Chapter 1703 My friend, I'm going to make a gold coin (first update, please subscribe)
What can best reflect cooperation between countries is not politics or economy, but military!
In the past six years, military cooperation between South Africa and the sEA has deepened, with military schools and training centers filled with military officers from South Africa, and weapons manufacturers also appearing from South Africa.
Half of the South African presidential entourage this time were soldiers. Their purpose of coming here was the same as in the past, to purchase weapons.
On the training range, the sun burned the earth, and the air was filled with the smell of dust and gunpowder.
A group of officers from South Africa stood on the viewing platform, staring at the weapons display on the field with concentration.
The maneuver and shooting demonstration of the VT1 tank has just ended, and the roar of the tank is still echoing in my ears. Immediately afterwards, the shooting performance of the new truck cannon kicked off. The shells roared out, hitting targets in a distance accurately, stirring up a scattered of dust and fire.
Both are the trump card of Nanyang Defense Equipment Company, and they performed extremely well in the Six Day War a few months ago.
As soon as the war ended, many military armies added orders, from tanks and cannons to aircraft and rattlesnake missiles.
A war brought billions of dollars in orders to sEA, so war is the best advertisement.
South Africa was not attracted by advertising, because sEA was almost the only source of its weapons. Six years ago, in 61, South Africa announced its withdrawal from the Commonwealth through a referendum. The United Kingdom immediately abolished the relevant tax reciprocity policies, and even took advantage of the United Nations' voluntary arms embargo on South Africa to directly participate, which directly became the "last straw that overwhelmed the camels." After a set of "combination punches", South African military-industrial enterprises, which were originally quite popular, were in a slump.
South Africa has since decided to reduce its dependence on foreign countries and independently develop its military industry. In order to quickly improve the country's cutting-edge military weapons research and development capabilities, South Africa has increased its mineral resources export to earn foreign exchange, while increasing its investment in the military industry, actively absorbing top international experts and cultivating domestic scientific research talents.
But the complexity of modern equipment has led to its slow progress, but the regional security situation has forced it to purchase heavy equipment such as aircraft, tanks and artillery from abroad, and SEA is the most important source.
In the past few years, South Asian manufacturing such as VT1 tanks and F2 fighters have poured into the South African Defense Forces. They came here this time to purchase more weapons and negotiate technology transfer and other matters.
After the demonstration of the truck cannon, an 8*8-wheeled armored vehicle quickly drove into the venue, attracting everyone's attention. Several South African officers exchanged doubtful eyes, and one of them whispered:
"Wheeled armored vehicle? How can its passing performance be comparable to that of tracked vehicles on this terrain?" "Yes, there are still many restrictions on the use of wheeled armored vehicles."
The reason why these South African officers have this stereotype is the impression brought by the American M8 Greyhound armored vehicle they used, but it was a wheeled armored vehicle from World War II.
Apart from the fact that the wheels look a bit similar, the gap between the two is very big.
As the deputy manager of the company, Zhang Zhentao keenly captured their questions, walked forward with a smile, and began to introduce them in detail:
"Everyone, I know you have some doubts about the passing performance of wheeled armored vehicles, which is mainly affected by the poor performance of traditional wheeled vehicles. However, technology has been developing since World War II, which has further improved the passing performance of wheeled armored vehicles.
Compared with traditional wheeled armored vehicles, when designing it, its passing performance has been targeted. Not only is the engine more powerful, but the transmission system is also more advanced. At the same time, a new bulletproof tire and central charging and deflation system are also adopted..."
After introducing the new technology adopted by this wheeled armored vehicle in detail, Zhang Zhentao introduced in a targeted manner:
"And, wheeled armored vehicles have unique advantages in the modern battlefield, especially in an environment like Africa."
In fact, the reason why the military proposed to develop wheeled armored vehicles has a very direct relationship with the combat environment faced by the military in the East Africa region.
Although the military only had the m8 Greyhound armored vehicle at that time, most of the time, its outstanding performance still satisfies the military.
He paused, glanced over the South African officers present and continued: "The African battlefield has special terrain and environmental challenges. The road infrastructure is poor, the entry and exit routes are limited, the march distance is long, the terrain is rough, and the logistics resources are limited.
In this case, wheeled vehicles provide greater logistical and strategic advantages. Not only are they 40-60% cheaper, their service life is increased by 300%, fuel consumption is reduced by 60%, and maintenance intervals are also increased by 200-300%.
In addition, wheeled vehicles require only a smaller power pack to achieve the same performance as tracked vehicles."
These South African soldiers are not unfamiliar with the advantages of wheeled armored vehicles, after all, they also use m8 greyhounds.
A South African officer frowned and asked:
"But aren't the passing performance of crawler vehicles better? Especially on complex terrain."
Zhang Zhentao nodded and said calmly:
"Crawler vehicles do perform better on some terrain, but they also have obvious disadvantages. For example, crawler vehicles are more susceptible to mine explosions, and once the crawlers are damaged, the vehicle will lose its mobility.
After the wheeled armored vehicle triggers the mine, it loses even one wheel. It can still maintain a certain degree of mobility, which is a huge advantage on the battlefield. "
At this moment, the wheeled armored vehicle began to show its mobility. It galloped on the road, then drove into the mud and trenches, showing excellent passing performance. The South African officers followed closely, and their faces gradually showed a look of surprise.
"The passing performance of this vehicle was really unexpected! "A South African officer couldn't help but exclaim, "It's incredible that he can be so flexible in the mud!" ”
Another officer nodded and agreed: "Indeed, it's much stronger than I thought. It seems that wheeled armored vehicles do have advantages in African terrain."
What is the terrain in South Africa, especially? It is arid African grasslands. Those grasslands are flat, even if there is no road, and they are riding on the grasslands with excellent off-road mobility wheeled armored vehicles.
The company staff struck while the iron was hot and continued to introduce:
"This wheeled armored vehicle weighs 19 tons in combat. In addition to the driver, commander and co-pilot, it can also carry 12 infantry or 8 tons of cargo.
In the future, it will also be equipped with a turret, which uses a 30mm machine gun, which can not only destroy light tanks, but also threaten T-55 tanks. Of course, under normal circumstances, our suggestion is to use a Predator anti-tank missile to destroy the enemy's main battle tank."
The Predator anti-tank missile is also a well-known product of SEA and is also the best anti-tank missile in the Western world.
A South African officer couldn't help asking: "So how is its protective performance?"
The company staff smiled slightly and replied: "What we see now is the basic type. Its front can withstand the attack of 14.5mm machine guns and the side can withstand 7.62mm armor-piercing bullets. Although its protective performance is not as good as a tank, it can provide good protection for infantry."
It's just an armored vehicle, of course no one will compare it with a tank.
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"However, considering the different tasks, its body adopts a modular armor design, which can adjust the protection level according to the task needs.
In other words, additional bulletproof kits are added, which are composed of armored steel and bulletproof ceramics. After the bulletproof kit is added, the front can withstand the shooting of 23mm cannons and the side can withstand the shooting of 12.7mm machine guns."
South African officers nodded one after another. Now they are tempted. In fact, after knowing that the two-wheeled armored vehicles have a trip of more than 1,000km, these officers have become more interested.
One of them whispered to his companion:
"This car is indeed very suitable for our needs, especially in southern Africa. Once the army leaves the base, it cannot provide effective supplies within a few hundred kilometers. Extra-long range is still very necessary."
"Yes, it is indeed very important, and his firepower can even threaten tanks. He should be an armored vehicle that we need very well."
Seeing this, Zhang Zhentao immediately added:
"If you are interested, we can arrange further tests to ensure that it fully meets your combat needs.
Testing can be performed in South Africa. "
The South African officers exchanged glances, and then the leader of the team walked forward and said solemnly: "We are indeed very interested in this car and hope to arrange a test as soon as possible. "
Zhang Zhentao smiled and nodded: "Of course, we will make arrangements as soon as possible. I believe this car will not disappoint you. ”
Of course, these customers from South Africa would not disappoint the company. After the test, they signed an intention contract to purchase 300 to 500 eight-wheeled armored vehicles and put forward some of their requirements, such as adding firepower-supported armored vehicles - that is, using 90mm tank gun models. To a certain extent, what they want is wheeled tanks.
For manufacturing companies, customers are God’s request for customers, and they certainly will not refuse them. Not only will it not refuse, but it will further its performance to meet the potential needs of customers.
This can be said to be an unprecedented success for wheeled armored vehicles that have opened up the market without equipment.
The South African military's procurement even affected the military's sentiment - because the military was worried that the production of orders would be affected, and based on the attitude of taking the initiative to start first, it signed a procurement intention of 1,000.
In this way, a popular wheeled armored vehicle was born. However, for the South African delegation, this was just one of the purchases they had purchased.
After all, they need all kinds of other weapons.
(This chapter ends)