Regarding the matter of China's aircraft carrier, Lin Zhenhua also asked Liu Xianghai about it in the past, but every time Liu Xianghai smiled slightly and replied, "Sooner or later, there will be." Liu Xianghai and Lin Zhenhua can be regarded as friends in distress, but Liu Xianghai will not say a word on issues involving the country's core secrets.

As a young man who has traveled back from the 21st century, Lin Zhenhua has always had a very strong dream of aircraft carriers in his heart. He told Liu Xianghai countless times that if the country wants to build an aircraft carrier, he is willing to give all his support. Of course, having said that, he also knows that things like building aircraft carriers are not something that people of his level can control, nor can they solve problems with his support alone.

An aircraft carrier is a symbol of a country's naval strength, as well as a symbol of a country's industrial strength. The technology involved in the construction of aircraft carriers covers almost every field of industry. The communication and radar systems are related to the electronics industry, carrier-based aircraft are related to the aviation industry, the propulsion and power systems are related to the nuclear industry and the electromechanical industry, and the marine steel plate is related to the metallurgical industry, not to mention the requirements of the shipbuilding industry in the construction process.

As an example, there is a vital device on board an aircraft carrier called a steam catapult. Its role is to eject the take-off aircraft like a slingshot, allowing it to accelerate to take-off speed in a very short distance. It is such a device, even in the first decade of the 21st century, only the United States in the world can build it. The reason for this is that the process requirements are too demanding, and almost all of them involve cutting-edge technologies in the industry.

A steam catapult requires a large boiler that generates and stores steam, which must be able to withstand high pressures much higher than those of ordinary boilers, with extremely high demands on steel and welding technology. Underneath the ejection track is a piston cylinder, in which high-pressure steam pushes the piston to run at high speed, and the aircraft to take off is hung on this piston and ejected. The inner wall of this piston cylinder must be very smooth, and at the same time, it must ensure that it can work continuously under high temperature and high pressure conditions without wear, which involves the process of precision machining.

In addition, there is the problem of sealing the cylinder, the sealing technology used must not only meet the requirements of the high-speed movement of the piston, but also avoid steam leakage, its technical difficulty is amazingly high, it is said that the Americans have been engaged in it for decades, and there is still no truly satisfactory plan.

The Soviet Union, as an aircraft carrier power, also failed to make a breakthrough in steam catapult technology. Therefore, the aircraft carriers of the former Soviet Union have always used the sliding take-off technology, that is, the flight deck is tilted upwards at an angle, so that the aircraft has an upward elevation angle when rushing out of the deck, which can make up for the lack of lift caused by the lack of take-off speed. The disadvantage of the sliding jump take-off is that it does not meet the requirements for the take-off of heavy aircraft, which makes the aircraft carriers of the former Soviet Union slightly inferior to the United States.

The Soviet Union, which has such a strong heavy industrial base, has so many unsolved technical problems in the construction of aircraft carriers, let alone China, which has a weak industrial base?

Because of these difficulties, the Chinese military has been discussing the issue of building aircraft carriers, but it has not been able to approve the project. Liu Xianghai's Naval Research Institute is naturally the most active department in building aircraft carriers, but all they can do is silently collect some information and wait for the final decision of the high-level.

In the 90s of the 20th century, the end of the honeymoon period between China and the United States, coupled with the collapse of the Soviet Union, prompted China's top leaders to take a serious look at the international situation facing China. Although at that time China was carrying out the strategy of "keeping quiet and never coming out" put forward by Comrade Xiaoping and avoiding intervening in international disputes as much as possible, the senior leaders knew in their hearts that if China did not rise, it would be enough, and once it rose, it would inevitably face contradictions with the old imperialist countries in the world, and it would be difficult to protect China's national interests without a strong national defense force.

Under these circumstances, a number of major projects aimed at comprehensively enhancing national defense capability have been quietly introduced, and these projects involve various battlefields on land, sea, air, and space, and the duration of the projects can be as short as a few years or as long as several decades. Some projects can quickly build up combat effectiveness, while others need to be accumulated little by little, and it will not be effective until 10 or 20 years later. In the defense industry, it is normal to sharpen a sword in ten years. …,

The aircraft carrier project codenamed 998 was officially launched at this time, and Liu Xianghai, as the first generation of naval military technical personnel trained by New China, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the 998 project. Regarding this appointment to him, Lin Zhenhua heard it for the first time.

"This old Liu, his mouth is so tight, he doesn't have any wind on the phone. If it weren't for your friend enough to tell me the news, I'm afraid I would still be in the dark. Lin Zhenhua complained to Chang Qingbo with a smile.

Chang Qingbo said: "Mr. Lin, this is why you misunderstood Vice President Liu, and the reason why he didn't tell you was because you were in Japan for a while, and it was inconvenient for him to tell you about this matter in the long-distance transocean." When I came to Japan this time, he specifically told me to tell you about it as soon as I saw you. ”

"That's pretty much it." Lin Zhenhua pretended to be wronged and comforted, in fact, he also knew the reason why Liu Xianghai didn't tell him about this on the phone, he just wanted to make a gesture.

"Director Chang, you said that the purpose of your visit to Japan this time is for the 998 Project, wouldn't you mean to inform me of the news of Vice President Liu's promotion? Not a lot of words," Lin Zhenhua asked.

Chang Qingbo said: "Mr. Lin, who do you think of us?" Of course, I have a very important job to do when I come to Japan this time, and I have to ask you, the boss, for help in this matter. ”

Lin Zhenhua patted his chest and said: "Director Chang, you can say it, as long as it is for the needs of the aircraft carrier project, wherever we can help, we will spare no effort." ”

Lin Zhenhua's statement is not hypocritical, the aircraft carrier is a sharp weapon of the country, and its importance is not comparable to his small Hanhua Heavy Industry. In any case, Lin Zhenhua can be regarded as a hot-blooded and angry young man, and in this kind of matter, he is definitely in the interests of the country.

Chang Qingbo pointed to the five-axis machining center he was inspecting just now, and said to Lin Zhenhua: "Mr. Lin, I came this time to get a few high-precision machine tools from you, the 998 project involves a lot of precision machining work, and this kind of machine tool is needed." ”

Lin Zhenhua looked back, frowned, and said, "Director Chang, this matter is a bit difficult, the Japanese side prohibits us from moving this machine tool out of the country." This is a machine tool that belongs to the Batumi embargo, we can use it in Japan itself, but we cannot ship it back to China. This was clearly stated when the Japanese government approved our acquisition agreement. ”

The notorious Batumi, officially known as the "Coordinating Committee for Export Control to Communist States", was named "Batumi" because of its headquarters at the US Embassy in Paris. This organization was originally a product of the Cold War and nominally served the confrontation between East and West. However, now that the Cold War is over, Western countries have not canceled Batumi. The so-called new thinking of world unity is just wishful thinking of literati like Gorbachev, and who in the Western countries will take it seriously?

Batumi has a so-called "international security list", which stipulates that a series of high-tech products are prohibited from being exported to communist countries. At the factories of Nihon Heavy Industries, there are some machine tools that fall under the list of the Batumi embargo. When Hanhua Heavy Industries acquired Nihon Heavy Industries, the Japanese government proposed that these machine tools could not be included in the scope of the acquisition, and should be recovered by the government at their own expense. In this regard, Hanhua Heavy Industries resolutely opposed, proposing that these machine tools are part of the core competitiveness of Nihong Heavy Industries, and if these machine tools are removed, Nihong Heavy Industries will have no value for acquisition.

After several tosses, the Japanese government finally agreed that Hanhua Heavy Industries could buy these machine tools, but these machine tools could only be used in Japan and could not be shipped to China with other equipment from the Nihon factory. If Hanhua Heavy Industries needs to use these machine tools for processing, it can only be done in Japan, so as to avoid such equipment falling into the hands of the Chinese military.

In order to ensure that Hanhua Heavy Industries would not secretly transport the equipment away, the two sides also signed a special periodic reporting agreement, stipulating that Japanese government supervisors can regularly visit the Nihon factory acquired by Hanhua to check whether the equipment still exists, and if the equipment is smuggled out of the country, Hanhua will be held legally responsible.

Regarding this clause in the contract, Lin Zhenhua is very clear, and Long Wanli also knows it. Therefore, when Chang Qingbo proposed to want these equipment, Lin Zhenhua showed embarrassment.

Chang Qingbo said: "Mr. Lin, the situation you mentioned, Director Long has already told me, so I came to Japan to find you." You should know that these devices are very important for the country. We've always wanted to get our hands on them, but no machine tool company dares to sell them to us. Now that you have the equipment you have ready, can't we just figure out how to get it back? ”。

Lin Zhenhua said with a bitter face: "Director Chang, do you think I don't want to get them back?" The point is, we have an agreement with the Japanese government, they will come to check every once in a while, and if the equipment is gone, we will be on the Japanese government's blacklist. For the sake of such a few devices, the price of Hanhua losing the overseas market is a bit too big, right? Quite a few words"

Chang Qingbo said: "That's natural, Vice President Liu also specifically explained to me that I can't let Hanhua suffer a loss of credibility." If we can't get the equipment, we can find another way. Hanhua is a powerful large enterprise, and if its reputation is damaged, the loss will be too great. ”

"Hehe, it seems that Lao Liu still has a little conscience." Lin Zhenhua said, "In that case, is Director Chang's trip in vain?" But it doesn't have to be for nothing, you know what equipment is here, and if there is anything to be processed in the future, it can be taken to Japan for processing. ”……，