"You definitely don't need to worry about the quality; our upgrade kits have never received any negative reviews!"
Xia Yu said confidently.
The integrated solution proposed by the system is the most suitable, which is one of the reasons why Rheinmetall believes that the "Firepower Defense" business is reliable.
Yohan, who had previously upgraded 25 Marder A3 tanks, also has the right to speak on this matter. Apart from the ammunition being a bit expensive, there's nothing wrong with it.
Well, this isn't about financial management; they genuinely need infantry fighting vehicles. Of course, if the price is right, a transfer is also negotiable.
"The advance payment will be made in the second month after the formal signing of the contract, and the first batch of 20 Weasel A3s will be delivered to Afica in 2020."
"Can!"
Xia Yu signed a letter of intent with the other party first. Like Agen Ting, Zhi Li will also have a team with higher authority come to discuss the details. What can be negotiated at the defense exhibition is the general framework.
However, both contracts involve upgrading older vehicles. Does that mean he couldn't sell all those Weasel vehicle bodies he bought earlier? Did he just keep them all for his own use?
Just kidding, Xia Yu doesn't have that many mines to defend, and the ground forces of the concentrated fire defense haven't even broken through to the platoon level, so there's no need for so many.
Fortunately, the defense exhibition lasted for five days. In addition to the upgrade contract, he received some small orders and sold 30 Marder S30 tanks, including both standard and anti-tank versions.
It's hard to say about the standard version without anti-tank missiles, but the Marder S-30, which can carry Kornet missiles, is definitely superior to the BMP-2M.
With the same missile, its anti-tank capabilities are on par, and its defense and direct-fire capabilities are superior in all aspects. Apart from not being able to float, the Marder S30 has no other shortcomings and is quite competitive.
There are quite a few potential customers who didn't place orders at the exhibition, but they will eventually make their purchase when they can't delay any longer, since they simply can't afford a new car!
After the exhibition's closing ceremony, Xia Yu, back at the hotel, invited Rheinmetall's senior management team to a party.
"Pop"
Bottles of Dom Pérignon champagne were opened, and waiters filled everyone's glasses.
"prost!"
Xia Yu shouted "Cheers!" in German.
"prostxn!"
Everyone raised their glasses to celebrate the success of the defense exhibition.
With a contract value of over $400 million, it's definitely worth celebrating.
Rheinmetall, which supplies the MK302/ABM autocannon, receives nearly half of the profits, so this achievement is also a success for them.
As for the 180 Marders' retired RH202 autocannons from the upgrade contract, they can be used to upgrade another 180 BTR-82S. This is the infantry fighting vehicle that our black brothers really need, and it has a higher cost-performance ratio than the BMP-2.
However, Xia Yu doubted how much BTR-80 stockpile Russia still had, since before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of BTR-60s and BTR-70s was much larger.
The reason why there seem to be so many BTR-80s is simply because the Arzamas Machine Building Plant has never stopped producing this series.
Hopefully, this trip to Oslo will go smoothly. If not, he'll have to switch to the BTR-72S, and customers will be forced to downgrade their consumption.
The day after the party ended, Xia Yu, having packed his luggage, watched as two weasel trucks were loaded onto the vehicles and escorted to the port of Le Havre by Kuhn and Sergei.
The A400M of the Fa Army returned to China empty-handed, and it's nothing unusual for them to hitch a ride on the way to the defense operations.
However, flying two flights to Afica would incur a favor, and since there was no rush, sea freight became the best option.
Adding the high-speed cargo ship that Xia Yu had been talking about would be even better, but he now has other goals that can meet multiple needs.
After a long wait, Lao Qian and his companion were finally able to set off for the airport.
The distance from Bali to Shanghai is less than 10,000 kilometers, and the Fisher, with a full tank of gas, could easily handle the direct flight. However, following Xia Yu's arrangement, they still stopped in Singapore, just like budget airlines that transfer passengers in multiple locations.
This is the headquarters of Jihuo Defense's Asian branch. Before returning home to pick up his wife and children, he has one last thing to do.
"boss!"
As soon as they got off the plane, Zhao Yanshou, the head of the branch office, greeted Xia Yu.
Thanks to the help from their hometown, the construction progress of this company is faster than that of the European branch. This is the Asian branch, whose main business is maritime security, and so far it does not have a single ship.
For companies like PMSC that provide onboard security services, the presence or absence of a ship does not affect their operations. However, for companies like Ji Huo Defense that provide maritime security and strike services, the absence of a ship is absolutely unacceptable.
This prompted Xia Yu to actively contact his hometown to see if there were any destroyers that were going to be converted into museums, and whether he could intercept one from the coast guard...
Well, the more I learn, the more I realize that Jihuo Defense's small size simply can't support a frigate.
With staff numbers often exceeding one or two hundred, several times the headquarters' standard, and this is only the first ship of the branch office.
The São Paulo cruise ship has nearly 1,000 employees, operating on a museum model. They cater to tens of thousands of visitors every week and have sufficient funds to support their expenses.
Switching to a private military contractor model wouldn't work. After all, with an annual turnover of only a few hundred million, the expenses for personnel and equipment alone would wipe out all the profits. So what's the point of them working so hard?
Furthermore, the new ships for Jihuo Defense also need to be equipped with Harriers, and large helicopter decks and hangars are essential requirements. Smaller ships simply cannot meet these needs, while larger ships require too many personnel.
Therefore, the equipment of a large country's navy is not suitable for a PMC company that develops maritime business; the model of a small country's navy is the more suitable.
For example, Singapore, which is implementing the "poisonous shrimp" strategy, is smaller than Xia Yu's hometown, a county-level city, but its population has increased tenfold to over 5 million. However, how many people of military age can be squeezed out of such a small population?
Therefore, their navy is quite lean, with no more than 100 people on any of their ships, and the number can be further reduced if PMC is put in charge of operations.
Xia Yu had his eye on their largest ship—the Endurance-class dock landing ship.
Of course, it also has another name, which the Thai people call Antongji.
In addition to the four ships used by the Singaporeans, two were exported. However, the small boats, with a standard displacement of 6,000 tons and a full load displacement of 8,500 tons, were a bit too small for the size of the country.
So they imported a 25,000-ton amphibious transport dock from a major power, which was larger than the ship's own.
Xia Yu looked on with envy. He could afford the $130 million, but the problem was that he couldn't afford it, nor did he need to.
The size of the fire-fighting defense system is 8,500 tons, which is sufficient. The small dock can also hold 20 tanks. The company's single deployment, including the village protection team's BTR-82S tanks, does not even reach 20 vehicles.
Furthermore, can you believe that such a large landing ship only has a full complement of 65 people?
This was exactly what Boss Xia wanted. He directly reduced the number of people per shift to 40 in two groups, and asked his hometown to recommend 60 good young men to be divided into three groups, so that they could take turns operating the boat.
Of course, the ship hasn't arrived yet; Xia Yu has to negotiate it himself.
This is why he didn't go directly back to China, but instead made a special trip to Singapore.
Building new ships is impossible in Xiayu. The first ship was launched in 1998 and commissioned at the end of 1999. It's still a few months away from being 20 years old, and it's in very good condition.
However, to persuade the other party to retire such a new landing ship, a very strong reason is necessary.
"Old Zhao, let's go to the company first!"
Xia Yu got into the car and spoke to Zhao Yanshou in the passenger seat.
In Singapore, where land is extremely valuable, there are no castles available to serve as branch office locations. Therefore, the Asian branch only rented a building near the Taish base, which integrates office, accommodation, and training.
"Yes, boss!"
The driver started the car and left the airport, heading towards the branch office.
Currently, the branch office has 32 employees, which seems more than the European branch office, but 15 of them are just there to help out.
Before ThyssenKrupp can deliver the submarines, they will have to go to Germany for several months of further training.
The staff only come when the ship arrives. This five-story office building with a yard can accommodate more than 100 people to work and live, but now only a small fraction of them live there.
Xia Yu also took this opportunity to inspect the construction work of the branch company. As an old Lu, he was not a professional in naval operations, so his involvement was not high.
However, once the ship arrives, he will still be able to offer his opinions and guidance.
Nothing happened that night. The next morning, the branch company's car took him to the Dashi base.
The neighboring Zhangyu has big fish from the Seventh Fleet, and Xiayu is also willing to be neighbors with Americans.
However, the Singaporeans didn't have the guts to do that, and only approved the berths at Da Shi for the branch company.
Actually, it's not bad. It's better than being crammed onto Blarney Island with their coast guard (the old naval port).
As a naval port that welcomes warships from various countries to dock for supplies, visits, and exercises, Tai Shi is quite bustling.
Looking out from Xia Yu, there were more than a dozen foreign warships. Only Djibouti, where money could be paid to station troops, had such a grand scene.
It's not unusual to open up one or two berths to a PMC company with a strong background these days, but the Singaporeans never expected that the company's boss would set his sights on their four main berths.
Who told your dock landing ship to be the smallest in tonnage!
Xia Yu had also considered using a large destroyer, but was it really necessary to use a vertical launch system just to fight pirates?
One naval gun is enough, or you could get a Sea Harrier with a combat radius of 100 kilometers, which would be cheaper than a single anti-ship missile even if it was armed with Mavericks.
It would be even better if this ship could also serve as a transport vessel, helping the head office transport tanks and infantry fighting vehicles during non-combat deployments.
The catamaran transport ship is fast and has a large carrying capacity, but the aluminum alloy hull is not very durable. A single rocket can set it on fire. Moreover, adding an extra unit is really unnecessary. This two-in-one design is much more cost-effective!
Not to mention the spacious helicopter deck and hangar, which is second only to the full-length deck of amphibious assault ships.
Passing by the foreign warships, Xia Yu also spotted his target: a Resilient-class dock landing ship in port.
This ship still retains the bow sill that can be opened outwards, typical of tank landing ships, but tanks will not use this sill to beach themselves; it is primarily used for resupply.
The Antong-class destroyers completely eliminated this access point, relying entirely on dock landing craft to transport vehicles for landing.
Xia Yu quite likes the design of the Resilient-class, which allows for direct access between the flood dock, bow tongue, and transport deck, as it preserves more possibilities.
For example, releasing the JARI-USV multi-purpose unmanned combat vessel from the bow stern.
If there are few people, we should develop unmanned systems as much as possible.
In Xia Yu's eyes, this unmanned surface vessel, equipped with a remote weapon station, phased array radar, small vertical launch unit, and torpedo tubes, is a powerful tool for PMC to expand its business.
However, it is still in the testing phase at this stage. Once the new ship of the Asian branch is in place and all the necessary modifications are completed, it will be ready for combat.
A single Resilient-class destroyer equipped with two unmanned combat boats at its bow, plus a Sea Harrier in its hangar, represents an extension of its naval and air combat capabilities.
As for amphibious operations, the original LCM amphibious landing craft were barely sufficient, but their speed of just over 20 knots could not even exceed that of the dock carrier, making them relatively poor in terms of multi-purpose capabilities.
Therefore, Xia Yu chose a hovercraft capable of running at 40 knots. He was deeply impressed by the Lamborghini versus hovercraft in "Rumble in the Bronx" when he was a child.
Later, after learning about the Zubr-class and LCAC-class military hovercraft, I've always wanted to own a ship that can operate on land.
Now the opportunity has arrived, and the red Mustang, having overcome the engine challenges, has officially entered mass production.
Xia Yu ordered two specially customized versions with upgraded firepower, which could fit perfectly into the rough-and-tough class's floating dock.
The extra section compared to the LCM amphibious assault ship can be replaced by eliminating two 13-meter-long LCVP personnel landing craft.
Naval amphibious operations require this configuration, but PMC companies like Jihuo Defense do not have similar needs.
Relying on two Mustang hovercraft to transfer armored units by beaching them, the main strategy is, frankly, to catch them off guard.
They can be lifted ashore by crane at the port, but just like the French base in the Sahel region is under 24-hour surveillance by various local armed groups, there are no secrets at the port and the airport.
That's why we have to take the unconventional path!
Soon, the car stopped in front of an office building at the base.
Xia Yu could see several naval officers waiting at the entrance through the car window. After confirming their license plates, he immediately went forward and led him, the person in question, into the building.
In a conference room on the third floor, Lieutenant General Wang, the only active-duty lieutenant general in the county, who was promoted to Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces at the age of 43, was chatting with Rear Admiral Dai, the Chief of the Navy.
The main topic of conversation was, of course, today's guest—Xia Yu.
"At last week's Satley Defense Exhibition, Mr. Xia impressed me as a very shrewd and capable individual. He is very successful in military contracting, military museums, and arms dealing."
"This time, he opened his Asian branch here, targeting the pirates operating in the Strait of Malacca..."
Old Dai recounted the cause and course of events to his younger superior.
Although he was a naval officer, he also went to the military and police defense exhibition in Paris to join in the fun, and thus met Xia Yu in advance.
The county supports the deployment of fire control and defense forces.
As the world's second-largest container port, they have been plagued by pirates in Southeast Asia in recent years.
The military claims it's a "poison shrimp" strategy, but that's only in relation to countries that want to devour them. The small pirates are like dull knives cutting flesh, only attacking their customers and then quickly escaping before the navy arrives.
Advanced frigates, patrol ships, and anti-submarine vessels became powerful tools for swatting mosquitoes, and the huge profits from a single successful heist made the pirate group remarkably resilient.
After finally taking down a group of pirates, new ones would join in, and the endless pirate attacks were draining the navy's funds, while the coast guard was ineffective.
Outsourcing projects would then become a viable option for the Navy to focus on training and visits.
There were no PMC companies like this before, but they came along with Jihuo Defense, which is why Xia Yu is meeting with them today to discuss things in detail.
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