Chapter 396 Amber’s Battering Ram
“So how many rounds did you fire with this thing at the testing site?”
“It was probably more than 700 rounds within 120 kilometers, and further away. I haven’t tried it before. The venue provided by the Yuge family is only sufficient for this test.”
After hearing Amber’s question, Orns, who arrived at the front line with this batch of experimental equipment, said, as a result. As the deputy director of the Equipment R&D Center, this E-2 heavy-duty vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun is one of the products he led the research and development.
300mm track inner diameter, attack, ultra-long distance, ultra-high muzzle velocity, continuous fire power projection, low-cost ammunition
This is the key word of this vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun, which is internally codenamed "Amber's Battering Ram" in the equipment research and development center.
"120 kilometers. So the attack range of 180 kilometers this time means that no live ammunition has been fired yet?"
Amber asked curiously, while moving towards the loading machine next to him He walked in front of the five-axis special vehicle with the huge cannon. When he walked around the huge front of the vehicle that blocked his view, he saw 24 of these vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic guns distributed in this relatively open area, as well as the same amount of ammunition. Supply truck.
Based on the current preliminary establishment, this is almost the size of the future self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalion under the Atlas Ground Force Artillery Brigade.
As for the command vehicle, reconnaissance vehicle, medical vehicle, support vehicle and other vehicles belonging to the self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalion, they will almost all stay in a hidden spot 3 kilometers away.
"We have conducted simulation experiments in the 'virtual space' of the data center. All data have basically achieved 99% simulation. The results of the experiment are not bad. We estimate that the results of this live-fire test will not be any worse." Go."
Oens said with a smile, and followed Amber's footsteps.
As the deputy director of the equipment research and development center, he does not need to go to the front line. This time, he applied to the front line by himself and personally directed the actual combat test of this new equipment.
From a mental point of view, it is almost like an old father sending his child to take an exam.
Looking at the vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic guns scattered across the open ground, a proud smile appeared on his face under the tactical visor.
"Boss, 180 kilometers is not the ultimate distance. This is just the distance that the artillery shell can travel without additional boost. If the warhead charge is reduced and the freed weight is installed with range extension methods such as rocket engines and gliding kits, experiment The ultimate distance calculated by room simulation is 450 kilometers."
"How much?"
Amber stopped and looked back at Orns, with a hint of surprise in his tone. .
"450 kilometers, Boss, but the warhead charge will be reduced a lot, probably only 200 kilograms of TNT equivalent, because we designed this thing to break out of the atmosphere and enter a ballistic section"
"Wait, are you building cannons or missiles?" Amber was really surprised.
"Hahaha, we didn't expect to get this data at first. Later, after using Forerunner's energy management technology, we found that the upper limit of the output voltage also became higher, so we simply increased the range."
< br>Speaking of this, Orns couldn't help but secretly lament in his heart that his boss had such vast magical powers that he could even acquire Forerunner technology.
Amber listened to Oens's words and looked at the 'truck cannons' around him and shook his head with emotion. This was the first time he heard the extreme data of the things around him.
Originally, he thought that this self-propelled electromagnetic gun could only hit more than 200 kilometers at most, and could be used flexibly with the self-propelled rocket launcher - Atlas's future artillery combined brigade plan is to have three self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalions +2 self-propelled rocket launcher battalions, plus other support units
But he didn't expect that Oens and the others would just push the self-propelled electromagnetic gun out of the ultimate range of 450 kilometers.
Then, he suddenly realized the power of the warhead after the extended range that Oens had just mentioned.
"No. After the extended range, the warhead still has the power of 200 kilograms of TNT equivalent?"
"That's right, Boss." The smile on Oens's face became more and more proud.
"What if the range is not increased? What about the ammunition that is going to be fired later?"
"If the range is not increased, ordinary high-explosive bombs are close to 300 kilograms of TNT equivalent. If it is For semi-armor-piercing projectiles or heavy attack projectiles, the equivalent of TNT will be reduced to less than 220 kilograms.”
"What about the rate of fire?"
"Normally one shot takes 12.5 seconds, but in an emergency it can be reduced to one shot every 10 seconds."
"How much does this thing weigh?"
" The five-axle special vehicle is 25 tons, including the cannon, 58 tons.”
“Good guys, what kind of incredible weight control do you have.”
"Hahaha, I just took the traffic capacity into consideration, so I tried every means to reduce weight~"
"."
Listening to what Orns said, and then looking at the research and development of the equipment around me With the heavy-duty vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun developed by the center, Amber suddenly felt that the creativity of the people under her was really good enough.
Originally it was only used to practice the energy control technology of the forerunners and to accumulate technology for all future self-propelled artillery to be 'electromagnetic cannon'.
After all, the performance of the electrothermal chemical cannon has been tapped to the limit, and after the electromagnetic gun has solved the most critical energy supply problem, the remaining advantages can almost perfectly replace the old electrothermal chemical cannon. In the end, who would have thought that Oens and the others would actually create a long-range strike unit with quite high tactical value.
You must know that the long-range fire support units currently equipped by the Atlas ground forces, in addition to the 155 self-propelled artillery, are captured second-hand self-propelled rocket launchers from the Federation and the Empire.
Using the largest 720mm caliber guided rocket, the range is only 700 kilometers. To be honest, this thing is basically equivalent to a small tactical missile. A standard launch box can only hold two - —The imperial version is slightly better and can hold 3 pieces.
Although the power is indeed huge, it is somewhat inconsistent with the most unique short-term fire coverage capability of rocket launchers. Moreover, for battlefield environments such as urban fortification, where there may be a large number of civilians, this large-caliber rocket is obviously Some don't quite fit.
Of course, the most important thing is that this thing is not for sale to the outside world. The small amount of ammunition Atlas currently has is based on seizures on the battlefield. At the same time, the use value of 720mm rockets in peacetime is too low. Even the ground forces of the Federation and the Empire have little equipment, so it is basically equivalent to firing one round and one less - overly large projectiles are easily intercepted by directed energy anti-aircraft weapons.
Even for the more common 300mm and 280mm rockets, although the quantity and cost have dropped a lot, firing them in salvos still costs money like crazy.
Originally Amber felt that in this era of the big universe, you couldn’t possibly charge me as much for rockets, right?
The cruel reality told him: "Sorry, this thing should be more expensive."
Even the most common plasma rocket, plasma warhead + high-performance rocket Engine + high-precision integrated guidance unit + lightweight materials, when these things are added together, the rocket has nothing to do with the word "cheap".
As for the industrial production activities in the real world, it is not like in the SLG game that you can start using it directly by clicking on the technology points. There are still many aspects to consider.
Especially if Atlas wants to fully realize the "self-supply" of weapons, equipment, ammunition and other materials in the future, it must have its own set of industrial standards, and this requires a long period of accumulation in practice to possess.
According to the calculations of professionals, even if Atlas can produce it by itself in the future, the cost will not be very low unless the output is huge.
After all, the production of rockets also requires a complete set of assembly lines, and the production lines of rockets of different calibers and models are different. Even if a universal assembly line can be set up, only a certain type can be produced at the same time. Caliber and model of rockets.
At the same time, the consumption speed of rockets in battle is much greater than its production speed. The production line has worked hard for half a day, which may be the amount of a few self-propelled rocket launcher battalions.
After all this, although Atlas is a big business and a little famous, compared with the two behemoths, the Federation and the Star Dragon Empire, it is still not good enough in terms of hard power.
In this context, even if Atlas is very rich in funds, it is not rich enough to use rockets as water.
And the scenes that require large-scale firepower coverage are not that common after all. In more cases, the enemy's key targets, junctions and other locations are struck.
So a long-range support weapon that can 'replace' self-propelled rocket launchers has become an urgently needed equipment for current ground forces.
In the end, the E-2 heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun came into being
In the vision of Amber and the equipment research and development center, the future firepower battalion under the heavy composite brigade will only be equipped with 155 Self-propelled artillery or self-propelled electromagnetic guns are mainly responsible for fire support within the combat range of the combined brigade.
The combined artillery brigade under the group army will use vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic guns and self-propelled rocket launchers together to be responsible for long-range fire support on the entire attack surface of the group army.
This is also a compromise when the troops are insufficient - use a limited number of elite troops to control as many areas as possible and form a certain tactical depth.
As it is now, Amber and the self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalion stayed at the preset position 175 kilometers away from the attack target, and handed over the refugee camp to the management of the hive core and subsequent new troops. Later, the two reorganized combined brigades had already reached the offensive position 160 kilometers away.
What? You mean orbital strike support?
This technology has indeed been fully mastered by Atlas now, but neither Amber nor Cliffs dare to guarantee that in future battles the fleet will definitely be able to gain control of the sky and be able to calmly Conduct orbital strike support.
What if we get into trouble with the enemy fleet and have no chance to provide support?
Therefore, ground forces must first adapt to operations without orbital strike support, and cannot develop the bad habit of calling for orbital strikes when encountering problems - it is also costly for warships to lower their altitude to perform orbital strikes. , and there are various risks.
The target of this Atlas ground force attack is a large automated food processing plant, or a large automated food processing city.
In this food factory cluster, which has reached the size of a small city, there are a large number of food processing factories including staple food, meat, canned food, fast food, beverages, drinking water, and surrounding areas. These factories built residential areas.
Judging from the intelligence obtained by Amber, this place provides nearly 20% of the production of food, drinking water and other supplies on Para 4 during peacetime.
Therefore, when the Federation launched an attack on Para IV, this place was also one of the key targets.
It’s just that the imperial defenders were also aware of this. Before the attack began, they had stockpiled a large amount of ammunition, supplies, and raw materials needed for production. At the same time, they used a large number of permanent and semi-permanent solids to The fortifications have completely 'fortified' this place.
The result was that the federal offensive force, with the support of orbital attacks, suffered a major defeat here, and all the orbital paratroopers that parachuted into the city were wiped out.
According to the intelligence from the reconnaissance force, the number of remaining imperial soldiers inside may exceed the original three brigade-level combat teams, but after taking in a large number of stragglers, it has reached a size close to five brigades.
The reason why Atlas chose this place to attack is also very simple. First of all, this is the nearest large-scale food processing base. After taking it, it can greatly alleviate the shortage of food and other materials.
At the same time, according to the refugees who escaped from here, the food processing city has completely lost order, and the remaining imperial soldiers have been maintaining "temporary military control" by force.
It is said to be 'military control', but in fact it treats other civilians and captives as slaves
So if we can capture this place and liberate the oppressed refugees, what will happen to Art? Russ's 'reputation grinding' work is still very helpful.
(End of this chapter)