Chapter 1307 A Loving Father and a Filial Son

The Tiger armed helicopter should be one of the few brightest weapons platforms in the post-war Britain. Considering that the UK has always had a unique and hip-looking aesthetic on weapons platforms, it is difficult to imagine a country that manufactures helicopters without adding tail fins. Such a successful weapons platform came out.

From this point of view, we know how suitable Alan Wilson is for Britain with his ability to only copy the shell. It is simply a perfect match.

As of today, they are mainly exported to European countries and the Middle East. Indians still prefer tanks and do not think armed helicopters will be very useful. They hope that this can change after the India-Pakistan war.

Nearly a thousand Tiger armed helicopters have been exported, which has proven its reliability. Alan Wilson guessed correctly. The United States is indeed researching an armed helicopter, but it has just been tested. It was equipped in large quantities during the Vietnam War. Cobra gunship.

As for the Apache, the prototype of the Tiger gunship? In fact, it did not catch up with the Vietnam War, and it was all Saigon Iron Fist during its first flight.

Alan Wilson speculated that the Americans only came to temporarily order Tiger armed helicopters to meet their urgent needs and improve the recent dilemma that the United States has no reliable armed helicopters. Once the Cobra armed helicopters begin mass production, the United States will not need the United Kingdom. It is impossible to expect the United States to drive the development of British weapons platforms during the Vietnam War. It overestimates the morals of the United States.

But even though he knew in his heart that there was no big arms sales order, Alan Wilson still acted like he hoped the order would be successful, which gave Donald reassurance. What is the special relationship between Britain and the United States? Alan Wilson implemented the special relationship between Britain and the United States with practical actions.

The exchange of military technology between Britain and the United States must continue, and the methods here must be carefully planned. Donald left with a smile. After he left, Alan Wilson fell into thinking. He didn't know what the selling price was. Concern, arms sales are huge profits, but they must be distributed to whom.

Take the Tiger prototype Apache as an example. When the first batch of Apaches entered service in the 1980s, the average cost per aircraft was US$19 million. The price of foreign military sales will definitely vary according to different countries. Simply put, the poorer your country is, the higher the price will be.

The price of one sold to South Korea is US$50 million, and the price of one sold to the Philippines is US$250 million, which is more expensive than RMB 35.

Britain's arms sales of Tiger armed helicopters also follow this rule. The prices of Germany, France, Italy in Europe and the pro-British countries in the Middle East are different. The former are all industrial countries, and the price sold to them is too high, so they make their own after calculation. Middle Eastern countries do not have this ability, so they sell them more expensively.

After returning home, Alan Wilson told his wife the news and expressed his thoughts, "My suggestion is to sell it. It is good to make a name for yourself. And the selling price cannot be higher than what is sold to Europe. Now The Royal Navy is facing a problem, destroyers and frigates. The British Royal Navy still has a large number of warships in service during World War II. We have managed most of the aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, and the escort force should also be taken seriously. The cabinet is definitely not willing to hear this. Good news for spending money. If we can get help from the United States and save some costs, orderly replacement will be much easier."

"Spend a small amount of money to achieve big things, right? Exchange the Tiger for electronic equipment technology of American destroyers?" Pamela Mountbatten has slept with the supreme authority for so many years. As long as this man opens his mouth, she will know what will happen next, "My The product lost money, but the British Empire made money, is that what it means?”

"A strong military cannot solve all problems, but it can also solve most problems." Alan Wilson pulled his wife's body over and hugged him with a look of enjoyment on his face. "I am also prepared to fight for the construction of the Mountbatten guided missile battleship. Support from the United States. Do you know why?”

"Why?" Involuntarily, Pamela Mountbatten followed her husband's established track and began to abandon her high IQ. The whole process was very smooth, as if it should be so.

"With the configuration we have and the U.S. Navy, it is impossible to find another way to build this kind of arsenal ship.

This is undoubtedly a waste of martial arts. Do we still need our aircraft carrier battle group? "Alan Wilson said in a persuasive voice, "Once this course changes, it will bring heavy pressure to the country, and we simply cannot afford to change it. Considering the current tonnage of the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, do you want the U.S. Navy to work hard on arsenal ships? "

The U.S. Navy also uses aircraft carrier battle groups as the core of the navy. The Pentagon must know how much financial pressure such an attempt will increase. Aircraft carrier battle groups are war-tested, and arsenal ships are beautiful to look at, but trying now is definitely thankless.

In fact, the most suitable one for building a missile fleet is the Soviet Red Navy. The Red Navy has no sunk costs and there is no such thing as riding a tiger.

"Well, the Americans will definitely agree. Their country is bigger than the UK. They can watch us try and make mistakes before deciding whether to follow. If I were an American, I would simply encourage the UK." What about Pamela Mountbatten? She is said to be the daughter of a naval marshal.

"The United States definitely wants to abolish the Royal Navy and take away all the sea power in the world. Once the Royal Navy goes astray, the Americans will definitely be very happy." Alan Wilson said with a smile, "We require the United States to provide guidance on guided missile battleships Technical support is exchanged for lowering the selling price of the Tiger. In this way, it is a win-win situation for the United States."

"Well, the Americans won twice, took away Britain's rare fist weapons to fill the gap during the war, and may also want to lead us astray." Pamela Mountbatten nodded, now she understands What the husband wants to do is to exchange the armed helicopter for the electronic upgrade of the British destroyer and frigate to prepare for the service of the next generation of destroyer and frigate.

It’s hard to overestimate the bottom-line thinking of the United States. If nothing else, the United States is still drawing ppts on supersonic airliners. The wind is blowing over in Washington. Supersonic airliners are the trend of the future. Boeing 2707 Supersonic passenger aircraft will replace existing passenger aircraft from various countries. This is the first and only civil aviation passenger aircraft research and development project in U.S. history that is directly led and funded by the U.S. government.

It seems like this. Alan Wilson remembers that the Boeing 2707 supersonic airliner was almost certainly the Star Wars program for the United Kingdom. The then U.S. President Kennedy formally established the "National Supersonic Airliner Program" and promised the U.S. government Seventy-five percent of the development costs for supersonic passenger aircraft will be funded.

The design requirements for supersonic aircraft were successively sent to major aircraft manufacturers in the United States, with the fuselage and engine being divided into two separate parts for bidding. Competitors for the fuselage include Boeing, Lockheed, and North American Aviation, while for the engine, Curtiss-Wright, Pratt & Whitney, and General Electric are included.

As a result, the United Kingdom, which had suffered the collapse of the Comet airliner, united with France with the ambition of making a comeback to build the Concorde supersonic passenger plane first. However, the United States terminated the supersonic passenger plane plan and said I was kidding.

Now that the Comet airliner is running well, is this the same thing again? Alan Wilson is really going to argue with the French, using ppt versus ppt, to see who is better at acting.

Of course, first of all, the most trustworthy person is Pamela Mountbatten, who sleeps with him. Now this time to hone his acting skills, Pamela Mountbatten also agreed to see what her husband can get in exchange for the tiger posture.

Alan Wilson kept the U.S. Ambassador in the dark for a few days, and discussed the long-term development of the arsenal ship with the Ministry of Defense in a serious manner. When Donald came to the door again, he said that Pamela Mountbatten was an entrepreneur and she wanted to make money. Yes, this is not the time of World War II, when a tank cost more than a bomber. Now a Tiger helicopter gunship costs more than three times that of a Chieftain tank.

If the United States needs a lot, that's fine. But if it just buys dozens of them for emergency use, it would be too disrespectful of Britain's richest woman.

"But if the United States can provide some technical support on missile battleships, such as electronic equipment, I would still like to promote this arms sale, or give each other a small discount when we sell arms to each other. I don't know what the ambassador thinks. Sample?"

The UK is not verifying, but has actually started building the only battleship to be built after the war. Facts have proved that the UK has really begun to think about the application of arsenal ships. Donald just needs to tell the Americans accurately about this.

The Pentagon, the symbol of power of the U.S. military, and the number one figure in the U.S. Navy, David Lamar McDonald, listened to Earl Wheeler's explanation of the Vietnam War and finally heard something that interested him, " The British do not ban the export of Tiger armed helicopters. Our Cobra armed helicopter has just been tested and we really need the British to help fill the gap. However, the British do not want to suffer. They hope that we will provide some help in the guided missile battleship project, especially It's on electronic equipment. I heard that work has already started."

"This is a good thing. It seems that the British want to make an effort to recapture the First Navy. However, our Navy Department has demonstrated that this is a wrong route, and the British will definitely regret it in the end."

When Macdonald heard this, he had stars in his eyes. "The Soviets are clamoring to use missiles to solve the problem every day. The Soviet Union is so close to the United Kingdom, and the British seem to be very worried."

"McDonald, do you think this is a technology exchange that is beneficial to both of us?" Earl Wheeler asked seriously if the Navy Department had fully demonstrated another naval route?

"Chairman, of course we have argued that British armed helicopters are very helpful to the Army's operations in South Vietnam." McDonald looked at Army Chief of Staff Harold Keith Johnson at this time, "Harold, what do you think? What? Will we suffer a loss in this exchange?"

"In terms of specific projects, the Cobra armed helicopter still needs production time, so of course we won't suffer. Generally speaking, if we really carry out technology exchange, we will not suffer even more."

After listening to the words of the Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Army Staff, Earl Wheeler nodded clearly, "Then send someone to talk to the British. It will be a win-win arms sales project for us."