Defense Industry for Dummies

We were back in Hina's office, lying on the bean bags and staring at the projected images on the ceiling again. 

"You know, this cinema-quality projector's pretty good, but I think I might ask Lui to get a proper screen installed on the ceiling like I have one in my room", Hina blurted just as I was about to give her some briefing before our scheduled afternoon visit to the R&D Centre.

"Excuse me?"

"I have this 77-inch OLED screen on the ceiling in my room. It's beautiful"

How lavish. 

I don't envy excessive lifestyles much, but this was something I wish I had.

"I watch movies, animes, play games - they are good for all sorts of things"

 I'm sure they are. 

"But for games, it's more for the slower-paced games I play with a control pad. I use my desktop when I play FPS. No G-Sync 144hz OLED monitors yet"

"Right, of course"

"You play any games?"

"Erm…. yes, occasionally"

"Wicked! You are not so bad for a boomer"

Let's not bite this bait...

"So…. Anyways - we will have a visit to our R&D Centre in about an hour"

"Oh"

"Normally this would be a symbolic gesture. In the past, some presidents - I mean presidents of our government - visited NDDC - National Defence Development Centre - as their first visit to any military-related agency after starting their term in office"

I gave a short pause to encourage Hina to ask me why, but she didn't bite either. 

"This is to show that the government is placing great interest and commitment to developing for the future. Like a PR stunt so to say"

"Right. I guess you are trying to say that could work the same way at a company level"

Did I just get done in this little game? I gave her a chance to ask, she didn't bite, which forced me to give an answer for free. Then she played the smart-ass card. 

I was probably reading too much into it as I was using these little 'lectures' to test Hina's abilities to some extent, but I made a mental note of this small exchange and continued. 

"Exactly. But I propose that we make your first visit something more genuine rather than symbolic. The idea is that you go visit a specific team working on a specific technology, product, or service, to show that you find that particular technology 'personally' interesting."

"Isn't that also a PR stunt?"

"Yes, it is. I didn't say PR stunts are bad. It's just a matter of which one works better for which goals"

"So you want me to be genuine for a PR stunt"

"Now you get it"

Hina shook her head and then gestured with her hand that I continue.

"Well now, I told you earlier that our company makes products at the platform, system level. Such as tanks, aircraft, Navy vessels, etc. But of course, we have particular strengths in certain technologies. They are a very small portion of our business, but they are important nevertheless, especially for us to keep a good relationship with NDDC."

"Please do explain"

Now take this.

"Our country's development of new defense technology is very much driven and controlled by NDDC. NDDC receives requests from the Armed Forces and sometimes comes up with its own concept to fill a gap or make an advance in a particular technology. This is strongly tied to the on-field requirements of the military. For example, let's say our Navy ships can achieve 50 knots as the maximum speed, while the aggressors have ships that can reach 60 knots. We are obviously going to fall behind in our maneuvers and response time. So that creates a 'gap' in our defense coverage that the aggressors can exploit. The same simple concept can be applied to anything. Another obvious example would be 'range'. Our artillery can reach 50km while they can reach 60km, this means they can comfortably sit outside of our range and bombard us into pulp"

"Gees, how can you say all that in one go?"

"Should I repeat any part of it?"

"Please, no"

I will continue then.

"It's an easy concept. You just need to remember this pretty much applies to all military technology, not just in terms of speed or range. For example, quantity and quality, longevity, scalability, downtime, etc. Any shortage in these areas creates a gap. Think of boxing. Your opponent will want to hit you where it's not guarded. Those are the gaps you want to cover and the defense product and technologies are your arms and hands"

"Which can also punch back"

"Exactly. And sometimes punch first before they punch you"

"Hey, isn't that like an attack? Not a defense?"

"If you see your enemy moving his hand to reach for a gun in his holster, you want to take yours out first and shoot him before he shoots you. You are already later than him because he started to reach for the gun first. How you interpret what a 'reaching for the gun' action is in the modern military concept is a moot point, but more advanced military technology, or doctrine, or predefined response protocols should aim to overcome this 'later start' disadvantage"

"Hm. I guess that's where also 'speed' comes in again"

"Correct. We develop defense technology to fill the gaps, and to have superiority over our opponent, like having longer arms, having a faster response, etc. When you think about it in these terms, you can easily see that possession of advanced military technology is actually the best deterrent in modern warfare"

"Right, so I guess this is the part where you explain how weapons actually bring peace?"

Hina sounded a little sarcastic but she was on the right track. 

"I will give you an example. Enemies will not take their gun out 20m away from you if their shot can travel 10m only but you can reach the full 20m. They will want to get to 10m or nearer before they show any sign of aggression. Otherwise, you will shoot them first with better range"

"Easy enough for me to understand now"

"It gets more interesting here. If you had some ways, let's say an x-ray camera like the ones they use at the airport, to detect the gun in their pocket from 15m away, then they would find it hard even just to get within the firing range of their guns. So this means they will want to disable your X-ray camera first, but your X-ray camera is covered with some protections that will take 10kg of explosives to destroy. That means they need to invest money in advance to produce that 10kg of explosives. And you see how it starts to tie in with economics and the defense 'industry'. If we also want to destroy their camera, but if we can do it with 9kg of explosives, we have a financial edge and can use that to buy another tool to defend ourselves even better"

"Hang on, but surely a 9kg material that has the same power as a different 10kg material will not cost the same?"

"Yes! That's where you start to see how interesting everything clicks. 9kg material may be more expensive, but then you think about the storage and delivery costs. It will take up less space to store, and it will be easier - lighter and/or faster to deliver. The bomber airplane that carries such a bomb can be smaller, or use less fuel, or fly faster, or even better - it can be the same bomber but has better or extra equipment because you saved the weight and size by using smaller bombs"

"You must be such a geek to get excited by that, but I see what you mean"

How can you not be excited by this?!

"Well, you SHOULD be excited Miss, and I'm sure you will be in due course. Anyways, at least I think now you understand why advanced defense technology is as important as having a massive quantity of things like weapons, bombs, soldiers, etc."

"Gotcha"

"So visiting and showing interest in the R&D Centre as your first destination after taking the CEO position will signal to others that you understand this core aspect of military dynamics and industry"

" :shrugs: I think it will only show that YOU have arranged some internal propaganda trip for me"

"Of course. That's what everyone will think. But you, as the CEO, should be able to judge whether my suggestion is bad or good. If I give you a stupid proposal and you follow it then that's not only on me but also on you for not seeing that it was a stupid idea"

After all this talk Hina seemed to sink deep into her thoughts, just like how she was half sunk into the plush bean bag. Just for that short moment, I could suddenly see how she was just like Chairman Chan with the same sort of expression that was vacant, aloof, amused, and serious all at the same time.

"Ok, Sin. Please don't go stupid on me"