The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 410 Infantry Fighting Vehicles

"If your air force could produce planes for a million each, then I'd like to manufacture planes," Liu Hua joked. "These days, planes cost tens of millions each, and the engines alone cost several million, even tens of millions. We only have 300 million in funds, so we need to find some business to expand ourselves first."

Ma Shan was speechless. There was nothing he could do. The air force and navy were both very expensive businesses. An air force plane cost tens of millions, and might even reach hundreds of millions in the future. A navy ship was even more expensive, potentially costing billions. Only the army had the best cost-performance ratio. If you couldn't afford to replace equipment, you could replace shoes.

Liu Hua borrowed a group of young and promising researchers from Sun Guangming. These researchers had not yet made a name for themselves, but they had great potential.

As the project's chief engineer, Liu Hua held a three-day meeting to discuss with everyone what kind of infantry fighting vehicle to design.

After three days of reaching a consensus and setting the tone, Liu Hua then led a group of researchers with outstanding mathematical skills to begin building the model.

Along the way, the general outline of the infantry fighting vehicle was determined. Liu Hua and a few others took on the task of developing the engine, while the remaining tasks were assigned to various groups. While leading the engine group, Liu Hua also had to take care of the research projects of other groups.

Since he was now in complete control, Liu Hua decided to stop hiding his intentions and exchanged the design scheme for a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle from the system.

After having a concrete plan, Liu Hua began to check on the various groups. Whenever they encountered a problem, he would go up and offer guidance.

These young researchers discovered that as long as Liu Hua provided guidance, their thinking would suddenly become clear.

Soon, they realized something was wrong. The research was progressing too fast. In just one month, they had finalized the sketches, and Liu Hua even simulated the model on a supercomputer to refine every detail.

Just as everyone was starting to breathe a sigh of relief, they realized that only four months, less than five months, had passed in the entire process.

At this moment, they all remembered that before their secondment, their mentor had told them about Liu Hua's legendary achievements. He said that once research began, Liu Hua's projects would proceed smoothly until completion, taking little time and saving money.

In the past, they only did odd jobs and errands in their respective research institutes. This time, they took on a major role for the first time, and it went so smoothly.

Of course, they also knew that the reason things were going so smoothly was entirely due to the excellent leadership of their leader, and they practically worshipped Liu Hua.

Although the factory is not yet fully renovated, several workshops are already usable, and these young people are going to put their enthusiasm into their work.

They spend every day in the workshop, working with the workers to study process issues, hoping to turn their masterpieces into reality as quickly as possible.

In just over four months, several brand-new wheeled infantry fighting vehicles were already parked in the factory's warehouse.

In just ten months, Liu Hua reported to Sun Guangming that their new wheeled infantry fighting vehicle had been successfully developed.

The leaders of the General Logistics Department were stunned. The speed was too fast. Now, if they start a project, it will take five or six years, or even more than ten years. Without a hard-fought and protracted battle, it is impossible to achieve results.

A dozen or so infantry fighting vehicle instructors selected from the Beijing Military Region received a new task: to test a new type of infantry fighting vehicle.

You have to understand that the infantry fighting vehicles they are currently using and training with are the Type 88, which only entered service a few years ago and is not yet fully in service with the entire army. The arrival of a new type of infantry fighting vehicle has made them extremely happy.

“Wheeled, not tracked.” Liu Hua nodded and said to the elite soldiers, “Our country’s infrastructure is getting better and better. In the future, there will be far more urban battlefields than open-air battlefields. Wheeled armored vehicles are more mobile and have a greater advantage.”

Sun Guangming was stunned for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that what Liu Hua said made a lot of sense.

He pulled Liu Hua aside: "Didn't you say you wouldn't consider the needs of future warfare? Now, when you're designing this infantry fighting vehicle, how come you've considered its future battlefield applications? Why didn't you consider that sniper grenade launcher back then?"

"Those in positions of power should fulfill their responsibilities." Liu Hua said with great joy, "Back then I was just an amateur, but now I'm a professional, so of course I have to consider things from the perspective of battlefield application."

"You're pretending to be weak to take advantage of others."

Liu Hua pretended to be stupid: "What pig and tiger? I don't understand."

Discussing whether a weapon should be deployed on a large scale is a rigorous and lengthy process, requiring not only extensive testing but also evaluation from a battlefield perspective.

However, Liu Hua never expected that just two months later, the higher-ups would decide to equip the People's Armed Police with the equipment first, regardless of whether the army needed it or not.

So Liu Hua was asked to make some modifications to better suit the operational needs of the Armed Police, and an order for one hundred vehicles was placed.

As a result, the company, which had been open for less than a year, immediately received orders worth hundreds of millions of yuan.

The armed police were also delighted. In the tri-service competition, they were known for their physical strength, but in terms of equipment, they were always the worst among all branches of the military. Now, they were being equipped with advanced infantry fighting vehicles, which was an unprecedented surprise.

In addition, we have now started participating in UN peacekeeping operations, so Dijun has received another order for fifty infantry fighting vehicles to equip the peacekeeping forces. Depending on actual needs, there may be more to be added later.

Liu Hua's new infantry fighting vehicle is powerful, has ample fire support, and is simple in structure and easy to maintain. The soldiers love it. Later, through the demonstration of peacekeeping forces abroad, it actually won a lot of overseas orders.

Of course, this only applies to police equipment exports. Currently, the majority of the international arms market share is held by the United States and Russia. Generally, countries do not easily change their equipment systems, but police equipment is not included in this category.

To this end, Liu Hua specially modified the export version of the police equipment, which resulted in a large number of orders and laid the foundation for the research on aero-engines.

Of course, while Liu Hua was busy with Dijun's business, he did not give up on Tongtaiyi. Taiyi New Materials' carbon fiber with a strength of T1000 or higher is about to be put into mass production.

Americans have the keenest sense of smell, and Liu Hua even suspected that this guy might have planted someone in his factory, otherwise, he wouldn't have arrived so soon after his factory had just finished production.

Aside from the portion needed domestically, Liu Hua managed to persuade Hans to reserve a certain share, and fortunately, Hans didn't really need T1000 strength carbon fiber.

Because this thing is mainly used in aerospace, and right now the United States has the strongest technology in this field in the world.

Liu Hua coldly muttered to himself, "Don't be so happy with your purchases now; you'll have to pay the bill later."

(End of this chapter)