Chapter 509: The Ambition of Five Pairs of Wheels (Third update, please subscribe)
It doesn’t matter whether Ah San is specifically responsible for making jokes. What's important is that Asan's attempt to unify by force was shattered overnight.
At least in the next few years, they will give up the idea of reunification by force. In the long run, they have to devote more attention to reunification instead of running around and causing trouble.
Although this was only a "civilian" military intervention, the military was still very concerned about the war in the South Asian subcontinent and quickly provided a report.
The report not only summarizes the combat experience in detail, but also evaluates the weapons.
"So, the military believes that Thunderstorm rocket launchers and gunships are very necessary equipment?"
Putting down the report in his hand, Li Yi'an asked.
"Yes, Your Excellency, judging from field reports, 30% of India's casualties come from thunderstorm rocket launchers. Once its large force is exposed, it is prone to a near-destructive blow. The staff believes that it can make up for it. Our military strength is insufficient. "
As the Minister of National Defense, Sundelin looked at the president and said.
“Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense hopes to add a procurement cost to next year’s budget to enhance the firepower of the troops to alleviate the pressure caused by insufficient troops.”
In fact, the military scale of Nanyang has always been small, with a total strength of only 220,000, half of which are navy and air force, especially the navy, with a total strength of almost 70,000. As for the army, it only has only a little over 100,000. As an island country, developing maritime forces The Air Force was the inevitable choice.
However, most officers from the Ministry of National Defense to the General Staff have traditional mainland thinking. "Insufficient troops" is the consensus of everyone.
"Well, there is no problem with increasing the budget, but the procurement volume can be reduced. According to the agreement we reached with the United States, our maritime power needs to be further enhanced. After all, the sea area is now larger, and the maritime power is also Needs to be enhanced.”
Enhancing maritime power is not just to fulfill its commitments in Washington, but also has a deeper reason, which is to avoid more requests for defense assistance from the United States in the future, such as sending troops to hotspots. military.
Although he is short-handed, Li Yi'an has no intention of bleeding for the American emperor. At most, he can only send a fleet to participate symbolically. After all, based on the experience of the Cold War, those hot spots have never been There was no naval battle. Therefore, playing soy sauce at sea is Li Yian's bottom line.
"And from a defensive point of view, the first battle in Nanyang will definitely take place at sea, so strengthening the navy is inevitable."
"This is indeed the truth..."
Sun Delin thought for a while , still insisted.
“However, maintaining an elite and well-equipped army is also an inevitable choice to deter surrounding areas. However, the current army is limited in size, and its equipment is also backward. They are all old equipment from World War II, and even Most of the equipment is junk that was picked up back then..."
When Sun Delin was telling the Army's grievances, Li Yian almost laughed out loud in his heart. He said it as if the Army's equipment was lagging behind, but in fact now Whose equipment is not the weapon of World War II? In terms of weapons and equipment, the Nanyang Army is definitely not bad. The STG44 assault rifle of the field army is definitely the only one in the world.
Uh...it seems that the AK47 is almost in service now.
It seems that the whole world is beginning to phase out weapons from World War II, even France. During his visit to France, Li Yian visited the Rohan manufacturing plant to see the heavy tanks and light tanks they were designing. The former was not I know it too well, but the latter is the famous AMX-13 light tank.
Although this guy only weighs more than a dozen tons, and the main gun is a short-barreled version of the World War II Panther tank gun, it does not prevent it from selling well around the world - nearly 4,000 units have been exported, proving once again Thanks to the French guy’s strong sales ability.
Thinking of this, Li Yian said.
“Where are the tanks?”
"What?"
"I mean, does the military have the will to develop new tanks? If I remember correctly, our main tank now is the M4 tank."
Although Nanyang's early tank troops were equipped with Panzer IV and Panther tanks, but in the past few years, they have long been replaced by US-aided M4 tanks. Now the Nanyang military is equipped with more than 500 M4 tanks and more than 300 M3 light tanks, German tanks only retain one regiment of Panther tanks. In terms of quantity, it's definitely a lot, but the performance... is absolutely World War II level.
“Yes, we are currently planning to upgrade the Panther tank with its artillery to improve its strike capability, and also replace its diesel engine.” Listening to the military’s tank upgrade plan, Li Yian thought for a while and said.
"It is necessary to upgrade old tanks, but the M4 tank is still an old tank from World War II. Even if it is improved, it will inevitably fall behind the times. I think we should develop a new tank."< br>
Sun Delin couldn't help but be stunned.
"Develop a new type of tank?"
"Yes, it is to develop a new type of tank. The weight of this new type of tank should be within 36 tons. It should be equipped with... a 90MM tank gun, both in terms of firepower and defense. It is equal to the American M46 tank..."
As he said that, the famous "five pairs of wheels" appeared in Li Yian's mind. The Russians should have built the "five pairs of wheels" by now. With this thought in mind, Li Yian almost subconsciously moved the indicator towards the "five pairs of wheels".
After all, in terms of the first generation of tanks after the war, the "five pairs of wheels", also known as the T54 tank, is undoubtedly the most successful first generation of tanks after the war. It has definitely achieved an absolute balance of firepower, protection and mobility. It is not only The most produced tank after the war, and for Russia, before the atomic bomb, it was still the core of the confrontation with the United States. There is even a saying that when the T-54 tank drove through Red Square, the loving father smiled.
Of course, Li Yian is very eager for such good goods, but the circle is different, and they will definitely not give it to them. Moreover, although the T54 drove past the Red Square as early as the May Day military parade in 1946 , but not until ten years later In the Hungarian incident, a T-54 tank that was sent to the British Embassy in Hungary completely caused panic in the Western world. In the previous ten years, Western countries were very dismissive, thinking that it was just a T-34 tank. It's just an upgraded version.
Then Li Yian said something.
"The thickness of the armor on the front should be more than 100 mm, with a 60-degree vertical inclination angle, and the vertical equivalent will reach 200 mm. The turret also adopts an inclination design. The thickness of the front and bottom armor is 200 mm. The inclination angle gradually increases as you go up. gradually thinned out, but the vertical equivalent can still be maintained at 1 More than 80 millimeters..."
Listening to these numbers mentioned by the president, Sundelin looked dumbfounded. Although he was not a tank expert, he could tell just from these numbers that Come on, this is... wishful thinking. These data are more powerful than the American M46 heavy tank.
"...As for the power unit, you can use Detroit's 8V-71T diesel engine. This engine has been domestically produced by United Power Company. Its maximum power is 600 horsepower, which can definitely meet the requirements for mobility. And the transmission device, well, The CD-850 hydraulic integrated transmission of the American Arison Company is very good and has now been used in the M46 tank. Although the US military will not provide this new type of tank to its allies, we can introduce CD-850 transmission equipment. "
After briefly stating his idea for the new tank, Li Yian looked at Sun Delin who looked astonished and asked.
"How about this kind of tank, do you think it meets the needs of the military?"
How could it not meet the needs of the military? This is no longer a "five pairs of wheels", but It is an enhanced version of "five pairs of wheels". Definitely more powerful than the original.
“It fits, it fits so well...”
Sundelin said directly.
"If it can be built, it will definitely meet the needs of the military. The question is, can such a perfect tank be designed? And even if it is designed, we have no production experience in this area. !”
“If you don’t design or manufacture, you will never have experience.”
Li Yian said straightforwardly.
“We are designing and manufacturing tanks now to lay the foundation for future development. Tanks will only become more and more complex. We first lay the mechanical foundation so that we can further upgrade in the future.”
What is the future development direction of tanks?
It must be composite armor and smoothbore cannon. In fact, Nanyang’s development of composite armor has a technical basis. After all, as early as World War II, Li Yian used alumina ceramics to make bulletproof inserts. After arriving in Nanyang, Alumina ceramics have been further studied, and if you are willing, you can develop composite armor based on alumina ceramics. As for the smoothbore cannon, it is a bit difficult, but as long as you invest time and money, it will definitely not be a problem.
Of course there is a more advanced fire control system. After all, what impressed Li Yi'an most about later tanks was the fire control system including the tank gun stabilizer. Especially in the videos of later generations, a wine glass was placed on the muzzle of the moving tank. No matter how bumpy the tank body was, the wine glass on the muzzle was still there. Being able to remain still without even spilling a drop of wine really shocked him deeply.
But for now, those technologies belong to the future. The tanks of various countries are not that complicated at the moment. It is just the time to lay the foundation. Once the foundation is solid, we can advance step by step. After all, things definitely don't happen overnight, and Li Yian never thought about designing a perfect tank all at once.
When he proposed the plan to develop a tank, his idea was very simple, that is, to design a basic model first, and then slowly add various new technologies to the tank as technology continues to advance. , and finally achieved what he had in mind.
After continuous upgrading, perhaps the "five pairs of wheels" may really become the eternal five pairs of wheels and become a classic of post-war tanks...
(End of this chapter)