So this is the real war. Not to mention tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, even fighter jets are consumables, and there are tens of thousands of elite soldiers killed or wounded.
Switching back to the Afica battlefield, the high casualty rate was offset by the high birth rate. Or, to put it more bluntly, even if the soldiers and militants who died or were wounded on the battlefield did not pick up guns, they would hardly live past the average lifespan of 50.
This continent is constantly changing, so human life is really cheap.
The Slavs, whether they are the first or second generation, also have a really low birth rate.
They left Kyiv in a rented SUV and successfully entered Kharkiv via Poltava, the second largest city in Kyiv and the closest place to the battlefield.
During World War II, this important town was repeatedly fought between the Soviet Union and Germany. After decades of peace, it is unknown how long it will be before the flames of war reignite.
"This is the Malyshev Transport Machinery Plant."
Looking at the dilapidated gate, Xia Yu knew he had arrived at the birthplace of the T-64.
Half of the huge factory buildings have been sold to the Polish people, and the remaining half can no longer produce even a new tank; they are all refurbished old tanks with new front ends.
However, the engines have been in continuous production. In addition to being sold to Pakistan and Thailand, back when tank engines in our home country were not yet up to par, a certain type of export tank also used their 6TD-2 engine.
As a result, they were choked.
Until it broke free from the old Soviet-style 150cc design and adopted the European power pack from MTU, it launched the all-new 150HB series, so there was no need to worry about engine issues for both export and foreign trade.
Xia Yu also believes that abandoning two-stroke engines and embracing four-stroke tank engines is the most correct choice.
The previous 6TD series from Supor is a dead end. Despite its seemingly light weight and high output power, its maximum output torque is unsatisfactory.
Therefore, development stopped at 6TD-3. The so-called 6TD-4/5 would require increasing the cylinder bore and piston stroke, thus losing even the size advantage.
This is a very real problem. If the engine compartment of the T-80 can't fit it, then we have to start from scratch and replace it with a new body.
Why not make the car body one size larger and just use Deutsche's European powertrain?
Even shelf-quality products are better than your immature 6td-4/5. The Malyshev plant is just like Er Mao; it's obvious to the naked eye that it has no future.
However, the 6TD-3, being a highly unfinished product, can still be used to some extent by Jihuo Defense.
Led by an intermediary, Xia Yu entered the diesel engine production workshop in the factory area and saw a whole row of 6td-2 engines.
After the Taiwanese, they couldn't get any new foreign trade orders, so they could only manufacture engines and various spare parts, mainly taking on maintenance and support orders for the army.
The batch of T-80UD motorcycles owned by Baba Sheep have been in use for quite some time now, and the remaining motorcycle hours of the engine are gradually approaching the warning line.
If they don't want to be grounded, they'll have to buy 6TD-2 from India, but they'll most likely have to move a production line there, which means they're essentially buying technology with money.
Time is of the essence. If war breaks out suddenly and Halkov is destroyed, the inability to deliver the goods will become an act of God.
Before them, Xia Yu, who was rushing to sell the diesel version of the T-80BVM, also needed to acquire a batch of 6TD-2 tanks, as well as 6TD-1 tanks for the T-64B1M.
Having his own production line, he really didn't want to waste money, but the loopholes still needed to be plugged, and there was room for negotiation only after buying this.
“Mr. Nazarenko, we need 50 6TD-1 and 50 6TD-2 engines.”
Xia Yu stated his needs right away.
"No problem, no problem. We have 6TD-1 units in stock right now. We're short a dozen or so 6TD-2 units, but we can definitely deliver them within three months."
"Nazarenko said with a smile."
As for subsystems like the engine, Malyshev can definitely deliver on time.
When it comes to integrating subsystems into a tank, you can't believe their nonsense. The Thais are the most qualified to speak on this matter. The first batch of VT-4s they bought later arrived six months ahead of schedule, while the T-84Ms they bought a few years ago haven't even been fully delivered yet.
"We also need to purchase a batch of Sharp Blade Explosive Countermeasures."
Xia Yu continued.
Even with an active defense system, once the interceptor missiles are used up, the explosive reactive armor still has to absorb the damage, so the consumption of the concentrated fire defense's sharp blades is always very high.
Printing with the system is easy, but once the battle on Er Mao's side escalates, the external supply of Sharp Blade will definitely be cut off, and it won't be appropriate for him to continue shipping large quantities.
Why not stock up on some now and gradually reduce the use of the sharp blades in a couple of years, replacing them with the heavy explosive counterspeakers from our hometown?
In the early stages of his business, he wanted to save as much cost as possible, but as his net worth continued to grow, he no longer cared much about those small profits.
Xia Yuxian's large-scale procurement resulted in a significant drop in performance 14 years later, instead of growth, and the Mareschev plant, which had been losing money every year, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"However, yesterday I attended the Independence Day parade in Kyiv and saw a T-84-120YATagan tank in the armored formation that clearly had an upgraded engine. Could it be that your factory has made a breakthrough with the 6TD-3 engine?"
After laying the groundwork, Xia Yu used a "but" to transition.
"Yes, but such a breakthrough came too late. The military only needs the more stable 6TD-1 and 6TD-2. Only foreign buyers can accept the 6TD-3, but the government has suspended all tank exports. We can only sell some improved versions of the BTR-3 and BTR-4."
Nazarenko said with a hint of helplessness.
The conflicts in several eastern states severely impacted their factory's foreign trade business, and even before that, their products were not as competitive.
"Then I won't buy your tanks, I'll only purchase your 6TD-3s?"
Xia Yu offered a solution that everyone could accept.
"Mr. Sherlock, you mean to..."
“I want to use them to improve the performance of our company’s T-80U. To be honest, the performance of the 6TD-2 is no longer sufficient, and I have downgraded it for use on the T-64B1M.”
Xia Yu spoke the truth.
The company's armored vehicle fleet has two Soviet-made tanks; the older T-64 is significantly superior in performance to its successor, the T-80.
This is why he has never retired this meritorious ship. But once the T-80U and T-80BVM are equipped with more powerful power packs, the T-64B1M can be retired and put into a museum.
"I must tell you the truth, our 6td-3 engine has made a breakthrough, but it is still a long way from actual combat."
After hesitating for only two seconds, Nazarenko still told the truth.
This cannot be faked, and clarifying things now is to avoid future disputes.
"I know, so I only plan to purchase 10 units, and the Leclerc UAE, which uses a more mature power system, will also be used in formation with the T-80U."
Xia Yu said that these were not problems. Using two different tank systems inherently meant more redundancy, and he also had the system!
Just like the hollow shroud of an RPG armor-piercing round, why is copper used as the material?
Because copper is the cheapest, and considering the requirements of high density and good ductility, gold is clearly more suitable, but the cost would be prohibitively high, which is very unfavorable for mass production.
Small-batch customization is possible, so what if it's made of gold? The front-line assault force only has a few vehicles in total, and he has always used the gold vehicle tactic.
"The price might be a bit high."
Seeing Xia Yu's insistence, Nazarenko stopped trying to persuade him and instead started talking about the price.
Their 6TD-1 and 6TD-2 have been exported for years, with the price of a single unit fluctuating around $320,000 and $380,000 respectively.
With a large R&D budget invested in the 6TD-3, the price will undoubtedly be high because the cost needs to be spread out, basically the same as a base model BTR-3 or BTR-4.
Unlike Russia, they cannot provide "value-added services" to the public. Their brand-new, fragile wheeled warships and the BTR-82S, modified from second-hand firepower defense platforms, are priced the same.
"How many"
Xia Yu asked without blinking.
"US$1.2 million per unit."
So, is it worth paying twice the price of the 6TD-2 for a 300-horsepower increase?
Of course, this amount of money is nothing. Even the T-80BVM with the GTD-1250 gas turbine engine only has 1250 horsepower. He can accept an extra 800,000 or so yuan per car.
"I bought 10 units for 12 million, right? Do you have any in stock?"
Xia Yu accepted the price and asked if there was any stock available.
Two days ago, Hunter called him and said that the first batch of T-64A and T-64B aircraft had arrived in port.
By the time they returned, the second shipment of T-80BVMs had just arrived.
If there's stock available, just use the Fisher to haul it back and modify it into a high-horsepower diesel version of the T-80BVM.
"Yes, we only have 5 units in stock. Because we wanted to continue to improve them, we only produced one batch as a trial production."
“I will take all five of them with me, and deliver the rest along with the other engines and the Sharp Blade.”
Xia Yu then made the arrangements.
"Yes, sir!"
Having spent nearly $50 million more, his Far East and Eastern Europe trip came to an end. He stayed one night in a local hotel in Kharkiv, briefly explored the city the next day, and then drove back to Kyiv.
We arrived at Antonovkhostomall Airport before dinner.
Old Qian and his companion were transferring from Boris Polis International Airport to this location in the Fischer, mainly because they needed to take something special with them.
A total of five packaged 6TD-3 engines and 10 boxes of Sharp Blade stock were transported to the airport by special vehicle and all of them were stuffed into the bottom cargo hold of an Airbus A319.
The tank engine is a reasonable size, but it definitely wouldn't fit a Tu-95MS engine.
While waiting to depart, Xia Yu munched on a hamburger and surveyed the entire airport.
This is the headquarters of Antonov's cargo division, and also the home port for An-225s and all An-124s. Unfortunately, the Dream Transport plane that brought him the Little Bird last time wasn't here.
The airport is quite busy, so it's mostly empty.
Xia Yu only saw two An-124s undergoing maintenance, and an An-22 turboprop transport aircraft that was being offered to him.
If Russia wants to replicate the Prague Spring, without the large number of civilians at civilian airports or the air defense capabilities of air force bases, Horstomer Airport would be an excellent airdrop location.
He wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth, took out his phone, opened the map, and confirmed that he was only 25 kilometers away from the center of Kyiv.
It's too close, so close that even those who don't know the ropes would want to take a gamble and solve the problem with a decapitation strike.
So, could Er Mao see this?
Xia Yu was unaware that his small stature was incapable of reaching that level; managing the Afica base and developing future maritime business was the real priority.
"Buzz"
As the sun set, Xia Yu was just muttering about the direction in which the An-225 appeared on the horizon.
After delivering its cargo, the six-engine heavy strategic transport aircraft returned to its hangar to rest. As the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the fuselage, the aircraft successfully touched down.
Not limited to strategic transport aircraft, only the Stratolaunch aircraft invested in by Paul is larger than the An-225, but that kind of special transport aircraft that pulls rockets into the stratosphere for launch only rolled off the production line last year and has not yet made its maiden flight this year.
Most people will likely see news of its maiden flight, but for Paul, it will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu didn't go over to say hello, but turned around and returned to the Fisher.
If this airport is the home port of the An-225, then the situation is very bad. It's okay if it's going out to deliver goods, but if it stays at home, it will probably be destroyed by the war.
That's a real shame, but I heard there's a half-finished second unit, I wonder how complete it is.
If it's less than 70%, can we use fragments to get it to 70%? That way, Xia Yu can try to re-incubate. For now, let's make good use of his two An-124s!
"Buzz"
The Fisher took off and flew via Europe to Afica, landing at Pointe-Noire Airport in less than 10 hours.
"Mongoose, how's the situation over there?"
On the way back to the village, Xia Yu called Hans directly.
He's come back from a huge detour, but his employees are still in Marie. It seems that once they leave the town, the Tuareg people have become more difficult to deal with.
As expected, nomadic peoples are not good at defending cities; they still need to fight in open fields to perform well.
"We're almost at Tinkbatu; this deployment should be completed in at most two weeks."
"I got up early to prepare for today's patrol," Hans replied.
"Then I'll come see you in a week and settle the accounts with the people from the Philippines."
After nearly half a year of fighting, both the official employees and the village protection team had to withdraw to Kongluga to rest for half a month to a month. After all, people are not machines, and the low-intensity firefights in the later stages would also exhaust them both physically and mentally.
"Then you'd better calculate it carefully. Fruit Bat has left, and the two new recruits have been quite busy lately. They even completed an escort mission last month."
Hans was referring to the horseshoe bats.
The Germans intensified their bombing efforts, with good results, while the escort duties were on orders from outside the country.
With Paul setting an example, Jihuo Defense's two F-16s can receive an escort mission on average once a month, escorting bosses who are either doing it for prestige or for genuine needs from Afica to Europe and then back from Europe to Afica.
Even old Yev enjoyed it, although he would have preferred to replace the Red Fighting Falcon with a Su-35 and his personal aircraft with an Il-96.
Unfortunately, he only had the Su-24 bomber and the short-range MiG-29, and didn't even have a Su-27.
"I've never made a mistake in my calculations, but this time the amount of money might not be much. I need to trade some things with the Germans."
Xia Yu previously mentioned buying C-160s from Germans, but it turns out that the German military's debt-offsetting machine is more appealing, with the amount that can be offset almost falling below 10 million euros.
The revenue from this deployment could cover an entire fleet, but he can't actually sell that many. At most, he'll take five aircraft, and before converting them to AC-160s, they'll all be placed under the Cargo Air Transport Company for cargo transport.
Because of the scarcity of civilian airports in Afica, military transport aircraft that can take off and land on unpaved runways are also very popular among civilians. Malaysians have sold several C-160s before.
Now that we have the C-160, it's a perfect match for the An-124, offering both high and low performance.
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