"It really is quite quiet, even quieter than the A380."
Liv found it amazing that military aircraft were quieter than passenger planes.
"Besides replacing the engine, I also had the designers install soundproofing material in the cabin. It will be a bit noisy outside, but not like Concorde where you can't go anywhere."
As a supersonic passenger aircraft, the Concorde was grounded not only because of soaring operating and maintenance costs, but more importantly because of safety and noise issues.
Safety is a simple matter for Xia Yu; he's the stabilizing force on the plane, automatically earning the title of "never falling."
There's noisier than a fighter jet, and there's nothing that can be done about it. Not only can passengers not stand it, but the airport also won't welcome you.
“Darling, you put your heart into it.”
“I’ve put a lot of effort into more than just these things, Lao Qian, have you reached the right level yet?”
After Xia Yu finished speaking, he turned on the onboard communication system and contacted the cockpit.
"At an altitude of 9,500 meters, it can descend in a parabolic trajectory."
"Let's begin!"
"yes!"
The Il-76MF, which had climbed to an altitude of 30,000 feet, descended rapidly at a 45° angle. With the added force of 2g overload, the couple in the cabin instantly entered a state of weightlessness.
All moving parts on the plane were in a fixed position, so when Xia Yu unbuckled his seatbelt, he was the only one who floated up.
Is this even possible?
Liv, who was locked to her seat, looked surprised.
“In Oslo, it costs 56,000 euros to charter an Il-76MDK for one flight (6,000 euros for individual passengers), but with our company, as long as we have enough fuel, we can fly as many times as we want each time we take off.”
After floating and tumbling twice, the altitude dropped to 20,000 feet and leveled off. Xia Yu grabbed the handrail on the ceiling and hung there like Spider-Man.
"Would you like to try it too?"
"think!"
Liv also unbuckled her seatbelt and drifted toward her husband after the Sherlock entered its rapid ascent.
Xia Yu also grabbed his wife who was floating towards him, but the two little ones in the amniotic fluid were confused. Were they upside down or down? They felt light as a feather.
It's a shame that the two parents look just like they've come to the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum from the movie "The Myth". Unfortunately, Xia Yu didn't have time to add the background music to the onboard multimedia system.
"Honey, are you trying to train our whole family to be astronauts?"
Liv, who had come to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness, asked her husband.
"Aren't astronauts great? Maybe in a decade or two, our family of five can charter a spaceship and orbit the moon twice."
It only takes in and doesn't give out; that's a Pixiu (a mythical creature believed to bring wealth and prosperity). Even a weasel like him is happy to spend money.
The only difference is that my interests are a bit peculiar; they're either going up or down.
Xia Yu can handle things downhill on his own, but there's really no way to break through the atmosphere. Even if he can prepare the spaceship and launch vehicle, he can't fly without a permit.
Fighter jets can't catch you, but this thing can catch you every time.
Then let's charter a boat then, since we won't be short of a few dollars by then.
As for the Japanese billionaire and the 23-year lunar mission by SpaceX, Xia Yu is not optimistic. Musk has some talent, but not all of his boasts can be realized. It's more of a gimmick to boost stock prices and valuations.
Businessmen understand businessmen too well; there's no need to belittle or criticize, just take it in stride.
"I look forward to that day coming soon."
After experiencing several weightlessness cycles and burning through nearly half of the fuel, Lao Qian switched to a straight flight and sped towards Southeast Asia.
The modern Il-76 has a range of over 9,000 kilometers under light load, and when converted into a private aircraft, it can reach even more.
Without experiencing weightlessness, they can fly back home in one trip.
After having a great time, we had to fly to Singapore. Xia Yu took the opportunity to show Liv around the Asian branch.
"Buzz"
The Sherlock landed at Zhangyi Air Force Base in Yu County and left Afica. Regardless of which country's civilian airport a business jet parks at, it has to pay various fees. If it parks at someone else's military airport, it only has to pay for fuel. But obviously only private military contractors have this treatment.
The Asian branch operates one transport helicopter and one armed AS550 helicopter in Singapore, but the couple did not transfer to a helicopter and went directly to the company by car.
After all, this place is only 728.6 square kilometers in area, which is smaller than a district in Xia Yu's hometown after it was removed from the city. You can drive your car into the country at will, and most of the fighter jets that were bought are deployed overseas.
"This is the place. There are fewer people than last time. They've all gone back to receive the ship and train. These are the personnel who stayed behind."
Xia Yu introduced Liv to the dozen or so employees who remained at the branch office.
The Asian branch currently only operates at sea, while the headquarters handles the operations on land. These are mostly short-term deployments that require quick action and withdrawal, and are not as publicly disclosed as they are in Afica.
"Hello everyone, I'm Livsha, it's nice to meet you all."
Liv greeted everyone in increasingly fluent Mandarin.
Unlike the headquarters and other branches, the Asian branch is staffed entirely by Asian people who speak only Chinese and English.
"Hello, boss lady!"
This was the first time everyone had seen the proprietress. They had only heard that she was a foreigner, but they didn't expect her to be so beautiful. The boss is amazing!
"Old Song, where's our boat?"
Xia Yu asked the onshore manager of the branch company.
They lingered in the country for two more days, and now the Resilient-class destroyers, having completed their modifications and upgrades, have left the shipyard and are heading to Hengxian County.
"Boss, we'll arrive in Singapore in 3 days!"
Old Song answered immediately.
The ferry journey from Shanghai to here takes about a week, and they departed 3 days ago.
"Once they arrive in Hong Kong and make preparations for long-term deployment, I will go back first and meet up with you in four days."
"Yes, boss!"
After spending only one day in Singapore, the Sherlock returned home the following morning.
At Benniu Airport, it was still Lao Xia who picked them up. After resting at home for one night, Xia Yu took Liv to the hospital in the city to register for prenatal care and have a check-up.
The baby boom that occurred a couple of years ago when the two-child policy was implemented has passed, and the obstetrics and gynecology departments of top-tier hospitals are now empty, no longer as busy as they used to be.
That's good too; having a child doesn't require everyone to use their own unique methods.
Both children are healthy.
In the ultrasound room, Xia Yu held Xiao Youzi while listening to the doctor's analysis, but both father and son were staring intently at the doctor's monitor.
In China, you are generally not told your child's gender, but people will always ask whether it's better to prepare blue or pink clothes for the child.
Xia Yu didn't ask; he would see for himself.
"A hammer and a girl, huh? Darling, you're carrying twins, a boy and a girl."
Xia Yu, who was becoming a father for the second time, said with some surprise, but upon closer reflection, it was not unexpected.
Twins of opposite sexes are always dichorionic diamniotic twins, and the probability of dichorionic diamniotic twins being twins of opposite sexes is one in three. Their family just happened to be one in three.
"Really? That's amazing!" Liv exclaimed happily, while the doctor felt somewhat superfluous.
Are people so meticulous about becoming parents these days? You even have to know how to read an ultrasound scan.
"Mr. Xia, you are a doctor."
"The child's mother is someone I know a little about, but in Afica, you can't do without understanding!"
Xia Yu replied with a smile, wiping the drool off the little pomelo with a bib.
"So that's how it is."
The doctor then understood and lowered his head to fill out the report, unaware that the family's professions were somewhat unusual.
"My due date is early September."
After all the procedures were completed, the doctor in charge of the couple spoke.
"It's early September, but I'll be back by mid-August."
Xia Yu said, holding his wife's hand.
"Dad, don't go."
Liv wasn't in a hurry, but the little grapefruit in her arms got anxious first, burying its head in its father's chest and muttering.
His grandparents raised him to be quite big, and now he speaks very clearly. He's finally seeing his dad on the screen, and he definitely won't want him to leave again.
“Sweetie, Daddy has to go out to earn money to support the family. When you’re a year older, I’ll take you to the place where Daddy works.”
Xia Yu gently patted her son's back and assured him.
The baby's immune system is too weak, and given their work environment, it's not feasible to bring the baby with them.
When they're a bit older, around two or three years old is more like it.
"Then we should pinky swear."
"Okay, let's pinky swear."
After driving home, Xia Yu told his parents the good news that Liv was pregnant with twins. Liv also called Hans and Hannah to tell them, and both families were overjoyed.
But the time they spent together was always short, and he had to leave.
After saying goodbye to his parents, wife, and children, Xia Yu boarded the Sherlock and flew to Hubei Province.
After meeting up with the Il-78 tanker aircraft that had completed its maintenance and arrived in China, they stayed together to upgrade the avionics system.
Then he switched to the Fisher and went to Jiangxi Province, where he handed over the information on the Ultimate Ghost to a local aircraft manufacturing plant.
Going straight for the Red Phantom would be too big a step; perfecting a variable-sweep wing attack aircraft would be much simpler.
Although it's destined not to be mass-produced, having seven or eight prototypes is still good!
After finishing this matter, Xia Yu finally returned to Singapore and met the former 208 Resolute, now the 001 Focused Fire at the Da Shi Base.
This is the first warship operated by Jihuo Defense after venturing into maritime business, and it truly deserves the title of 001.
However, compared to the 209 Insistent in the next berth, this Resilience-class ship has undergone a complete transformation.
The dimensions of the internal dry and wet docks and hangars remain the same, but the vehicles they carry have all been changed. The Sea Harriers, which have made great contributions to Jihuo Defense, are now parked in a hangar that can accommodate two medium-sized helicopters.
However, the size of the harrier is so small that the extra section can also accommodate an armed AS550 helicopter, making it a configuration of two aircraft.
The drones were equipped with ScanEagle drones that Xia Yu obtained from the UAE.
A control station plus two small drones with a communication control range of 100 kilometers, a range of up to 1,500 kilometers, and more than 24 hours is more suitable for concentrated fire defense than unmanned helicopters that tend to be used for reconnaissance and strike.
Because the heavily armed Jihuo ship was their firepower output unit, he boarded this remodeled Resilience-class amphibious transport dock.
The ship's guns are still the original Oto Melara 76mm naval guns, but the two machine guns and Mistral air defense missiles have all been replaced with three close-in weapon systems.
One door has 11 tubes (30mm) facing forward, and two doors share a set of photoelectric-radar fire control system with 7 tubes (30mm) facing backward, forming the strongest fire protection network of the concentrated fire station in 360° all directions.
If there's anything in the world more wonderful than a machine gun, it's a multi-barreled machine gun, the more barrels the better.
If programmable blank rounds aren't powerful enough to deal with larger targets, a 30mm tungsten alloy steel needle worth 1000 RMB will definitely meet your destructive performance requirements.
"I really love this thing. On land, we mainly use 30mm and 35mm programmable missiles to intercept man-portable air defense missiles, but at sea they are more reliable."
Xia Yu fiddled with the cartridge case in his hand, which reflected rainbow colors in the sunlight, and said, "It's a sub-caliber fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing round with a black sabot."
He glanced at the system and saw that with the rise in prices, the price of one printout had become $50, after all, it was just the cost of raw materials.
However, given the current global economic situation, prices will likely continue to rise in the future, but fortunately, we can afford to consume them.
"Yes, boss, naval guns combined with close-in weapon systems are enough. We don't really need anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles."
Zhao Yanshou, the branch's maritime manager and captain of the Jihuo, said.
After all, they are just a PMC company, and their targets are pirates in various places, while there are almost no rebels with navies.
Or even if they did, the direct-fire capability of the modified Resilient-class missiles would be enough to send the enemy to their doom, and firing any type of missile would be a waste.
However, they were also equipped with missiles, just without vertical launch systems!
If they preferred vertical launch systems, the group went down to the dry dock at the bow, where the Jari-USV multi-purpose unmanned combat vessel was equipped with a quadruple vertical launch unit, which could be loaded with eight anti-ship or anti-aircraft missiles as needed.
"Its speed is much faster than the mother ship. When our fighter jets and helicopters don't have time to take off or it's inconvenient to get in, this unmanned combat boat can play a decisive role."
Xia Yu stroked the pure white hull of the boat and said.
In addition to a 30mm cannon, the unmanned turret integrated at the front of the hull also integrates two anti-aircraft missiles, which is sufficient to deal with helicopters and the increasingly prevalent consumer drones.
There is one 324mm lightweight torpedo tube on each side. The ship has stockpiles of these, but they are basically not used because using torpedoes to shoot down speedboats is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
"Unmanned warfare is the future trend. This boat is only 20 tons, and its top speed of 42 knots can catch up with those pirate speedboats."
Old Zhao said confidently.
After mastering the driving and command of the "Focus Fire" on the 209 Perseverance, he returned to his hometown and led a team to familiarize themselves with the operation of this new equipment.
The next step is to verify its combat effectiveness and reliability through real-world testing. Any issues that arise during this period will be fully reported back to the manufacturer, leading to iterative improvements and the development of better products.
"I'm optimistic about it, but are the Harrier pilots on board?"
Xia Yu asked Lao Zhao.
He didn't see Alvin. Due to his advanced age and the high intensity of combat, he had retired to the second line and given up the codename "Fruit Bat." After completing his teaching mission, he would return to Kongluga to fly the antique aircraft.
Therefore, the pilot who flew the meritorious Harrier was the second-generation Fruit Bat, and Xia Yu, as the co-pilot, only played a backup role.
"Hey, Fruit Bat, come here right now, the boss wants to see you."
Old Zhao quickly called for help.
"Here I am, boss."
The pilot quickly got off the hangar. He was in his thirties, a bit older than Xia Yu, and looked both energetic and composed.
Only in this way can one master the piloting of the Harrier and thus form a combat capability.
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