"Last night I received a call from Yusuf," he said, "according to the reconstruction plan, the US Army intends to reequip the entire Illigo military. Since the Sadam era used Soviet-style equipnt, including airplanes, it's expected that the Aricans want to take control here. They plan to completely overhaul the fleet, replacing everything with Arican aircraft like the F16. So, all the previous governnt air force planes will be swapped out."
Song Heping hadn't finished speaking when Ferrari sneered, "Heh, I believe that's true. I was involved in the assessnt plan for rebuilding the new Illigo Governnt Army when I was at the Temporary Managent Committee. Back then there were two options: one was to retain the Soviet-style planes and equipnt, importing parts or hiring people from Eastern Europe for maintenance and repair, but the special commissioner flatly rejected it."
Song Heping nodded, "That's understandable. At first, I was quite puzzled, but Yusuf explained to that phasing out Soviet equipnt entirely in favor of Arican is partly for political considerations – it's quite symbolic after all; secondly, future maintenance and upkeep represents a substantial inco, otherwise Illigo's oil revenue will have nowhere legitimate to go; and thirdly... a complete overhaul ans complete re-equipnt. It's a boon for the military as well as for the military-industrial complex, with opportunities to use the plane graveyards and factory production lines—plus the military has full control, so there will be plenty of profit."
The cook asked, "Lao Song, how much stock do you think there is left?"
Song Heping replied, "We don't know yet, Yusuf only recently got the notice to start dealing with these planes."
The cook asked curiously, "Wasn't it said that all of Sadam's air force planes were destroyed in the war?"
Song Heping shook his head, "No, during the Illigo Freedom operation, Sadam's air force rarely took off. The coalition destroyed mostly planes hidden in the desert and concealed hangars. Many were actually moved away from airports, hidden across various locations in Illigo, only now being discovered and cleared out as the situation is under control. I estimate there must be several dozen of them..."
The cook asked, "What models are they?"
Song Heping replied, "The models are not exactly new, I would guess SU-22, SU-25, and older MiGs. I've even heard about French Mirage F1.EQs. I'll get a detailed list from Yusuf, they're still taking inventory."
"I really didn't expect this..." Grey Wolf remarked, "I thought Sadam didn't leave any flyable planes behind."
Song Heping shook his head, "Of course not, it's just that the air force had lost its will to fight back then; very few dared to fly out to battle, so it seed like they had no planes left."
He paused then continued, "Brothers, we definitely need to get involved in the arms trade, there's a lot of profit in it, so we need to have our own pilots, even our own maintenance personnel."
"Soviet-made fighters are easy to handle!"
White Bear volunteered, "I know quite a few old technicians in that field. If the salary is right, I think they wouldn't mind coming to work here."
"Selling planes..."
Hunter felt like he was dreaming.
He had clearly joined a PMC, so how co they were selling arms now?
Selling arms wasn't strange; it was just guns and cannons, right?
But now they're saying they're selling planes just like that?
Disaster Star remained nonchalant; he simply knew to follow Hunter. Wherever Hunter went, he would go. Selling planes or whatever didn't concern him; he wouldn't care even if it were H-bombs.
"Given the current situation, the newly ford governnt army will likely switch from head to toe, from the Army to the Air Force to the Navy, to Arican equipnt. We will be selling not just guns and cannons, but also planes and even anti-aircraft missiles," Song Heping said. "We mustn't overlook any assets inherited from the Sadam governnt that can be converted to cash."
"There's always at to eat following the boss!"
White Bear suddenly got excited.
"Right! There's always at to eat following the boss!"
The usually reserved Grey Wolf couldn't help but feel invigorated and laughed at the comnt.
Before, becoming a rcenary was just about saving up enough to buy a farm back ho to live out the rest of their days.
Now it seed, they would have to recalculate the size of that farm; a few dozen acres would no longer satisfy their appetites.
"Don't get too excited too soon."
Song Heping saw everyone getting excited and couldn't help but throw cold water on them, "Handling heavy equipnt like planes is not as simple as dealing with firearms and ammunition. Over at Yusuf's material handling, they're only responsible for logging them. Sneaking these out for sale without authority is probably not feasible, and besides, planes are not easy to hide. It's virtually impossible to move them out secretly without attracting attention. This was just an idea of mine; the actual implentation needs careful consideration."
That brought everyone back down to earth.
They had all been pumped up before, now they ca back down to reality.
Seeing everyone deflated, Song Heping started enticing them again, "Don't look so downhearted. Where there's a will, there's a way. I'll figure sothing out. Once there's a plan, you just need to act on it."
The eting lasted more than two hours.
Aside from the initial enthusiasm during the motivational talk, when it ca to discussing transportation contracts, people in the eting room began to drift off, with many even yawning.
Song Heping had no choice but to let everyone else go rest, staying behind to discuss the contract details with Ferrari.
After all, most of the people in his company were roughnecks, hearing contract details was like listening to gobbledygook to them, naturally they dozed off.
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