Chapter 358 Fourth Generation Military Aircraft

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

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

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

Bulgaria cited the disastrous defeat in the war to prove a truth that even the promises of the great powers are not so credible.

If you don’t have too strong strength, the great powers may go back on their words at any time and tear up the previous promises and agreements.

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

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

According to the Bucharest Treaty signed by both parties, Bulgaria lost a large area of ​​land occupied in the First Balkan War, and also had to pay a large amount of money to the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance.

Because the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance involved Romania, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and other countries, Turkey also participated in this war.

This also led to the division of Bulgarian territory by as many as five countries, and Bulgaria's territory almost shrunk after this contract.

Serbia got Vadden Macedonia, Greece got Aegean Macedonia, Montenegro got a part of the outer territory, and Romania got Dobruja.

Part of Thrace was also divided by Greece, and coupled with the contract with Turkey, Bulgaria almost lost all the territory it occupied in the last Balkan War, and also faced large-scale casualties and financial crises in the army.

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

The breach of promise made the reputation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire less friendly among European countries, and also caused a certain loss of the reputation of the Allies.

Of course, this is not the main reason. 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 were already in a state of hostility, which further hindered the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkan Peninsula.

In addition, the Balkan War promoted the national liberation movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the people in this area demanded to get rid of the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and merge with Serbia.

The already serious national crisis in the Austro-Hungarian Empire has intensified again, adding a few more burdens to the old empire.

In the long run, Serbia's strength has intensified Russia's intervention in the Balkans, and the conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia has inevitably interfered with the two major military groups of the Allies and the Central Powers.

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

If it is in a neutral state, Arthur will have enough leisure to watch the development of the European situation.

But now that he has joined the Allies, he has to make more adequate preparations to ensure that the Allies are also the final victors in this world.

After signing the truck purchase order with Benz Automobile Factory, Arthur went to the Aviation Laboratory without stopping to visit the latest fourth-generation aircraft developed by the Aviation Laboratory.

The biggest disadvantage of military aircraft in this era is this, because the initial military technology is relatively simple, resulting in a very fast update and replacement speed of aircraft.

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

On average, it will be updated every two and a half years, which makes it somewhat unrealistic to equip military aircraft on a large scale.

After all, according to the current update and iteration speed of aircraft, aircraft built with a lot of money will become outdated products in a few years.

It may even take more than half a year or even several years to build an aircraft. It is possible that before the aircraft order is completed, there will be new aircraft waiting for inspection.

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

Hearing the news that the Aviation Laboratory has developed the fourth-generation military aircraft, Arthur rushed to the Aviation Laboratory without stopping to inspect the most advanced military aircraft in the world.

The fourth-generation military aircraft has a significant change compared to the third-generation, and the performance and data of the aircraft have also been greatly enhanced.

Of course, all this depends on the improvement of the aircraft-specific engine by Diesel. The fourth-generation military aircraft all use Diesel, and the improved new aircraft engine has increased the speed of the fourth-generation military aircraft by more than 30%.

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

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

The maximum range of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft without auxiliary fuel tanks can reach 750 kilometers. After carrying two auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft can even reach 1250 kilometers.

This is not the end. 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 aircraft and airships. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the fastest means of transportation in the world.

As an ally of Britain, France and Russia, Australasia can also obtain aircraft data from Europe.

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

Britain and France have their own aircraft research centers, and have achieved certain results.

However, the current achievements of Britain and France are somewhat insignificant compared to Australasia.

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

Australasia's Eagle-4 is almost twice the speed of this aircraft, which also creates an insurmountable gap between the two aircraft.

The changes in weapons are not big. After all, the Eagle-4 is a real reconnaissance aircraft. Its role is to gather intelligence, not to participate in air combat as a fighter.

Of course, according to the MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun currently carried by the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft, the combat capability of this reconnaissance aircraft is estimated to be not weak.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the weapons of the Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft have surpassed most of the aircraft of Britain and France. This is one step ahead, one step ahead.

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

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

But the improvement of aircraft engines is not so easy. The improved version of the aircraft engine carried by the fourth-generation military aircraft is the result of Diesel's efforts for several years.

It is even possible that during the entire World War I, the military aircraft of Australasia will not usher in the next generation.

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

In terms of reconnaissance aircraft, this kind of aircraft with the fastest speed and good ability to perform reconnaissance missions is the most important for war.

Combined with the financial situation of the Australasian government, Arthur waved his hand and placed an order for 500 Eagle-4 reconnaissance aircraft.

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, the financial situation of Australasian is very good. On the premise of having sufficient funds, there is also a loan from the United States, so it can sign this order without blinking.

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

After the Wild Tiger-4 fighter is equipped with the latest aircraft engine, the average flight speed can reach 215 kilometers per hour, and the maximum flight speed is 245 kilometers per hour, which has very excellent performance.

In terms of weapons, the Tiger-4 fighter is equipped with two MA-107 Maxim heavy machine guns, and has good armor protection capabilities on the fuselage. This is why the speed of the Tiger-4 fighter is not much improved compared to the previous generation of fighters after being equipped with the latest aircraft engine.

However, this speed is actually enough. After all, under the premise of far exceeding the speed of other countries' aircraft, with more powerful firepower and armor protection capabilities, the combat capability of the fighter can be greatly improved.

Even the aviation laboratory has undergone many tests, and other people's heavy machine guns occasionally sweep across the fuselage of the Tiger-4 fighter, which has no great impact on the fighter.

The design of the fighter and the thicker armor give this fighter a good defensive capability.

After all, in the sky, the machine gun strafing is not so accurate. The firing of many British and French aircraft still depends on the pilot holding the machine gun to aim, and it is impossible for the aircraft to be accurate in this case.

The Tiger-4 fighter has a relatively large improvement, and there are two machine guns in reserve.

The two machine guns have a reserve of up to 4,500 rounds, which greatly improves the fighter's sustained combat capability and firepower output capability.

Since accuracy cannot be guaranteed, the output intensity of firepower must be guaranteed. Since it is not possible to ensure that every bullet can hit the target, the number of reserve bullets will be increased crazily. There will always be some bullets that hit the enemy, right?

However, there is also bad news, that is, the armor and ammunition of the Wild Tiger-4 fighter have been improved, and the weight of the fuselage has also increased accordingly.

This also leads to the maximum range of the Wild Tiger-4 fighter being much less than that of the reconnaissance aircraft. Without auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Wild Tiger-4 fighter is 600 kilometers.

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

But in any case, such performance is already far ahead of aircraft from other countries, and even compared to various aircraft in the original World War I in history, it is not much worse.

However, in the current situation, the role of the fighter is the smallest of the three military aircraft.

After all, there are not many air defense means in the world at present, and the research and development of aircraft is not given much attention.

And the airships that are highly valued by all countries do not have much room to fight back in front of aircraft.

It also means that even reconnaissance aircraft and bombers with weak 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 itself is enough to fight against various enemy aircraft without losing the upper hand.

Under this situation, it is natural that fighters lose their strategic value.

However, in order to prevent Germany from having a technological explosion in the war, Arthur decided to order 100 Wild Tiger-4 fighters.

According to the powerful combat capability of the Wild Tiger-4 fighter, even if facing several times the enemy's fighters, there is still hope of victory.

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

However, because only 100 aircraft were ordered, the cost is 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 Ghost-4 bomber, he could no longer resist the urge to equip bombers on a large scale.

In terms of flight speed, the Ghost-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 of bombers.

The maximum flight speed of the Ghost-4 bomber can reach 245 kilometers per hour, which is not an exaggeration to call it a fast-moving artillery.

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

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

The first two bombs are mainly aimed at the enemy's ground forces, and can give the enemy a devastating blow when the enemy's position is relatively concentrated.

The latter two bombs are mainly aimed at the enemy's ground fortresses and fortresses, especially under the premise of dropping bombs from the sky, which can cause unexpected blows.

Of course, both bombs can also be thrown at the enemy's ground forces. This type of bomb has higher casualties, but it looks more like a cannon hitting a mosquito.

In terms of bomb load, the Ghost-4 bomber has also been fully upgraded, greatly enhancing the bombing capability of the bomber.

The four types of bombs have a bomb load of 90, 70, 28, and 12 bombs respectively.

The launch method is still the same as before. Press the launch button once to automatically release two bombs.

However, the Ghost-4 bomber currently has a disadvantage, that is, it cannot flexibly choose the type of bombs to carry, and can only choose a certain type of equipment.

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