Chapter 2490
The Army's need for this special heavy equipment is indeed not urgent. In terms of current strength, there are basically no armed forces in Asia that can compete head-on with the Haihan Army. It's just that the Haihan Army's combat method relies too much on logistical support, so the Army's combat scope is generally still focused on coastal areas and rarely goes deep into the inland areas.
But since the relevant technology for manufacturing such weapons and equipment is basically available, how can the ordnance industry department sit back and watch such a treasure remain on paper, instead investing resources to slowly build such an experimental armored fighting vehicle.
Along with the roar of the engine, Baikes quickly introduced to everyone. The body of this tank is made of cast iron and is made of welding and riveting. The rotating turret on the body is equipped with a 70mm caliber short-barreled howitzer. The combat weight of the entire vehicle is about just over twelve tons. The power comes from a 220-horsepower diesel engine installed at the rear of the vehicle body and relies on crawlers on both sides of the vehicle body to advance. There are three people in the car, namely the commander, driver and gunner.
Due to the limited engine power and weight reduction considerations during manufacturing, the body armor was mainly concentrated on the front side. The weapon only had a howitzer. It was not even equipped with a machine gun to deal with infantry, and there was no equipment such as external fuel tanks. To ensure that this engine can drive the already very heavy car body.
"If the engine has enough power, we can gradually increase the load on the body. But if the car is built too heavy from the beginning and the engine cannot bear the load, it will be more troublesome to reduce the weight." Bai Kesi also specifically explained Let’s see why this tank looks so “rough”.
Although not all of the people present were military experts, they still had a basic understanding of weapons like tanks. Naturally, they knew that this thing could not be judged by its cumbersome appearance, so they immediately requested that the tank demonstrate its basic combat capabilities.
The main advantages of tanks are nothing more than three, direct firepower, off-road capability and armor protection. Under the command of Bai Kesi, this tank was demonstrated one by one. Although its tactical movements were obviously slow and clumsy, after some operations, the instructions were basically completed.
However, the senior Haihan officials present would not be disappointed by this. They are very aware of their own industrial technology level. The first tank they built was a test product. It is already good to have such a level.
As the head of the military, Yan Chujie also took the initiative to express his views: "At this stage, this is actually a tractor equipped with an iron shell and a turret. There are still many unresolved problems to get it to the battlefield. It is impossible to go up and be alone. It is mainly used to improve and improve our existing military manufacturing technology and accumulate experience for the future.”
Ning Qi also laughed when he heard this: "Transporting such a heavy iron lump across the sea is a big trouble... Do we have a cargo ship that can transport this thing now?"
Sun Changmi nodded and said: "It can be transported, but to get such a heavy thing on the ship, the hull must be greatly modified, and special lifting equipment must be built on the dock."
Bai Kesi added: "Although this tank only carries three people, the reserve crew plus maintenance personnel must be more than 20 people. In addition, the performance and service life of this high-power engine are still very unstable. Once it is picked up, it will be just a piece of scrap metal and cannot be put on the battlefield for the time being." The opinions given by these two people basically confirmed that the tank in front of them does not have the ability to be put on the battlefield to perform combat missions. Although it was somewhat disappointing, the senior officials present were well aware that this was the current situation, and did not express dissatisfaction with such a conclusion.
Baikes continued: "Today, I invite you to witness the combat capabilities of this tank. It does not mean that we will install it into the army next, but it shows that we already have relevant technical reserves. In a certain period of time in the future, , when we need to use this kind of heavy weapon, we can manufacture it in a very short time. Of course, we will continue to improve the various defects and shortcomings just mentioned through technological research and development. When the weapon is officially installed, its performance will be much better than it is now!”
As a prototype under development, this tank still has a lot of room for upgrades, but despite its various shortcomings, it already has the most basic combat capabilities. This means that the ordnance industry department has invested in The resources for this project have not been wasted, and it also means that related research and development work will continue in the future.
Yes, that's right, this is actually an internal staged results conference, allowing the executive committee to witness the research and development results and obtain better conditions for the ordnance industry department to apply for the next period of research and development funds. Even if this is a weapon that is almost useless at this stage, from a development perspective, Haihan still has to rely on the existing technology platform to continue to develop and upgrade it, so as to ensure that Haihan will be used in the next few years. It will still maintain its absolute advantage in the field of heavy weapons and equipment.
Weapons and equipment in the research and development stage like this go far beyond tanks. The Army alone has mortars, large-caliber howitzers, wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, heavy machine guns, etc. The Navy is also currently trialling warships equipped with high-power diesel engines. If the relevant manufacturing processes and service life can be significantly improved, it will begin to replace existing sail warships in the near future.
As for the more advanced air force, it is now in the planning and preparation stage. Relevant departments have circled a large area of land in the plain area upstream of the Sanya River to build runways and supporting facilities. Haihan Ordnance Industry has also set up a flight center to be responsible for the development and manufacturing of Haihan's first-generation aircraft.
However, the development process of this thing is much slower than that of tanks. In addition to the difficulties in manufacturing technology, pilot training is also an extremely difficult matter. Although the time-travelers have mastered the technology of manufacturing airplanes, there are very few people who actually fly airplanes into the sky. After some investigation, it was found that only Qiao Zhiya held a professional pilot license before time-travel.
However, Qiao Zhiya was not a pilot when he joined the army. His pilot license was a civilian aircraft license obtained after he retired from the army. The total flying time was only a few dozen hours. The most important thing is that he has not touched the control column of an airplane for almost 30 years. It will undoubtedly be a test of great risk for him to make his first flight or to train a group of reliable pilots. So as of now, the flight plan is still in the preparatory stage, and even Qiao Zhiya himself cannot guarantee when the first flight will be achieved.
(End of chapter)