Chapter 337: Mass-Produced Missile Launch Vehicle

Hand‑making one vehicle is fine, but hand‑making a batch immediately creates a gap; it turns out Qin Miao thought too simply—missile launch vehicles absolutely cannot be mass‑produced by hand‑crafting.

Director Lu and the others also ran into a problem; since Qin Miao wasn't in Ha Cheng, when they heard he had returned they rushed over, and upon learning he was at the heavy‑truck factory they naturally came to ask for help—their design, the factory's production, this is absolutely the perfect solution!

"Of course." Qin Miao nodded: "However, this counts as contract manufacturing; our Qingshan Benz Factory only takes care of the production and earns the processing fee, everything else still belongs to Ha Gong Da."

"This… we're not after that little money, and besides, without you we couldn't have developed this missile launch vehicle, so we just gave it to the Qingshan Benz Factory…"

"That won't do, Director Lu—Ha Gong Da is Ha Gong Da, Qingshan Machinery Factory is Qingshan Machinery Factory; they're two different departments and absolutely cannot be lumped together." Qin Miao said: "This is crucial; if we can't tell primary from secondary, problems will arise!"

"All right."

In this era, the concept of contract manufacturing didn't even exist, yet the Qingshan Benz Factory set another precedent!

Later, many electric‑vehicle companies lacked their own factories; building one alone would be costly, so they instead sought firms disadvantaged in gasoline‑vehicle production to handle contract manufacturing—paying per vehicle—allowing EV firms to avoid heavy investment and keep focusing on their forte, PowerPoint presentations, while gasoline‑vehicle firms gained business; it's a win‑win.

Now, contract manufacturing of missile launch vehicles isn't because the factory lacks business—it can run at full capacity—but to produce top‑notch launch vehicles for the state, it can still allocate part of its output.

"What about the design drawings?"

"We're using computer‑aided design, bringing along a hard drive……"

"Good, the R&D department of our Qingshan Benz Factory has a computer; just install it." Qin Miao nodded.

Computers are already widely used in the East—at least among researchers and manufacturers!

Inside the R&D department, tension filled the air as printers continuously spat out drawings, which were then dispatched to the relevant workshops; upon receiving the task, each workshop immediately gathered its elite and launched into production.

One month later.

A five‑axle heavy launch vehicle appeared before everyone's eyes.

Huge off‑road tread tires, a wide body, the driver's cabin indented and split into two sections—already reminiscent of the later Dongfeng‑41 launch vehicle!

"In many critical spots—such as the tire central inflation/deflation system, the steering mechanism, etc. —we're still using imported parts, but these are only temporary; once our Benz‑compatibility rate rises, domestic substitutes will surely exist."

"Mm‑hm, San Shui, we understand." Director Lu beamed with excitement: "This vehicle can finally be mass‑produced, and we can deliver it to the customer!"

"That's right—current capacity isn't high, only about fifty vehicles a month……"

"This… the capacity isn't high? A month's output is already enough for the customer to use, we……"

We don't need that many launch vehicles!

"Director Lu, you don't get it, do you? This launch vehicle isn't just for that Saudi person; our domestic missile troops certainly need it too, and it's not only military—civilian applications are huge as well!"

Qin Miao went on and on: "For example, the petroleum sector has a huge demand for multi‑axle off‑road vehicles; fit them with lifting gear and they become specialized cranes……"

Later, domestic crane giants all researched their own chassis, because purchased chassis are unusable; now that we have this chassis, we can open a whole new track and seize the global market!

"Haha, heard our heavy multi‑axle off‑road vehicle has finally gone into mass production? Let's come take a look!"

With the voice, a large wave of green‑uniformed personnel marched in.

"Old Yuan, what wind blew you here……"

"The military ordered five hundred Benz heavy trucks; our unit came to take delivery, heard you were here so I dropped by to have a look—I didn't expect there to be such a big fellow!"

After Old Yuan finished speaking, he strode past the crowd, opened the cab door, took a healthy step and jumped right in—his bearing remains undiminished from years ago!

"Old Yuan, be careful."

"It's fine, let me see… huh, this vehicle even uses an automatic transmission?"

"No clutch on the left foot, the gear lever on the right lacks a complex shift‑pattern diagram—obviously this is an automatic transmission!"

"Yes, for this kind of heavy vehicle an automatic transmission is mandatory; the 396 engine on board is our own make, but the transmission is still an imported complementary product—of course this is only temporary; later we'll certainly produce it ourselves."

Even the Russian MAZ‑543 uses an automatic transmission; on the battlefield the driver just needs to press the accelerator, leaving everything else to the vehicle to sort out!

Moreover, on the battlefield, if the driver injures one hand, they can still drive using only the other hand!

Old Yuan nodded: "Not bad, not bad, I'll go check the rear."

These vehicles all have double‑row cabs; naturally the rear space is the dedicated missile launch chamber—once inside, several TV screens lit up and dazzled Old Yuan's eyes.

"A Loongson computer and a Beidou positioning terminal have already been installed here; all the data needed for missile launch can be calculated through these devices, making operation easy and simple……"

"Our Jielang‑onshore missile can also use this!" Old Yuan was very excited.

"Yes, we'll have to wait for word from the Space Institute; after all, they might prefer to use products from their own factories."

"Wanshan Factory, Tai'an Factory—these are all special‑vehicle manufacturers under the Space Institute; Qin Miao may be willing to supply the chassis, but there's no reason to rush ahead."

"Well, never mind those—San Shui, we've got the Benz heavy truck and the missile launch vehicle; based on this technology, can you build us wheeled armored vehicles for the troops?"

Another new demand!

"San Shui, you probably don't know that the higher ups have been constantly plotting demobilization, scale reduction, quality improvement, and the path to a modern strong army; henceforth pure infantry will disappear, tracked chassis are wasteful while wheeled ones are useful—seize this opportunity and you could later land huge military orders!"

Qin Miao drew a deep breath: "If we do this… won't other military factories curse us to death?"

"Hmph, let them remain unimproved and go bankrupt—our military likes you the most!"