Chapter 557: Kolo on the Attack

It is also because of Prince Andrew's experience as a pilot in the navy - he was just awarded the title of honorary colonel of the British Royal Navy two years ago - so it is not surprising that he can recognize the Tornado F3 fighter jets that are still in service in the Royal Air Force.

When the new government of Kolo was just established, the national defense security was contracted to the Kolo Corps.

At that time, most of the equipment owned by the Kolo Corps was "lost" equipment purchased from the US-UK coalition forces during the Iraq War, and all of them were army equipment, with only a few helicopters. In addition, there were a few speedboats for coastal defense.

The so-called air force of the government army of the previous Kolo military government was just two old fighter jets.

After the oil field was discovered in Kolo, the government gradually became "generous". On the one hand, it hoped to increase national defense strength, and on the other hand, it was also looking for some ways to restrict the Kolo Corps. So last year, the Kolo government signed a new defense agreement with the Kolo Corps - the agreement stipulates that the Kolo government will invest in the purchase of some equipment to strengthen national defense strength, including the newly built air force and navy.

This part of the defense force will be trained by the Kolo Corps, and the government will provide equipment, and it will be jointly led by the government and the Kolo Corps.

In fact, this new agreement was also proposed by Barron's think tank. This is conducive to the construction of heavy equipment by the Kolo Corps, and the Kolo government will bear its expenses. As for the use, is there any difference when the Kolo Defense Minister is appointed by "their own people"?

And no matter what, the specific users of the equipment are all personnel of the Kolo Corps.

At that time, the Royal Air Force in Britain was preparing to cut down - they planned to disband a Tornado F3 air defense fighter squadron and retire all Jaguar fighters/ground attack aircraft (3 squadrons) before 2007...

The number of Hunter MR2 maritime patrol aircraft will also be reduced from 21 to 16, and the personnel of the Royal Air Force will also be reduced from 48,500 to 41,000 before 2008.

So with the help of Barron's military connections and the Duke of Westminster, who served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense, Kolo bought 12 Tornado F3 fighters (half of which were ground-to-air models and half were air-defense models) from the reduced equipment to form a fighter squadron.

In addition, 5 maritime patrol aircraft were purchased for the defense of offshore oil fields, as well as 10 G115 trainer aircraft.

The Kolo Corps Air Force formed just hired some of the retired personnel from the Royal Air Force as instructors and maintenance personnel for various types of aircraft, and also solved the placement of the Royal Air Force's reduced personnel.

Some people may say that the cost of buying retired equipment from the British army is not as good as buying more cost-effective equipment elsewhere...

In fact, no matter which country, its military equipment purchases have never been purely economic, but can also be regarded as a continuation of politics.

Or to put it more bluntly, for some small countries, purchasing equipment from abroad is equivalent to paying "protection fees" to those major arms-selling countries.

As a Commonwealth country, Kolo has a relationship with Barron. At the same time, the instructors and backbone personnel of the Kolo Corps are all from the British Army. If the main military purchase target is not aimed at Britain, it would be really stupid.

For a small West African country like Kolo, there are really no powerful countries around it. With the current strength of the Kolo Corps, it is more than enough to maintain national defense.

…

Since the airport near Britta, the capital of Kolo, is under construction and has not yet been put into use, the Devonshire plane landed at the Loti International Airport, the old capital and the largest city in Kolo. The runway here has also been expanded and renovated, and it is longer than when they came before.

When Prince Andrew and Barron and his party got off the plane, the presidential guards played music on both sides of the red carpet at the airport to welcome them.

Kolo President Jammeh Bongo personally brought some officials from Britta to greet them.

Prince Andrew was very happy to see the other party welcome him with such a grand ceremony. As a member of the royal family, they all need to assume the responsibility of representing the royal family and the country to visit abroad, which is also one of their work contents.

In 2004, the new government of Kolo completed the general election, and at that time, Jammeh Bongo began his presidency.

The new constitution of Kolo stipulates that the president's term of office is 4 years, so there will be another general election next year. Jammeh naturally hopes to be re-elected. Although Kolo has achieved great development and great results during his term, Jammeh understands that in addition to the choice of the people, the most important thing for him to complete his re-election is to get whose support...

After a short rest and talks, Jammeh Bongo took them to visit Loti.

Even though Kolo has moved the capital from Loti to Britta in the central part, Loti is still the largest city in Kolo. After all, Britta has only completed the construction of some areas and its population is not large.

In fact, while announcing the capital relocation plan, Kolo also promoted the urban reconstruction plan in Loti - after all, although Loti was already the most "prosperous" city in the entire Kolo, the area where the slums gathered was still dirty and messy, comparable to the slums in India.

Therefore, on the east side of the original Loti city, the Golden Africa Real Estate Company under the West Africa Group carried out the construction project of the new urban area.

Now some companies have settled in the new urban area of ​​Loti, including Kolo Oil Company and the residential area they provide for their employees. Compared with the old urban area, the urban appearance of the new urban area is much better, and the planning is more scientific.

It is expected that before 2010, the new urban area of ​​Loti will be completed and the reconstruction of the old urban area will be started.

It can be said that in Kolo, Barron saw the vigorous vitality that he had not discovered when he came last time. Since the establishment of the new government in 2004, Kolo's economic growth has entered the fast lane, with an average annual economic growth rate of more than 20%, which is terrifying - of course, this is also related to their weak foundation. In other words, there is a lot of room for improvement...

Especially in the vicinity of the city, Loti's per capita income has doubled compared to 2004. Especially after the stable exploitation of Kolo's offshore oil fields, Kolo has announced that it has bid farewell to the ranks of underdeveloped countries.

Of course, it is not just the oil fields. Kolo's domestic investment growth is also very strong. This is also due to the fact that since 2004, with the support of the Kolo government and the West African Group, many technical schools have been opened in Kolo. The government provides subsidies, and the West African United Bank provides part of the loan, which enables ordinary people in Kolo to enter these technical schools for short-term learning (more like pre-job training) to help them acquire the ability to screw in the factory.

The Primark clothing chain and the Fast Retailing Group have gradually expanded their production bases in Kolo; factories for deep processing of agricultural products including coffee and cocoa have been established one after another; Kolo's domestic infrastructure has been developed, and the re-export trade has prospered due to the renovation of the Loti Port and the increasing loading and unloading volume, which has also made the transportation industry begin to prosper...

These are the driving forces of Kolo's domestic economic growth.