The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

Since the first flight of the F-14 ‘Panda’ fighter prototype in 1970, the world has entered the era of third-generation fighters for 36 years.

The major military powers also mainly use third-generation fighters as the main force of air force fighters.

But it does not mean that there is no market for second-generation and second-generation and a half fighters.

You should know that there are still dozens of countries in the world whose air forces are mainly first-generation fighters!

Even among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, except for the United States, which has all third-generation fighters or a small number of fourth-generation fighters, the air forces of the other four permanent members are equipped with second-generation fighters.

The British Air Force is equipped with more than 500 Harrier fighters. According to current reports, the Harrier fighter belongs to the second-generation and a half fighter.

The French Air Force is also equipped with hundreds of Super Etendards, Mirage F1s, and Mirage 3/5s!

As for the Russian Air Force, even though it has exported a large number of fighters in the past ten years, Russia still retains a large number of Su-24, Su-25, Su-22, MiG-21, MiG-23 and other fighters.

The Chinese Air Force is also equipped with some J-7 and J-8 modifications.

Apart from the five permanent members, let alone, for many countries, the second-generation and a half fighters are the most advanced fighters! Even the second-generation fighters are already advanced fighters!

The third-generation fighters are often more expensive, and most countries cannot afford them. After all, the export price of the US F-16 fighter is as high as 50 to 90 million US dollars, and the price of the F-16V fighter is as high as 80 million US dollars.

In comparison, the prices of second-generation and second-generation and a half fighters are undoubtedly much cheaper.

Even the latest J-7 and J-8 modifications launched by China, the top-end price is less than 20 million US dollars.

Here, most countries in the world can buy the weapons and equipment they want.

The Zhuhai Air Show is in full swing, and not far away in Hong Kong, Liu Tao is entertaining Al in a villa.

At this time, Al is already an old man!

The failure of the Iraq War made Al seem to have aged all of a sudden.

This time Al passed through Persia and then took a plane to China with the Persian delegation.

Liu Tao did not look down on Al because of the failure of the Iraq War, but still regarded Al as an old friend.

Liu Tao frowned slightly when Al proposed to buy drones.

"Al, my old friend, to be honest, drones are not suitable for you. You don't have enough electricity!" Liu Tao kindly reminded, "and now you don't have enough talent to operate drones."

Operating drones is not difficult, but it is not that easy.

Now Saddam and others are lucky to be able to defend their current territory.

Drones are new weapons, and Iraq has no talent.

Al said: "If no soldiers can, we can hire mercenaries to help us train."

"I know you have business in this area. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries, you have technicians helping them train drones, and we can also pay!"

Several drones such as the 'Wing Loong' drone and the 'Rainbow' drone have been exported to Saudi Arabia and other countries.

These are not even secrets, they have been officially reported.

Including Persia, there are drones exported by Panshan Group.

So much so that now drones have appeared in the Afghan battlefield.

Al now has only one ideal, that is, to see the Iraqi army drive out the US army, restore Iraq, and let the Iraqis be the masters of their own country in his lifetime.

And to realize this ideal, we must unite the forces that can be united.

Since 2003, Al has suffered more than a hundred assassination attempts, and Al is still active in neighboring friendly countries to raise funds for Iraq.

War is fought for money!

Without funds, Saddam could not have persisted in the Kurdish mountains until now.

Fighters and the like are not suitable for Iraq now, because there are no airports that can take off and land in the mountains.

What is suitable for Iraq are armed helicopters and drones!

Liu Tao was thinking in his mind.

He said that just now, in addition to the fact that Saddam had no money and no technicians in the field of drones, there was another very important reason, which was that it involved the United States!

The appearance of drones in Afghanistan will make Americans have opinions.

Grenades, guns, and bullets are fine.

Too high-end and advanced weapons are not acceptable.

Even, portable air defense missiles like the "Vanguard" have long disappeared from the Afghan battlefield.

Instead, it was replaced by an anti-aircraft missile that looked very much like the Soviet era, which made the United States protest to the Russians.

These tacit understandings were not written in black and white, but they did exist.

If drones appeared on the battlefield in Iraq, the Americans would have to bomb them.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the top priority for the Chinese people. Not only did they have to be held, but they also had to be held well, and more countries had to participate in the 2008 Olympics!

"Al, my old friend, you have given me a big problem." Liu Tao sighed softly, "UAVs, you can't have them before 2008, but you can send people to learn."

Al immediately understood what Liu Tao meant.

You can't have drones in 2008, but you can in 2009!

Al immediately smiled.

As an expert with rich diplomatic experience, Al naturally understands that there are some unspoken rules in this world.

Under the threat of nuclear weapons, the five permanent members maintained a certain tacit understanding.

It is precisely because of this that it has been 60 years since World War II and the S3 season has never broken out. No matter how tense the situation is, all parties have reached a compromise in the end.

In their current situation, if they want to obtain a drone, it is not a matter of money!

"Liu, you are a good friend and old friend of our Iraq. It is an honor for us in Iraq to receive your support and help for our just cause! Believe me, as long as we can restore our country, Iraq will always be your friend. We will not become enemies!" Al said firmly.

It is not an easy task to drive away the Americans and let the Iraqis take charge of their own affairs.

What they can do is unite all the forces they can unite.

Liu Tao said with a smile on his face: "Al, we have always maintained friendly relations. We have always respected the sovereignty of all countries and nations and do not interfere in the internal affairs of any country. The affairs of a country should be left to the people of that country. Choice, hegemony is unpopular!”

"I also believe that your just cause will soon usher in the dawn. The great Iraqi people are invincible and will surely defeat its enemies! The glory of ancient Babylon will never be cut off!" Liu Tao said with a hint of emotion. Some hints.

Al became even more happy after hearing Liu Tao's words, as if he understood the meaning of Liu Tao's words.

As long as Liu Tao still supports them, then there is hope for their career and they can receive a steady stream of external support. (End of chapter)