After closing the hangar door, Xia Yu finally relaxed. He quickly climbed the gangway and entered the interior of the Little Bird.
The large cargo bay, 18.3 meters long and 4.7 meters in diameter, was packed full of debris. These were remnants left behind after the Buran space shuttle and the Energia M launch vehicle core stage were damaged in an accident, which could be considered as a bonus in this deal.
Nothing else matters, but the most important thing is that there is an RD-0120 hydrogen-oxygen engine inside.
Unlike the old US space shuttle, Soyuz designed the main engines on the Energia to reduce the weight of the space shuttle when it entered orbit. The auxiliary engines on the fuselage were used to adjust the orbital attitude, so after entering the atmosphere, it was more like a large glider.
The RD-0120 is the main engine of the core stage, with a vacuum thrust of 1,862 kN. The RS-25D engine used by the Atlantis at the end only had a thrust of 2,320 kN per engine, which is sufficient for Xia Yu for the time being.
He moved from the cargo hold to the 70-cubic-meter crew cabin in front. The space wasn't cramped. He found a seat, sat down, and turned on the system.
[Project: Бypah1.02]
Completeness: 89.7% (Ready for repair)
The aircraft is in high condition, given its overall completion status. However, due to poor storage conditions, some easily disassembled parts were stolen.
Xia Yu did not prepare it. He planned to wait until the storm had passed before preparing it and transferring it to the cave sub-base. However, he could prepare one MiG-29S first to see how it went.
[Project: mnG-29s]
Completeness: 97.3% (Ready for repair)
This MiG-29s is also in very good condition, with no missing parts. It has just been used more frequently over the past few decades, exceeding 2,500 flight hours.
"Get ready!"
Xia Yu directly selected "Prepare", and the system quickly displayed a progress bar.
[Estimated remaining man-hours for preparation: 36.7]
It will take about a day and a half, so let's just wait patiently!
After spending one night in Bogo village, the next day they took a small antelope to the German air base in Gabon, where they transferred to a twin-engine light tactical transport aircraft, CN-235, and returned to Marie.
These small, Spanish-made aircraft aren't very expensive, but they can't carry much; their 6-ton payload is just a fraction of the C-160's.
Not to mention that it carried a small amount of cargo and was slow, with a cruising speed of less than 250 knots, and it took an afternoon to fly more than 2,000 kilometers.
Xia Yu arrived in Oga in the evening. After the number of orders gradually decreased, Alvin and Wang Kai were both at the airport, since they only flew one flight a week now.
"Many of the Chinese in the camp left after Christmas. I talked to their pilots, and the same thing happened in the previous two years."
Alvin is a master at intelligence gathering; he has figured out the military's deployments over the years. However, the fact remains that extremist groups and armed factions have all chosen to lie low and are unlikely to make any major moves before the rainy season arrives.
Unlike the country, whose land is covered by rainforest and turns into muddy swamps during the rainy season, the rainy season in Mali brings coolness and humidity, making it more acceptable to wage war during this time than during the 50°C heat of the hot season.
"Let's leave it at that for now. When I get back from China, the company may have a short-term deployment plan in Syria. The intensity there is far from enough to rely on armed helicopters alone. We'll have to rely on you guys then."
Xia Yu gave the two a heads-up.
The Grenadier was equipped with Su-24 fighter-bombers, but according to Yevgeny, their tactics mainly involved dropping various unguided high-drag bombs, bombing ground personnel first before they would enter the field.
To be honest, this doesn't really count as a synthesis, especially since iron bombs aren't very effective in urban warfare.
In this situation, precision-guided bombs and missiles are necessary. However, as a rather unconventional PMC company, Kegna also needs to consider revenue issues, and these weapons cannot be used indiscriminately.
Another issue is the power struggle within the country. Even if they have money, they can only get a small share, which is also reflected in the ammunition supply for artillery.
Fortunately, Xia Yu is a human ammunition depot, so Ji Huo Defense doesn't have this problem.
The artillery is a bit of a problem. They only have one TRF1 howitzer, which they captured from the White Hat crew. Because they can't form a numerical advantage, it's generally only used in low-intensity combat.
Equipping more units could control costs, but manpower was definitely not enough, so Xia Yu's options were immediately narrowed down to multiple rocket launchers.
The only drawback of using the fewest people to deliver the most concentrated firepower in the shortest time is that it is uneconomical.
In Afica, you can cut costs however you want without any problem, but it's different in the Middle East. If you don't clear out the rocket launchers first, then they'll be the ones blasting you with them.
Moreover, these are no longer the popular 107mm guerrilla weapons of the past; they have developed 500mm "elephant" rockets, each weighing 400 to 800 kilograms.
Xia Yu could hardly imagine how many bumps would swell up if he were hit on the head by such a rocket, let alone the "Hell" cannon that used a gas cylinder as a warhead.
This is quite vivid. He suddenly remembered a five-story residential building where a gas cylinder exploded on his way to school when he was a child. The tragic scene was like being in a war zone.
"Don't worry, boss. I will definitely eliminate every potential threat and leave them no chance to retaliate."
Alvin said confidently.
The Spyder's air combat performance is indeed lacking, but it remains formidable against ground targets after upgrades.
"I believe you, but what about our C-160s?"
Xia Yu saw an A400M at the airport, but not a single C-160, even though they should have arrived by now.
"We've gone to Niger. The runway at the US military base can accommodate C-160s, but there's no hangar big enough to hold them."
Wang Kai answered from the side.
He takes great care of all the company's planes, whether they are fighter jets or transport planes.
"We really need to build a logistics and maintenance team this time. This kind of big guy is not easy to take care of."
Xia Yu said with emotion.
They can still get freelance work from the French Air Force maintenance crew, but their clients can't always be the French. This is something we need to take seriously in advance.
Of course, this logistics and maintenance team should be displayed under the museum.
As a military aircraft maintenance worker, Wang Kai was naturally a formal employee. However, considering that the second and third phases of the museum project would operate a large number of aircraft, the team would focus on museum business and concentrate on the highest priority of fire defense.
Thinking about it carefully, the work they are responsible for is quite diverse, covering the maintenance of so many types of aircraft from World War II to the present day, from fixed-wing aircraft to helicopters, from fighter jets to transport planes, which can be said to be very challenging.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xia Yu left the airport and returned to the camp next door.
Apart from the Fruit Bat crew, all the combat and technical staff went to Niger, but a platoon of logistics staff remained in Komari.
They consist of members of a convoy and a village protection team. The members of the transport convoy received basic military training and their combat effectiveness was comparable to that of soldiers in the Afica regular army. With the addition of double trailer heavy trucks, their output was doubled.
As for the village protection team, after receiving hands-on training from the company's combat employees, their individual combat capabilities, though their names sound a bit rustic, fall between those of the Anka mechanized infantry battalion and the Kenniya special forces soldiers.
They can easily defeat government soldiers from countries like Marie and Niger. They sometimes also get involved in war zone patrol contracts, but the price drops to 800 euros per person per day, which is less than that of black employees from other companies with extrajudicial service experience.
This isn't prejudice; it's just that this is the going rate for soldiers with an Afica background, and the price for black mercenaries can be even lower.
After chatting for a few minutes with the person in charge he appointed, Xia Yu went back to his room to rest.
After taking a shower, the system notified him that the MiG-29s in the hangar were ready for use at any time.
It's not really needed anywhere; it's just a collection machine.
After closing the message, Xia Yu subconsciously opened the weapon list.
[Short-range air-to-air missile: R-73K]
[Short-range air-to-air missile: R-73L]
...
Medium-range air-to-air missile: R-27R
Medium-range air-to-air missile: R-27ER extended-range version
...
The first page is full of classic Soviet air-to-air missiles, all of which look like old models with very poor accuracy, just like the previous generations of Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles. Soviet missiles of that era were also known as "Slavic fire sticks".
Xia Yu estimated that only the MiG-29s exported by Russia and China could print new models of Soviet-made missiles.
The missiles sold on the black market are mostly old models from the 1990s that were nearing their expiration date. Their purpose is not to carry fighter jets into the air for combat, but to be refurbished and converted into surface-to-air missiles for air defense.
Therefore, there's no need to print any of these missiles.
Just as Xia Yu was about to turn the page, his merchant's DNA activated.
The older models are indeed inaccurate and should be phased out. But from another perspective, we're planning to commercialize fighter jets; is providing only cannon firing services a bit narrow-minded?
The cannon of a fighter jet is like a soldier's pistol, used only for self-defense; the real work is done with missiles.
So why can't they provide missile firing services?
Moreover, the missiles must be less accurate, like the plastic rings in a ring toss game at a market. They must be elastic enough so that even if you manage to get a ring on, it will fly away, and you need to launch several to take down the target.
It has potential, a lot of potential.
The wealthy Americans who love flying fighter jets seem to only enjoy the speed and maneuverability, but that's because the government has banned the weapons used in fighter jets, like removing the talons of an eagle, leaving them only to enjoy the flight itself.
Only fighter jets capable of firing cannons and missiles are true vehicles of war; otherwise, they are merely special modes of transportation, like soulless walking corpses.
Things are different now. As long as you come to Afica, you can shoot an R-27 Old Poplar for 500,000.
For an even better visual experience, we can also engage in bayonet fighting with the R-73, a close-quarters melee within visual range – much more exciting than DCS or Antonstar.
Xia Yu became very excited; it seems he has a real talent for business.
The drones I saw at the Philippine Airshow last time may have advanced technology, but their commercialization isn't about being advanced; it's about making customers happy and willing to pay for them.
In this way, no target drone can compare to a real fighter jet, and for the sake of visual effect, the aircraft can be filled with explosives, so whether it is day or night, it will be the most dazzling fireworks in the sky.
Oh no, he didn't order enough MiG-21s this time. He should have bought all 10.
As the AK-47 that flies in the sky, the MiG-21 has a production run of over 6,000 units, and the entire family has produced more than 100 units. Purchasing a batch of fish nests and converting them into high-speed target drones would be the most suitable choice.
Suppressing the urge to call Alexei, Xia Yu turned over and opened the second page.
[Airborne rocket: S-24B]
…………
This page is full of rockets, and large-caliber rockets at that.
The 80mm S-8 rockets were used more often by the old Hind fighter jets, but the Soviet fighter jets with a greater carrying capacity used the 240mm S-24B air-to-ground rockets, which weighed 500 pounds each.
After shooting down the planes, it's time to shoot down the tanks. It seems Xia Yu needs more T-72s as target vehicles. With six S-24B missiles mounted, I wonder how many of the rich tourists can hit them.
It's good that you miss; unguided rockets require a lot of pilot experience, and you can't master them just by taking the plunge.
Xia Yu suggested launching a KH-29 air-to-ground missile, which would be even better, as it offers one-stop pilot assistance; all you have to do is press the launch button after the prompt tone.
Soviet-made aircraft can only fire Soviet-made munitions, which greatly limits the options for the F-4K and F-4J. At most, they can fire Zuni rockets and Maverick missiles, and even then, supplies are limited.
After all, it's fine for personal use, but if you sell hundreds of small electric vehicles a year for external business, things will get a bit complicated.
Raytheon's annual production was only a few hundred rounds at that time, but a museum bought them all.
Unable to sleep, Xia Yu got up, turned on her computer, and started writing a business plan.
No one succeeds easily, and he wanted to explore more possibilities in the military and business worlds.
It's always better to use artillery shells, missiles, and rockets for entertainment than for war. This is the philosophy of Mr. Xia Yu, a renowned entrepreneur and regional peacekeeper.
As dawn broke, he completed the first draft of the plan, which was tens of thousands of words long.
I grabbed a few bites of breakfast at the cafeteria, and then the helicopter that was there to pick up Xia Yu arrived.
It's the Super Hornet. Andrei, who underwent Chinook modifications, is now the Super Hornet's instructor, teaching Lyman how to fly a 13-ton transport helicopter.
"Hey, how's your learning going, mascot?"
Sitting in the back transport cabin, Xia Yu put on her headphones and asked Andrei a question.
"The shrew is progressing very quickly, while I'm a little behind."
Knowing that the boss was asking about two people, Andrei gave his comments on each.
Modifying a Gazelle into a Bumblebee is like upgrading a manual transmission to an automatic. Modifying a Bumblebee into a CH-47D is like adding a B license to a C2 automatic transmission.
The age and flight hours of this CH-47D provided by the Americans are indeed not old, but the Chinook only has a standard digital cockpit, an automatic flight control system, and a "big color TV" when it is upgraded to the CH-47F standard.
Even though Andrei had previously flown old helicopters with outdated avionics like the old female Hind, old hippopotamus, and old snail, he was familiar with the operation of Soviet-made helicopters.
There are many differences in the details of American opportunities. Xia Yu's business trip this time was less than half a month. Even though there were opportunities for hands-on practice every day, Andrei can only be said to have just started. He is still a long way from mastering and showing off his skills!
"Take your time, there's no rush."
Xia Yu comforted the employees.
His C-160 needs upgrading more than his transport helicopter.
Thanks to fellow book lover Juliu Sky for the inspiration; the Soviet-made aircraft can be commercialized more thoroughly, and I'm going back to China tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com