What is the urgency, I waited outside for a Xiaolong e-reader, and very consciously went to make himself a cup of sugar-free coffee, because he really didn't have much interest in Pei Chengyi's recommended Longjing green tea. "This is Lao Liu, let me hand it over to you personally, saying that it can help." ”

"Help?.

"Aleppo has just been bombed, and the damage is not small, right?"

Pei Chengyi was stunned for a moment, and then picked up the reader.

There is not much textual information, mainly some three-dimensional structure diagrams. After only looking at a few structural drawings, Pei Chengyi cast a surprised look at Zhang Xiaolong. The CIA agent smiled and motioned for Pei Chengyi to continue looking. Zhang Xiaolong is just a messenger, and he doesn't understand technology at all, so he can't explain it in detail for Pei Chengyi.

What Pei Chengyi saw was a large-scale military project led by the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff. As can be seen from this codename, this is a marine military platform project.

As early as the force century, someone put forward the idea of building a "floating city on the sea". At the beginning of the century, the US Navy took the lead in proposing the idea of a "maritime military base" and conducted a very in-depth study. When the hype was at its hottest, it even put forward a "specific plan." That is, by docking, the barges with Jinmi straight through the deck are connected together to form a sea base with a runway that allows thugs to take off and land for such tactical transport aircraft. Because such a sea base requires very high structural strength, is vulnerable to attack, is too slow, and is too expensive, this idea disappeared after the United States launched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The question is that "sea bases" really have the value of their existence.

In fact, it is the United States that has been the most active in related development.

During the Iran War, the United States experienced what it was like to "fight alone." Although relying on Iraq's military bases, the US military does not need to worry about deployment, Iraq is basically a pound. The capacity of the landlocked countries, the only port of Basra, is very limited, because the neighboring countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar either do not support the United States in attacking Iran, or are afraid of Iranian retaliation, and have not opened their ports to the United States, so the United States has to spend several months before the war to send combat troops and war materials to Iraq, so that the war has lost its suddenness. It is precisely in this way that Iran has enough time to complete preparations for war, and the Republic and Russia have enough time to provide assistance to Iran in an orderly manner. Strictly speaking, if the United States had been able to launch a surprise attack at that time, I am afraid that the war in Iran would have been a different outcome.

Affected by this, before the end of the Iran war, the US Navy once again put forward the idea of building a sea base.

Unlike the end of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 2nd century, the US Navy was very "pragmatic" this time, and from the very beginning it set up a "sea base" as a quasi-military facility. To put it simply, the "sea base" will not be deployed in advance, let alone enter the theater, but will undertake the task of transferring and delivering combat troops, that is, a force projection platform. In this way, in addition to continuing to adopt the design idea of composite structure, it can also be built according to the standards of civil facilities and civil ships, so as to greatly reduce the construction cost and design cost. According to the US Navy's estimates, the total cost of building a "sea base" consisting of old 10,000-ton barges will not exceed $100 million, and if each theater is equipped with a base, the unit price will not exceed $100 million if the design cost is included. Although this is definitely the most expensive weapon in terms of unit price, in terms of combat effectiveness, especially the effectiveness of delivering combat units, it is a "seat" of sea bases. Up to 3 aircraft carrier battle groups plus 3 amphibious assault fleets. The cost-effectiveness ratio is very high.

It is a great pity that the Iran war reached a stalemate before the US Navy could take action.

With the capture of Khuzestan province by the US military and the control of the ports of Khomeini and Abadan, the transportation of materials was easily solved, and there was no longer a need for "offshore platforms".

Of course, the U.S. Navy didn't give up.

In any case, the war in Iran was a war fought by the US authorities in order to consume surplus supplies at home, and it was not intended to be won from the beginning. After the outbreak of the Great Depression, in the absence of a better alternative, US Republican President Frederick could only implement Keynesianism, providing more jobs for society in the form of budget spending, and the defense budget was the bulk of the government's financial expenditure.

With relatively sufficient military spending, the US Navy decided to build a separate "offshore platform."

It can be said that with the efforts of the US Navy, about four, the "offshore platform" is almost about to become a reality. At that time, Northrop, which was contracted to design the project, had completed the overall design, and the detailed design was also more than halfway through, waiting for the U.S. Congress to approve the procurement funds. Unfortunately, the Republican Party lost the election that year, and the slogan of the Democratic President-elect Westwood was to reduce government spending, increase government credibility, and increase the purchasing power of the dollar. In the circumstances, let alone spending $4B on an "offshore platform." "Even if it only needs 100 million dollars, the White House will not approve such an arms purchase contract.

With "stillborn." It is not an exaggeration to describe the "offshore platform" project of the US Navy.

Compared to the US Navy, the Republic Navy is much more fortunate.

As early as the Fourth Indo-Pakistani War 22, the Navy of the Second Buckle State put forward a platform with, "Haibu." Similarly, because there were no combat aircraft with a long enough range, the air force and naval aviation of the Republic could only strike targets in northern India, but not military targets in southern India. Unable to destroy the strategic missile base at the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent in one fell swoop, and fearing India's nuclear burden, the country was very cautious in the Fourth Indo-Pakistani War. In this context, the Navy of the Republic proposed to build a large maritime combat platform capable of normal take-off and landing of heavy fighters.

Unfortunately, this idea was quickly rejected, because the choice of carrying fighters was definitely an aircraft carrier.

In the following years, although the Republic participated in many wars, there was not much room for the Navy, so the Republic Navy did not have the urgent need to build a "sea platform". It wasn't until the Indian War in the Year of Lishi that the Republican ** team felt the problem caused by the lack of projection capacity. In the post-war summary report, Pei Chengyi clearly mentioned that if there was a projection force from sea to land, the outcome of the war in India would be more favorable to the republic. Although Pei Chengyi did not clearly point out whether the so-called "projection force" is an aircraft carrier battle group, an amphibious assault fleet, or something else, most admirals believe that Pei Chengyi refers to a maritime combat platform that is mainly used to project ground combat forces, and whose projection capability is far greater than that of the amphibious assault fleet, and has perfect self-support capabilities. Obviously, this is the "sea platform" project that the US Navy has been engaged in for several years. More importantly, after the war in India. Pei Chengyi went to the equipment office and was responsible for the examination and approval of equipment development and procurement, so in the case of a rather tight military budget, the navy still received a large amount of research and development funds and launched the "offshore platform" project of the republic.

Influenced by the third military reform, the Navy decided from the very beginning to follow the "pro-people line".

To put it simply, it is to reduce procurement and maintenance costs in a key position. Although Lin Xiaolei attached great importance to this plan that could transform the navy after he became the chief of the general staff, the new naval commander Hua Jianfeng did not think that taxpayers' hard-earned money should be spent at will, and he was still very cautious in the "offshore platform" project, and demanded that the East China Ship Design Institute, which undertook the design work, must put cost reduction in order and not give up some necessary work in order to catch up with the schedule.

Obviously, Hua Jianfeng's attitude made Lin Xiaolei very unhappy.

At this time, the "Big Fleet Ji Ge thugs" promoted by Lin Xiaolei with all his might were also affected, and the construction of the "Chongqing" class aircraft carrier was repeatedly blocked. In order for the Ministry of Defense to make concessions on the construction of aircraft carriers, Lin Xiaolei must make sacrifices. Since Hua Jianfeng's enthusiasm for the "offshore platform" Ji Ge is not high, the Ji Ge can be abandoned.

It was against this background that the project "Hai Pingzi" fell into the hands of the Ministry of Defense.

In a sense, it is this change that brings the "offshore platform" project back to life.

The new defense minister, Shuai Yongkang, like Gu Weimin, is an "accountant background." Officials will settle accounts before doing anything. As Gu Weimin's confidant, Shuai Yongkang has to do several meaningful things if he wants to make a name for himself in the position of defense minister. In fact, Shuai Yongkang has been doing something that he thinks is very meaningful, and that is to prevent Lin Xiaolei from undermining the country's modernization construction. To put it bluntly, it is to prevent Lin Xiaolei from messing around and avoid wasting taxpayers' hard-earned money on national defense construction.

Lin Xiaolei worked hard to build a "big fleet," but Shuai Yongkang resolutely opposed engaging in an arms race at sea with the United States.

After securing the lead of the "offshore platform" project, Shuai Yongkang went against the norm and decided to vigorously support the project. I have to admit that Lin Xiaolei is still a little worse in terms of playing methods. Because he was also vigorously promoting this project before, after Shuai Yongkang clearly expressed his support, he did not oppose it, but took the initiative to propose the establishment of a project team led by the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff. At this time, Lin Xiaolei reacted, but it was too late to object, so he could only bring the Military Intelligence Bureau in, and in the name of secrecy, he demanded that the Military Intelligence Bureau be responsible for the overall coordination work. As a matter of fact, Shuai Yongkang has only one purpose, that is, to use the "offshore platform" project to deal with the "Chongqing"-class aircraft carrier with the full support of Lin Xiaolei.

Influenced by this, a few years ago, some people in the republic put forward the theory of the uselessness of aircraft carriers. ”

Because this argument is not good for the "offshore platform" either, after all, the aircraft carrier is useless, and the offshore platform that is slower and more fragile than the aircraft carrier is even more useless. So what is certain is that Shuai Yongkang does not want to be on the "offshore platform." on the need to spend too much effort.

It's a pity that Shuai Yongkang didn't count Li Cunxun's attitude.

Since this matter has fallen into the hands of Li Cunxun, it will not end in vain. In a sense, Lin Xiaolei pulled Li Cunxun in at the last moment because he saw through Shuai Yongkang's true intentions, and if there was no strong supporter, the "offshore platform" project would be more than lucky.

With Li Cunxun, Shuai Yongkang can only calculate.

Of course, at the instigation of the Military Intelligence Agency, the project of the republic's "Sea Platform" has not been known to the outside world.

In order to achieve secrecy, the Military Intelligence Bureau used the trick of "stealing beams for pillars". In fact, it has long been widely known to the outside world as the "fast strategic projection fleet."

According to the information provided by Zhang Xiaolong, with the commissioning of the "fast delivery ship" at the beginning of the year, the "offshore platform" has the capability of actual combat deployment. Of course, unlike the "offshore platform" proposed by the US Navy, the "offshore platform" of the Republic is not only a force projection platform, but also a material transfer platform and a comprehensive support platform.

In a sense, the republic was able to take the lead in developing "offshore platforms" mainly thanks to technological progress.

In an era when even aircraft carriers have to pay attention to stealth, the long hitter is Kadomi. The "offshore platform" with a width of tens or even hundreds of meters is undoubtedly the most eye-catching target. Not to mention fending off a saturation attack, "a submarine can pose a lethal threat to it." What's worse is that. "Offshore platforms. It is almost impossible to circumvent the attack. As long as there is a sufficiently powerful intelligence system, large warships such as aircraft carriers can avoid danger by virtue of their degree, while "sea platforms" that do not have any degree of superiority cannot avoid danger. If you take into account the "offshore platform." In the case of relatively bad weather, not only can it not operate normally, but also has the possibility of damage, so the "offshore platform" has no value in existence.

It can be said that the US Navy has not been able to make a name for itself for several years, and it is precisely because of these problems that it is limited.

In order to solve these problems, we must first improve the level of technology.

The "fast strategic projection fleet" of the Republic Navy has adopted a unified hull structure design from the very beginning, although according to the Republic Navy, the use of a unified hull is mainly to reduce the amount of maintenance and reduce maintenance costs, but the actual situation is to unify the interface, facilitate the modification when necessary, and then piece together the "offshore platform". It is precisely in this way that the "fast delivery ships" are very special.

As the world's first old 10,000-ton large cargo ship with a catamaran surf boat type, the "fast delivery ship" uses the standards of military ships in key systems while adopting a large number of civilian construction standards. What's more, a systematic design was adopted from the start. Not to mention, among the artillery fast delivery ships, only two of the most flexible bulk models have complete power systems, that is, they are equipped with controllable fusion reactors, and the rest of them are only batteries, as well as a directional power supply system operated by the Navy.

The biggest benefit of this design is that it ensures the degree of "offshore platform". Because all delivery ships use a waterjet propulsion system, and they rely on adjusting the direction of the propulsion system to change course, there is no operational steering rudder, so it is a "sea platform" consisting of 6 delivery ships. The maximum degree of navigation can reach the relaxation joint, which can fully meet the requirements of operations in secondary sea areas. Another significant benefit is that in the event of a threat, the "offshore platform" can be dispersed as quickly as possible, avoiding the loss of all combat capability at once. In extreme cases, as long as there are thugs and bulk and container-type delivery ships that can still fight, they can form a "sea platform" with basic combat capabilities. ”

Of course, the foundation for achieving this is technology.

The biggest problem with connecting large ships that are more than a meter long and making them sail like a thug ship in any situation is the structural strength. In sea conditions, the bow of the ship is likely to rise several meters above the sea surface, while the stern is likely to sink several meters, and the resulting buoyancy difference is enough to break four steel pipes with a diameter of one meter. If this problem cannot be solved, even the best ideas are just ideas.

Obviously, it is difficult to make a breakthrough in the short term from the material.

The East China Shipbuilding Research Institute has adopted a clever approach, that is, to use "flexible links" to solve the problem of strength. To put it bluntly, the six ships that make up the platform are not forcibly spliced together, but linked together by a universal joint. The problem is that there are simply no universal joints in the world that can connect old 10,000-ton ships together. Engineers found a good solution, which was to replace the universal joint with a magnetic lock, and let the computer control the magnetic field and direction, so as to control the force and direction of the connection point. Of course, this is not enough to solve the whole problem. When the six delivery ships form the "offshore platform", the other broken delivery ships act as material transfer platforms on both sides, and only the propulsion systems on the bulk delivery ships located at the front and rear ends work in a normal way and provide forward power for the platform, and the propulsion systems on the other four delivery ships all act as attitude control thrusters, that is, according to the changes in the external environment, adjust the navigation attitude at any time to ensure that the delivery ships are always in a straight line.

This is easier said than done.

Not to mention, in order to accurately control the attitude of the platform and reach a level that allows the aircraft to take off and land normally, at least thousands of stress sensors need to be set up to sense changes in the external environment, hundreds of attitude control thrusters, and a level of computers to control these thrusters.

It is precisely because of this that the US Navy has not made much progress.

In fact, it is also a very difficult challenge for the republic.

To put it bluntly, connecting six delivery ships with a length of more than one meter is as difficult as putting six toothpicks head to head.

After reading the information provided by Zhang Xiaolong, Pei Chengyi's first feeling was that he was dreaming.