-based aircraft, and the quality of pilots has also declined seriously. If we have such a system, it can greatly reduce the difficulty of pilot training."

"Strangely enough, we are starting to be short of naval pilots."

"I heard that many people are talking about the inevitable war between us, and our weapons and equipment are poor, so many people are unwilling to die. Not only is no one willing to report, but even the existing pilots want to resign and fly passenger planes."

"Damn it! How can our equipment be so bad? We have the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world!"

Newport News Shipyard, Virginia.

This was originally the largest private shipyard in the United States and the world, but in 01, it was acquired by the military giant Northrop Grumman. No matter who the owner is, it will not change the current status of this shipyard.

It is the only shipyard in the United States capable of designing, manufacturing and repairing nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and it builds almost 80 percent of the U.S. Navy's warships.

In one of the shipyards, the Ford-class aircraft carrier, which is regarded by the US military as a symbol of its reshaping strength, is being built.

The keel has been completely laid, the lower layer has been welded, and the welded part now is the outer floating part of the hull, which is enough to show the strength of this shipyard.

In an era when the shipbuilding industry in various countries around the world has popularized segmented construction, the US shipbuilding industry is still using the most common tower construction method, starting from the keel below and welding upwards little by little. This method is like building a pagoda on land, step by step, and nothing new.

But the key is safety. What if the segmentation error is large and the connection cannot be made? Anyway, they are already used to this construction method, so they take their time and do it bit by bit.

Michael Land, head of a naval agency specifically responsible for equipment projects, could no longer sit still and personally came to the Newport News Shipyard to supervise.

"Mr. Land, please rest assured. We have mobilized the most skilled workers to build this aircraft carrier. The deck part will be built in another year. The aircraft carrier will be launched in two years at most, and the outfitting will take another two to four years..." said Rolf Barthes, project manager of the USS Ford, in the shipyard.

At this rate, the sea trials will take another two years, and the aircraft carrier will take ten years to complete! Look at Dongfang, it took less than ten years from 001 to 003! Not to mention that according to intelligence, Dongfang will build two 003 aircraft carriers at the same time. It is estimated that the two newly built aircraft carriers will be put into service, and their Ford is still in sea trials.

"Our construction time is twice as long as that of the Orientals. How do you explain this?" Rand asked seriously.

"It's not our fault. We have been building according to the scheduled plan. Moreover, we used computer-aided design on the Ford, which allowed us to accurately simulate every detail during the design phase and solve the problem of manufacturing sequence. We have tried our best. This is the fastest new aircraft carrier we have ever built." Barthes said he could not accept such criticism.

They are also working on it, they have all started using computer-aided design!

The previous class of aircraft carriers to the Ford class was the Nimitz class, which appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, there was no computer-aided design. This type of aircraft carrier was built for decades. Only now is it the turn of new aircraft carriers, and computer-aided design has begun. In the East, this technology has long been used.

"You would rather compare yourself with yourself decades ago than with the current Oriental Mingzhou Group?"

"There's no comparison." Bartz shook his head. "They use automated equipment from the moment they cut the steel plates. When the steel plates are put in, the corresponding parts come out. When they are put on the slipway or dock for construction, they can also use automated welding equipment. We don't have the corresponding equipment, so how can we be faster than them?"

Can't compare? This is even more incomparable! Rand had the urge to curse, what do you mean, isn't this self-degradation?

"If the Orientals have it, why can't we have it? We can use these devices too!"

"Then we have to develop it. Since the Orientals won't sell it, the Navy needs to allocate 2 billion to us. We expect to develop it within five years."

Two billion? What a joke! The Ford-class aircraft carrier has already been overspent a lot, and the Navy can only accept it with gritted teeth. Now they want more funds? This is impossible, absolutely impossible!
"In fact, we have not delayed the progress at all. What really delayed the progress is the electromagnetic arresting and electromagnetic catapult systems. So far, we still have not received the detailed design drawings of these systems, so we can only reserve space. If we still cannot obtain the relevant products after the aircraft carrier sea trial, I think we may install the steam catapult and conventional hydraulic arresting cable first."

"What a joke!" Rand said with an ugly face: "Eastern aircraft carriers have already used these technologies. If we still use the old things, we will be laughed at for the difference between modern high-speed electric locomotives and outdated steam locomotives!"

Rand was very angry. It was bad enough that they were behind schedule. If they still used the old equipment, wouldn't the world's number one aircraft carrier be snatched away by the Orientals?
We not only need electromagnetic catapults and electromagnetic interception, even an elevator must have an electromagnetic system!

At this moment, thick black smoke suddenly rose from the dock.

"Damn it, what's going on? How could it catch fire? Hurry, put out the fire!" Barthes was completely shocked. They were the largest shipyard in the world and had built many aircraft carriers. At its peak, there were six nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in their shipyard at the same time.

This is the first time that an aircraft carrier under construction has caught fire. It has never happened before!
(End of this chapter)