242: Chapter 342 Procurement of over 400 combat aircraft

After some calculations, Commander-in-Chief Qasim drafted a preliminary procurement plan. He would wait to see how things went when Major General Rahim negotiated with the arms dealer before making adjustments.

As for whether to increase the amount of mineral and energy resources paid and increase the funds for purchasing fighter jets, Commander-in-Chief Qasim was still hesitating.

Currently, Iran's equipment for mining copper, iron, and other minerals was outdated. Increasing the quantity of minerals paid would affect Iran's exports of these minerals.

This would require communication with the Iranian government. After all, some mineral resources were not under the control of the Persian Lion State National Guard.

Major General Rahim contacted Li Yi, and Li Yi chose to conduct the negotiations in the Maldives this time. Li Yi had already abandoned Beirut, Lebanon, and did not intend to continue arms negotiations there.

Li Yi teleported directly to the Maldives through the Multiverse Arms Trading System. Major General Rahim had already found a resort hotel near Male.

After Li Yi arrived, the two sides had a simple seafood feast before returning to the overwater pool villa to start the negotiations.

Major General Rahim got straight to the point and said, "The number of fighter jets we purchase will not be small, and the procurement funds involved will be very large. This time, we will pay 200 million barrels of oil, 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 50 million tons of iron ore, and 30 million tons of copper ore, all for the purchase of combat aircraft."

Li Yi was naturally quite happy to hear that Iran was using so much oil, natural gas, and other resources just to purchase combat aircraft. He had already purchased many aircraft before and was just waiting to find a customer.

The current international oil price is $88.3 per barrel. Based on a 32% discount on the international oil price, the price is set at $60.044 per barrel. The value of 200 million barrels of oil is $12.0088 billion.

The current natural gas price is $841.75 per thousand cubic meters. Based on a 32% discount on the international natural gas price, the price is set at $572.39 per thousand cubic meters. The value of 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas is $6.8687 billion.

Iron ore is calculated at $80 per ton, and 50 million tons of iron ore are worth $4 billion.

Copper ore is calculated at $1,000 per ton, and 30 million tons of copper ore are worth $30 billion.

The value of the mineral and energy resources paid by Iran this time reached $52.878 billion, which was only $10 billion less than the $62.587 billion paid in the previous procurement.

Major General Rahim was very happy to have such a large-scale procurement fund. He did not dwell on the selling price of each mineral and readily agreed to calculate the procurement funds at $52.878 billion.

Based on Commander-in-Chief Qasim's procurement quantities for each type of aircraft, Major General Rahim adjusted the procurement volume of each supporting missile to ensure that the procurement funds could be fully utilized.

Soon, Major General Rahim handed a finalized procurement list to Li Yi.

Purchase 150 "Eagle" IV jet multi-role fighters, plus 2,000 supporting missiles; purchase 100 "Eagle" V jet multi-role fighters, plus 1,000 supporting missiles; purchase 50 "Eagle" VI jet multi-role fighters, plus 500 supporting missiles. Additionally, purchase 8.5 million rounds of cannon ammunition for the fighters.

Purchase 50 "War Tiger" II jet bombers, plus 1,500 supporting missiles and bombs; purchase 50 "War Tiger" III jet bombers, plus 500 supporting missiles and bombs; purchase 20 "War Tiger" IV jet bombers, plus 300 supporting missiles; purchase 10 "War Tiger" V jet bombers, plus 200 supporting missiles.

Iran's purchase of the "Eagle" series of fighters reached 300, and the "War Tiger" series of bombers reached 130. Altogether, there were 430 combat aircraft.

Iran's existing aircraft, including fighters, bombers, reconnaissance planes, transport planes, and trainers, only totaled over 400. After this purchase, the number of Iran's combat aircraft would directly double.

Moreover, Iran currently only had 30 bombers. This time, 130 bombers were added directly, giving the Iranian Air Force a qualitative improvement in strategic bombing threats.

Li Yi calculated the total price of Iran's procurement list. In total, Iran needed to pay $52.89 billion, which was exactly equal to the value of the oil, natural gas, and other mineral energy resources Iran paid this time.

Li Yi asked, "When can the payment of this batch of mineral and energy resources be completed?"

Major General Rahim said, "200 million barrels of oil and 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas can be paid within two months, with 100 million barrels of oil and 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas paid each month. 50 million tons of iron ore will be paid in five months, with 10 million tons of iron ore paid each month. Because copper ore is more difficult to mine, it needs to be paid over 8 months, with 3.75 million tons of copper ore paid each month."

Considering the convenience of collection, Li Yi said, "You can pay for the copper ore once every two months, 7.5 million tons at a time."

Major General Rahim said, "That works. We will accumulate two months' worth of copper ore and pay it all at once."

Li Yi nodded and said, "Then the 'Eagle' series fighters and 'War Tiger' series bombers we deliver to you will be delivered in three batches. Consider how many aircraft to deliver in each batch."

Major General Rahim thought about the urgency of Iran's need for aircraft and said, "The first batch will deliver half of the 'Eagle' series fighters and all the supporting missiles. The second batch will deliver the remaining 'Eagle' series fighters and half of the 'War Tiger' series bombers. The third batch will deliver the remaining aircraft and supporting ammunition."

Iran has very few opportunities to use bombers now, so they can be delivered later. However, for fighter jets, they still need to get them as soon as possible.

Li Yi said, "Alright. The first batch will be delivered within one month, the second batch within two months, and the third batch within five months."

Major General Rahim was very satisfied with being able to get all the fighter jets within two months. Soon, the two sides reached an arms trade contract.

After the negotiations ended, Li Yi rested in the Maldives for a few days before teleporting back to Pengcheng through the Multiverse Arms Trading System.

As for Major General Rahim, he left the Maldives in a hurry and immediately returned to Isfahan to report the aircraft procurement to Commander-in-Chief Qasim.

After listening to Major General Rahim's report, Commander-in-Chief Qasim was very satisfied with the purchase of so many "Eagle" series fighters and "War Tiger" series bombers.

After this batch of aircraft is added to the Iranian Air Force, it can make the Air Force's strength take a very large leap, get rid of the impression of using backward aircraft, and pull the Air Force's combat capability to an extremely high level.

Commander-in-Chief Qasim believed that after the Iranian Air Force was equipped with this batch of aircraft, they would not be afraid even if they encountered the USA Air Force.