Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 90 Joint development of new warships?
The Ministry of National Defense of the Netherlands and Sweden stated at a press conference that the Netherlands and Sweden have signed a memorandum to determine that the two countries will jointly cooperate in the research and development of new warships and other maritime technology fields in the next five years.
The project is scheduled to start next month, with the Netherlands contributing a design proposal and Sweden contributing N500 million (£20) for the project's early demonstrative development.

The location was chosen within the Amsterdam military port.

According to Swedish military sources, in the field of cooperation between the Netherlands and Sweden, the research and development of new warships can be called a flagship project.

According to them, this new warship will try to introduce the cannons from the company where the Nobel family belongs in terms of loading artillery, and the artillery mode is different from that of all current warships. Not to mention subversive, at least it is an epoch-making change.

According to the Swedish military, the development cost will be very high, but the kings of both countries are very insistent, and the Congress has passed the cooperation plan.

Therefore, the two countries are very "hardworking" in cooperation.

As the two countries get closer, there is a lot of talk from the outside world.

An officer of the British Navy who did not want to be named said that taking the opportunity to jointly develop next-generation naval ships, the cooperation between the Netherlands and Sweden has reached a level reached by all allies, which sets a model for other alliances.

This is something very new, but very dangerous for the UK.

Because in the past, Britain's financial resources and navy were enough to intimidate other countries and voluntarily give way to Britain's maritime supremacy.

However, if this model in the Netherlands and Sweden prevails, the cost will be greatly reduced.

The value gained is not the same as the British independent research and development and construction. This is an unequal competition in terms of investment ratio.

After all, R&D costs are almost the same. If shared by one country and shared by two countries, the cost difference is very large, and it will also save finances in disguise.

Therefore their cooperation is quite unthinkable.

It was a devastating blow to Britain's lead.

The Dutch military said that this project has been around for a long time, but it has just been made public, and it hopes that the outside world will not read too much into it.

Moreover, it will be difficult to succeed within 5 to 10 years before this new warship comes out and forms a military force.

They also mentioned that designing the warship is a very ambitious project, so it is crucial to join forces with like-minded partners. Based on the complementary technological and industrial strengths of the Netherlands and Sweden, they are also different from today's combat system and will will jointly explore the next generation of new naval combat technologies.

They said that various new services and equipment will be developed in joint operations to deal with threats encountered by the Netherlands and Sweden.

Herman Van Peiron, a political expert at "European Times" and dean of the School of Political Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands, believes that it is not surprising that the Netherlands and Sweden will jointly develop next-generation warships and other related technologies, and even jointly develop future warships.

As a true steam ironclad battleship, the current development difficulty and funding requirements are very high.

At present, only the British Empire and the French Empire have the relevant technology and construction products in the late 50s, and even their total number is only two or three single-digit ships.

Even the United States is said to be under construction in other countries, but the tonnage is very small, not enough to be recognized as having this capability.

The Three Kingdoms barely managed to survive a year, and the rate of launching at most one ship was slowly increasing.

Now these countries are just trying their best to do it.

Therefore, due to technical and financial constraints, it is difficult for medium-sized countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden to undertake it independently.

At this time, this joint action between the two countries, with the Netherlands and Sweden each devoting their resources to joint development and manufacturing, is very reasonable.

This is the way forward for middle-sized countries.

And the most important thing is that unlike Sweden, which lacks experience in independently developing contemporary warships, the Netherlands has been a maritime power and shipbuilding power for the past three or four centuries. It can be said that it is a complementary strategy. After all, Swedish steel, especially the special steel area No. [-] in the world.In addition, this joint development and production model will definitely have the desired effect, unless the two countries do not sincerely cooperate, because the Netherlands now possesses first-class battleships and high-end shipbuilding technology mastered by at least five or six countries in the world.

Therefore, the worst one will probably be stronger than the current first-class sailing battleships. This will undoubtedly be a huge gain for Sweden.

This is a disguised transfer of first-class sailing battleship technology from the Netherlands to the Swedish Navy, making Sweden suddenly a major shipbuilding country.

The Netherlands may target Sweden's cutting-edge steel-making technology and steel output.

Sweden is interested in the Netherlands' shipbuilding technology and capital strength.

Both parties get what they need, and if they cooperate well, both parties will gain.

Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the two parties sincerely cooperate and whether they will use their financial resources to promote cooperation. Therefore, Herman Van Peron believes that this joint move between the Netherlands and Sweden may be a test for subsequent cooperation.

If the cooperation is good, he feels that the two countries may conduct more "friendship-like" joint actions in the struggle for colonial hegemony around the world.

The influence of the economic and military alliance between the Netherlands and Sweden is huge.

Even in Europe, it is an earthquake level.

Needless to say, the Netherlands is not only involved in all the recent major events in Europe, but at least most of them involve their interests.

Many people are becoming more and more aware of the Netherlands' positioning to rise again.

Coupled with a powerful navy that is not weaker than that of first-class countries, it can be said that the Netherlands has established the influence of not being a first-class country, but having the influence of a first-class country.

It is a top country among medium-sized countries.

This is also the reason why the Three Kingdoms Agreement was established. Napoleon III of the French Empire and William I of the Kingdom of Prussia did not dare to look down on the Netherlands.

Sweden, like the Netherlands, also has a glorious history.

The master of Northern Europe defeated Tsarist Russia many times.

However, as Tsarist Russia expanded its southern territory and its population increased, Tsarist Russia eventually counterattacked Sweden, defeating Sweden many times at the end of the 18th century. In the early 19th century, in 1809, after defeating Sweden, it directly took away Finland from Sweden, forming a Now, except for the north, other places are facing each other across the sea. The two countries have been quiet for more than 50 years.

However, after capturing Norway from Denmark in 1815, Sweden not only recovered its strength, but also became geographically safer.

The military service method of all citizens enables Sweden to fight more than one million soldiers, not counting Norway.

Therefore, all European countries have tacitly stated that they have never wanted to take advantage of Sweden. Even the current imperial power of the Russian Empire, including Nicholas I, Alexander I, and Alexander II, has never been revealed. thought so.

Because Sweden is too strong.

Therefore, the establishment of the combination of the Netherlands and Sweden has made major countries show a cautious and cautious attitude towards the Netherlands.

Because of the combination of the two countries, the military threat is no weaker than that of any empire.

So much so that William IV proudly said to his ministers: "From now on, we can do many things that we could not do before."

Chapter 2

(End of this chapter)