Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

The Navy's project could finally be considered to have come to a close. After this trip, Qin Yang had agreed to many projects for the Navy, which gave him a headache. Implementing these projects one by one would not be easy and would require a lot of time and energy. What about himself?

Would he be able to manage it all?

Never mind, he would leave the Navy's projects for now. After returning, he would first finish the tank project. After all, the others were just side projects. Developing the most powerful tank and having the advanced Type 99 tank complete the military parade through the square was the most important thing.

However, just as Qin Yang returned to the capital and before he could set off for the grasslands, the Navy called again.

"Hello, this is Qin Yang."

"President Qin, the Navy invites you..."

Before the person could finish speaking, Qin Yang immediately interrupted, "President Qin is not here."

It was endless! Qin Yang was also helpless. He was too busy to handle everything and still had to take care of other projects.

"President Qin, don't hang up! The Melbourne has been bought back!" The other party seemed to know Qin Yang's impatience and quickly said.

The Melbourne!

Qin Yang knew about this project. The Navy had asked him to come forward, but Qin Yang had refused. This kind of project shouldn't alarm too many people. The more low-key, the better. His involvement would only make things worse.

After that, the Navy didn't mention it again, and Qin Yang didn't take it to heart. He didn't expect that the Navy would have someone buy back the Melbourne so quickly!

"Currently, the ship is being towed to the Huangpu Shipyard and is expected to arrive by the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. President Qin, would you like to witness this advanced warship with your own eyes?"

Qin Yang was about to nod in agreement, but then shook his head: "I don't want to. Everything that can be dismantled has been dismantled. At most, you can only study the cabin structure. It's useless for me to go. I'll just be looking at scrap metal."

What a joke! He couldn't be fooled by the Navy again. If he went, he didn't know how many days it would be delayed. He couldn't break his promise to Old Zhu again and again.

"No, President Qin, the arresting gear system is intact. We have already completed the ski-jump takeoff test and only the arresting gear is left. You'd better go and take a look."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

Qin Yang hung up the phone.

Nie Xiaoqian sat opposite him, looking at her husband with concern. The capable are often burdened with more work. Qin Yang was simply a genius. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had high hopes for him. The Army and Air Force had already received a lot of advanced equipment, and now it was the Navy's turn. Of course, the Navy would chase after him every day.

However, now that the Melbourne had arrived, he should go and take a look. After all, this was the first time the East had truly come into contact with an aircraft carrier.

"Yang, I remember the first time I went to the South, I took a plane to exchange a check. Now, the affairs are handled by the people below. I haven't been to the South for a long time. Why don't we go to the South for a trip?"

Qin Yang looked at his wife: "Okay, then let's go to the South together, go to Hong Kong to see the bright lights of the big city, and take a look at the Huangpu Shipyard by the way."

"Okay."

Guangzhou, Huangpu Shipyard.

"It's finally back!"

"I've been looking at it all day and I'm so envious. Let's go up and take a look quickly!"

Zhao Guodong strode ahead. He had arrived long ago, but according to the orders from above, everything had to be low-key, so they couldn't get close to the ship during the day. They could only wait until night.

It was such a long wait. They could only look at it through the glass of the office, feeling envious.

Even if they had obtained the French drawings, they were only rough drawings, not detailed drawings. How could they be better than the real thing in front of them?

The Melbourne, a light aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of 20,000 tons! With a length of 211 meters and a width of 24.8 meters, it still looked very large. Its bow was dilapidated, looking like it had been hit. The island was also dilapidated, as the Australians had used explosive dismantling to save trouble during the dismantling process. The entire warship looked rusty, but when standing on the deck, everyone was still excited.

This was the first time they had stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier, even if it was a troublemaker, even if it was a light aircraft carrier, it was still an aircraft carrier!

Since it was only a light aircraft carrier, it had many differences from real supercarriers. It had an angled deck, but it was not obvious. It was almost impossible to see too much flare. It also had a catapult, on the port side of the bow, a miniature version of a steam catapult.

Compared to the large catapults used on American supercarriers, the catapult in front of them was very small. Its model was BS4, with a total length of only 31.4 meters. It could push a 30,000-pound (13.61-ton) aircraft to 110 knots. If it was a 40,000-pound (18.14-ton) aircraft, it would only reach 78 knots at most. Without a 30-knot headwind, it simply couldn't take off.

There was indeed only one catapult, after all, the deck area was too small, and the front end of the catapult also extended a few meters out of the aircraft carrier, forming a tentacle, which was the deceleration stroke of the catapult, very similar to the French aircraft carrier's catapult.

Was this catapult useful?

In many materials, it was said that the East obtained the Melbourne and treasured it, obtaining four valuable catapults from it. This was completely tabloid literature, turning the four steam boilers into four catapults.

The Melbourne only had one catapult, and it was a 1950s technology. It had no meaning to the East at all. The East later built aircraft carriers and preferred ski-jump takeoff rather than using catapults, because the Melbourne's catapult had no reference value at all. Modern fighters weighed twenty or thirty tons, so how could this small catapult drive them?

Not to mention that the catapult had already been damaged.

Many of the Melbourne's confidential equipment had been removed, including radar and weapon systems. In order to prevent the Easterners from repairing the warship, even the rudder surfaces had been welded shut. How could they have preserved the catapult intact?

"Alas, the catapult has been damaged. It would have been great if it hadn't been damaged. We could have taken the catapult apart and used it for our own aircraft's catapult takeoff tests." A technician said with some regret.

"Are you dreaming?" At this time, a voice sounded from behind.