"As for the delivery schedule of the warships, three can be delivered within the first year, while the remaining ones will be delivered at a rate of one every four years." Mavi spoke calmly to Admiral Suni Bal.
As he spoke, Mavi felt like he was dreaming. He never imagined that in this lifetime, he would be influential enough to be involved in warship transactions between the Russian and Indian navies! Buying a shipyard and funding the navy had indeed been the right moves.
"$180 million per ship, and three can be delivered within the first year..." Admiral Suni Bal seriously considered Mavi's offer. Typically, the delivery period for a frigate is around four to five years. Getting three within the first year was incredibly tempting, especially for the Indian Navy at this moment—it was practically a lifeline.
"How many ships would qualify for a discount, and how much would the discount be, Mr. Mavi?" The delivery schedule of the Beihai Shipyard intrigued Admiral Suni Bal. Now, the only thing left to determine was the price.
"At least six ships. Anything below that, and it's difficult for us to offer a discount. As for the discount itself, the most we can do is around 10%." Mavi was truly bold in this lifetime—offering frigates at $180 million each and requiring a minimum purchase of six without hesitation.
But then again, whether selling warships or nuclear weapons, business is business. The only difference is the nature of the goods being traded.
After a moment of thought, Admiral Suni Bal replied, "That would push the budget close to $1 billion... I might need some time to consider it, Mr. Mavi."
"There's no rush. I'm sure you'll make the right decision, Admiral Suni Bal." Mavi never expected to close the deal immediately. That was why he had prepared such a grand welcome ceremony.
He then nodded at the captain and said, "Commander Povkin, please have your fleet set sail now. I believe that battleship has already been towed far enough."
"Understood, Mr. Mavi," Commander Povkin responded immediately. He led his crew to the bridge and ordered the ship to set sail in pursuit of the Soviet-class battleship that had been towed away.
Seeing this, Admiral Suni Bal suddenly had a hunch about what was about to happen. With a look of surprise, he turned to Mavi and asked, "Mr. Mavi, the naval welcome ceremony you mentioned earlier... You're not planning to have this Talwar-class frigate sink that battleship, are you?"
"Something like that." Mavi shrugged. After all, refurbishing a decommissioned battleship wouldn't cost much. Selling a few more thousand copies of a game would easily cover the expense.
Admiral Suni Bal was momentarily stunned. Before arriving, he had never imagined that the Russian Navy's welcome ceremony would involve sinking a 55,000-ton Soviet battleship! Just how audacious and powerful did someone have to be to pull this off?
At the very least, the Indian Navy didn't yet have the capability to do something like this. Even in military exercises, they wouldn't dare to use such extreme methods.
The Indian naval officers surrounding the admiral exchanged hushed discussions, clearly shocked by the upcoming event.
"They're really going to sink that battleship?"
"The Russian Navy is this fierce? Their reputation is well deserved."
…
Noticing the astonishment among the Indian naval officers, the Russian naval personnel in the bridge turned their attention to Mavi.
It was his idea to use a frigate to sink a battleship. The goal was to showcase Russia's military might to the Indian Navy, thereby facilitating the deal between the two nations.
Seeing their expectant gazes, Mavi simply shrugged. To him, this was just a minor effort. The key now was to ensure that the scene of the Talwar-class frigate sinking the Soviet-class battleship would be as grand and spectacular as possible. After all, he had stationed explosion-proof cameras around the area.
That's right—such an impressive scene would be wasted if it wasn't captured on film. It would make an incredible addition to a military documentary or a war movie!
As the Talwar-class frigate approached the distant Soviet-class battleship, the Indian naval officers in the bridge all showed expressions of eager anticipation.
The tugboats that had been towing the battleship had long since left the scene. The surrounding waters were sealed off by the Russian Navy, ensuring that no outsiders could interfere.
Commander Povkin stopped the ship at an optimal distance before turning to Mavi. Though he was in charge of the operation, he was still only a commander. It was appropriate to seek Mavi's approval before proceeding.
After all, Mavi had high-ranking support—both a colonel and an admiral had his back. If this deal fell through, Povkin's career in the Russian Navy could be over. This might already be the highest rank he would ever achieve.
Mavi was relieved that the officer assigned to him wasn't an arrogant, self-important commander. If something went wrong at any stage, Russia could lose these valuable Indian customers.
He gave Povkin a slight nod, signaling that he could begin. The approvals from higher up had already been secured—now, it was just a matter of executing the plan. He just hoped the missile wouldn't miss and land in the sea. That would be disastrous.
Seeing Mavi's confirmation, Commander Povkin relaxed and picked up the ship's intercom to issue a combat readiness order to the fleet.
"Admiral Suni Bal, why don't we first test the accuracy and power of the Shtil-1 medium-range surface-to-air missile?" Mavi said with a smile.
The "Shtil-1" medium-range surface-to-air missile was developed by Russia's Almaz-Antey company in the 1980s. NATO designated it as the SA-N-7.
It was an all-weather, multi-channel, ship-based medium-range air defense missile system designed primarily to intercept bombers, fighter-bombers, attack aircraft, helicopters, and various anti-ship missiles.
As Mavi spoke, an unmanned aircraft soared through the sky at a blistering speed of Mach 1.1, flying at an altitude of 5,000 meters.
At the same time, a red dot representing the UAV appeared on the outer ring of the radar screen in the bridge. It was moving rapidly toward the frigate, indicating an "enemy aircraft" approaching the fleet.
Admiral Suni Bal glanced at the military radar, then shifted his gaze to the small gray dot in the distance, flying directly toward them…
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(End of Chapter)