Great Power Industry: You're a private company building an aircraft carrier?

The size of a submarine to be built is determined not only by design capabilities and its own needs, but also by manufacturing capabilities.

The Navy's current main nuclear submarine, the Type 091, has an overall width of about ten meters, but it has a double-hull structure. The actual pressure hull inside, where people actually live, is only about eight meters in diameter. This is because the factories that manufacture nuclear submarines can only roll up such a large diameter pressure hull.

Attack nuclear submarines are relatively easy to handle, but strategic nuclear submarines need to carry missiles. If the length of the missiles is larger than the diameter of the submarine, then a bulge, commonly known as a turtleback, needs to be designed behind the conning tower.

The larger the diameter of a submarine, the more spacious its interior. The Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines of the United States have a pressure hull diameter of 12.5 meters, so the raised turtleback is almost invisible at the rear!

The later Russian Borei-class rocket had a pressure hull diameter of 13 meters.

However, being envious is useless; increasing the diameter of the pressure shell depends on two factors.

One factor is the length of the steel plate. The longer the steel plate rolled by the rolling mill, the larger the circumference of the pressure hull that can be rolled, and the larger the diameter. To make the submarine's diameter reach thirteen meters, multiply by 3.14 to get the figure of 40.82 meters.

Now, the production line at Laiyang Factory can produce steel plates that are 40 meters long and 5.5 meters wide. The width cannot be changed, but adding one or two meters to the length will not be a big problem.

Therefore, this problem is no longer insurmountable.

If one steel plate is not long enough, can two steel plates be joined together?

This is not usually done because it would create an extra weld seam and pose additional risks.

On the other hand, there is the plate rolling machine. The larger the diameter, the larger the plate rolling machine is needed!

Globally, Sweden has long monopolized the production of large-diameter plate rolling machines. While the West can use them, they have always been strictly embargoed goods for the East.

However, that's nothing. We've even built a 5.5-meter rolling mill, so why can't we handle a plate rolling machine?

The plate rolling machine has a simple structure, consisting of three rollers: two side by side at the bottom and one in the middle at the top. When they are pressed down, a straight steel plate is bent. After several passes, it becomes round.

The key issue is still pressure!

To achieve sufficient diving depth, nuclear submarines not only use high-strength steel plates, but also very thick ones, generally around ten centimeters thick!

That's right, ten centimeters. The deck steel of an aircraft carrier is only 38 millimeters thick, while the pressure hull of a nuclear submarine needs to be 100 millimeters thick, or even thicker!

To bend this kind of steel plate, you would need several thousand tons of pressure!

This isn't a big problem at the Laiyang plant either. A 5.5-meter rolling mill requires 10,000 tons of pressure, but they still managed to make it. A plate rolling mill with several thousand tons is a piece of cake!

Laiyang Factory has the capability to complete the task; the key is how the higher-ups view it and whether they are willing to entrust the task to them!

Leader Zhang's expression was complicated: "Engineer Qin, I can't decide this matter, but I can report it to my superiors and let them make the decision. But don't worry, even if you don't undertake our nuclear submarine construction task, you will become an important supplier of nuclear submarine parts, and the Navy will issue you a military product manufacturing license."

"Okay, then I'll wait."

Everyone else was stunned. After the naval leaders left, Qin Jianguo finally spoke excitedly: "Xiao Chuan, our factory is going to undertake the construction of the navy's nuclear submarines?"

Nuclear submarines are a vital national asset! If Laiyang Shipyard can build such a massive vessel, then Laiyang Shipyard will be even more impressive than countless other military industrial enterprises!

"Of course not," Qin Chuan said. "Building a nuclear submarine isn't just about building an outer shell. How could the Navy entrust such a massive vessel to us? At most, they'd let us build the shell."

Qin Jianguo was dumbfounded: "Then why did you say that?"

My initial excitement and sense of pride and honor had just begun to rise in my heart, but it's all gone now!

"The Navy certainly won't entrust us with the construction of nuclear submarines, but they'll feel awkward doing so. So, it's not a problem for them to give us some ordinary warships as a side project. We'll try to get the air defense ship construction project, which would be like inserting a hand into the Navy's equipment production system!"

After Qin Chuan finished speaking, he looked at the bulk carrier being modified on the beach in the distance.

There is no future in just steelmaking; we must diversify. Look at South Korea: steelmaking, shipbuilding, car manufacturing... and eventually forming a large conglomerate.

Since we're coming to Yangchang, we'll definitely be developing in that direction, so let's start by building destroyers that are a few thousand tons in size!

Now that we've accumulated experience, the navy's aircraft carriers will also have to be built here in the future!

The capital, Princess Tomb, Yellow Tower.

"A 1,000 MPa steel can allow nuclear submarines to dive to a depth of 500 meters! Even if we design it to be 300 meters deep, we can still greatly reduce the thickness of the pressure hull and reduce the weight. Laiyang Shipyard has made a great contribution to our navy!"

"Yes, we have the steel for the aircraft carrier deck and the boilers. I think we can start the aircraft carrier project at any time! Engineer Qin is amazing!"

Everyone chimed in with their own words, all in high spirits.

"This kid is capable, but he's also giving us a headache. He proposed that if we let them build nuclear submarines at Yangchang Shipyard, they can install a large plate rolling machine, allowing the pressure hull of the nuclear submarine to reach a diameter of 13 meters," said Leader Zhang. "This is incredibly attractive to us, but for a private enterprise to want to undertake the construction of nuclear submarines is simply..."

There is only one nuclear submarine manufacturing plant in China, located in Huludao. It is a key classified department that ordinary people cannot get close to. The Laiyang plant is a mixed bag of people, so how could it possibly be responsible for producing nuclear submarines!

Moreover, a nuclear submarine is a massive project, not just a hull. It contains a lot of equipment and cannot be built in the open like a conventional warship. It must be built in a closed workshop, and even launching it requires a special railway for transportation.

Building nuclear submarines at Laiyang Shipyard? That's a complete joke!

“Yes, private enterprises can’t undertake this kind of task. I’m willing to coordinate and let them be responsible for producing the outer shell. Once it’s produced, it can be loaded onto a ship and transported to Huludao,” Qin Jiantai said.

“Old Qin, you said it yourself, they are a private enterprise, we can’t use administrative means, otherwise it will cause them to resent us.” Leader Zhang said, “I think we still have to give them some incentives and let them build some simple warships.”

"Without a country, there is no home. It's an honor for them to provide our navy with the hulls of nuclear submarines," Qin Jiantai said. "What more could they ask for? Besides, they probably wouldn't even be interested in missile boats or anything like that."

Leader Zhang's gaze was complicated. Was your backside sitting on a chair in our Huanglou building or on a sofa in Laiyang Factory?

"The air defense ship project was proposed by Engineer Qin, and he also tinkered with the gas turbine and many other subsystems. Why don't we let them produce a Type 052 air defense ship and give it a try?" a leader suggested.

"That won't do. Right now, our navy has very few orders, and all the factories that produce warships are eyeing them! If we entrust the construction of warships to a beach shipyard, especially the most advanced ones, wouldn't the other shipyards go crazy?" Someone immediately objected.

"Then we can have a bidding process!" Qin Jiantai suggested. "The military representative will control the quality, and the shipyard will control the cost. We'll use the shipyard that offers the lowest price!"

After a moment's thought, Leader Zhang said, "I think it's a good idea. We'll submit a report and report to our superiors!"