King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Joe Ga was very interested in the so-called 'quid pro quo'!

Because to fully control Mukalla in Yemen, he needed assistance from naval forces.

Getting the Americans to send their Zumwalt over was just the beginning; Joe Ga had to seek more support.

Just like when navies from all over the world gathered in the Gulf of Aden, Joe Ga needed to have the big brothers send ships to intimidate the coastal cities of Yemen, reducing his pressure.

The Princess's naval escort only had four ships, suitable for fighting pirates, but wanting to blockade Yemen's extensive coastline was impossible.

Joe Ga's position on the naval escort was to escort supply ships to Mukalla while ensuring the security around the port.

This was different from Iraq; once on land, P.B. was on its own.

If they couldn't blockade the sea, giving Al-Qaeda room to maneuver, no matter how capable P.B.'s people were, they would be exhausted by endless battles.

Juste Fandan was an old navy man, and he could definitely see Joe Ga's needs, so the 'quid pro quo' he proposed would likely be related to this.

Joe Ga had to take it seriously...

Speaking of which, the five big brothers all nodded; it was not unreasonable to arrange to send a fleet out for a show when necessary, but there was a big difference between just going through the motions and taking it seriously.

Joe Ga proactively found a quiet room and dialed Frester's phone number.

After returning to Tubruq, Frester answered the call and first congratulated, "Boss, I heard things in Yemen are settled, congratulations!"

Joe Ga didn't ask why this guy had such informed sources; he smiled and said, "Do you know Greece's recent moves? Is their navy tendering?

Where did these guys get the money?"

Upon hearing this, Frester laughed and said, "Boss, Turkey's actions have been very frequent for more than a year now.

They have repeatedly bombarded Syria across the border recently, seizing a large piece of territory.

Erdogan has recently been very restless, and he is vigorously developing the Turkish Navy.

NATO is very dissatisfied with him, and the Greeks, as the frontline to contain Turkey, naturally need to strengthen their naval forces.

The Greeks themselves of course have no money, but the European Union will provide them with loans.

All their energy is now focused on affairs on Crete, but precisely because of the large-scale development of Crete, they need to strengthen their naval forces even more.

The situation of ships coming from the Suez Canal is complex, and the situation in the Middle East is unstable, so the Greeks have to be more prepared."

Joe Ga nodded slightly and said, "Help me find out what their frigate modification plan is all about?"

Frester listened and laughed, saying, "Boss, you should live in Greece for a while; there's a lot of business to be done there now.

The Greeks are eager to expand their Aegean Sea military strength, so they've called for tendering to modify four 'Hydra-class' frigates, with a budget of 2.5 billion US Dollars.

Later, they'll probably spend an additional 3 billion US Dollars to buy new frigates."

Then Frester laughed and said, "Boss, did the French come to you?"

Joe Ga pondered for a moment and said, "Modifying four ships costs a whopping 2.5 billion US Dollars? How much would it cost to buy new ones."

Frester laughed and said, "Boss, the price difference between a 1,500-ton and a 3,000-ton frigate is not simply double; the price differences due to weaponry are even more significant.

A Hydra-class frigate, with a displacement of over 4,000 tons, meeting NATO standards and carrying the latest weapons, would cost at least 600 million US Dollars to buy new, and the delivery time is too long.

The French export version of a frigate with around 3,000 tons displacement is primarily anti-submarine, so it's a bit cheaper, but it still costs around 450 million US Dollars without weapons included.

As for standard and air defense frigates, the French typically charge between 600 to 700 million US Dollars."

Joe Ga knew that there were many intricacies and deep waters in warship transactions, but he didn't expect that even for the same model, the price differences could be so exaggerated.

Jokingly, how could they dare to ask for 600 to 700 million US Dollars for a frigate over 3,000 tons?

Have they gone crazy for money?

The export price of a 6,000-ton 052D would not exceed 1 billion US Dollars.

This shows that at least in terms of cost control, China's shipbuilding industry has completely outpaced Europe and America.

Truly, if a naval arms race were to start, America might be able to hold on, but France and England definitely wouldn't be able to.

Joe Ga shook his head to dismiss his admiration for his homeland's shipbuilding industry; he knew that replicating the approach used with Abu Dhabi in Greece was unrealistic because they were a NATO ally...

After thinking for a while, Joe Ga said, "Who is France's competitor now?"

Frester laughed and said, "Of course, it's America!

However, currently, they are not very interested in the frigate modification plan; they just want to use it as a breakthrough to get involved in Greece's subsequent frigate procurement project.

The U.S. Navy's project department once tailor-made a Littoral Combat Ship for the Shah, but after the project was established, it was rejected by the Shah, and they wanted to promote it to Greece.

After listening, Joe Ga sort of understood the whole story; competing with the American military-industrial complex for orders would definitely offend people, and it wasn't necessary for a bit of money, but the modification order was still acceptable.

Once he figured it out, Joe Ga called Gami, instructing her to convey his ideas to the Greeks, then sat back down by Juste Fandan's side...