Chapter 93 20-Ton Class

All kinds of technical problems will be solved easily. After the Panther tank is lightweight, there is no need to worry that the technology is too advanced, which will lead to an arms race in other countries. It can be safely equipped in Germany, rather than only deployed in the desert.

At the same time, since the basic skeleton is still there, in the later stage, when the war needs it, you can add armor at any time and become a medium or even heavy tank again.

In the next seven or eight years, with the development of metallurgical technology, high-quality torsion bars should pass the technical level, right? At that time, the torsion bar will be replaced again, and the car body above will be able to bear more weight!

At that time, not only 30 tons, but also can be developed to 40 tons like the Panther tanks of later generations!

Even, on the basis of the Panther tank, it can be further upgraded to become the majestic tiger type of later generations, or even the King Tiger tank!

Now, lower the technical requirements first and become a 20-ton tank!

In addition to temporarily reducing the requirements and being able to serve in large numbers, another aspect is to become an excellent tracked chassis. On this chassis, other deformable vehicles can also be developed! Such as self-propelled artillery, fire-breathing tanks, etc.

Cyric thought of a lot of benefits, so he finally made up his mind: "Since the quality of the torsion bar can't be improved now, in order to be able to manufacture our tanks in large quantities, we can consider reducing the tank's self-weight first. , become a 20-ton tank. Produce our 30-ton Panthers in small batches and 20-ton tanks in large batches. Well, name them Panther 1 and Panther 2 respectively."

In short, the No. 1 tank with only 2 people can never be put into production in large quantities. It is too backward. It can only solve the problem of whether there is or not, and it cannot give confidence to the armored soldiers!

And the current 20-ton tank is very similar to the No. 3 or No. 4 tank in history. Let’s talk about the number first!

However, although the requirement has been lowered, another requirement cannot be changed.

"Our tanks must maintain commonality." Cyric said: "This simplified Black Panther 2 tank has to maintain more than 60% commonality with the prototype Black Panther, and each component needs to be standardized. designed to meet the needs of mass production.”

Versatility! Standardized design!

The American Sherman tank is one of the representative masterpieces.

The United States has strong industrial productivity. Sherman tanks are not completed by one manufacturer, and the various standardized parts are produced separately by various manufacturers.

The production plant only engages in the production methods that it is good at. After all standardized parts are produced, the parts that make up the body have a high degree of compatibility.

In these ways, the Sherman tank became one of the largest tanks in World War II, with a production of 49,234!

On the other hand, if you look at Germany again, there is no systematic and standardized design and manufacture.

Looking at No. 1 to No. 4, they are all different. Just looking at the running mechanism, No. 3 and No. 4 are also different. No. 3 is a large road wheel, and No. 4 is a small road wheel. And to the back of the tiger, black panther, etc., are also different.

Streamlined production is the premise of mass manufacturing! In this regard, German systems engineering is really a zero score!

Therefore, Cyric had already started a plan in his mind to straighten out the production of military and civilian products, so that the civilians could be transferred to the army during the war, and to establish a standardization and unification committee to unify the standards of various industrial products in production.

These are very important, otherwise there will be a tragedy in the future where two tanks, planes, warships, etc. of the same model cannot be interchanged with each other.

At the same time, the National Defense Science, Technology and Industry Committee, the General Armament Department and the General Logistics Department were established to unify equipment manufacturing, technological level, etc., and adopt the American assembly-line industrial production method. The tragedy of adding water to the noodles, and then mixing the noodles, not adding water, and then mixing the noodles!

During World War II, the various parts of German tanks had almost no versatility!

Now, let's start with the Panther Tank!

In addition to the standardized production of the body, suspension, etc., the engine is one of the most important points!

The current 12-cylinder V-type diesel engine is already an anti-sky in this era, and it can output 500 horsepower stably. This diesel engine will be the main power for future tanks!

Based on this diesel engine, a series of diesel engines are developed, and the standards such as cylinders and pistons can be unified, and mass production can be carried out! For example, the current 20-ton tank does not need a 500-horsepower diesel engine, so the V12 engine can be replaced with a V8. In addition to changes in the cylinder block and crankshaft, many other components can be used in common!

You can even come up with a V6 engine for use in cars, armored vehicles, etc.!

"In addition to the torsion bar, there is also the issue of the gun barrel. We process and produce the current long-barreled 75mm tank gun, which is quite labor-intensive." Gustav said: "If we switch to a 50mm tank gun now, It can greatly improve the production schedule.”

Now, although the tank has been reduced to 20 tons, if it is moving around in Germany now, it will still cause vigilance if it is seen by Britain and France. This kind of firepower is too perverted!

It's not too scary to change to a 50mm tank gun first, and the production process is greatly simplified, which can improve production efficiency!

When the turret was designed, it has been considering the issue of versatility, so that it is convenient to replace 88mm or even 100mm tank guns in the future, and now, it is quite simple to replace 50mm tank guns.

Cyric nodded: "Krupp, we must come up with a plan as soon as possible. After the prototype car is no problem, it will be put into mass production. We have been waiting for several years, and we can't wait any longer."

Gustav agreed: "In this case, the cost of each new Panther may be reduced to less than 100,000 marks."

Historically, the cost of the Panther was 117,100 marks, the Type 4 tank was 103,462 marks, and the Tiger was 250,800 marks. The Panther is only 10,000 marks more expensive than the Type 4 tank, and its performance has doubled, and the price/performance ratio is still very high.

Now, if the standardized large-scale assembly line production is applied, the efficiency can be significantly improved, and the cost can be reduced at the same time. Gustav is fully confident that it will be reduced to less than 100,000 marks. This is only a rough estimate, and it will even be reduced to within 80,000 marks in the future.

"Minister Cyric, these proposals of yours have solved the current problems. However, we still have a problem that we must pay attention to, which is our rubber source." Knibkamp said.