Chapter 829 Sixth Generation Military Aircraft
Although there is no plan to participate in this Spanish Civil War, this war is also a good learning opportunity for Australasia.
Because of the participation of the so-called volunteers from Germany and Italy, this war can understand the Germans' combat style in advance, and also understand the current ideas of Germany and Italy for modern warfare.
For this reason, Australasia decided to send a limited number of military observation groups. The military observation group remained neutral throughout the Spanish Civil War, and its main task was to observe the tactical system, combat ideas and strategic policies of the two sides of the war.
This rare war will also become one of the few real subjects of the Royal Military Academy of Australasia, and a small number of military academy students with excellent grades will have the opportunity to join the military observation group.
On this point, the British and Australasia have the same idea.
Although the British did not take much action in the Spanish Civil War, the British military also sent a military observation group, the purpose of which was to observe the combat effectiveness of the German and Italian armies.
For the British, the combat capabilities of the German and Italian armies are related to their subsequent diplomatic operations.
If the German and Italian armies are very strong, the British will turn to support France to ensure the balance of power on the European continent.
But if the combat effectiveness of the German and Italian armies is just so-so and there is not much gap between them and the French, the British will continue to remain neutral and let France and Germany consume each other.
This is also the reason why the British did not stand up against Germany and Italy sending so-called volunteers. After all, this is a good opportunity to test the combat capabilities of the German and Italian armies.
November 15, 1934, Madrid, the capital of the Spanish Republic.
It was a sunny and cloudless day. Above the vast blue sky, listening to the rumbling of the engine, Lino Coffin, a member of the observation group, looked at the battlefield below intently.
"Oh my God! Reno, this is crazy! Please forgive me, what's so good about such a war? There is no air support, no firepower coverage, and both sides are just firing in the trenches.
I doubt whether their bullets can hit the enemy. Look at that guy, his gun barrel is about to be raised to the sky!" Next to Reno Coffey, David Smith Cannon, who is also a member of the military observation group, looked at his partner in surprise and chattered non-stop.
"Not all countries have our weapons and equipment, David." Reno explained, "and this war will definitely not be that simple.
For the warring parties, the capital Madrid is definitely the most important city, and it also symbolizes the initiative of both sides in this war.
If I guess correctly, the volunteers from Germany and Italy will also join this battle, which will be exciting."
"Damn it, didn't the intelligence department say that the fighting in Madrid was very intense? Why haven't we been in Madrid for several days, and there has been no war in a decent way?" David Smith Cannon also understood that Reno was right, but in terms of the size of the current battle, there was really nothing to observe.
"Isn't it the same for other people? Wait patiently, we are here for military observation, not for tourism." Reno continued to concentrate on the battlefield below, his eyes never moving away from the telescope.
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, a roar of the engine came, which instantly cheered Reno and David up.
"According to radar detection, there is a squadron of planes coming near us, which may be the Spanish Air Force." The pilot of the plane reported.
"Watch out, David." Reno said excitedly: "The real war is about to begin."
As expected, after the appearance of the Spanish Air Force, the Spanish Republican Army, which was originally only on the defensive, instantly launched a counterattack.
Under the cover of the Spanish Air Force, the Spanish army turned from defense to offense and quickly gained an advantage on the battlefield.
But this advantage did not last too long. Soon, the planes of the Spanish rebels, including the planes supported by Italy, also arrived at the scene.
Due to previous restrictions, Germany currently does not have too many reserves in terms of military aircraft, let alone taking out military aircraft to support Spain.
"This is really a good show!" Looking at the planes of both sides that have already started fighting in the sky, Reno smiled and was still concentrating.
Compared with the several planes taken by the Australasian Military Observer Group, the planes of Italy and Spain are more backward.
Their attack method is also very simple, that is, to shoot crazily through the machine guns carried by the aircraft, but they rarely hit the enemy's aircraft.
From the casualties ratio of the aircraft on both sides, it can be seen that the advancement of Italian aircraft is ahead of that of Spanish aircraft.
This is actually very normal. After all, although Italy is relatively weak among the great powers, it is also a recognized great power, and there is a big gap between it and ordinary countries.
This air battle lasted for more than an hour, and in the end, it was based on the tragic defeat of the Spanish Republic Air Force. In the sky, the performance data of the aircraft is very important and determines whether an air battle is won or not.
Of course, whether the pilot can exert the true combat effectiveness of the aircraft is also a very important decisive factor.
From all aspects, the advancement of Italian aircraft and the ability of Italian Air Force pilots have determined Italy's victory in this air battle.
"How was it, David? How was this air battle?" After the whole air battle was over, Reno finally had some time to rest. He turned around and asked his partner David with a smile.
"Very good, at least it provides a lot of experience for our aircraft design." David nodded and said with satisfaction.
Yes, Reno and David are not ordinary military observers, but observers specially sent by the Royal Aircraft Factory.
Their mission is to collect data on the aircraft taken out by the enemy in this war, and based on these data and the information of air combat, find out the deficiencies in the design of Australasian aircraft.
"If nothing else, our aircraft is enough to crush these aircraft." David said with a smile: "Can you believe it? Their aircraft firepower is still in the machine gun era. I dare say that as long as our aircraft join the battlefield, the enemy will not be able to cause casualties to our aircraft at all."
The reason why David is so confident is naturally the advanced level of Australasian aircraft.
As internal members of the Royal Aircraft Factory, they are naturally clear about the current data of the Royal Aircraft Factory.
The most advanced jet aircraft, the speed is fully ahead of those aircraft on the battlefield. Moreover, in terms of aircraft weapons, Australasia has airborne missiles and machine guns, which are more powerful than machine guns.
When facing Italian and Spanish aircraft, Australasia's aircraft can be faster, thicker in armor, and more powerful in firepower.
These three points are already a huge improvement for aircraft. As long as the pilot's ability is acceptable, the enemy's aircraft is as fragile as paper for Australasia.
"But there are still many areas that need improvement." Reno replied seriously: "The enemy's aircraft is also developing, which is not a good thing for us."
"It seems that this report should be written earlier, which is very helpful for our research on the sixth generation of military aircraft." David also nodded.
Because of the importance of data, the transmission of data did not choose the telegraph method, but used the dumbest and most efficient method, that is, to transport documents by plane.
According to the speed of the aircraft, it takes less than a week to reach Australasia from Spain, which is much faster than the ship.
Moreover, the safety of the current aircraft is also guaranteed, which is currently the most suitable way to report important documents.
A week later, on November 22, the Royal Aircraft Factory successfully received the data from Spain.
Although the aircraft of Italy and Spain could not pose a threat to the aircraft of Australasia, they did provide some ideas for the design of Australasia's aircraft.
Moreover, Australasia's aircraft has not been updated for a long time since its development.
Since the invention of the jet engine, Australasia has been exploring more advanced jet engines to greatly improve the speed of its military aircraft.
And less than a month later, Arthur had received the design drawings of the sixth-generation military aircraft from the Royal Aircraft Factory.
Looking at the design drawings in front of him, Arthur was slightly surprised.
Although the sixth-generation military aircraft has been under research, some of the problems have been deadlocked, which is also the reason why the sixth-generation military aircraft has not been developed.
It has only been about a month since the air combat data from Madrid was received. How come the Royal Aircraft Factory has solved the previous problems?
With such doubts, Arthur found the head of the Royal Aircraft Factory, Robert Hernandez.
"Director Robert, can you introduce our sixth-generation military aircraft?" Arthur said.
"Of course, it's my honor, Your Majesty." Robert Hernandez nodded with a smile, and then introduced to Arthur: "Your Majesty, you should have also seen the design drawings of our sixth-generation military aircraft.
The sixth-generation military aircraft uses two brand-new diesel axial-flow jet engines, with a maximum thrust expected to reach 2x775kg, and a speed far exceeding our fifth-generation military aircraft.
Thanks to improvements in the engine, our fifth-generation military aircraft can be equipped with more weapons and ammunition, and can also have stronger armor protection capabilities.
Based on the data of air battles in the Spanish Civil War, we cancelled the reconnaissance aircraft in the sixth-generation military aircraft and attached the function of the reconnaissance aircraft to the single-seat fighter.
At present, there are three types of our sixth-generation military aircraft, namely single-seat fighters (Raptor-6A), two-seat fighters (Raptor-6B) and single-seat bombers (Falcon-6A). These are their specific design data, please take a look."
Arthur took the data and glanced at it roughly.
BP6A single-seat fighter (Raptor-6A)
Length: 11.5m
Wingspan: 12.4m
Height: 3.5m
Empty weight: 4200 kg
Maximum take-off weight: 7045 kg
Crew: 1 person
Engine: two diesel axial-flow jet engines
Thrust: 2×775kg
Maximum flight speed: 675km/h
Practical ceiling
Range: 1250km
Climb rate: 1025 m/min
Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.28
Main weapons: 2 CA-2-27MM rapid-fire machine guns
2 MA-107 Maxim heavy machine guns
12 airborne missiles
Robert is right. Compared with the previous generation of military aircraft in Australasia, the sixth generation of military aircraft has indeed ushered in a significant improvement in speed.
The speed of the fifth generation of military aircraft is less than 400 kilometers per hour, and the sixth generation of military aircraft has increased to 675 kilometers per hour.
The faster the aircraft is, the easier it is to avoid enemy attacks in air combat. This also means that when encountering enemy aircraft, the survival rate of Australasia's aircraft will be higher.
Of course, speed is also very useful when chasing the enemy. Overall, this aircraft can fight if it can beat it, and run if it can't beat it when facing any enemy.
Moreover, unless facing a one-to-many situation, it is difficult to have a situation where you can't beat it and run away on this aircraft.
The data of two-seat fighters and single-seat fighters are similar. After all, the biggest difference between them is just the addition of a pilot seat.
BP6B two-seat fighter (Raptor-6B)
Length: 11.7m
Wingspan: 12.4m
Height: 3.5m
Empty weight: 4350 kg
Maximum take-off weight: 7045 kg
Crew: 2 people
Engine: two diesel axial-flow jet engines
Thrust: 2×775kg
Maximum flight speed h
Practical ceiling
Range: 1200km
Climb rate: 1000 m/min
Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.28
Main weapon: 1 CA-2-27MM rapid-fire machine gun
1 MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun
36 airborne missiles
In addition to an additional driver's seat, the biggest difference of the two-seat fighter is that the secondary firepower of a heavy machine gun and a machine gun has been cancelled, and replaced with more airborne missiles.
This change is largely due to the data from the Spanish air battle sent back by Reno and others.
The current heavy machine guns are not a big threat to Italian and Spanish aircraft. For the most advanced new generation of Australasian aircraft, the threat of machine guns has been reduced to the minimum.
Therefore, on the new generation of two-seat fighters, the Royal Aircraft Factory directly reduced the number of machine guns and machine guns, and adopted more missiles to try to further improve the firepower of fighters.
Such an improvement is bold, which is the first time for the development of Australasian military aircraft.
It is not an exaggeration to say that before the Royal Aircraft Factory made such an improvement, they relied on only their own guesses besides the data of Spanish air battles.
If the missiles did not play the imagined advantages in the aircraft battle, the design of this two-seat fighter would become a major mistake of the Royal Aircraft Factory.
Today, I will update it once for now.