160: Chapter 160 The Space Carrier Begins Keel Laying

"Our technology for building other types of vessels is quite mature, and we build them in series and systems, so you can see that the speed is much faster!"

"Actually, it's not just our country; the US is the same. It's peacetime, after all, so no one is in a rush. Everyone is experimenting with new technologies, which stretches the timeline a bit."

"I remember during World War II, they set a Guinness World Record for aircraft carrier construction, building 50 ships in 20 months—averaging one every 12 days. What kind of speed is that? Although the complexity of WWII carriers is worlds apart from today's technology, it still illustrates a point."

"Back to our aerospace carrier, although it's also the first of its kind, there's no need to feel our way across the river. We can build it directly according to the existing blueprints. I've even laid out the important systems in advance, so one year is sufficient. If things go smoothly, it should be completed ahead of schedule. Rest assured, Old Chen, haha."

Chu Ge finally finished speaking and quickly took a large gulp of water; his long explanation had left his throat parched.

"That's good. Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. I can finally give an answer to those impatient big shots in the military."

"Mm, wait, what?"

"Haha, they don't dare disturb you, so they chase after me every day asking about the progress. But I don't blame them for being anxious. If the kunpeng is finished early, their pace for selecting the aerospace carrier crew, training flight officers, and training carrier-based pilots will all need to be accelerated, or else they'll be the ones holding us back."

Academician Chen explained. Chu Ge realized he was right; this was a massive project. His focus had been entirely on the aerospace carrier itself, and he hadn't considered the supporting crew and such, though that wasn't for him to worry about anyway.

"Alright then. In any case, I'll focus single-mindedly on the technical issues of the aerospace carrier, and leave everything else to you and the military."

"Mm, no problem. Everything is proceeding according to plan."

The elder and the youth chatted like this for the entire morning. After having lunch together, Chu Ge bid farewell to Academician Chen and returned to his office.

Chu Ge sat at his desk and began tidying up some unfinished loose ends of the aerospace carrier project.

This tidying process lasted until the October 1st National Day.

On National Day, the whole country celebrated, and national flags were hung across many streets in Yanjing.

Chu Ge and Academician Chen followed the convoy transporting the technical data of the kunpeng to the military airport.

The shipyard was located in City D, which already had a very large shipyard. Although the aerospace carrier was not a sea-faring behemoth, it shared similar construction principles with warships in certain aspects, so some of the equipment in a conventional shipyard could still be used.

The new shipyard was an expansion of the original one, equipped with the specialized machinery needed to build an aerospace carrier, and of course, it included massive workshops and dry docks.

The first batch of technical data and blueprints for the hull construction filled two 'fat girls' to the brim. Escorted by two fighter jets, the transport planes flew toward City D. The two locations were about an hour's flight apart, so Chu Ge and the others arrived at their destination quickly.

The security at the Naval Shipyard was noticeably heightened today. Chu Ge's convoy was constantly stopping and starting as they went through inspections by the sentries.

"Little Chu, we seem to be hauling quite a lot of classified data this time. Exactly how much did you bring?"

"From the 1-200 sequence, about one-tenth. I've prepared a month's worth of work for them."

Academician Chen's eyebrows twitched, but he said nothing and simply nodded. Chu Ge sensed Academician Chen's surprise.

"It cost a lot of paper and ink. Everything else is fine, but the escorted data mostly consists of detailed blueprints of various sections, pipeline layouts, and so on. This part was the largest workload."

The convoy finally entered the shipyard. It could no longer be called just a shipyard; its current scale was more like a massive base.

Several leaders of the base were already waiting. Chu Ge and Academician Chen got out of the car. After Chu Ge finished the handover with the comrades responsible for receiving the data, he walked over to Academician Chen's side.

"Old Chen, Academician Chu, welcome to the kunpeng production base. I am the person in charge of the base, Jin Shaojun." Chu Ge shook hands with the middle-aged officer and then looked at the rank on his shoulder—it was the rank of a Major General.

"Please follow me. Several military big shots have been waiting for a long time." After Jin Shaojun finished speaking, he led Chu Ge and Academician Chen toward an office building.

"Oh, I only knew Minister Long was coming. Who else is here?" Academician Chen asked from behind.

"Commander Meng of the Navy, and the former Commander of the Yanjing Garrison, Commander Wang."

"Commander Wang? He came too?"

Chu Ge was quite familiar with this person.

"Yes, Commander Wang has been reassigned as the Commander of the aerospace carrier Fleet."

"Oh, so that's why. Then he definitely had to come," Academician Chen replied.

Chu Ge listened from behind, glancing around from time to time. Today was National Day, and red flags were fluttering in the shipyard as well. The base was by the sea, so the sea breeze was strong, making the red flags snap and flutter loudly in the wind.

In a small meeting room, Chu Ge and Academician Chen walked in. Everyone was relatively familiar with each other, and after a round of warm greetings, Navy Commander Meng arranged for everyone to sit down.

"The ceremony is still being prepared. Old Chen, Academician Chu, let's wait here for a moment."

Chu Ge and the others nodded.

"Chu Ge, how have you been lately? I see you've lost weight," Minister Long asked with concern, looking at Chu Ge.

"I'm doing well, thank you for your concern, leader, haha."

"The keel laying ceremony is relatively simple. The top leaders intend to hold a grand celebration ceremony when the aerospace carrier is completed. At that time, we will invite some domestic and foreign guests to show off our national prestige."

"Being that high-profile?" Chu Ge didn't catch on for a moment.

"Haha, when it's time to be high-profile, we must be. Otherwise, some foreign politicians and media will say we're making up fake news again, won't they?"

Commander Wang added from the side.

Everyone laughed along. Chu Ge thought about it and agreed; it was time to give them a show, to stop those petty clowns from jumping around all the time. Thinking of this, Chu Ge felt a faint sense of anticipation.

"By the way, Academician Chu, I heard from Old Chen yesterday that the construction period for the kunpeng might be shortened?" As the future Commander-in-Chief of the Interstellar Fleet, Commander Wang was clearly more concerned about his aerospace carrier.

"Yes. After the keel is laid, other related components will be laid, such as the longitudinals, side keels, hull plating, and then the construction and installation of the core tube."

"Next is the installation of the core equipment around the core tube. The sequence is to first install all the equipment inside the core tube. This includes the power system, the control center for the electromagnetic cannons, the engines, the living quarters, the carrier-based aircraft hangar, and so on."

"Then the surface armor plating will be applied, and finally, the turrets, sensor arrays, sensor antennas, and other communication equipment will be installed on the outside of the armor."

"During the installation process, the most troublesome part is handling the installation of all signal, power, and transmission pipelines. I have clearly marked these detailed installation steps one by one. Just have the engineers strictly follow the operational procedures."

Chu Ge gave a general report on the entire construction process of the aerospace carrier to the big shots.

"I will oversee the entire construction process. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble Commander Wang and Base Commander Jin to arrange an office and dormitory for me, haha," Chu Ge said, looking at the two commanders beside him.

"Rest assured, Academician Chu, everything has been prepared for you. Everyone at the Dockyard Base has been looking forward to your arrival," Jin Shaojun replied quickly from the side.

Chu Ge nodded with a smile. This base would likely be his second home for a long time to come.