Fang Lang's skill in changing the subject was not clever at all, but General Laita also understood what the other party meant and did not want to talk too much about the military contracting company's business.
Fortunately, General Laita was just curious about Fang Lang's military contract. Now that he knew a general situation, there was no need to inquire further.
Smiling, he followed Fang Lang into the conference room. The staff of Fangyuan Shipyard had already arranged the venue and even placed name tags, drinking water and fruits on the conference table.
Seeing this situation, General Laita smiled and patted Fang Lang on the arm and said:
"Then let us take a look at your company's products."
Then he pointed to the situation in the conference room and said with a smile:
"We are all our own people, there is no need to engage in these ***."
Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled and said:
"I know we are our own people, but this is business, and I certainly can't embarrass you. Following the formal procedures can save you a lot of trouble, right?"
As he said that, Fang Lang also pointed at the logistics officers who came with General Laita.
Knowing that Fang Lang was thinking about him, he stopped saying more. After all, his position was too sensitive, and many people wanted to sit in this lucrative position.
Therefore, he could not guarantee how many of his men would truly be completely loyal to him.
"Okay! I heard that you participated in the design of this product?"
"What? You don't trust my level?"
Fang Lang asked jokingly.
General Laita waved his hands repeatedly and said:
"Of course not. What I mean is that you are our admiral. If you participate in the design of the product, we don't need to inspect it at all.
After all, you are our authority! "
Hearing this, Fang Lang burst out laughing, and while sitting side by side with General Laita on the conference table, he said with a smile:
"That won't work. The program is the program. Although, I think these two products are very suitable for us. But the actual user is not me. It still needs to be confirmed by professionals like you in the logistics department who are responsible for equipment procurement."
As the two of them talked, the logistics department staff who came in with them and the staff of Fangyuan Shipyard all took their seats respectively.
Seeing this scene, General Laita shrugged and said:
"Okay! I listen to you, let's get started!"
Fang Lang nodded and winked at Osman Aragon, the general manager of the shipyard, who nodded knowingly.
Soon a professional technician stood up and hung a rendering of a 500-ton inland river patrol boat on the wall. The explanation began, and everyone's attention was quickly attracted by the shape of the patrol boat on the painting.
They all listened carefully to the technician's explanation. When he heard that the autonomy rate of this inland river patrol boat had reached 90%, General Laita could no longer sit still. He turned to face Fang Lang beside him and lowered his voice. The voice asked:
"Is the 90% autonomy rate serious?"
Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled, nodded and whispered:
"Except for the radar, most of the other parts are produced in our own factories in Brazil. Even the machine tools and equipment used to process these parts come from our own factories in Brazil."
….
General Laita, who received a positive reply, looked at Fang Lang in surprise. For a moment, he was speechless. According to this situation, the process of independence of the Brazilian military industry will be greatly accelerated!
In the future, maybe all weapons will be completely domestically produced in Brazil. As General Laita knows now, artillery and firearms can already be produced locally.
In addition, the Air Force and Naval Aviation have entrusted Fangyuan Group's aircraft manufacturing company to start developing independent training aircraft. Once successful, it is believed that this Air Force equipment will also have independent production capabilities.
As for the current situation, it seems that the Fangyuan Group Shipyard is fully capable of manufacturing naval ships.
Prepared!
This forced him to look at Fang Lang differently, because he knew very well that these industries were under the control of the other party. It could be said that Fang Lang was the actual minister of equipment of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense.
The quality of the Brazilian army's equipment is completely in the hands of the other party. In fact, given the relationship between the other party and the Minister of Defense and the President, it is not difficult at all to push a product into the procurement list of the National Defense Forces.
But if someone wants to replace the other party's position, it is not that easy. First of all, the other party itself is the real power of the navy and controls more than half of the navy's military power.
Coupled with the close relationship between the other party and the United States, no one can easily move the other party. And if the other party's position in Brazil is shaken in the capital market now, it will be even more unlikely.
As far as the three major joint venture car brands and supporting industries known to General Laita are concerned, their influence in Brazil cannot be easily shaken, not to mention the fact that Nice has actually controlled the entire production and sales process of Brazilian farmers and herdsmen. company.
As well as some companies that export goods abroad through the American Global Import and Export Corporation, they have slowly developed and grown through the support of the Brazilian Development Bank. With the integration of Fangyuan Asset Management Company, these companies have become a major player in the Brazilian capital market. A force that cannot be ignored.
Just the industries that General Laita said he knew about have turned the Fang family into a consortium as big as Brazil. It is almost impossible to shake their position in Brazil.
It wasn't until this moment that General Laita realized that the young man sitting next to him was already a being that he could only look up to.
The explanation in the conference room continued, but General Laita's mind was no longer on the specific information about those products. He was thinking a lot in confusion. He didn't know how long it had been before he suddenly woke up when he heard warm applause from everyone in the conference room.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, obviously waiting for him to speak, he coughed twice to drive away the messy thoughts in his mind, and said in a brisk tone:
"Very good, let me just say that Fangyuan Group's products will not disappoint us!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Fang Lang beside him and asked:
"I heard that the product has been produced. I wonder if you can show us the real thing!"
Hearing this, Fang Lang glanced at the expectant looks of everyone in the conference room, nodded with a smile and said:
….
"Of course, you can. The ship can already sail normally except that the radar has not been installed yet. It is currently undergoing navigation tests. It is just fine. Let's check it out for everyone."
Upon hearing this, General Laita stood up directly and said:
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go see the real thing together."
Everyone left the company's conference room in a grand manner and arrived at the pier. They saw two patrol boats, one large and one small, parked on the pier. Without any instructions, the general manager of the shipyard, Ousmane Aragon, had already begun to take the personnel of the military logistics department to visit.
General Laita was completely relieved after seeing the two warships on the dock. He did not board the ship to take a closer look. Instead, he stood at the dock with Fang Lang, waiting for the report from his men.
After turning his head and taking a look at Fang Lang, who was calm and relaxed, General Laita asked softly:
"Fang, I wonder if your shipyard has any ideas about building a larger first-class warship!"
Fang Lang on the side heard this, his eyes moved, he looked at General Laita with a smile and said:
"Of course, General Laita, the reason why this shipyard was originally established was because he was entrusted by Marshal Moraes, hoping that one day he could build his own warships for the Brazilian army.
The current two inland river patrol boats can only be regarded as a small test, and they can be regarded as initially meeting Marshal Morais's expectations.
Our next step is to develop our own Brazilian destroyer with reference to our current US military Fletcher-class destroyers and the latest development direction of military equipment. "
As the Minister of Logistics, General Laita was obviously very interested in this project and quickly asked:
"Oh! I wonder what you mean by the development direction of military equipment...?"
This question stopped Fang Lang. Of course, the production destroyer did not want to continue to produce the current traditional destroyer equipped with artillery.
What he wants to produce is a destroyer equipped with new anti-ship missiles, but Brazil's missile development has not yet started, and it is impossible to launch a real guided missile destroyer so quickly.
Even the United States and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union have not yet begun research on this kind of project. If he takes the lead in opening up a historical precedent, he may attract the attention of the world. This is not what he wants to see.
But he could not prevaricate the inquiry from the Logistics Minister of the Brazilian National Defense Force. He could only say after careful consideration:
"I wonder if General Laita has ever heard of the hS-292 anti-ship missile invented by the Germans at the end of World War II?"
This question obviously touched on the knowledge blind spot of General Laita, the logistics minister. After all, the other party was not a professional naval officer. He had heard of missiles, but he had really never heard of anti-ship missiles.
Therefore, he shook his head in embarrassment and said:
"I have heard of the V-2 missile, but I have not heard of this hS-292 anti-ship missile. But what does this have to do with the destroyer you want to build?"
Obviously, General Laita did not know much about missiles. After all, as a general who had not participated in World War II and was in a logistics position, in his opinion, perhaps all missiles should be launched on land like the V-2. out.
It seems that it will take some time for the other party to fully understand missiles, let alone directly build guided missile destroyers. This makes Fang Lang hesitate. After all, no one has yet determined the future development direction of warships.
….
Even the United States had to wait until 1950 to start the development of the first-generation guided missile destroyer. It seems that it cannot sell too fast! Otherwise, everyone will think that he is a madman.
So, he thought about it again and then slowly said:
"Uh! How should I put it? This is just my personal opinion! At the end of World War II, the Germans used hS-292 anti-ship missiles and destroyed many Allied transport ships.
This is a completely new way of fighting, completely different from the current attack method where you can only rely on luck after launching artillery and torpedoes. I feel like this may be the naval battle model of the future.
Think about it, if these anti-ship missiles are mounted on a warship, after the missile is launched, it can complete its own steering under the guidance of radio or radar and lock the attack target.
Even if the enemy warship evades, the missile can lock the enemy ship by adjusting its flight attitude. Then the enemy will be unable to avoid it. As long as it is locked, it will be destroyed.
Under such circumstances, our current warships will be quickly eliminated, and warships capable of launching missiles will become the future.
Therefore, my idea is that we must be able to build this kind of guided missile destroyer in the future. "
As soon as he said this, Fang Lang regretted it a little. Isn’t this ruining your own business?
If General Laita really listened to his opinion and only agreed to build guided missile destroyers after the related technology of guided missile destroyers matured, wouldn't his own shipyard lose a large chunk of orders?
However, in fact, Fang Lang was obviously over-worrying. General Laita didn't know whether it was because he was older or because his term of office was about to end, so he didn't want to think about issues that were too far away.
After listening to Fang Lang's thoughts about the future, he just looked at Fang Lang seriously for a while, and then slowly said:
"Fang, how long do you expect these technologies to mature?"
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this, but he still thought about it in his mind before saying:
"If we proceed steadily, it should be fully realized in about ten years."
General Laita's expression was a bit intriguing. He looked at Fang Lang and said seriously:
"Then how many years do you think I can continue to be the head of logistics?"
Fang Lang didn't know how to answer this kind of question. After all, the position of the other party was too full, and too many people wanted to take its place, so it was really hard to say how long the other party could stay.
However, as soon as the other party said this and combined with the previous questions, Fang Lang somewhat understood what the other party meant. It seems that the other party wants to take advantage of the last term of office to make another fortune!
Since this is the case, Fang Lang will certainly not refuse.
General Laita, who had been staring at Fang Lang, noticed the change in the expression on Fang Lang's face. He understood that the other party already knew what he was thinking, and a smile appeared on his face again:
"Since Marshal Moraes originally supported you in building a shipyard, it was to build our own warships for the navy. Now that you have the strength to build warships, shouldn't you take action!
You must know that our Brazilian Navy currently has a huge gap in warships. Are we still required to purchase warships from abroad? "
….
In fact, although Brazil has a long coastline, the environment in South America is relatively safe. Except for Argentina and Chile, which have considerable naval strength, Brazil does not have many competitors and does not have much naval pressure.
But as the owner of a shipyard, Fang Lang certainly hopes that the Navy can order more warships. Only in this way can his shipyard have more business!
More importantly, if the shipyard has the ability to build warships, as long as the warships it produces can keep up with the times, it will be able to sell its own warship products around the world in the future.
This is the real big business for Fang Lang.
Since Mr. Logistics Minister wants to make more money during his term, of course he must purchase more equipment. Based on the good cooperative relationship between him and Fang Lang, he must now want to start with warships.
The other party had already handed the words to him, and Fang Lang would certainly not refuse such a kindness.
Therefore, he said without hesitation:
"General Laita, I understand! As long as national defense is needed, our shipyard is duty-bound.
We immediately began to organize researchers to start the development of our own destroyer. "
Hearing this, General Laita nodded with satisfaction, tapped Fang Lang with his finger and said:
"Haha... Fang, your steps are still too small. Our Brazilian Navy needs not only destroyers, but also higher-level cruisers and even aircraft carriers. There are also submarines. These are all for us. The Navy urgently needs it."
Fang Lang didn't expect General Laita's appetite to be so big. The current Fangyuan Shipyard definitely didn't have such strength. According to Fang Lang's idea, the first step to build would definitely be destroyers and submarines.
As for cruisers and aircraft carriers, they will definitely be built in the future, but now Fang Lang has little interest in this project, especially since the aircraft carriers built during this period are not actually the very professional aircraft carriers of later generations.
And it will be eliminated soon, there is no need to waste resources at all.
In Fang Lang's heart, he does not feel that now is a good time for the Brazilian Navy to expand. Whether it is considering the quality of its personnel or the economic environment, Brazil does not have the strength to own another aircraft carrier.
Therefore, he said truthfully:
"The Brazilian Navy does need to expand its strength, but I don't think we can rush this kind of thing. In the era of sailing battleships, there was a saying that was called a ten-year army and a hundred-year navy.
I think it still makes sense to this day, especially when I was leading this aircraft carrier formation, I discovered that the gap in personnel quality was really serious.
So far, my aircraft carrier formation has not truly formed a combat capability, and is still just an existing fleet.
If blindly expanding the size of the navy at this time is really not a wise move, I think we can start with the construction of destroyers and submarines and slowly move towards aircraft carriers. "
General Laita obviously did not expect that Fang Lang would look at this matter so rationally. He had no idea of making money when he had money. He couldn't help but look at Fang Lang with a strange look and said:
"Then do you think we should expand
How many destroyers and how many submarines are appropriate? "
Now Fang Lang is a little confused about General Laita's thoughts. Originally, according to his idea, he would first produce inland river patrol boats to gain experience in manufacturing military ships, and then start building destroyers, gradually allowing Fangyuan Shipyard to grow. .
But now General Laita's words made Fang Lang feel that the other party had acted too hastily. Could it be that the other party's position was about to change? Or has the other party’s appetite increased?
For a moment, Fang Lang didn't think clearly about the reason.
He looked up and looked around and found that no one was talking between the two of them. He lowered his voice and asked:
"General Laita, did something special happen?"
Looking at Fang Lang who was looking at him with a searching look on his face, General Laita smiled and said:
"Planning for the new year's fiscal budget will begin soon. As far as I know, this time the Minister of the Navy has submitted a naval expansion plan, hoping to further expand the capabilities of several other naval bases.
This is an opportunity, isn't it? "
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this, and said hesitantly:
"Can this... pass?
There is only so much military spending. If the navy's military spending increases, the capabilities of the army and air force will be squeezed. Can the strong army agree to this? "
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