What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 276 Enterprise (3000 monthly votes in April)

Unlike the army and air force, the navy takes a long time to develop combat capability.

Simply throw a few new tanks and artillery at the army, have them train intensively for a few months, and fire a few basic loads of ammunition; that's considered basic training.

Buy a few new planes and missiles for the Air Force, hold classes to discuss new tactics and equipment, and after about six months, they can be considered familiar with them.

Just like the Argentine Air Force, which achieved remarkable results with a few Super Étendards and Exocet missiles.

But the navy is different. Even if you take away the shipbuilding time, it takes a year to debug and test the various subsystems and electronic compatibility on board before they dare to deliver the ship.

It takes at least another six months for sailors on board to become familiar with the steel behemoth beneath their feet.

After various training exercises and cooperation with friendly forces, it generally takes two years from launch to achieving combat capability.

Then, in order to build the new large ships, many ports need to be renovated, supporting supply facilities need to be added, escort ships need to be built around them, and technical personnel need to be trained. A warship with thousands of people involves the efforts of at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

To help Tang Wen understand the difficulties mentioned above, Pan Jiefu used the future Type 011 aircraft carrier fleet as an example to calculate:
"Based on the number of people, it is not unreasonable to spend an average of 50 yuan per person per day on living supplies, food and water, and 500 yuan per month as allowance. A squad has at least 4000 people, which amounts to 100 million yuan per year."
By ship type, the annual maintenance, upkeep and fuel cost of an aircraft carrier is 10 billion, and the cost of other auxiliary warships is about the same, totaling 20 billion.
Based on carrier-based aircraft, 24 to 30 aircraft are used an average of 50 times a year, and fuel and maintenance costs will amount to three or four hundred million yuan.
This is just the pure operating cost, because carrier-based aircraft need to be researched and manufactured, and aircraft carriers need to be modified. On average, the annual expenditure for the 011 carrier battle group will be more than 50 billion yuan over the next 3 years, and then it will decrease to about 30 to 40 billion yuan.

A single aircraft carrier battle group consumes 7% of the nation's total military expenditure, while the Type 001 battleship consumes at least 5%. Maintaining these two fleets would require 12% of the total military expenditure!

12% of the total expenditure, which is about 40% of the navy's military budget, can be said to be selling everything to support the fleet.

Although military spending is increasing, prices are also rising, and this overall proportion will not change in the next few years.

The only solution was to ask for special funding—for example, when they tried to purchase the "Hyundai" class, this was a separate expense.

But this is not a long-term solution, and others will object!
"So it's not that I don't want to, it's that I really don't have the money!"

Panjev understood the Navy's thoughts. The blueprints for those nine aircraft carriers were all treasured. It would be a lie to say he wasn't envious.

Even if they were really craving meat, they could only look at the cornbread they had, because they didn't have the money to eat it.

Tang Wen understood pretty much; he really didn't have any money right now.

But when will we have money? According to historical development, we'll have to wait another ten years or so, until the 10s when we've truly taken off before we dare to start making dumplings.

The thought of piles of large ships gathering dust in several ports made Tang Wen feel restless.

After finally getting a cheat code, how can you be satisfied with just stuffing in two broken ships?

He's like a business owner with unsold inventory, needing to find ways to sell as much as possible.

He had no clue what to do for the time being, so he had to say goodbye to Panjev and go back to seclusion.

……

On January 3, Dalton was formally convicted with astonishing efficiency, with a barrage of charges, from a college fight 40 years ago to command errors, piled on all at once.

Although this handling was procedurally flawed, it resonated strongly with the outraged members of parliament and the sailors' families, who vehemently supported the verdict.

During the trial, which was packed with spectators, Dalton ignored the various and varied pieces of evidence and confessed to everything.

This is also an unwritten rule within the organization: when a qualified and experienced old guy falls into trouble, all sorts of messes and problems from the past are piled on his head. Once he takes responsibility, he is taking the blame for everyone and eliminating potential threats.

In return, his children and relatives will not be troubled and may even receive a lot of help due to the protection of old relationships.

"John Dalton, do you agree with the above accusations against you?"

Dalton didn't look ahead, but instead glanced back at the emotionally charged jury:
"Executioner!"

"Fool with Alzheimer's!"

"Give me back my poor youngest son!" "..."

If it weren't for the discipline on site, the things that hit him might have buried him.

"I accept that this was all my personal doing."

A few hours later, Dalton, whose conviction was now confirmed, returned to the basement where he was temporarily detained.

This time, however, the guards were not there. Instead, there were several familiar subordinates who simply nodded to him and then left.

On the table in the middle of the tidy basement sat a steak from his favorite local upscale restaurant, next to an extremely expensive bottle of wine.

Dalton was not surprised at all and sat down calmly.

About an hour later, a brief, crisp sound came through the heavy iron gate.

A few minutes later, Jay Johnson saw the human figure covered with a white sheet on the stretcher and silently bowed.

Farewell, John Dalton.

The Imperial Navy at least wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in bad debts, the public's anger was vented, and Dalton himself preserved his last shred of dignity. Everything turned out for the best.

Johnson felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders and, as he walked out, discussed the investigation with his adjutant.

"Experts have definitively determined that the Gulf of Aden and this incident are linked, likely the work of the same force, and suspect the existence of a secret base, or at least an important outpost, in South Aden."

We don't know much about the terrain of Antarctica, but given its abundant resources, it is still possible to develop secret factories there.

The IAA has launched a full-scale infiltration campaign into the South and is awaiting the results.

Johnson nodded:

"We can't count on the intelligence agency's rats. Does the Antarctic task force have a plan?"

Adjutant: "Yes, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to get it approved."

Antarctica is too vast; relying solely on existing ships and aircraft for supplies is simply unsustainable. General Clark suggested sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and three icebreakers.

"Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can effectively reduce fuel consumption and provide heating, provide sufficient supplies for landing personnel, and also take off and land."

Johnson understood that nuclear-powered aircraft carriers were an important strategic force, and sending them to Antarctica would weaken forces in other directions.

However, if we want to conduct long-term searches across the Antarctic region, nuclear power is definitely the most ideal energy source, as it can reduce a lot of trouble.

Johnson: "I remember the Russians had nuclear-powered icebreakers."

Adjutant: "But that requires additional coordination, and do we really want them involved on the front lines?"

Johnson shook his head slightly. It would be better to have it all to himself, but... nuclear aircraft carriers really have too much implications.

Sending the up-and-coming Nimitz to Antarctica to catch mice... wait, there are more nuclear-powered aircraft carriers than just the Nimitz class, there's also the Enterprise.

Just two weeks ago, the Enterprise had completed a deployment and returned to Norfolk, and was just entering the shipyard to prepare for routine maintenance.

The Enterprise was the first generation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, with eight reactors, making maintenance very complicated and requiring almost a year.

Considering that Antarctica is not in a state of high operational activity, it may be able to perform only simple maintenance and serve as a mobile base without much problem.

"Contact Newport News Shipbuilding; I need to know the status of the Enterprise."

(End of this chapter)