Chapter 788 Great Development of Tanks

If the success of domestic infrastructure construction represents the smooth development of civil affairs, then the breakthroughs in various military technologies in the arsenal represent the rapid advancement of Australasia's military strength.

Although Australasia has made considerable achievements in the military technology of its navy, land and air forces, Arthur has never been complacent.

Arthur understands that any military technology will never be powerful all the time. Only by continuously studying and developing more and more advanced military technologies can we ensure that Australasia's military power ranks among the best in the world.

The atomic bombs dropped on island countries in history were powerful enough, right? At that time, it was claimed to be the most powerful weapon in the world and could easily destroy a city.

But in later generations, the original atomic bomb has become a unit of measurement, and the explosion power of the most advanced nuclear weapons is hundreds or even thousands of times different from the original atomic bomb.

The first to make progress was tank technology, which Australasia had always been leading.

Having said that, since the T-22 tank was developed in 1922, there has been no new tank in Australasia for nearly ten years.

One of the reasons is that it has been peaceful during this period, and the T-22 tank can basically meet the needs of the Ministry of Defense.

The second is related to technological limitations. Even though Australasia's tank technology has reached the forefront of the world, it still cannot develop more advanced tanks beyond the time limit.

After all, if tank technology wants to achieve a breakthrough, it is nothing more than working hard on firepower, protection and speed.

After more than nine years, the Royal Ordnance Factory finally handed over the design of the new tank to the defense department, which finally alarmed Arthur.

Because of the confidentiality of tank design, the design of the new tank was all participated by Australasians, and all participants signed a confidentiality agreement.

There are two designs of the latest tanks. The first is the new series of tanks, Knlurnvir-I.

The Knlurnvir-I tank is a light tank designed by Cromwell, a British military expert who has immigrated to Australasia.

Different from the previous Australasian World of Tanks concept that favored large, fast and powerful tanks, the light tanks designed by Cromwell mainly pursued small size and fast speed.

The Cromwell I tank is 1 meter long and 2 meters wide, and can seat up to 3 people. Because the size of the tank was greatly reduced, and the tank's protective capabilities were weakened, the weight of the tank was reduced to 5 tons, making it a true light tank.

In terms of firepower, the 32mm machine gun originally equipped on the medium tank was replaced with a 20mm machine gun, and it was equipped with a machine gun using 92mm caliber bullets.

The three members of the tank are the scout, the driver and the gunner, which is a streamlined version of the original tank crew.

After adopting a small engine, the power of the Cromwell I tank can barely reach 148 horsepower, the maximum speed is 48 kilometers per hour, the average speed is 36 kilometers per hour, and the maximum distance can be 170 kilometers.

Although the power of light tanks on the battlefield is not as exaggerated as medium tanks and heavy tanks, light tanks also have their own role.

After all, with its small size, the light tank will have a wider range of use. It can be used for reconnaissance, landing operations and rapid maneuver strategies.

Considering the role of light tanks and the subsequent evolution of light tanks into special tanks, Arthur decided to establish a light tank company specifically to design and produce light tanks.

The leader of the new enterprise should be Cromwell Paley, the designer of the Cromwell light tank.

In Arthur's vision, not only light tanks, but also main battle tank production lines will be separated from military factories in the future, and special tank factories will be established.

Later tank design and production will probably be divided into three types, namely light special tanks, medium and heavy main battle tanks and tracked infantry fighting vehicles.

According to the specific needs of the Ministry of National Defense and the army for various types of tanks, orders can be placed with different tank factories, which can ensure the production efficiency of various military factories to the greatest extent.

After all, if all weapon series are concentrated in one military factory, no matter how large the military factory is, production efficiency will be affected for various reasons.

In fact, the development prospects of special tanks mentioned before have been reflected in the current light tanks to a certain extent.

The Cromwell I tank is also equipped with smoke launchers, air filtration devices and small air conditioners, which can ensure the combat capabilities of this light tank in various areas.

Arthur was also quite optimistic about the light tank developed by Cromwell, and decided to let the royal consortium invest 5 million Australian dollars as the start-up capital of the Cromwell tank factory, and the royal consortium held 98% of the shares.

The remaining 2% of the shares will be used as a reward for Cromwell, and it will also increase his motivation to develop tanks. This is also one of Arthur's consistent ways of rewarding talents.

After the establishment of the Cromwell Light Tank Factory, all the light tank design drawings and construction technology previously mastered by the Royal Military Factory will be transferred to the Cromwell Tank Factory.

By dividing the business, the Royal Ordnance Factory can also devote more energy to designing other weapons, making all Australasian weapons series more powerful.

After reading the design of the light tank, Arthur became even more curious about the design of the new medium and heavy tank.

As the current true main battle tanks, the design of medium and heavy tanks determines the strength and combat effectiveness of Australasia's armored forces.

According to the tank plan submitted to Arthur by the defense department, this time the medium and heavy tanks also have two different designs.

Because the design was completed in 1931, this new series of tanks was also named the T-31 tank.

Like the previous T-22 tank, the T-31 tank also has two versions, namely the T-31 medium tank and the T-31A heavy main battle tank.

The T-31 medium tank has decreased in weight compared to the previous generation version of the medium tank.

The T-22 tank weighs 7 tons, which is definitely relatively heavy among medium tanks.

The latest version of the T-31 medium tank has appropriately reduced its weight, reducing its weight to about 3 tons.

The entire tank is 63 meters long and 88 meters wide, with a layer of special steel armor of varying thicknesses covering the entire tank.

The thickest part of the armor protection reaches 55 mm, and the side armor is also protected by 25 mm steel plates, ensuring the safety of the crew inside the tank when the tank faces bombing.

As a refined medium tank, the T-31 medium tank is also very different from the previous one in terms of firepower.

This level of medium tank is still the protagonist among tanks, and it is also the tank purchased most by the Ministry of Defense of the three types of tanks.

Because of this, the T-31 medium tank has to carry the best firepower, and its main weapon is changed to a 32mm rapid-fire cannon.

The purpose of the design of the T-31 medium tank is to cause effective damage to the enemy's army in war and become a nightmare for the enemy's army.

The secondary weapons use two BLN-3 gas-guided medium machine guns. This is the second generation of medium machine guns developed by Browning. It can also be disassembled for individual use.

In terms of ammunition reserve, the entire tank has 62 artillery shells and 3,550 bullets, which can ensure sufficient power in war.

Of course, there is another data that is more important, that is the speed and travel distance of the tank.

Although there are no exact figures yet, according to estimates by tank designers, the maximum driving speed of the T-31 medium tank can reach 42 kilometers per hour, and the average stable driving speed can be maintained at least around 34 kilometers per hour.

This speed is still a certain improvement compared to the previous generation of tanks, and it is also extremely helpful for the tank's actual combat capabilities.

However, in terms of maximum travel distance, the new tank actually has some regression compared to the previous generation.

The oil storage capacity of the previous generation medium tank allowed the tank to continuously travel for more than 320 kilometers, but the oil storage capacity of the new generation tank is only 280 kilometers.

In fact, such data is calculated carefully. According to feedback from the armored forces, most of the time, the fuel reserve of 320 kilometers is too wasteful, and the current tanks are simply unable to travel continuously for 320 kilometers.

Because of this, in the design of the new generation tank, the Royal Ordnance Factory directly cut off part of the oil storage capacity, reducing it to 280 kilometers.

Even so, current tanks may not be able to continuously travel more than 280 kilometers at a stable speed.

According to the current stable driving speed of the tank, which is 34 kilometers per hour, if you want to use up the fuel in the tank, you will have to drive for at least 8 hours.

It is still somewhat difficult with current technology to ensure that the tank can drive for eight hours without any problems.

You know, there are still many flaws in the current operation of tanks. For example, the bumps and noise during driving, as well as the stability of each component.

At present, Australasian tanks can only drive stably for about four hours. If there is more time, the tanks will inevitably have problems, which is why the tank force will have maintenance personnel on each tank.

In the establishment of Australasian tank troops, platoon-level tank troops must be equipped with a dedicated tank maintainer.

Below the platoon, that is, each tank squad must ensure that one tank crew member has good tank maintenance skills, and other crew members must also have a rough understanding of tank maintenance.

Having said that, if it really reaches the battlefield, it is absolutely impossible for the tank to move forward at the designed stable driving speed.

After all, there are enemy obstacles on the battlefield. If you want to move forward smoothly, you must clear all obstacles in front of you, including the enemies.

It is precisely because of these various factors that for the current Australasia, such a tank design is completely sufficient, and it is a relatively reasonable tank designed based on real battlefield data.

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