1. "The ultra-light howitzer we are developing is based on the premise of not reducing the performance of the original howitzer. Feng Fei said to Pragnell.

"Are you saying you're working on it, not already working on it?" asked Pragnell keenly.

Feng Fei said: "Yes, we are currently developing. However, the theoretical design part has already been completed, and only a few more experiments need to be done to develop it. ”

"So, when does Mr. Feng expect to be able to complete these experiments?"

"It's really hard to predict. Feng Fei showed some embarrassment, and at the same time set his eyes on Feng Xiaochen, waiting for Feng Xiaochen to play a round for himself.

Feng Xiaochen smiled slightly and said, "Your Excellency, you may not know much about our situation in China. At present, China is in a period of peaceful construction, and the urgency of military equipment research and development is insufficient. The kind of ultra-light howitzer that Mr. Feng just mentioned is mainly developed for export, and the state will not invest in follow-up experiments until it can be determined that it has foreign users. If you can't get funding for the experiment through export orders, the development process will be very long. ”

Pragnell is a smart man, and when he heard the words of the Feng family's uncle and nephew, he figured out the whole thing. The Chinese intend to develop an ultralight howitzer, but mainly for export sales, and adopt the method of sales and production. These Chinese came to the country of Die, just to find a market, and they obviously hoped that they could pay to help them complete the design.

Although he understood that the other party was calculating himself, Pragnell was not annoyed. This kind of calculation is actually beneficial to the country of Die, and the two sides can be said to take what they need.

Thinking of this, Pragnell didn't go around in circles, and asked directly: "How much money do you need to complete the design of this howitzer?"

Feng Fei opened his mouth and was about to report a number, but Feng Xiaochen rushed in front of him and spoke: "120 million US dollars, we can provide 150 cannons." ”

Packing the costs of development and production into a single item for quotation is a very common way of purchasing weapons. For example, if the military needs 150 guns, they can just give a unified price regardless of the cost of developing these guns, what processing equipment the factory needs to add, and so on.

Some weapons and equipment have a very long service life, and after a single equipment, there will basically be no orders for similar models, and when the military needs to update its equipment, it will definitely require that the level of equipment be improved. For this one-time equipment, the R&D cost can only be amortized in the only batch of products, and whether the price is high or low depends on how the military's users consider it.

Some weapons are produced in more than one batch, especially in view of the needs of overseas markets, and weapons developed in the past can be reproduced and sold abroad. In this way, the cost of weapon development can be shared among several batches of production, which can effectively reduce the price of each weapon.

When Feng Xiaochen was in Dongxiang Factory, he discussed the research and development cost of ultra-light howitzers with veteran engineer Gu Jianhua. Gu Jianhua estimated that the entire research and development cost should be between 80 million and 120 million yuan, but the technology related to lightweight materials and other aspects formed in the development process can be applied to the development of other equipment, so the research and development cost can be apportioned. As for the production cost after development, it is relatively simple, the cost of a gun is about 600,000 yuan, if 150 are built, that is, 90 million yuan.

According to this calculation, 150 artillery pieces plus the entire development cost are about 200 million yuan, or 50 million US dollars. Dongxiang Factory's idea is that when quoting, it is about 80 million US dollars, and it can finally be sold for 60 million, which is also a very gratifying result. You know, an ultralight howitzer is a promising piece of equipment, and it will definitely not be produced in only one batch. Therefore, the development cost should not be amortized in one batch at all.

Just now, Feng Fei wanted to quote according to this strategy, but Feng Xiaochen grabbed ahead of him and directly increased the quotation by one-half. At the wine table yesterday, he had already extracted some information from Sock, knowing that the military's logistics department was in contact with international arms dealers, hoping to purchase some arms from Western countries, including howitzers. The price quoted by international arms dealers was $1.2 million for a gun, in addition to a few messy riders. The military did not have much objection to the price, but because it was not able to accept the terms, it never completed the corresponding purchase.

During this period, the purchase price of howitzers in Western countries was about 800,000 US dollars, and when they were sold to Africa, they rose by 400,000 out of thin air, which is similar to the situation of industrial equipment transactions. As for the additional terms that Soke said, although he didn't say it explicitly, Feng Xiaochen could guess that it was nothing more than something of universal value.

"That's not much!"

Hearing Feng Xiaochen's offer, the talkative staff member behind Pragnell blurted out, causing everyone's eyes to turn to him. After he finished speaking, he felt as if he had said the wrong thing, so he explained to Pragnell in a sneering manner: "General, I mean, if the price of this new artillery is 800,000 dollars a piece, it is indeed not a very high price. ”

Pragnell frowned and said, "Judging from the price of each cannon, it is indeed not very high. But if we have to purchase 150 howitzers at a time, there is still some pressure on us. Gentlemen, I would like to ask, can we just buy a part, let's say 50 guns?"

Feng Xiaochen shook his head and said, "50 cannons is not enough for a production batch, the price will be very high, and it is not much cheaper than you purchasing 150 cannons at a time." ”

"But we really can't afford to spend $120 million, because we can't spend all of our military money on howitzers," Pragnell said. ”

Feng Xiaochen said: "Your Excellency General, I have an idea, can you join forces with the military of several other countries to procure it? 150 guns, if apportioned among several countries, is not a lot. I think the problems of traditional howitzers are not limited to the army of one country, right?"

"That's fine. Praganel nodded, "Indeed, several countries around the country of Die, all use traditional Soviet-made howitzers, and they have been used for many years, and many of them are damaged and scrapped, and everyone is seeking to purchase a new batch of howitzers." If you can provide it, and the price is reasonable, I may be able to work with them to purchase from China. ”

"That's great. Feng Xiaochen said, "Your Excellency General, if you can meet the demand for 200 cannons, I think we can give 50 cannons to the country of Dee with a discount of 50,000 U.S. dollars each." If there are 300 guns, we can discount $80,000. ”

"Thank you very much. Pragnell was not hypocritical, and directly thanked Feng Xiaochen for the benefits.

"In addition to howitzers, do you need any other equipment for your army?" Feng Xiaochen looked at Shu and continued to ask, "The equipment that we can provide in China is all-round, including tanks, armored vehicles, airplanes and light weapons, by the way, we can also provide equipment such as trucks, and in terms of price, it is definitely more than 20% cheaper than that of Western countries." ”

"We need to send people to China to conduct on-the-spot inspections to determine the quality and performance of your equipment before we can decide whether to purchase it. However, the information you have brought to me is very important, we have always obtained weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union, and in the past two years, the Soviet Union has reduced its arms exports, and the Western countries have prejudices against us and refuse to export weapons directly to us, and we can only obtain Western weapons indirectly through international equipment dealers, and we have suffered a lot in terms of price. ”

Pragnell said with emotion. The price of the howitzer quoted by Feng Xiaochen just now made Pragnell feel that the Chinese were very sincere, and he already had some agreement with the deal with China in his heart. The civil war in the country of Dieh has been fought for several years, and it may be fought for a few more years in the future, and the weapons and equipment are already somewhat stretched. In addition, due to the civil war, the financial situation of the country of Diet was also very poor, and it was difficult to come up with more money for military spending, which also required Pragnell to be careful with his calculations. Thinking about it this way, he found that it was indeed a good idea to get equipment from China.

"By the way, if I want to purchase weapons from your country, I have one more condition, I hope you can allow it. When Pragnell was about to end the negotiations, he suddenly remembered something and said solemnly.

"If there is anything, please let me know. Zhang Heping answered for everyone.

Praganel pointed at Feng Fei with his hand and said: "I hope to hire Mr. Feng to provide military advisers to our Die's army, this is our condition for purchasing weapons from your country, if you can't agree to this condition, then I will have to rethink the issue of cooperation with your country." ”

"This is not appropriate, is it?" Feng Xiaochen's eyes widened, and he said in his heart that this old man was really good enough, and he could actually threaten himself like this. He wanted to keep Feng Fei with him as a military adviser on the condition of trading weapons, how could this be possible? Feng Fei came to sell equipment, and he didn't say that he even sold his own piece. Besides, sending military advisers to a country in the midst of a civil war is no joke, can the state agree?

"That's our condition. Pragnell said firmly.

"However, I don't know anything about military affairs. Feng Fei was shot for no reason, and said to Pragnell with some embarrassment. Of course, he didn't want to stay as a consultant, but if Pragnell canceled the cooperation he said because he didn't stay, Feng Fei would definitely not accept it. With the concept of his generation, it is okay to sacrifice one's life for the sake of the national interest, let alone stay as a consultant?

The only difficulty is that he is not a military expert, and besides, this does not seem to be in line with the country's foreign policy, right?