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

Laiyang County, by the sea.

"It's done! It's finally done!" Everyone looked excitedly at the rope-jointing machine.

The rope-making machine first wove a steel wire rope using 30 steel wires of three different diameters, and then added special oil-impregnated hemp fibers inside. The six steel wires were then re-woven together to form a steel wire rope with a diameter of 35 millimeters.

The steel wire rope is woven very tightly and has a metallic sheen, making it look very nice.

"Yes, it's done."

Qin Chuan was also very happy, as Laiyang Steel Plant had gained another product!

Fireworks and gas cylinders are disposable items. Even if there are future orders, they won't be as many as the first time. This represents the purchasing potential accumulated over several years through a single purchase.

Going forward, if Laiyang Steel Plant wants to achieve stable development, it will need to employ many unique strategies.

Pen tip steel is a type of steel that is in low demand and not favored by large steel mills, making it a high-value-added product that can be supplied by our own company.

This steel wire rope is one of them. Don't be fooled by the difficulty of weaving it and the low production volume; this stuff is very expensive!

The French Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers used 10-ton Super Étendard fighter jets. After the Charles de Gaulle was upgraded, the carrier-based aircraft were also upgraded to 20-ton Rafale fighter jets. Now they have a problem: the original arresting cables are not enough, so they have to purchase them from the United States!

What's the purchase price? One and a half million US dollars per piece!

An aircraft carrier has four arresting cables, and the one-time investment is six million US dollars.

The Charles de Gaulle's catapults were also purchased from the United States, costing $12 million each, and double that for two, but once purchased, they can be used indefinitely.

But this barrier cable doesn't need to be replaced every hundred uses; you can keep taking advantage of it forever!

The Charles de Gaulle was launched in 94. Once the outfitting was completed, it was ready for sea trials. These arresting cables also needed to be installed during the outfitting process.

In other words, the French must be worried about the high cost of purchasing barricades now, right?

So... how about we sell the arresting gear to the French?

"Okay, that's done. Next, we need to install the tensile testing machine."

Babbage was meticulous: "First, we test the maximum tensile force it can withstand, then we conduct impact tests, fatigue tests..."

The arresting cable must not only withstand a tensile force of 85 tons, but also repeat this tensile force more than 100 times without experiencing metal fatigue.

This thing is not so easy to make; otherwise, there wouldn't be only two countries in the world capable of making it.

Besides the United States, there was the former Soviet Union and now Russia, but even if Russia can manufacture them, the quality isn't great.

“We can cut a section and send it to the relevant authorities for testing,” Qin Chuan said. “However, there are also ways to simply test the tensile strength of this type of steel wire rope.”

"any solution?"

Qin Chuan pointed to the ceiling: "Use the overhead crane and the oil hoist to try lifting a 100-ton piece of steel!"

If this steel wire rope is only used as a stop rope, then it's too niche. Its biggest use is as a crane rope!

With construction projects underway in various regions, the demand for cranes is enormous. These cranes also require steel wire ropes, and each crane needs tens or even hundreds of meters of steel wire rope – that's the real business!

Babbage nodded: "Okay, let's give it a try."

The overhead crane and oil hoppers above us were moved from Dongfeng Machinery Factory. They haven't been used yet since they were installed in the factory, so this is a good opportunity to give them a try!

One hundred meters of brand-new steel wire rope was cut and installed, with more than a dozen strips of ship dismantling keel steel placed underneath, weighing a full one hundred tons.

Then, a buzzing sound came from the overhead crane, the steel wires tightened, and the steel made a creaking sound. Then, the steel left the ground and began to rise.

"it is good!"

Seeing the steel being hoisted two meters high, Qin Chuan shouted, "Lock it up! Hang it right here!"

“Mr. Babbage, that’s enough for today. Let’s go get something to eat and drink.”

"it is good."

Babbich was very pleased to see the steel cable holding steady. The maximum tensile strength only needed to exceed 85 tons, and the fact that it could lift 100 tons of steel without breaking meant that the steel cable was completely qualified!

"Xiao Chuan, this thing...aren't we going to put it down?" Qin Jianguo asked.

"Don't let go. Let it hang there as a fatigue test. Besides, if any foreigners come, let them see our technical capabilities."

After eating and drinking his fill, it was already late at night. Qin Chuan staggered home, lay down on the bed, and slept soundly until dawn.

"Brother Chuan, Brother Chuan!"

Qin Chuan's eyelids were drooping, so he turned over and continued to sleep.

"Brother Chuan, Brother Chuan! Wake up, the French are here!"

French?

I must be dreaming, thinking about selling the arresting gear to the French to make money, and then I dreamed that the French came.

"Brother Chuan, Brother Chuan!"

Qin Chuan rubbed his eyes: "Construction? How come you were in my dream?"

"What are you dreaming about! People from the factory have come! Uncle Yu brought some back, and it seems like a few are high-ranking leaders, and a few are French. They said they want to come and see our P92 steel. Your dad is with the foreigners right now."

"What?"

Qin Chuan was fully awake.

Laiyang Steel Plant.

"Director Qin, we heard that you can produce P92 steel here, so we came here specifically to take a look."

Abel looked at Qin Jianguo: "However, we didn't see it. Do you even have this kind of steel?"

"Yes, of course!"

As Qin Jianguo spent more time with Qin Chuan, he also learned to boast.

“There’s no steel that our factory can’t produce. However, it’s not the right time yet, because my son is in charge of this factory. I’ve already sent someone to call him. Now, I’ll show you around.”

"Hmph, they probably went to buy something ready-made, didn't they? Hmph, even airlifting it wouldn't have been fast enough!" a Frenchman muttered.

Yu Hongxin was covered in sweat, Guo Xiangyang had a complicated expression, Luo Rongguang also looked serious, only Qin Jianguo remained calm.

So what if they're foreigners? Our factory specializes in doing business with foreigners!

We've seen all kinds of people: white, black, tall, short, big-nosed, hair as white as grass... What's so great about you French people?

"This looks like no one works here, it's a junkyard, isn't it?"

At this moment, as everyone walked on the beach, they saw that although the factory was newly built, there were hardly any workers inside, and they could not hear any machines running. The Frenchmen began to speculate again.

"Of course not, we just worked very late last night and had a half-day off this morning."

Actually, the workers were making gas cylinders at the steel plant, but this had to be kept secret, so Qin Jianguo took them to the beach for a stroll.

"Really? Then there should be machines in this factory, right? Come on, let's take a look here!" Abel strode towards one of the factory buildings.

The interior was empty, with some steel suspended in the center of the factory by a steel cable.

"What's the purpose of this factory? Are you doing some kind of acrobatic trick with all that steel? No, there must be hundreds of tons of steel there, right?"

Abel's expression changed: "You can lift hundreds of tons of steel with such a thin steel cable? What kind of steel cable is that?"

“God, I bet it can be used as a stop rope!” someone behind Abel said. “The Americans are asking for $155 a rope, but if we buy it from the East…”

"Friends, you've got your eye on our steel wire rope? This stuff is very expensive; each 100-meter length costs 500,000!"

Just then, a voice came from outside.