"The machines are in pretty good condition; the damage isn't severe."
After inspecting each A-29 with a flashlight, Xia Yu said with satisfaction.
Once the Americans have all withdrawn, the wings of these toucans can be removed, and an An-124 can take away these 15 propeller-driven attack aircraft in one sortie.
"My mission is now complete, but before I leave, I'll give you one more piece of information: there might be some good stuff from the Army in hangar B4."
Jonathan began to speak.
He's taking a flight away from Afuhan tomorrow night, probably because he had a good working relationship with Xia Yu, and he mentioned him again.
There was no way around it; after twenty years of accumulation, the US military had left behind too much material and equipment, some valuable and some worthless.
It would take several months for the Firepower Defense to conduct a complete inventory, but their time is very limited. Once Tata takes over Kabul, they will have to exchange services for it if they want to take it back.
Therefore, heavy and bulky cars have the lowest cost-performance ratio; prioritize those that are more valuable.
For example, the various types of aircraft among the large items, and the smaller items... It's a pity that all the AGM-114 Hellfires were taken to Sutter, otherwise Old Joe would have liked to bring his colleagues along to make another fortune.
"Hangar B4, I understand. Please accept this."
Xia Yu took out a 1kg piece of local specialty product that had just been printed and stuffed it into Jonathan's hand.
"This one, this one, when you come to New York, you must come and see me, let's have a good drink together."
Upon realizing what it was, Old Joe quickly raised his other hand and gestured towards the wine glass.
“We can get together in Seattle sometime. My branch office is there, and Shad is coming too.”
Xia Yu turned around and called out to Xiao Youzi halfway through his sentence.
"They're here."
"This guy is the curator of the FHC Museum. Quickly give Uncle Jonathan a lifetime ticket. With this card, he can bring his whole family to play."
Little Yuzu handed Old Joe a titanium alloy card, like handing out business cards.
As the curator, he always carried seven or eight of these lifetime tickets with him, and he would give them to whomever his father decided.
Jonathan is a brigadier general now, but he's young and has experience in Afghanistan. He's guaranteed to retire as a major general, just like Tom. So this relationship still needs to be cultivated.
"Wow, it turns out our little Xia De is a curator. It's an honor for us. I'll take my wife and kids to Seattle sometime."
Old Joe smiled as he accepted the lifetime pass from Little Yuzu.
The curator's son is also the curator. This family is quite interesting. It just so happens that he also wants to make good use of this connection, after all, his salary and pension are only a few dollars!
After seeing Old Joe off the following evening, the whole family boarded the Sherlock again and took a nap before landing at dawn.
After breakfast, Liv and Charlotte, along with the three of them, arrived at hangar B4 in a 2016 Polaris MRZR-D4 special operations assault vehicle.
These light all-terrain tactical vehicles (ATVs) are relatively inexpensive, costing less than $20,000 each. There were dozens at the airport, but the Americans didn't take any of them; they figured they could just buy new ones later.
Xia Yu drove the car directly into the B4 hangar, pulled the power switch, and several lights illuminated the spacious but crammed interior of the hangar.
Old Joe said this place is all Army stuff, so what kind of stuff could the Army have?
"Dad, look! There's a little car over there."
The sharp-eyed little pomelo spotted half of the track that was exposed.
Could it be an M1A2 main battle tank?
Ten years ago, the Americans did deploy Abrams in Afghanistan, and later borrowed Leopard 2A6Ms from Canada. But in the last two years, they have only deployed wheeled platforms, so it is impossible for main battle tanks to appear in the B4 hangar.
The exposed tracks belong to a Talon 4 bomb disposal robot, probably because the tracked platform is equipped with a robotic arm; the codename "Claw" is quite fitting.
It's just that it's from a long time ago. It entered service in the US military before the Americans got involved in Afghanistan. It seems that a few years later, they even launched the Talon 5, which was much more expensive than the Polaris he was driving.
However, this model can be equipped with a combat module, allowing it to use machine guns and grenade launchers for unmanned combat.
Of course, bomb disposal is its primary function, but it can also be used for battlefield evacuation as a side job. Its 340-kilogram towing capacity can drag wounded soldiers away from dangerous areas.
Xia Yu walked over and lifted the plastic sheet covering the dust, revealing an even larger number of bomb disposal robots behind it.
"Six Talon 4s and three Talon 5s? Do you want to play with remote-controlled cars?"
He turned to Shad and Charles and asked.
"think!"
The two brothers replied in unison that no boy could resist such a remote-controlled tracked vehicle. The bomb disposal robot, which was worth tens of thousands of dollars many years ago, looked even better than a toy excavator worth a few thousand RMB.
But they are also more difficult to please. Even with their father as a help, it would take the two brothers at least half a year to figure things out.
So, is this the good stuff Old Joe was talking about?
But even all nine bomb disposal robots combined aren't worth a million!
Leaving his two sons behind to study the Talon 4 and Talon 5, Xia Yu picked up a crowbar and continued exploring deeper into the hangar.
He casually pried open the wooden frame of a tray, revealing boxes of ammunition stacked inside, each marked with the number "5.56mm".
Oh, these are bullets. A tray full of 5.56mm ammunition like this could probably fetch a good price in the civilian market. But military surplus ammunition is more powerful than factory-made ammunition.
However, the 5.56mm caliber is rarely used in concentrated fire defense. Xia Yu recovered the ammunition along with the box, and will print full-power ammunition when he gets back.
But bullets aren't worth much in Afghan.
He opened several trays and found they were full of bullets of various calibers. It wasn't until Xia Yu went to the innermost part and saw the stacks against the wall that he realized those were no longer bullets.
Upon opening it, I found that the contents were much more valuable than bullets.
"This is a switchblade-300."
Xia Yu had learned about this loitering munition a long time ago, but he never had the chance to see the real thing. Little did he know that the Americans had abandoned it in Afghanistan and couldn't care less about it.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. This thing only costs $6,000 per shot, which is equivalent to only 3 Hydra rockets.
In their eyes, only weapons costing over ten thousand yuan are worthy of being taken away; individual weapons costing a few thousand yuan are worthless.
But considering that the AT-4 was on the same flight as apkwsii, and whether it was destroyed or not, it was probably accidentally missed due to chaotic management!
With time running out and the mission being demanding, involving multiple military branches and the evacuation of local residents, it's normal to overlook some things, which Xia Yu happened to pick up.
He immediately began to count the number of these switchblades-300, and found that there were a total of 634.
At a price of $6,000, plus the accompanying flight control system, this batch of loitering munitions is worth about $5 million, but that's the price for the US military's own use.
If sold internationally, even a three-fold increase to 15 million would be a bit low. This is why the Japanese are developing their own loitering munitions instead of making do with a batch of Javelin missiles as a temporary solution. As a professional anti-armor and anti-personnel man-portable weapon, it's normal for it to be more expensive than a consumer-grade drone they've modified, but it shouldn't be that pricey!
In conclusion, Xia Yu does not plan to export this batch of Spring Knife-300s; they are well-suited for long-range firepower supplementation for FPV self-destruct drones.
But 10 kilometers is still a bit short. He thinks that the image transmission control of the racing drone can be iterated to this distance soon, and by then the 634 shots will be almost used up!
Apply the Firepower Defense seal to the trays of these Switchblade-300s, and once the Americans have evacuated, Xia Yu will prioritize their evacuation from Afghanistan.
Over the next few days, he continued to open the hangar treasure chests with his sons, but all they found were printers, electronic waste discarded over the past 20 years, brand-new and semi-new camouflage uniforms, carrying equipment, bulletproof vests... The harvest was not as plentiful as that of B4.
It wasn't until Xia Yu opened a diamond treasure chest in hangar C2 that things changed.
"Honey, guess what I found with Little Yuzu, Ciel, and I?"
Looking at the Scan Eagle in the engineering plastic box in front of him, Xia Yu turned on his walkie-talkie and contacted Liv.
"It's a very expensive item."
"These are things that Americans sell to others at very high prices, but I didn't expect that they would give up all of them."
As he spoke, he began to count the number of identical plastic crates. Each crate represented one unit, and there were a total of 15 units here.
Xia Yu clearly remembered that the export price of the Scan Eagle was between 1.6 million and 2.4 million, and the two second-hand Scan Eagles used by Jihuo Defense were obtained at a friendly price of 1 million.
Little did they know that when Afuhan arrived, there were 15 ScanEagle drones available for free.
"Let me check the serial number. It's a brand new shipment from this year. It's probably been in this hangar and never been used."
Because Jihuo Defense was also a ScanEagle user, Xia Yu knew how to read the coded information, and then he was shocked.
That's alright. The order was placed last year, and the equipment was completed and delivered at the beginning of this year. However, the government forces were being pushed back by the Tata, and the US military, in accordance with the agreement, did not engage in direct conflict with the other side. Therefore, the equipment that was bought with their own money for the government forces was naturally useless.
Taking advantage of the fact that there was still internet at the airport, Xia Yu searched online and actually found public information about the contract.
This batch of 15 ScanEagle drones, along with 9 reconnaissance modules and 3 sets of spare parts, is worth a total of $9.769 million. This time, the price wasn't exorbitant.
But if we resell them for 1 million each, someone will definitely be willing to do it, since Jihuo Defense didn't spend a single penny.
"Looks like we made the right choice coming to Afghanistan. The Americans are really great customers!"
Liv said in the encrypted band.
She and Xia Yu initially thought the Germans were wasteful, bringing back huge rocks and beer, but they also brought back every single piece of the Wehrmacht's equipment.
The Americans, on the other hand, abandoned all their mineral water and weapons, and the entire withdrawal process can only be described as chaotic, with all the original plans falling apart.
However, this also benefited Jihuo Defense, who only earned shipping fees from their cooperation with the US military, making a fortune for the Americans.
"The airframes and reconnaissance modules are all fine, but the ground control station has been completely destroyed. Tata can't use these ScanEagles even if they get their hands on them. It seems that these ScanEagles are truly destined for us!"
Xia Yu continued exploring and found three control stations that had been violently destroyed.
He's familiar with this; even if it breaks, it doesn't matter. As long as it's installed on a ship or a truck, the system can be repaired and restored.
But without cheating, it's truly impossible to fix. The physical keys and everything else have been destroyed, so even if the system runs, you can't access the control interface.
In this case, these ScanEagle cameras can only be sold to buyers who have control stations, while they can be sold as a set by Xia Yu.
If they can't sell them all, they can use them themselves. Originally, it was said that the two ScanEagles would be replaced with domestically made ones, but a proper Blue Team has to use foreign military equipment.
"Seal it up, seal it all up for Dad."
Xia Yu directed his two sons to seal the plastic boxes. These scanning eagles also needed to be transported first to avoid any misunderstandings later.
Little Yuzu and Xia Er, standing on their bomb disposal robot, painstakingly affixed the seal.
The two brothers, whose combined age is less than 10, can't even figure out a tracked vehicle, let alone drones; they'll have to go to school to learn.
The father and his two sons were opening treasure chests in the hangar, while the runway outside the hangar was also bustling with activity.
As it is now late August, the evacuation operation has entered its final stage.
The C-17 Globemaster III, originally less capable than the Airbus A380's maximum passenger capacity of 800+, has now seen its transport cabin capacity, previously limited to 500+ passengers, surge to over 800.
In their desperate attempt to escape Kabul and Afghan, these collaborators pushed themselves to the limit, risking everything to squeeze onto what could be the last flight of their kind.
But those who got on the plane were the "lucky ones," while some who hadn't studied much managed to squeeze onto the landing gear of the C-17.
"Oh my god, how did they get up there?"
Just as the Apaches were about to withdraw, and before the Mi-24 Hinds, which were tasked with concentrated fire defense, had even entered the airfield, a dramatic scene unfolded.
The person who climbed onto the landing gear thought he had gotten a ticket to the United States, but he didn't know that he actually had a one-way ticket to hell.
With the powerful thrust of the engine, the C-17 took off, but as soon as it gained altitude, the landing gear began to retract into the cabin.
"Smack!"
The unlucky guy missed and fell straight onto the track.
"These people shouldn't have been put on the runway in the first place; now the whole world probably knows."
"It's not exactly gloating," Xia Yu said regretfully from the client's perspective, "but this person has completely lost face for the American people."
Of course, there was also a heartwarming scene: a mother handed her child to a fully armed soldier.
The reporters quickly grabbed their cameras and captured the relay of life.
This is very much like the American spirit that Americans promote, but without prior planning, even if it's just a show, it can still cause a huge mess.
Without even reporting to his superiors, the soldier simply tossed the swaddled baby into a corner, where it was picked up by a car rental driver.
Xia Yu saw the photo a day later and learned of the child's whereabouts two days later, but this effectively prevented the child from being entrusted to the soldiers.
"Shad, take your younger brother and sister and stay away from those soldiers."
Liv instructed her eldest son.
"Okay, Mom, we'll be right here in the hangar."
Little Yuzu initially thought those guys were no different from her father's employees, but now she realizes there's a big difference.
The high salaries at Jihuo Defense have made the employees accept the strict discipline without complaint, and they now hold themselves to even higher standards than during their service.
Those who understand the soldiers' discipline know it all; don't expect too much.
"Splash splash"
Another C-17 and A340 were about to take off, and two upgraded Hind fighter jets from Jihuo Defense took off to clear the crowd from the runway.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com