industrial overlord

Chapter 428 Machine tools embargoed in Batumi

Lin Zhenhua also asked Liu Xianghai about the Chinese aircraft carrier in the past, but every time Liu Xianghai smiled slightly and replied "sooner or later there will be".Liu Xianghai and Lin Zhenhua are friends in need, but Liu Xianghai will not say a word when it comes to issues involving national core secrets.

As a young man who traveled back from the 21st century, Lin Zhenhua has always had a very strong dream of an aircraft carrier in his heart.He has expressed to Liu Xianghai countless times that if the country wants to build an aircraft carrier, he is willing to provide support with all his resources.Of course, having said that, he also knows that building an aircraft carrier cannot be controlled by people of his level, nor can it be solved by relying on his support alone.

An aircraft carrier is a symbol of a country's naval strength, but also a symbol of a country's industrial strength.The technologies involved in building an aircraft carrier cover almost every field of industry.Communication and radar systems are related to the electronics industry, carrier-based aircraft is related to the aviation industry, propulsion and power systems are related to the nuclear industry and electromechanical industry, and marine steel plates are related to the metallurgical industry, not to mention the requirements of the construction process for the shipbuilding industry.

To give an example, there is a vital piece of equipment on an aircraft carrier called a steam catapult.Its function is to eject the aircraft that is taking off like a slingshot, so that it can accelerate to take-off speed in a short distance.It is such a device, even in the first 21 years of the 10st century, only the United States can manufacture it in the world.The reason is that the process requirements are too harsh, and almost all the cutting-edge technologies in the industry are involved.

The steam catapult needs a large boiler to generate and store steam. This boiler must be able to withstand high pressure much higher than ordinary boilers, and has extremely high requirements for steel and welding technology.Below the ejection track is a piston cylinder. High-pressure steam drives the piston to run at high speed in the cylinder. The aircraft to be taken off hangs on the piston and is ejected.The inner wall of the piston cylinder must be very smooth, and at the same time, it must be guaranteed to work continuously under high temperature and high pressure without wear and tear, which involves the technical problems of precision machining.

In addition, there is also the problem of sealing the cylinder. The sealing technology used must not only meet the requirements of high-speed movement of the piston, but also avoid the leakage of steam. The technical difficulty is astonishingly high. There is no really satisfactory solution.

As a major aircraft carrier country, the Soviet Union failed to make breakthroughs in steam catapult technology.Therefore, the aircraft carriers of the former Soviet Union have always adopted the ski-jump take-off technology, that is, the flight deck is tilted upward at an angle. In this way, when the aircraft rushes out of the deck, there is an upward elevation angle, which can make up for the lift caused by the lack of take-off speed. Insufficient problem.The disadvantage of ski jump takeoff is that it cannot meet the requirements for heavy aircraft takeoff, which makes the aircraft carriers of the former Soviet Union slightly inferior to those of the United States.

The Soviet Union, which has such a solid heavy industry foundation, still has so many unresolved technical problems in the construction of aircraft carriers, let alone China, which has a weak industrial foundation?

Because of so many difficulties, although the Chinese military has been discussing the issue of building an aircraft carrier, it has been unable to approve the project.The Naval Research Institute where Liu Xianghai works is naturally the most active department in building aircraft carriers, but what they can do is to silently collect some information and wait for the final decision of the top management.

Time entered the 20s, the end of the Sino-US honeymoon period, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union prompted China's top leaders to seriously examine the international situation facing China.Although China was implementing the strategy of "keeping a low profile and never showing up" proposed by Comrade Deng Xiaoping at that time, trying to avoid getting involved in international disputes, the senior leaders knew in their hearts that if China did not rise, it would be fine. Contradictions among countries, without a strong national defense force, it will be difficult to protect China's national interests.

Under such circumstances, several major projects aimed at comprehensively improving national defense capabilities have been quietly launched. These projects involve various battlefields in the sea, land, air and space, and the project cycle is as short as a few years and as long as decades.Some projects can quickly form combat effectiveness, while others need to be accumulated little by little, and will not be effective until 10 or 20 years later.In terms of the defense industry, it is quite normal to sharpen a sword for ten years.

The aircraft carrier project code-named 998 was officially launched at this time. As the first generation of naval military technical personnel trained by New China, Liu Xianghai was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the 998 project.This is the first time Lin Zhenhua has heard of his appointment.

"This old Liu is so tight-lipped. He didn't show any wind on the phone. If it wasn't for your friend, Director Chang, who told me the news, I'm afraid I'm still in the dark." Lin Zhenhua laughed Complained to Chang Qingbo.

Chang Qingbo said: "Boss Lin, you misunderstood Vice President Liu. The reason why he didn't tell you is because you have been in Japan for a while, and it is inconvenient for him to tell you about this matter during the long distance across the ocean. Yes. When I came to Japan this time, he specially told me to tell you about it when I see you."

"That's about the same." Lin Zhenhua pretended to be wronged and comforted. In fact, he also knew the reason why Liu Xianghai didn't tell him about it on the phone, he just wanted to make a gesture.

"Director Chang, you said that the purpose of your coming to Japan this time is for the 998 project. You don't mean to inform me about Vice President Liu's promotion?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

Chang Qingbo said: "Boss Lin, who do you think we are? Of course I have a very important job to do when I come to Japan this time, and I must ask you, the big boss, to help me with this matter."

Lin Zhenhua patted his chest and said: "Director Chang, tell me, as long as it is for the needs of the aircraft carrier project, we will spare no effort in whatever we can help."

Lin Zhenhua's statement is not hypocritical. The aircraft carrier is a sharp weapon of the country, and its importance is not comparable to that of a small Hanhua Heavy Industry.Anyway, Lin Zhenhua can be regarded as a passionate and angry youth. In this kind of matter, he definitely puts the national interest first.

Chang Qingbo pointed to the five-axis machining center he was inspecting just now, and said to Lin Zhenhua: "Mr. Lin, I am here this time to get some high-precision machine tools from you. The 998 project involves a lot of precision machining. This type of machine tool is needed for the job.”

Lin Zhenhua looked back, frowned, and said, "Director Chang, this matter is a bit difficult. The Japanese side forbids us to move the machine tool you fancy out of the country. This is a machine tool that is embargoed in Batumi." , we can use it in Japan, but we cannot ship it back to China. This point was clearly stipulated when the Japanese government approved our acquisition agreement."

The notorious Batumi, officially known as the "Coordinating Committee for Export Control to Communist Countries", was named "Batumi" because it was headquartered in the US Embassy in Paris.This organization was originally a product of the Cold War, nominally serving the confrontation between East and West.However, now that the Cold War is over, Western countries have not canceled Batumi.The so-called new idea of ​​world unity is just wishful thinking of literati like Gorbachev. Who would take it seriously by politicians in Western countries?

Batumi has a so-called "international safety list", which stipulates that a series of high-tech products are prohibited from being exported to communist countries.In the factory of Nihong Heavy Industry, some machine tools are included in the Batumi embargo list.When Hanhua Heavy Industry acquired Nihong Heavy Industry, the Japanese government proposed that these machine tools could not be included in the scope of acquisition and should be recovered by the government alone.In this regard, Hanhua Heavy Industry resolutely opposed it, and pointed out that these machine tools are part of the core competitiveness of Nihong Heavy Industry. If these machine tools are removed, Nihong Heavy Industry will have no value for acquisition.

After several twists and turns, the Japanese government finally agreed that Hanhua Heavy Industries could purchase these machine tools, but these machine tools could only be used in Japan and could not be shipped to China along with other equipment of the Nihong factory.If Hanhua Heavy Industries needs to use these machine tools for processing, it can only be done in Japan, which prevents such equipment from falling into the hands of the Chinese military.

In order to ensure that Hanhua Heavy Industries will not secretly transport these equipment away, the two parties also specially signed a regular report agreement, stipulating that supervisors from the Japanese government can regularly go to the Nihong factory acquired by Hanhua to check whether the equipment is It still exists. If these devices are smuggled out of the country, Hanhua will be held legally responsible.

Regarding this clause in the contract, Lin Zhenhua is very clear, and Long Wanli also knows it.Therefore, when Chang Qingbo asked for these devices, Lin Zhenhua showed embarrassment.

Chang Qingbo said: "Mr. Lin, Director Long has already told me about the situation you mentioned, so I went to Japan to find you. You should know that these equipments are very important to China. .We have always wanted to get them, but no machine tool company dared to sell us. Now that you have ready-made equipment, can't we find a way to get them back?"

Lin Zhenhua said with a bitter face: "Director Chang, do you think I don't want to take them back? The point is, we have an agreement with the Japanese government, and they will come to check every once in a while. If these devices are gone, we will enter The Japanese government is on the blacklist. For such a few devices, Hanhua will lose the overseas market from now on, isn’t the price a bit too high?”

Chang Qingbo said: "That's natural. Vice President Liu also specifically told me not to let Hanhua suffer the loss of reputation. If we can't get the equipment, we can find a way. Hanhua is a powerful big company. If an enterprise ruins its reputation, the loss will be too great."

"Hehe, it seems that Lao Liu still has a little conscience." Lin Zhenhua said cheerfully, "In this case, is Director Chang's trip for nothing? But it doesn't have to be for nothing. You can find out what equipment is here. If there is anything to be processed in the future, it can be processed in Japan."

(End of this chapter)