Chapter 898 Military Changes (Second update, please subscribe)
“…The performance of the Z-1 attack and reconnaissance helicopter in Siam is extremely outstanding, especially the turboshaft engine, which is light in weight and high in power. It was simply invented for helicopters..."
When Sun Delin introduced the performance of the Z1 helicopter in Siam, Li Yian only occasionally glanced at the photos in his hands.
This is the world’s first armed helicopter!
This is absolutely not the result of Li Yian's work, it is entirely the result of the cooperation between the enterprise and the military.
Even the turboshaft engine and its application in helicopters are independently developed by the company. Who would have thought that BMW had developed it as early as World War II and tried to install it on the Panther tank, and they even developed a prototype.
In Nanyang, those engineers further developed it, combined with British jet engine technology, and finally designed the world's first aviation turboshaft engine, and Nanyang Airlines Industrial companies used it to design the Z-1 helicopter.
As a result, the military was so imaginative that it not only installed machine guns on the helicopter, but also installed "Cerberus" anti-tank missiles.
"How did you come up with the idea of putting anti-tank missiles on helicopters?"
Even when he asked this question now, Li Yian was more surprised.
"Because of the experiment!"
Sun Delin introduced.
"Initially, we mounted the Cerberus anti-tank missile on a Cessna C-170 propeller aircraft, and then began to use it for training. The missile operator was sitting in the co-pilot's position
The Cessna C-170 aircraft is a primary trainer aircraft used extensively by the Air Force. Its maximum flight speed is only 230 kilometers per hour, and when launching missiles, it needs to maintain a low speed to facilitate the operator. Guidance is carried out, but after testing, we found that the aircraft platform is not suitable for launching the "Cerberus" missile. Before the missile guidance is completed, the aircraft cannot perform any maneuvers and attack the target. Due to the limited guidance accuracy, the maximum range is only 1. 3,500 meters, so although the "Cerberus" missile launched from the aircraft successfully destroyed some targets, during the test, we found that compared to fixed-wing aircraft, the helicopter platform can achieve better results. It just so happens that the Z1 helicopter The performance was excellent, so we turned it into a launch platform and equipped it with ballistic ceramic armor, four anti-tank missiles and a removable 7.62mm machine gun mount. Although the flight performance was slightly reduced due to the installation of armor. But it can still meet basic needs..."
Although Sundelin seems to be very simple, behind the simple words, the technical staff do not know how much thought has been spent.
When Sun Delin introduced the experimental process, Li Yian looked at the photos in his hands from time to time. Sometimes people's creativity is really endless and it is really hard to imagine. Without any outside reminder, these technicians built the world's first armed helicopter.
And what about the Nanyang military?
Interest in armed helicopters also far exceeds that of other countries. It is with their support that BMW will continue to develop new turboshaft engines. The new engines are more powerful, which naturally paves the way for larger helicopters.
“Its performance in Siam far exceeded our expectations! The same is true for anti-tank missiles. The hit rate in actual combat is even higher than that on the training ground!”
Looking at Sun Delin who looked a little excited, Li Yian smiled.
"So, you have decided to develop a dedicated attack helicopter?"
From this point of view, the military's intuition is still very keen. They can discover the use of armed helicopters based on a combat experience. This is still very commendable.
“Yes, Your Excellency, compared to tanks, attack helicopters are more adaptable to the terrain of Southeast Asia. They can attack over the treetops anytime and anywhere, unlike tanks, which may even get stuck due to terrain restrictions. In the quagmire, it can’t. It flies in the air. With missiles, it can even destroy tanks far away from the range of tanks..."
In fact, from the European battlefield, Sun Delin and other senior military officials who returned are all tank fans, and of course air force fans. They have seen the power of the powerful armored forces and aviation forces. This is why they still maintain a consistent attitude despite the special geographical environment of Nanyang. A large-scale armored force.
But now, the emergence of attack helicopters has completely subverted their understanding, and their successful use in Siam has also allowed them to see new opportunities.
For military equipment, every innovation is a new opportunity, and the emergence of helicopters is also a military revolution.
He will change the form of land warfare to a great extent and push land warfare to another level. It can only be said that in the future, these advanced equipment and new tactics can only be used in local wars. It is really a pity.
"The defense equipment company has begun to develop a new type of anti-tank missile. It has a longer range, is more powerful, and can carry more missiles. By then, the equipment Attack helicopters with anti-tank missiles and rockets may even replace tanks."
While Sun Delin was speaking, Li Yian had already picked up a pen and was drawing a simple sketch on the paper. He didn't know when. With the art function activated, he quickly drew a sketch of the AH-1 armed helicopter, then handed it to Sundelin and said.
"Let's develop an attack helicopter based on this concept,"
The moment he took the sketch, Sundelin was stunned by this single-rotor tandem two-seater armed helicopter with a tail rotor. It was long and narrow. The fuselage, the tandem two-person cockpit, the nose cannon, the weapon-mounted short wings on both sides of the fuselage... everything was beyond his imagination, but it seemed so reasonable. It can be seen from the soldier's intuition that its narrow front can minimize the hit area.
"Your Excellency, this, you designed this?"
But in such a short time, Your Excellency actually designed an attack helicopter!
“It’s just a concept sketch. We not only need a dedicated attack helicopter, but also a multi-purpose helicopter, which can be used to transport troops and weapons and equipment, and can also be equipped with rocket launchers for Attack. Well, it should be used more widely in Siam’s security wars in the future.”
He thought for a while, then drew a UH-1 pattern and said.
“In order to save research and development costs, this general-purpose helicopter can use the same engine and transmission system as the attack aircraft, which is the CT-200 turboshaft engine, transmission system, and main and tail rotor systems you mentioned before. etc., it can not only reduce production costs, but their parts are also universal, It can also reduce the cost of use. "
In another world, there was the UH-1 general-purpose helicopter. Until the outbreak of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army urgently requested a high-speed, heavily armored and heavy-fire armed helicopter. It is used to provide escort along the route for troop transport helicopters or to provide advance air suppression fire for infantry.
Before this, Bell Company began to study the concept of dedicated Wuzhi and launched a full-size model just in time. This concept model of an armed helicopter uses the engine and transmission system of the "Huey".
What finally conquered the US military was not only its excellent performance, but also the fact that it can share most accessories with the UH1 helicopter. Of course, good experience needs to be learned.
"As for the current attack helicopter... although it is smaller, its performance is still very good. We can further improve it and then use it as a professional reconnaissance helicopter, using it together with helicopters and general-purpose helicopters. Cooperate in combat."
Afterwards, Li Yian briefly talked about what he knew about the combat methods of the "Air Cavalry". In fact, he learned almost all of them from film and television works.
But even so, for this era, the reconnaissance helicopter formation is called the "White Team", the attack helicopter formation is the "Red Team", and the transport helicopter formation is the "Blue Team". However, the way the three helicopter units work together to implement operations is still far ahead.
After all, many times, it often takes a long time to accumulate from the proposal of a concept to its implementation, but now, with Li Yian's prompting, Nanyang has completely jumped out of this stage.
After taking a look at Sun Delin, who was stunned, Li Yian continued.
"Moreover, we can also sell this helicopter and anti-tank missile, let them accumulate experience on the battlefield, and then improve our design and use them in battle to advertise our weapons."
In another world, why American weapons are so easy to sell is not because of good advertising. Advertisements are made on the battlefield.
The best advertisement for a weapon is its effect on the battlefield.
Li Yian continued.
"Just like this "Siam Crisis", Nanyang advertised its own weapons. After the crisis broke out, the overwhelming victories in many air battles had long made the world look at F1 fighters with admiration. We can take advantage of this opportunity to sell our helicopters, anti-tank missiles and other weapons and equipment.”
(End of this chapter)