Weapons Officially Arrive; Great Xia Only Regrets Its Lack of Funds! (Please Keep Reading!)

"Interested in the B-2 bomber?" Zheng Lixing froze completely.

What country in the world would not be interested in this thing? Who would not want one? If there was such a country, it could only mean it lacked the strength to say the words "interested in."

This was the world's only strategic stealth heavy bomber. Although its payload was not even half that of the Tu-160 White Swan strategic bomber, the B-2 bomber was a stealth strategic bomber. For a bomber, stealth was as important as maneuverability and speed were to a fighter jet.

After all, what did it matter if a bomber could carry a hundred tons of bombs? Once radar spotted it, all it took was one missile.

Zhang Yuli naturally understood this and replied decisively.

[We are extremely interested in this technology.]

With an opportunity to obtain a B-2 bomber right before him, if Zhang Yuli hesitated for even one second, it would have been a sin and a desecration.

Soon, the mysterious person's reply email came through.

[Please wait for good news. When the time comes, settle the previous payment as well.]

Looking at that message,

Zheng Lixing still found it unbelievable. "Old Zhang, surely he wasn't talking about Eagle Sauce's B-2 Spirit bomber? Could he have mistyped it?"

"Did he call the B-1 bomber a B-2?"

After all, that possibility seemed more likely. The B-1 bomber, commonly known as the Gunslinger strategic bomber, was likewise one of Eagle Sauce's most important strategic bomber forces at present. (Mainly the B-1B model; only four A-model prototypes were produced.)

Zhang Yuli's eyes gleamed. "No, I don't think he would make that kind of mistake."

Anyone capable of obtaining something like the F-22 fighter jet design blueprints would never joke around with them.

Without absolute caution and vigilance, he could not possibly have survived in Eagle Sauce until now.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yuli typed another line.

[Please be extremely careful. Even if you fail to obtain the technology, we will still provide you with a certain reward.]

"I hope he will be more careful. He must not take risks recklessly," Zhang Yuli muttered.

That was what worried him most. As for the reward, it was completely insignificant.

No matter how tempting the B-2 bomber was, it was nowhere near as valuable as this mysterious person who could bring technology out of Eagle Sauce.

Although they did not know who he truly was, the mysterious person's strategic value could not be compared to a B-2 bomber. Great Xia could eventually develop the former itself after burying its head in research for ten or twenty years, but it might not encounter someone like the latter even once in a hundred years.

The mysterious person's current status was that of a true weapon of the nation.

Beside him, Zheng Lixing shook his head. "The B-2 bomber is great, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to build."

"It's simply too expensive."

The B-2 strategic bomber, the only stealth-capable strategic bomber—who would not be dazzled by it?

But the problem was that its cost was utterly outrageous. Each one cost an astronomical average of 2.4 billion US Dollars, nearly 18 billion yuan in total. How could they afford that?

"The research and development costs are the main reason it is so expensive. The actual unit construction cost should be around one billion US Dollars."

Zhang Yuli shook his head and continued speculating, "Besides, so many years have passed. With current manufacturing processes, the cost could drop significantly further."

Eagle Sauce had produced only twenty-one B-2 bombers in total, while research funding had reached tens of billions of US Dollars. Of course the average cost per aircraft remained sky-high. Mass production would bring it down drastically.

On top of that, advances in modern technology meant that materials which had once been expensive would now be much cheaper, further reducing the cost.

Even so, Zheng Lixing still looked troubled. "Even if we cut every possible expense, we would probably still need eight or nine hundred million US Dollars to build one. That would still be difficult for us to bear."

Eight hundred million US Dollars was a full 5.5 billion yuan.

That was under the condition that the mysterious person could obtain the complete set of materials and they only needed to bear the cost of constructing the aircraft itself.

One had to know that the estimated unit cost of the J-20 project was only six or seven hundred million yuan, less than one hundred million US Dollars. Five and a half billion yuan was enough to buy aircraft for two whole squadrons.

Zheng Lixing's expression darkened somewhat. "We're still short on money. Even if we truly had this technology, we could only stare at it like plums to quench our thirst."

Great Xia simply could not afford such an astronomical sum at present.

Not to mention the J-20 project, the Varyag was still sitting in the dock waiting to be converted into an aircraft carrier, while Project 072, the Y-20, was also progressing at full speed.

Even many Type 051 ships had yet to be retired, with their service lives approaching thirty years. The development of new destroyers was equally urgent. Which of these major projects could wait? Which was not more pressing than a bomber?

Zhang Yuli sighed helplessly. "Sigh, I understand everything you're saying."

At eight hundred million US Dollars per B-2 bomber, they would need to build at least ten for it to reach its full combat potential. That was a full eight billion US Dollars.

How much was Great Xia's military budget this year? Even counting generously, it was only a little over 400 billion yuan, equivalent to less than 70 billion US Dollars.

They would have to allocate more than one-tenth of that to build bombers? Even if the General Logistics Department emptied its coffers, it could not come up with that much money.

Even if the mysterious person truly sent them the B-2 bomber technology, they might not be able to begin construction immediately.

Instead, they would keep it as a technological reserve and wait until they had suitable technologies to integrate it into Great Xia's next-generation strategic stealth bomber.

Otherwise, they could only hope to strike an enormous windfall.

One sentence perfectly described how they felt:

"We only regret that our financial resources are insufficient."

Two days later.

Eagle Sauce, inside LLNL National Laboratory.

Friday slowly arrived. Zhou Ze still had two days until his next replication opportunity.

Over the past few days, Lu Ze had discovered something remarkable.

Professor Michael Hasen, the professor he was assigned to, was actually more laid-back than Lu Ze himself. He went to the laboratory at nine in the morning to clock in, then immediately went home to rest. As for research projects, they had long remained at the "creating folder" stage.

If Lu Ze had not known the inside story, he would have suspected that Professor Hasen was drawing a salary for doing nothing at LLNL Laboratory.

Of course, as students, he and Lucy naturally followed their advisor's lead.

They were only graduate interns with barely any pay to begin with, so why work so hard? The two of them had always upheld the principle of never arriving early if they could be late, and never working overtime if they could leave early.

At the moment, the two sat comfortably in their chairs, leisurely enjoying the complimentary snacks.

Lucy swallowed an egg tart in one bite, then remembered something. "Lu Ze, the Defense Department's latest batch of weapons and equipment has already been brought back for inspection and upgrades."

Lu Ze set down the latte in his hand, surprise flashing in his eyes. "So soon?"

Did that mean he could begin replicating equipment right away?

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