Chapter 358 Fourth Generation Military Aircraft

As time came to October 1913, the Second Balkan War, which broke out in the middle of the year, had basically come to an end.

Before the war broke out, both Bulgaria and the anti-Bulgarian alliance had enough confidence in this war.

But with the outbreak of the war, the obvious gap in strength between the two sides made all countries in the world understand the truth, that is, countries supported by great powers and countries without the support of great powers are really two extremes.

Bulgaria cited its disastrous defeat in the war to prove that even the promises of the great powers are not very credible.

If one does not have too much strength, the great powers may go back on their word at any time and tear up previous promises and agreements.

The Second Balkan War broke out on May 19. Less than five months later, on October 17, the warring parties signed a peace agreement, hastily ending the war.

As the defeated country in the war, Bulgaria suffered heavy losses in this war.

According to the Bucharest Contract signed by the two parties, Bulgaria lost a large area of ​​territory it occupied in the First Balkan War and needed to compensate the anti-Bulgarian alliance a large amount of money.

Because the anti-Bulgarian alliance involved Romania, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and other countries, Turkey was also involved in this war.

This also led to as many as five countries dividing Bulgaria's territory. Bulgaria's territory almost shrank after this contract.

Serbia got Ward Macedonia, Greece got Aegean Macedonia, Montenegro got a more peripheral part of the country, and Romania got Dobroga.

Part of Thrace was also carved up by Greece. Coupled with the contract with Turkey, Bulgaria lost almost all the land it occupied in the last Balkan War. It also faced large-scale military casualties and a financial crisis.

In addition to Bulgaria, there was actually another country that suffered the greatest losses in this war, and that was the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had previously promised to assist Bulgaria.

Broken promises made Austria-Hungary's reputation less friendly among European countries, and also caused a certain loss in the reputation of the Central Powers.

Of course, this is not the main thing. More importantly, after the Second Balkan War, Serbia's strength increased significantly and it became the most powerful country in the Balkans.

Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire themselves were in a state of hostility, which further hindered the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans.

In addition, the Balkan War promoted the national liberation movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing people in this region to demand freedom from the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and merger with Serbia.

The already serious national crisis in the Austro-Hungarian Empire has intensified again, adding another burden to the established empire.

In the long run, Serbia's strength will aggravate Russia's intervention in the Balkans. The conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia will inevitably interfere with the two major military groups of the Entente and the Central Powers.

The Balkan War made the conflict between the two major military groups more intense, and also accelerated the advent of world war in disguise.

If he were in a neutral state, Arthur would have enough leisure to sit back and watch the development of the situation in Europe.

But now that we have joined the Allied Powers, we have to make more adequate preparations to ensure that in this world, the Allied Powers are also the final victors.

After signing a truck purchase order with Benz Automobile Factory, Arthur went to the aviation laboratory non-stop to visit the latest fourth-generation aircraft developed by the aviation laboratory.

The biggest shortcoming of military aircraft in this era is this. Because the initial military technology was relatively crude, the aircraft were updated very quickly.

It has been less than ten years since the birth of the aircraft. So far, the fourth generation of military aircraft has been developed.

It will be updated every two and a half years on average, which also makes the large-scale equipment of military aircraft seem somewhat unrealistic at present.

After all, judging from the current speed of aircraft upgrading, aircraft that cost a lot of money to build will become outdated products in a few years.

Even the construction time of an aircraft takes more than half a year or even several years. There may be new aircraft waiting for review before the aircraft order is completed.

The development progress of the fourth-generation military aircraft varies, but it is still reported to Arthur along with the manned passenger aircraft and awaits inspection.

Upon hearing the news that the aviation laboratory had developed a fourth-generation military aircraft, Arthur rushed to the aviation laboratory non-stop to inspect the most advanced military aircraft in the world.

Generally speaking, the fourth generation military aircraft has undergone considerable changes compared to the third generation, and the performance and data of the aircraft have also been greatly enhanced.

Of course, all this also depends on Diesel's improvements to aircraft-specific engines. The fourth-generation military aircraft all use Diesel. The improved new aircraft engines have increased the speed of the fourth-generation military aircraft by more than 30%.

The first is the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft, currently the fastest aircraft flying in Australasia.

The structure is not much different from the third-generation reconnaissance aircraft, but the size is slightly increased.

The maximum range of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft without auxiliary fuel tanks can reach 750 kilometers. With two auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft can even reach 1,250 kilometers.

This is not over yet. The improved aircraft engine allows the average flight speed of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft to reach about 250 kilometers per hour, and the fastest flight speed can even reach 280 kilometers per hour.

As for the flight speed, it crushes all current airplanes and airships. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the fastest means of transportation in the world.

As allies of Britain, France and Russia, Australasia also has access to aircraft data from Europe.

Although airships are the mainstream research in European countries, this does not mean that European countries will give up on aircraft research.

Britain and France both have their own aircraft research centers and have achieved certain results so far.

However, the current results achieved by Britain and France are somewhat insignificant compared to those of Australasia.

If the intelligence is correct, the most advanced and fastest aircraft from Britain and France will not exceed 130 kilometers per hour.

The Australasian Eagle-4 is almost twice as fast as this aircraft, creating an unbridgeable gap between the two aircraft.

There are not many changes in weapons. After all, the Eagle-4 is a true reconnaissance aircraft. Its role is to detect intelligence, not to participate in air combat as a fighter jet.

Of course, judging from the MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun currently carried by the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft, the combat capabilities of this reconnaissance aircraft are not expected to be weak.

It is no exaggeration to say that the weapons of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft have surpassed most British and French aircraft. This is one step ahead and one step ahead.

But this also means there is bad news, that is, the development of fifth-generation military aircraft is not that easy, and it may even be normal for there to be no news for four to five years.

After all, due to improvements in aircraft engines, the performance of fourth-generation military aircraft has been greatly improved compared to third-generation military aircraft.

But the improvement of aircraft engines is not that easy. The improved aircraft engines carried by the fourth-generation military aircraft are already the culmination of several years of efforts by Diesel.

It is even possible that throughout World War I, Australasian military aircraft will not usher in the next generation.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Arthur decided to begin large-scale equipment of fourth-generation military aircraft.

In terms of reconnaissance aircraft, this aircraft, which is the fastest and can perform reconnaissance missions well, is the most important for war.

Taking into account the financial situation of the Australasian government, Arthur placed an order for 500 Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft with a wave of his hand.

You know, the cost of an Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft is as high as 28,493 Australian dollars, and 500 aircraft is a full 14.25 million Australian dollars.

Fortunately, Australasia's financial situation is very good. With sufficient funds and loans from the United States, it was possible to sign this order without blinking an eye.

In terms of fighter jets, the improvement in combat effectiveness of Yehu-4 is not small.

Equipped with the latest aircraft engine, the Yehu-4 fighter jet has an average flight speed of 215 kilometers per hour and a maximum flight speed of 245 kilometers per hour. It has very excellent performance.

In terms of weapons, the Yehu-4 fighter jet is equipped with two MA-107 Maxim heavy machine guns. The fuselage also has good armor protection capabilities. This is why the Yehu-4 fighter jet is relatively fast after being equipped with the latest aircraft engine. The reason why it is not much improved compared to the previous generation of fighter jets.

However, this speed is actually enough. After all, on the premise that the speed is far higher than that of aircraft from other countries, only with stronger firepower and armor protection capabilities can the combat capabilities of fighter jets be greatly improved.

Even after many tests in the aviation laboratory, other people's heavy machine guns occasionally swept through the fuselage of the Yehu-4 fighter jet, which did not have much impact on the fighter jet.

The fighter's design and thick armor give this fighter a good defensive capability.

After all, in the sky, machine gun fire is not that accurate. The firing of many British and French aircraft still relies on the pilot holding the machine gun to aim. Under such circumstances, it is impossible for the aircraft to be accurate.

The biggest improvement of the Yehu-4 fighter jet is the ammunition capacity of two machine guns.

The ammunition capacity of the two machine guns is as high as 4,500 rounds, which greatly improves the fighter's continuous combat capability and firepower output capabilities.

Since accuracy cannot be guaranteed, then the output intensity of firepower must be guaranteed. Since you can't guarantee that every bullet will hit, then if you increase the number of bullets you have prepared, there will always be some bullets that hit the enemy, right?

But there is also bad news, that is, the Yehu-4 fighter jet has improved armor and ammunition capacity, and the weight of the fuselage has also increased a lot.

This also results in the maximum range of the Yehu-4 fighter being much shorter than that of the reconnaissance aircraft. Without auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Yehu-4 fighter is 600 kilometers.

Even if two auxiliary fuel tanks are installed, the maximum range of the Yehu-4 fighter will not exceed 900 kilometers.

But in any case, this kind of performance is already significantly ahead of aircraft from other countries. Even compared to various aircraft in the original World War I, it is completely uncompromising.

However, as far as the current situation is concerned, the role of fighter jets is the smallest among the three types of military aircraft.

After all, countries around the world currently don’t have many air defense means, and they don’t pay much attention to aircraft research and development.

As for airships, which are highly valued by various countries, they do not have much room to fight back against aircraft.

This also leads to the fact that even reconnaissance aircraft and bombers with low combat capabilities can calmly carry out reconnaissance and bombing missions when facing enemy aircraft or ground forces without worrying about their own safety.

Even the combat effectiveness of the reconnaissance aircraft is enough to fight against various enemy aircraft without falling behind.

Under such circumstances, it becomes natural for fighter jets to lose their strategic value.

However, in order to prepare for Germany's possible technological explosion during the war, Arthur decided to order 100 Wild Tiger-4 fighter jets.

According to the powerful combat capability of the Yehu-4 fighter jet, even if it faces several times the number of enemy fighters, it is not without hope of victory.

The cost of the Yehu-4 fighter jet is higher than that of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft, about 29,857 Australian dollars.

However, because only 100 aircraft were ordered, the cost was actually not too high, less than 3 million Australian dollars.

In terms of bombers, this improvement should be the largest among the three military aircraft.

To be honest, after Arthur saw the specific data of the Phantom-4 bomber, he could no longer resist the urge to equip bombers on a large scale.

In terms of flight speed, the Phantom-4 bomber has also been improved to a certain extent. The average flight speed can reach 215 kilometers per hour, which is exactly the maximum flight speed of the previous generation bomber.

The maximum flight speed of the Phantom-4 bomber can reach 245 kilometers per hour. It is not an exaggeration to call it a fast-moving turret.

Of course, the biggest improvement of the Phantom-4 bomber is the various ground bombs it carries.

The types of bombs that the Phantom-4 bomber can carry have been updated to four types: 45-pound small anti-personnel bombs, 75-pound small and medium-sized anti-personnel bombs, 120-pound large anti-personnel explosive bombs, and 155-pound giant explosive bombs.

The first two types of bombs are mainly aimed at the enemy's ground troops. When the enemy's positions are relatively concentrated, they can give the enemy a devastating blow.

The latter two types of bombs are mainly aimed at the enemy's ground fortresses and fortresses. Especially if the bombs are dropped from the sky, they can cause unexpected blows.

Of course, both types of bombs can also be dropped on enemy ground troops. This type of bomb has higher casualties, but looks more like a cannon hitting mosquitoes.

In terms of bomb load capacity, the Phantom-4 bomber has also been comprehensively upgraded, which has greatly enhanced the bomber's bombing capability.

The bomb loads of the four types of bombs are 90, 70, 28 and 12 respectively.

The launch method is still the same as before. Press the launch button once and two bombs will be automatically released.

However, the Phantom-4 bomber currently has a shortcoming, that is, it cannot flexibly choose the type of bomb it carries, and can only choose a certain type of equipment.

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