Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"Military-Industrial Empire!" The phrase was certainly domineering. Everyone looked at Qin Yang with surprised expressions. Only Qin Yang would say something like that; he was always so arrogant.

Developing military industry was a money-burning endeavor. Huge investments didn't necessarily guarantee high returns, but failing to develop meant falling behind. Therefore, all countries had to invest funds in military research and development, with national budgets allocated annually.

So, could developing military industry be profitable?

Of course, it could. Looking at the world, some countries profited from their military industry, such as the Americans. Their military industry could develop positively. Advanced weapons developed would be put into actual combat. Military products tested in actual combat were easy to sell. With the money from sales, they could invest in further research and development, creating a virtuous cycle. Their military products sold well in the international arms market.

Consider the Swedes, who, without much pressure, developed the advanced JAS39 fighter jet, securing a share of the international arms market.

Could the French be considered? Arguably, the French had similar ideas. Moreover, French military products were expensive, fleecing customers whenever they could. The non-stealth Rafale fighter jet was sold for twice the price of the stealthy F-35. However, there weren't many such gullible customers worldwide.

As for what the current Factory 960 and other Eastern military enterprises should do, Qin Yang elaborated.

"Currently, in terms of army weapons, many of our products are already at a world-class level. For example, even simple bulletproof equipment is exported in large quantities, earning us valuable foreign exchange. This will be the case in other areas as well. For instance, our tank armor-piercing rounds also have first-class performance. Of course, we must also expand into more advanced products."

"In terms of land warfare weapons, the most important are tanks. We have already signed an agreement with Old Pakistan to export tanks, but that's not enough. Once our Type 99 tank is developed, we can use it as a prototype to launch advanced export tanks and seize the high-end market."

"Chief Qin, tanks are the foundation of our army. You actually want to sell this most advanced tank?" Someone in the audience was surprised.

"Everyone, 'advanced' is only temporary. Take our Type 99 tank, for example. It still uses a 1200-horsepower engine and a mechanical transmission. If we later have a 1500-horsepower engine and a hydraulic transmission, would our current Type 99 tank still be the most advanced? Can it be exported then?"

The person who asked the question fell silent.

Indeed, with more advanced models, the current ones could be exported. On a global scale, they would still be advanced and definitely sell well.

"In terms of air force, the most advanced fighter jet we are currently developing is the J-11. When developing this fighter jet, we had export plans, so the entire project cost very little money to develop. In the future, this fighter jet can also be exported to multiple countries, generating a large amount of foreign exchange for us."

Would exporting the J-11 leak secrets?

Of course not, because it was originally a Grumman product. We only reverse-engineered it. The technology belonged to the Americans. There was no pressure in us selling it to make money.

However, would our export upset the Americans?

Who cares? Our self-developed J-11 was improved from the Q-6. Although it looked similar to Grumman's Tomcat, it was only similar.

There were many similar planes in the world. Could it be said that we were reverse-engineering? We wouldn't admit it.

"In terms of naval equipment, we are currently very backward, but in the future, when our technology develops, our naval equipment will also reach world-class levels, especially in electronics."

Qin Yang finally got to the key point: "If we want our military industry to reach the cutting edge, we cannot do without an advanced electronics industry. Our country is now developing the economy, and many basic research projects have been abandoned. However, we must never give up on electronics technology. If the country won't do it, then our Factory 960 will do it ourselves."

The domestic electronics industry was not far behind the world's advanced level. When Intel produced the 8086 chip, it didn't take long for China to reverse-engineer a similar chip. The real lag started in the 1980s and 1990s.

The VLSI project of the Computer Institute was shut down, and China lost its chip design capabilities. Under the influence of a large group of 'buying is better than building' proponents, the country began to spend huge amounts of valuable foreign exchange to purchase integrated circuits from abroad. When it wanted to catch up later, it found that it had been monopolized by others, leaving it with no way to go.

The CPU of computers was left to the competition of a few manufacturers, and other manufacturers could not enter this market at all. Even if Loongson was developed, it could not use the X86 architecture, otherwise it would be infringement. If other architectures were used, there would be no ecosystem, because all computer software was developed based on X86, and software manufacturers had no obligation to optimize for Loongson.

"Your Factory 960 wants to get involved in the chip industry?" the old leader asked.

"Yes, if the country doesn't have the funds, then we will do it ourselves. In short, we must not fall behind in this field, otherwise, our military industry will also fall behind." Qin Yang looked at everyone: "Everyone, the high-tech era has come to us. The totem of technology is not a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press, not splashing iron flowers, but a small chip!"

"Okay, since you have this idea, then we will support it." The old leader nodded: "The Computer Institute is approving a new generation of VLSI. The country doesn't have the funds, so it's just right to hand it over to your Factory 960 to do it."

"Okay, then all the relevant personnel must be transferred from the Computer Institute to our Factory 960. We will specially set up a chip research and development and production factory!"