What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 323 Announcement
The S70 "Black Hawk" has much more restrictions on sales than the CH54.

CH54“空中起重机”和CH47“支奴干”都是20吨级重型直升机，S70只是10吨级中型直升机，还没法携带车辆载具。

However, compared to the former two, it is smaller, easier to deploy and maintain, more reliable in design, and has been reinforced for use at high altitudes.

Although many domestic companies have also purchased Mi 8 and Mi 17 models of the same class, they differ greatly in size and maintainability.

In particular, maintainability is a significant factor. For example, the number of fuses required for routine maintenance on the Mi-17 is ten times that of the S70. This difference is substantial for use in harsh high-altitude conditions.

At that time, a batch of civilian-made versions were imported into China and used very happily. They were then placed on the plateau.

Then the Indian brother complained, and the import of subsequent S70 aircraft and parts was restricted.

The CH47 was actually more complicated to import than the CH54, because India also purchased a lot of Chinooks, and now they are clearly the international darlings.

Unless one day Brother San becomes universally disliked.

And that day is not far off, it will be next year.

Tang Wen clearly remembers that next year, India secretly conducted a series of nuclear tests behind the backs of the United States in order to acquire nuclear weapons, which led to extremely strict international sanctions and the suspension of a large number of advanced equipment transactions.

Only the impoverished Russians seized the opportunity to enter the country, selling a large amount of weapons, including Su-30 fighter jets and the Baku aircraft carrier, after which the blockade was gradually lifted.

Since there was still time, Tang Wen did not insist on purchasing the S70 at this time, but only requested to purchase eight CH-54s to take back to China as a test, at a price of US$150 million.

Furthermore, all engines will be upgraded to the larger JFD-12-5A engine, with a single engine producing 4800 horsepower.

These eight aircraft are genuinely intended for civilian use. Not only will the construction of large helicopters in the Nansha Islands be much more convenient, but domestic power grid and telecommunications companies can also easily absorb them.

Letz agreed without hesitation. The order wasn't particularly sensitive, but he still habitually promoted Sikorsky's newly developed commercial helicopter, the S76B.

This is a large commercial helicopter that can carry a total of 14 people. The design was completed at the end of 77 and it is now very mature.

Upon seeing the colorful illustration, Tang Wen frowned, realizing that things were not so simple.

The name S76 also feels strangely familiar, as if it connects to a certain old friend.

曼！
More than 20 years later, it was this very thing that elbowed the prisoner!

"...The S76 is a very mature helicopter, not only popular with many celebrities, but also suitable for various activities such as search and rescue..."

Seeing Letz still talking eloquently, Tang Wen was already a thousand times unwilling to sit down and decided that he would rather die than sit down.

However, upon hearing the word "search and rescue," coupled with the date 98 that had just come to mind, he suddenly remembered the impending great flood.

The report's proposal to expand reservoirs and restore lakes ahead of schedule is probably not feasible, but having more helicopters would be a great help.

Although they took away Prisoner Sikorsky, we can still tentatively believe in his great reputation.

“Okay, I might actually need some of these helicopters, you know I run a tourist attraction.”

Tang Wen's sudden change in attitude surprised Letz, and the two of them finalized an order for four S76B aircraft, priced at $50 million.

All 12 helicopters were delivered in 1997, with Sikorsky providing operational training and maintenance guidance.

Tang Wen paid a $1000 deposit at the end of the month, with the remainder to be paid in installments based on the quantity delivered.

After concluding his meeting with Sikorsky, Tang Wen immediately announced to the media that a $2 million order had been secured, once again sparking jubilation across the United States.

At the same time, the new ambassador and Zhao Hande approached Tang Wen, hoping to use his influence to lower prices and place more orders, to which Tang Wen readily agreed.

During the remaining time, Tang Wen continued to visit companies in Washington and also sought to purchase CH-47s from Boeing. Upon hearing about the Sikorsky deal, Boeing did not hesitate and, despite the pressure, sold eight CH-47D models for search and rescue use. However, because they were new airframes, deliveries would not begin until 1998, and the price was $200 million.

However, the technology licensing agreement was not reached, with Boeing refusing on the grounds of its existing equipment.

After the order was placed, Tang Wen contacted Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Lockheed Martin didn't have much to sell, but they still treated him warmly and formed a good relationship.

While Grumman was trying to promote the F-14 Big Cat, he also discussed a lot of civilian cooperation with Tang Wen.

Grumman is not only an aircraft, rocket and satellite manufacturing company, but also operates the only super shipyard capable of building Nimitz-class ships, and just last year it acquired the famous Westinghouse Electric.

Westinghouse Electric deals in over 4000 products, ranging from light bulbs, power strips, and televisions to transformers, marine motors, and nuclear reactors, and even has a presence in electronic chips.

Tang Wen was extremely interested in this trust company, which could provide a large number of aircraft and automobile parts and manufacturing tools, and invited him to China to continue the discussion in detail.

After getting to know all of America's military-industrial complexes, Tang Wen's final stop was Silicon Valley, where he would visit American internet companies before heading back to China.

Prior to this, Levi's had also contacted Tang Wen:
We can announce the news now.

……

Although the US cooperated by keeping quiet for the time being, the South China Sea already has busy shipping lanes.

As early as the end of February, civilian vessels had noticed the anomaly at Gongzhen Reef, but it did not cause any significant disturbance.

As Shell's gold-plating activities become increasingly large-scale and it continues to reveal information, a message has emerged in the international arena:

Reclamation work is underway at Lile Beach, with the suspected aim of exploiting a newly discovered large oil field.

Many people's first reaction upon hearing this is disbelief.

Not to mention the amount of work involved in land reclamation and island building in the Nansha Islands, even the mining process is incorrect.

Generally, offshore oil extraction involves building mobile platforms. From the announcement of the project to the bidding process, construction, and deployment, a period of one to two years is considered fast.

If it's about filling in sand to create an island, how massive would that be?
Moreover, Tokyo University is not actually short of oil right now; in fact, it is still exporting crude oil.

Large-scale crude oil imports only began after 2000 with the boom in the automotive and chemical fiber industries. Before that, for half a century, China frequently exported oil to Japan in exchange for foreign exchange.

Offshore oil extraction is very expensive, and Dongda's technology is not mature enough, so there is no reason to do it.

However, the Japanese were the first to notice the anomaly; P3C's flight path had already given them a bad feeling.

On March 15, an image leaked by Shell Oil appeared in the media:

It was an oil extraction base on an isolated island, and you could still see the mud and sand kicked up by dredgers in the photo.

Shell first released the information to the public:
Commissioned by MD and Gaijin, a massive shallow high-quality crude oil reserve has been discovered in the Spratly Islands, with a preliminary estimated reserve of 20 billion tons.

Meanwhile, Wells, the team leader, stated that this could lead to new geological discoveries and hoped that the domestic petroleum department could release the data for academic research.

McDonnell Douglas responded immediately, with Robert and Don Wen attending a press conference together, stating that the Reed Bank oil field is a project fully developed by Gaijin, with a target annual output of over 3 million barrels, and the vast majority of the funds will be used to pay for orders reached in the United States.

A few hours later, a formal announcement was issued in China acknowledging that Gaijin, as a pilot private enterprise, had obtained the country's first 15-year oil exploration and development license.

At the same time, it was announced that Gongzhen Port is a commercial project of Gaijin Company and will not have any military attributes, but will only provide convenience for fishermen to fish and a site for oil development.

(End of this chapter)