bloom america

Chapter 704: Protective Umbrella and DuPont (Part 1)

How to make a ground-effect aircraft into an aircraft carrier, Catherine doesn't know.

However, in her previous life, Catherine had heard of such research conducted by Americans.

It's 1971, the height of the Cold War.

Americans today, compared to the future, can simply be described as "crazy".

Historically, Americans did not know about ground-effect aircraft during this period, but Americans now know about it.

At this time, even Catherine herself could not guess what they would do.

However, as Catherine concluded, the main advantages of such a ground-effect aircraft are its concealment and large payload.

Because it is flying at an ultra-low altitude, it cannot be detected by radar at all; because it can carry a large capacity of materials, it can quickly transport a large amount of materials to the front line; because the cost is very low, it does not matter if it is mass-produced.

... Thinking about it this way, Catherine even felt that there seemed to be no reason for Americans not to study such a sharp thing as ground-effect aircraft.

Although Catherine feels that the ground-effect aircraft carrier currently being studied by the Americans seems a bit unreliable, this will not affect the general direction of research.

It's not necessarily like an aircraft carrier at sea.

Catherine guessed that during a war, such a mothership could circle back to the enemy's rear and then release the tanks and soldiers loaded in the mothership to conduct a sneak attack on the enemy.

——You know, with such a low price and concealed flight effect, it is definitely a master of sneak attacks.

From this point of view, such a ground-effect aircraft carrier also makes sense.

But whether this can be called an aircraft carrier is questionable.

Badua did not tell Catherine how these aircraft carriers were used. These matters were confidential, and perhaps even Badua himself did not know.

Catherine guessed that the other party wanted to develop a ground-effect aircraft carrier, which was also a very important reason why the other party needed to use the North American Computer Center for calculations.

"I really don't know what kind of thing they will develop in the end."

After the other party left, Catherine sipped her coffee and imagined the future development with great interest.

"Why do I always feel like they are being cheated?" Elsa had a strange feeling.

"This is just your illusion."

Anyway, this has nothing to do with us, as long as we can make money.

Well, even if they rent the computer center for a year, then the company will have hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and it will be able to pay back its capital in four to five years - well, because there is also investment from the federal government itself.

in.

Now this month is only close to one million dollars, just to let the other party have a taste of the sweetness.

Catherine believes that after these researchers have come into contact with such powerful supercomputers, they will definitely not want to try ancient equipment like hand calculations and computers again...

"Everything is under control..."

Catherine said this.

The total equipment value of the supercomputer center is almost 2 billion US dollars, more than half of which is paid for by Catherine, but there is also a lot of funds paid by the federal government.

…

Michelle sat in the living room waiting for the other party's arrival.

He is Bruce Edson's assistant.

There are more than thirty assistants to the president like this, besides Michelle, and Bruce Edson relies on these people to manage the company.

This is where DuPont is.

The DuPont Consortium is one of the top ten consortiums in the United States. It is a consortium composed of the DuPont family that relied on the chemical industry and the arms industry. The founder is French immigrant E.

i. DuPont. Denemours. He fled to the United States during the French Revolution and founded DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware in 1802 to run the fire business. After five generations of the DuPont family,

Finally, DuPont became a typical family trust.

During World War I, DuPont's assets increased from US$75 million before the war to US$300 million in 1918; it became one of the largest monopolies at the time. The DuPont Consortium was also formed.

In 1935, the total assets of the DuPont Consortium increased to US$2.63 billion, ranking sixth among the eight largest consortiums in the United States at that time. During World War II, the DuPont Consortium received US$21 billion worth of military orders from the Pentagon, and after the war it

Participating in the manufacturing of atomic bombs, its economic strength has been greatly enhanced, ranking fifth among the top ten financial groups.

But in the 1960s, due to intensified competition among consortiums, the status of the DuPont consortium declined, relegating it to ninth place.

Although DuPont also engages in arms and petroleum, the products that ordinary people know best about DuPont are probably nylon stockings, polyester, and Lycra clothes. In addition, DuPont paints are also famous.

Naturally, Michelle didn't come here for arms. At this point, there was no need for them to come specifically to find an arms company.

When it comes to arms, I'm not afraid that you won't sell them, but I'm afraid that you won't buy them. The Umbrella Company purchases a large amount of arms every year, and there are many arms dealers who want to do business with them. They don't care about DuPont or the like.

They have no demand for paint or anything like that.

In fact, Michelle came here just for one of the other party's synthetic materials.

——Kevlar.

This new material, which has been patented by the DuPont consortium, is Michelle's most important goal when she comes here this time.

Kevlar is a very good material. If Kevlar is used to make body armor, the effect will be outstanding. And such body armor is exactly what the umbrella company needs.

Soon, the person in charge of the other party also arrived.

"Welcome, Mr. Michel."

"Hello, Mr. Marco."

Michelle here also stood up and the two shook hands.

When Michelle came here to negotiate with the other party, she did some special homework.

The DuPont Consortium is a typical family trust. The DuPont Consortium is basically composed of the DuPont family, and most of its capital is the family's wealth. All important positions are controlled by family members.

Until recently, the other party seemed to be interested in letting outside and capable people manage the consortium. The general manager and president of DuPont in front of him was the first foreign aid invited by the other party.

"Kevlar is a new material developed by our DuPont company. Although we have plans for mass production, we have not yet considered making this product into body armor."

It would be strange not to have

Michelle would not say this. He just smiled and said: "I don't think this is a problem. We have many experts, and we can also use current supercomputers to perform simulation calculations for us, which can save a lot of money."

time."

Even before arriving, both parties had already gone through a lot of negotiation and investigation. It was obvious that this was just perfunctory.

Because of this war, one mib was injured on the job. Although it was not life-threatening, his career was over. The company also paid the other party 1 million in retirement and disability compensation.

From now on, the other party will also receive a living allowance of US$10,000 every year.

This is the treatment of an ace.

This incident also made the umbrella company realize that the current body armor seems to be slightly insufficient.

Therefore, the investigators took various patents registered in the past ten years and checked them one by one.

This was originally a laborious task, but because the patent office had been trying to go electronic in the past two years, it was very convenient to check. Although it was just an attempt, there were shortcomings.

At that time, this new material called "Kevlar" came into the attention of investigators.

This new type of material has high density, light weight, high strength, good toughness, high temperature resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, insulation performance, and good textile performance. Isn't this kind of material exactly what the company needs?

After expert argumentation

This patent was registered by DuPont, so the investigators turned back to investigate DuPont and found that this was a material that had not yet been put on the market.

At this time, the company found the DuPont consortium.

The two parties conducted a series of consultations and discussions on this material, which led to this interview.

Although it is a large conglomerate, DuPont was actually in trouble in the 1960s.

In the early 1960s, when many of DuPont's patents expired, many strong rivals suddenly appeared. The company faced many crises. More than US$1 billion of General Motors stock owned by the DuPont family was forced to sell, and the DuPont family's many years of excellent assets were sold.

Divested; and the American Rubber Company controlled by the family was also snatched away by the Rockefeller family.

At that time, DuPont cooperated with Angel Clothing Design Company to launch stockings and new garters, which was one of their ways to expand their business at that time.

At that time, in 1962, Copeland DuPont, a very capable member of the DuPont family, was appointed as the 11th general manager and chairman of the board of directors at the critical moment, taking on the role of "the starter in the era of crisis."

In order to cope with this dilemma, Copeland proposed a new business policy. At the end of 1967, Copeland made an unprecedented move to relinquish the position of general manager to Marco, who was not from the DuPont family. The chairman of the Finance Committee was also served by someone else, and he became the full-time chairman.

job.

When a family business reaches its mid-to-late stage of development, decline is often inevitable. Motorola, for example, is a typical example of this.

What DuPont did was to save their team. More capable people entered the company and brought vitality to them.

At this time, the DuPont Group also realized that contact with the umbrella company was definitely a great opportunity.

It's not just an umbrella. If you can cooperate with an umbrella, it means you have more opportunities to sell your products to others.

The reputation of Umbrella lies there.

This approach is much smarter than simple advertising.

If we look at history, it would probably be five or six years before the Pentagon noticed this product. Although DuPont doesn't understand history, wouldn't it be better if the product could be sold and monetized faster?

?

…

The first update is completed and there are four more updates.

Hoho