Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The K11 Project
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[Travel safe, my friend.]
Ryan’s face was filled with regret as he saw me off.
Having spent nearly the entire past week together, I felt just as disappointed.
My grip tightened instinctively as we shook hands.
[Passengers flying on flight 848 to Incheon, please proceed to your gate for immediate boarding.]
Just as I turned away after our final goodbyes, the boarding announcement echoed through the terminal.
The moment a long, thirteen-hour journey began anew.
I let out a deep sigh and was about to head to the gate when the phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.
“At this hour?”
The caller was Vice President Kim Young-gi.
Considering the time difference, it had to be late at night in Korea.
For him to call despite that meant something important had come up.
“What’s going on?”
-Ah, my apologies. I thought it was good news, so I intended to let you know right away…
Vice President Kim let out a dry laugh at my directness.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn’t bad news, he delivered something completely unexpected.
-The military is reselecting the developer for the composite rifle currently in development. And they've apparently decided to completely re-evaluate the existing development plan.
“What in the world….”
[Passengers for Korean Air flight 848…]
Just as I was about to respond, another announcement urged passengers to board.
In the end, that was all we could discuss.
The moment I turned off my phone, a war began inside my head.
‘They’re reselecting the developer for the K11?’
The K11 was the official designation for the composite rifle whose development began in 2000.
Its development was influenced by the American OICW, but unlike the U.S. which aimed for an individual weapon, we decided to develop it to support our squads.
The ultimate goal was to replace the K201, which fired 40mm grenades, but historically, it was a failure of such epic proportions that it was recorded as one of our military’s biggest blunders.
‘But there’s no way they found a defect in a weapon that doesn’t even have a prototype yet… It seems something else has happened.’
*******
“Did you come straight to the office?”
Vice President Kim Young-gi asked, his expression one of surprise as I headed to work immediately upon arrival.
Ignoring his shock, I asked for an explanation. He shook his head and handed me a report.
“As I mentioned on the phone, the military has decided to reselect the developer for the K11 composite rifle, which is currently in development.”
“Right, but what’s the reason?”
“The developer was S&U, but didn’t they have their supply rights revoked after the recent military supply corruption scandal?”
It wasn’t that I hadn’t considered that.
What I found strange was the government’s response.
I was curious why they would decide to completely re-evaluate a weapon that had been in development since early 2000 and was likely to have a prototype by now.
“Well, it seems there were quite a few problems. Development officially started three years ago, but S&U, which was in charge of the firearm component, has yet to produce a prototype. The company developing the fire-control system is also struggling to resolve a design flaw identified by the military. With the supply rights revocation on top of all that, there’s no way the project could have proceeded smoothly.”
His explanation helped me understand the government’s actions a little better.
If development progress was at a standstill anyway, reselecting the developer might have been the right call.
“Sir, about that…”
As my thoughts began to crystallize, Vice President Kim hesitantly handed me another document.
“What’s this?”
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff is holding a meeting this afternoon to select a new company for the project. This is an official notice requesting that the final decision-makers from each company attend in person this time.”
“Why is that?”
“It seems the government’s ongoing military reform plan will bring changes to the weapons acquisition process. They likely want to inform the heads of the companies directly.”
“……”
My gut feeling was that this was a show of their determination to root out corruption in military procurement.
Even if that were true, we had nothing to hide.
In fact, if the government’s intent was truly to focus solely on performance and development capabilities, we should welcome it with open arms.
After all, we were confident that our development capabilities were second to none.
“What time is the meeting?”
******
“It’s been a while.”
By the time I arrived at the JCS headquarters, many representatives from the defense industry had already gathered.
Among them, what stood out were the heads of companies like LIC Nex1 and Hyunwoo Rotem, which had no connection to the rifle sector.
This meant that, just as Vice President Kim had said, this meeting wasn’t solely for reselecting the K11 developer. For some reason, I had a feeling things were about to get interesting.
“I’d like to thank all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here.”
Perhaps due to the gravity of the matter, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was presiding over the meeting himself.
Judging by his grim expression, he too seemed to be under immense stress from the army’s reform plan.
Well, blood is thicker than water. He couldn’t completely ignore the grievances of his juniors.
“Henceforth, the government will break from past practices in the acquisition of individual and support firearms, including rifles, and will select multiple companies as suppliers.”
His words meant they intended to create a competitive system in the rifle sector, which had been monopolized by Dae Yoo Precision—no, S&U—until now.
Considering the corruption that arose from selecting a single company, this was a positive change.
Whether it was a demonstration of their will for reform or not, this development would likely encourage companies with the capability, but who had been suppressed by vested interests, to actively jump into development.
“Furthermore, for the K11, which is currently undergoing developer reselection, we plan to solicit proposals from multiple developers. For your reference, S&U was also still in the conceptual research stage, so there is no need to adhere to their plan. In other words, we will accept all development proposals.”
Of course, it wasn’t without its problems.
If multiple companies were competing, it would be impossible for the government to fund all of them.
This meant the burden of development costs would fall on the companies, and ultimately, only those with a certain level of capital would be able to take on the challenge. I wasn’t sure how they planned to solve that issue.
“If it’s a competitive system, what happens with the development costs?”
Someone who had the same thought immediately raised their hand and asked.
All eyes turned to the Chairman of the JCS, but he wore a relaxed expression, as if he had been expecting the question.
“It has been customary for the government to select a specific company in the individual firearms sector and provide full funding. However, from now on, we will select two companies and provide 50% of the development costs to each.”
It sounded quite plausible.
Even with multiple companies, if only two were selected, the government’s burden would remain manageable.
From the government’s perspective, there was no difference between putting all its eggs in one basket or splitting them between two.
Moreover, if the companies had to cover 50% of the costs themselves, they would bear a certain level of risk, making it unlikely for them to simply take the money and run as had happened in the past.
“From now on…”
The Chairman then explained the new systems that would be introduced across all areas of weapons acquisition.
Most of the measures were designed to eliminate the potential for corruption.
This gave me a rough idea of the extent of the government’s commitment to military reform.
“It’s been a long time, Chairman Jin.”
On my way out after the meeting concluded, the Chairman of the JCS approached me and extended his hand.
He looked as if he had aged ten years, a testament to the immense stress he was under.
I frowned in sympathy, and he discreetly suggested we talk.
“If you’re not busy, why don’t you join me for a cup of tea?”
I couldn’t bring myself to refuse and followed him.
We arrived at his office.
He offered me a seat and let out a deep sigh.
“These days, I feel like I’m going to die.”
“I understand. No general would be happy about their positions being cut. But it’s an issue that must be faced eventually.”
After all, the population cliff in the future would lead to a reduction in troop numbers, whether the government intervened or not.
“You’re right. To be honest, I have no complaints about military modernization.”
He replied with a smile, then looked at me intently.
His gaze suggested he had something to say, so I stared back at him as he casually spoke.
“You’ll be participating in the K11 development, won’t you?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then you’d better prepare yourself. LIC Nex1 has also expressed its intention to participate this time.”
That was rather unexpected news.
It was no problem for me, since I already had Dasan under my wing, but I couldn’t imagine how they would manage, having no foundation in the individual firearms sector.
Just then, the Chairman dropped a hint.
“LIC recently acquired Myungil Engineering.”
“Is that so?”
Myungil Engineering, like Dasan, was one of the companies that primarily manufactured and supplied firearm components.
It wasn’t large, but it was known for its considerable technical skill.
It seemed LIC was also looking to expand its horizons. For some reason, I felt more competitive than wary.
Frankly, the lack of any real competition so far had made things less tense.
Moreover, LIC was a company with considerable technological prowess and a fairly clean image.
I would always welcome a fair and square competition.
“This should be interesting.”
I replied with a smile and lifted my teacup.
Was my reaction unexpected? The Chairman let out a dry laugh.
“Chairman Jin, you’re truly an unpredictable man. Anyway, things are getting more and more precarious. I’m worried this will stir up another military corruption scandal like before.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Sensing a hidden meaning in his words, I asked for clarification.
He hesitated for a moment for some reason, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“If the military continues to resist, do you think the government will just stand by?”
“…Are you saying the government might dig up corruption scandals to tame the generals?”
For a moment, his head slowly nodded.
But as if he felt he’d gone too far, he quickly waved his hand and smiled.
“It’s just a figure of speech. I doubt it would actually come to that. Still, I’m just saying this just in case, but Jaewoo doesn’t have any problems in that regard, right?”
“You know the answer to that better than anyone, Chairman.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The Chairman of the JCS smiled as if relieved.
But the reason his expression soon darkened was likely because he couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of the government taking real action.
To be honest, I couldn’t be sure about that part anymore either.
It wasn’t as if unprecedented events were a rare occurrence these days.
*********
“Welcome, sir.”
After the meeting, I headed straight for Thales.
Since we had decided to participate in the K11’s development, we had to do our best to succeed this time.
The silver lining was that the development plan, which had been problematic even in the future, had been completely scrapped. On that front, I was actually hopeful.
“Please form a project team starting tomorrow. The deadline for the first development plan submission is early next year. And this time, a single company will be responsible for the fire-control system as well, so we’ll need development personnel for that part too.”
A sense of excitement grew with every word I spoke.
To be honest, when it came to the composite rifle, I was starting from scratch just like everyone else.
The weapon had been flawed even before my regression, so that knowledge wouldn’t be of much help.
Besides, I was planning to change the concept entirely.
Half-baked data would only get in the way.
“I heard the news and already informed Dr. Myung Seung-eun.”
Vice President Kim was, as always, quick to act.
It felt like he had completely figured out my impatient personality.
I smiled and was about to enter the office where the research team was when he suddenly held something out to me.
“I’m sorry, but could you please look at this first?”
He handed me a file folder.
Before I could flip to the first page, not understanding his intention, he offered a belated explanation.
“The engineers from Dasan recently proposed a development plan for a special forces rifle to replace the K1. From what I’ve heard of the specs, it looks quite promising. There’s an image on the next page for your reference.”
“A special forces rifle to replace the K1?”
I tilted my head, puzzled.
As far as I could remember, the only rifle Dasan had developed to replace the K1 was the DSAR-15PC.
It was a weapon born when our government, just like now, designated multiple companies to overcome the drawbacks of a single supplier’s monopoly in the rifle sector.
But the chances of it being that weapon were close to zero.
That weapon wasn’t supposed to appear until 2020, and I had never given them the design plans.
“Huh?”