Chapter 1039 There is no highest, only higher
People who have never been exposed to nuclear submarines would think that a diesel-electric submarine can become a nuclear submarine with a few modifications. In fact, there is a big gap between the two. And now, the arrival of Krasnopolski has given They poured cold water on them and gave them new hope.
These all cost money.
“I wonder how much it would cost to design a nuclear submarine specifically for us?” Sagastrese asked cautiously.
"This depends on your needs. Let's talk about it first. How much displacement does your nuclear submarine need, the size of the power system, the size of the crew on board, the weapons and equipment, etc. After all these are discussed, we can then specify consider."
This is like looking at other people’s cars and asking about fuel consumption without looking at the road conditions. Can highways be the same as congested cities?
“Is it possible to displace two thousand tons?” Boyet asked.
The conventional submarines they built are about two thousand tons, so they feel that nuclear submarines can also use this size.
"Of course not." Krasnopolski shook his head: "Except for experimental submarines, the smallest nuclear submarine in the world is the French Ruby-class nuclear submarine. Even the smallest one has a displacement of about 2,700 tons. Moreover, France at that time It’s not that people think small things are practical, it’s because they don’t have the ability to make big things.”
The United States and the Red Empire have the boldest technology. Large submarines are being built one after another. The United Kingdom has the backing of the United States. If it cannot develop one itself, it can directly buy it from the United States. As for nuclear reactors, the United States can have them.
American dad was also very generous and immediately took out the S3W reactor, but the British did not like it and wanted the latest S5W reactor, which cost 25 million US dollars, delivered to their doorsteps.
Not to mention nuclear reactors, mushroom bombs are all readily available from the United States.
France doesn't have this opportunity. The French are blocking the United States everywhere. They can't buy it at all. They can only make it themselves. After repeated research, the French finally came up with a nuclear reactor for nuclear submarines, but the size is a bit small and the power is not high. , Therefore, the supporting nuclear submarine cannot be too large.
The compactness of ruby nuclear submarines is definitely not a trend, it is just a helpless choice of the French.
Because of its small size, this nuclear submarine has many shortcomings.
While normal nuclear submarines can stay underwater for 90 days, the French Ruby nuclear submarine has a self-sustainability of only thirty days. When normal nuclear submarines carry thirty or forty torpedoes, the French Ruby nuclear submarine can only carry 14. The combat effectiveness of this kind of submarine is not even comparable to that of conventional submarines.
Two thousand tons?
Even if a two-thousand-ton nuclear submarine is built, it will not be usable at all!
"Currently, the displacement of conventional submarines is constantly increasing, with displacements of 3,000 tons or even 4,000 tons. The larger the displacement, the larger the internal space, and the more weapons and supplies they can carry." Krasno Polsky said: "If you want to build a nuclear submarine, the displacement must be at least 4,000 tons. Otherwise, what you build will be a toy."
“The Red Empire’s nuclear submarines also have small displacements, right?” Poyet thought of something and said.
"Yes, in the Red Empire era, the 705-type attack nuclear submarine was built. The underwater displacement of this nuclear submarine was 3,180 tons. Later, it was improved to the 705K nuclear submarine, and the underwater displacement was only increased to 3,600 tons. However, the construction of this kind of nuclear submarine has special The background of the times, and it’s not suitable for you.”
"Why?"
“First of all, this nuclear submarine uses a titanium alloy shell. Do you have it?”
Everyone shook their heads. Only Lao Maozi had done this kind of submarine with a titanium alloy shell. No other country had this ability.
“The power compartment of this nuclear submarine is very small and uses a lead-bismuth reactor. There have been several major safety hazards during use. Do you dare to use it?”
Everyone shook their heads again.
“The crew of this submarine has been reduced to 32 people. Do you have the ability?”
Even a diesel-electric submarine like the 209 submarine has a crew of 36 people. The number of crew members on a nuclear submarine is even greater, often over a hundred, and it can be reduced to about thirty people without even thinking about it.
When Lao Maozi built the Type 705 submarine, he wanted to use guerrilla tactics underwater and build a small, high-speed, automated underwater fighter. The Type 705 combines the advantages of small displacement, high underwater speed, high automation level, and high underwater maneuverability. In one body. However, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is helpless. This submarine looks very beautiful, with its smooth shape, especially the control tower, which is integrated with the submarine and has very little noise.
But in reality, this kind of submarine is not practical at all and has too many problems!
Especially the liquid metal-cooled reactor, which suffered frequent failures. Fortunately, there were no casualties or widow-makers.
Considering various factors, if the Chinese want to build a nuclear submarine, the displacement must be more than 4,000 tons!
"If this is the case, the diameter of the submarine will have to increase. We here do not have the ability to manufacture submarine shells with larger diameters." Boyette said.
They limit the displacement of submarines because the pressure hull of the submarine requires a plate bending machine. The plate bending machine they have on hand can only roll submarines of this level. Now that the size is suddenly expanded, how can they build it?
"If you don't have the ability to manufacture, then purchase it." Krasnopolsky said: "There were so many submarine factories during the Red Empire, but they all closed down later, and the equipment must be useless. You can send people to contact them. , I can also contact you."
Mingzhou Group has a set of plate rolling machines. It was purchased from the inland submarine shipyard of Damao. Later, as Mingzhou Group had a more advanced plate rolling machine, that set of plate rolling machines was idle. This time Now that I have met a customer, of course I have to sell it, and I can also sell the junk at a good price.
You have to keep the money from the sale, waiting to build a nuclear fusion reactor!
“Okay.” Boyet nodded. As long as this problem was solved, he had no problem with it.
"The displacement is determined to be more than 4,000 tons. If a submarine of this level wants to reach a speed of 30 knots, the nuclear reactor should require about 100 megawatts of thermal power, with a thermal efficiency of one-third, and finally output to generate electricity. The electric power obtained by the machine is more than 30 megawatts, and it drives a 20-megawatt motor at the tail. The power is 6 times that of your existing diesel-electric submarines, so it will definitely meet the standard."
Krasnopolski already knows all this: "I can provide you with a nuclear power plant with a power of 30 megawatts. Remember, our cooperation is only with nuclear power plants. For other projects, we will It will not be written on paper, including design costs, and will be included in our nuclear power project."
“Mr. Krasnopolsky, how much does such a design cost? How much does the entire project cost?”
"The design drawing requires 100 million U.S. dollars. The nuclear power plant with 30 megawatts of electric power requires 2 billion U.S. dollars, and the purchase of pressure-resistant shell equipment requires 300 million U.S. dollars. If you don't need other equipment, then our cooperation will be limited to 24 How about $100 million?" Krasnopolski said.
Everyone present frowned, "Gui, this is really too expensive!"
You want to let the horse run but don't want the horse to eat grass. How can such a good thing happen? If you want to build a nuclear submarine, you have to spend money!
“You can look at Ah San. They have always wanted to build a nuclear submarine. They have not built a nuclear submarine yet, but they have spent tens of billions on this project, and it is estimated that they will spend tens of billions more in the future.”
It is best to give them the example of Ah San. After all, Ah San has been trying to develop nuclear submarines. Since the 1980s, he has been renting Lao Maozi's nuclear submarines for fun. Moreover, he has rented them three times. Although Some unpleasant things happened, such as making a big hole in the leased nuclear submarine, but after all, Ah San gained a lot of experience in operating aircraft carriers from these actions, and began to invest in the construction of domestic nuclear submarines in the late 1990s. They have been tinkering with it for more than ten years, and it was not launched until 2009. However, a miracle happened. It sank into the dock just after it was launched and did not float. Only then did they realize that they suddenly forgot to close the valve. It was like a new car. After a few years of hard work, it was officially put into service in 2016. As for whether it dared to be driven out, no one knew. Now, Krasnopolski used Asan as an example to tell the people in front of him that you should not take shortcuts and build nuclear submarines, which will cost a lot of money. Do you think nuclear submarines are that simple? If you are not prepared to invest tens of billions of dollars, then don't even think about building a nuclear submarine!
Shakastres thought for a moment, and then said: "At the price you mentioned, can we obtain relevant technical information at the same time as the nuclear power treasure?"
If you spend two billion US dollars just to buy a nuclear power plant, it is indeed not cost-effective, but if you spend two billion US dollars and buy all the design drawings and so on, it is worth it.
“Yes.” Krasnopolski said: “This nuclear power plant was specially developed for you. If you want the drawings, of course there is no problem.”
The other party was talking about data, but Krasnopolski directly simplified it into drawings.
The blueprints can be provided, but getting the blueprints does not mean that the nuclear power plant can be built. This requires a high industrial foundation, and the other party does not have this strength.
Therefore, when the time comes, even if they want to build it themselves, they will have to outsource various parts. In the end, they will find that the total price of the outsourced parts is more than two billion US dollars, so they might as well package it and buy it directly. What about nuclear power treasure?
"Mr. Krasnopolski, 2.4 billion US dollars is not a small number for us. We need to raise funds for a few days. During these few days, I hope you can stay with us and visit our football team." You can enjoy the country’s scenery, watch a few football matches, and you can also go to our nuclear research center to give us guidance.”
Krasnopolski nodded: "No need for anything else. I'll go to your nuclear research center to have a look."
It is not easy to make the other party willingly spend more than 2 billion US dollars, so this requires Krasnopolski to show his abilities. If he can solve a few technical problems for them and show off his unique skills, they will be even more impressed. .
Since the decision to build a nuclear submarine, the Chinese Navy has established a nuclear research center in Ipero near the capital. This research center has been planning to build a reactor for a nuclear submarine. However, from the late 1970s to the present, there is still no What results.
For them, it is too difficult to build an advanced nuclear reactor.
Krasnopolski left the naval shipyard and went to inspect the nuclear research center. Sagastres, Boyet and others returned to the conference room and immediately started a discussion.
"Their asking price is too high. We were interested in the good cooperative relationship with Dongfang, so we approached them. Unexpectedly, they asked us for more than 2 billion. I think we can find someone else for this project!" Aldair said. . As commander of the submarine force, he had a large say in the project.
"Looking for someone else? The East is the most reliable, who else can we look for? Britain and the United States are definitely not good, and neither is Da Mao. Should we look for France?" Irges asked.
"That's right, even if you look for France, France's nuclear submarine technology is not bad. Although the displacement of the Ruby-class nuclear submarine is not high, the displacement of the Triumph-class nuclear submarine they later built and the Barracuda-class nuclear submarine they are currently designing have increased. The project Mr. Krasnopolski mentioned is very similar to the French Barracuda-class nuclear submarine." Alder said: "Moreover, their nuclear submarines are cheaper. It is said that France plans to spend 1.26 billion euros on the first nuclear submarine. , the price of other nuclear submarines will be around 1 billion euros, so the Barracuda class will become the cheapest nuclear-powered attack submarine in the world. If we purchase it from France, the price will definitely be cheaper."
"I object!" Irges said: "Recently, the construction contract between France and Damao's amphibious assault ship has completely failed. In order to win the bidding contract, the French deliberately quoted a low price, and waited until Damao paid the down payment. , the French began to demand a price increase, but Da Mao refused, and the two sides became deadlocked!"
"That's because Da Mao made more demands. Besides, the French are also honest and trustworthy. Didn't they refund Da Mao's down payment and compensate him a sum of money in the end?"
"That's because Mingzhou Group helps with coordination. Moreover, Da Mao is Da Mao, and the French don't dare to quarrel with Da Mao. However, if this happens to our contract, will they be willing to refund and compensate? I'm afraid we have to be obedient. Continue to add money! Everyone, we must take this risk into consideration. Our cooperation with Mingzhou Group has always been very pleasant. They are sincere to us, and other countries cannot! They have ulterior motives! "
“Irges, did you take their money?”
“Ardair, I’m afraid you took money from the French?”
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Sagastres frowned and looked at Boyet, who didn't speak much.
“Boyette, what do you think?”
The submarine will eventually be built at the naval shipyard. Boyet is the person directly responsible. Now, what does he think?
Boyet shook his head: "I don't know. The price proposed by Dongfang is indeed very high, but they are right. Nuclear-powered submarines are not so easy to obtain. We must be prepared to invest huge sums of money." Prepare, and the French do have a tradition of going back on their word."
Aldair looked at Boyet angrily, did you also accept money from the Orientals?
Poyet continued: "However, we can contact the French first to see what the price they propose is like and compare it with the price in the East."
Aldair’s words didn’t come out, that’s pretty much it!
"No, as long as we have contact with the French, the French will know that we are going to build a nuclear submarine. If we do not sign a cooperation with them in the end, our nuclear submarine project will also be exposed!" Irges continued to object.
“Exposed is exposed, so what, the Americans are going to sell nuclear submarines to the kangaroo country anyway. They can sell them, why can’t we buy them?” Aldair said.
Sagastres pondered for a moment: "Aldair, you are responsible for contacting the French, but do not reveal our idea of developing a self-developed nuclear submarine. Just tell them that we are interested in their Barracuda-class nuclear submarine. Take a look at them." What was the reaction, how to quote.”
“Okay. I’ll go find the Frenchman now.”
Aldair left with a victorious smile and went straight to the French Embassy. Relying on the video connection on the Internet, he quickly contacted the French Shipbuilding Bureau.
The video showed a clear conference room with many people sitting in it, all of them smiling at the camera.
“Mr. Aldair, I am very happy to have a video connection with you. We have specially invited experts in various fields. If you want to ask any questions, you can ask them.” The person sitting at the top said.
“I want to know how much it would cost to purchase a nuclear submarine from you.”
"Nuclear submarine? Welcome your purchase. Our ruby-class nuclear submarine is the smallest nuclear submarine in the world. It is most suitable for countries like yours. Its price is also very cheap. We can customize one for you and it will only cost 8 billion. Dollar."
Eight billion!
Aldair almost spurted a mouthful of blood onto the screen.
“We don’t want ruby nuclear submarines, we want your newly developed Barracuda class.” Alder asked, suppressing the urge to curse.
"Barracuda class? Sorry, we haven't started building this submarine ourselves yet. The technology is not mature yet. We can't sell you immature technology. We are honest."
(End of this chapter)