Chapter 272 Aircraft Carrier
In terms of fighters, the Wild Tiger-3 fighter has made a huge improvement compared to the previous generation of fighters.
Arthur secretly complained last time that the fighter was the most useless of the three military aircraft, but this time the situation has completely changed.
The current Wild Tiger-3 fighter has an average flight speed of 210 kilometers per hour and a maximum flight speed of 240 kilometers per hour, which is only slightly behind the Eagle-3 reconnaissance aircraft.
Of course, the reason for the lag in flight speed is that the Wild Tiger-3 fighter is not only equipped with two MA-107 Maxim heavy machine guns, but also has a certain improvement in the armor protection of the fighter.
And the ammunition for the machine gun has also been improved a lot. The previous fighter only had 1,500 rounds of bullets. After shooting, they either relied on the weapons carried by the pilots themselves or had to return to replace the bullets.
The Wild Tiger-3 fighter has doubled the ammunition capacity of bullets to 3,000 rounds, which has greatly improved the fighter's sustained combat capability and firepower output capability.
The current fighter jets can be regarded as having a certain role. The Wild Tiger-3 fighter jets with enhanced protection, firepower output and speed may be able to fight against many aircraft from other countries.
However, the range of the Wild Tiger-3 fighter jet is not as exaggerated as that of the reconnaissance aircraft. The maximum range of the Wild Tiger-3 fighter jet is 570 kilometers when it does not carry auxiliary fuel tanks. When it carries two auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range can be increased to 890 kilometers.
Such performance data not only greatly exceeds the aircraft of other countries in the same period, but also leads the performance of aircraft of various countries in the history of World War I.
It is no exaggeration to say that the current Australasian aircraft must be a well-known model even if it is placed in the original World War I in history, and it can create many air myths.
At present, Arthur believes that the most practical military aircraft is naturally the Ghost-3 bomber.
The last time the Portuguese army was quickly eliminated, the role of the bomber was definitely not small.
At present, countries around the world do not have much ability to defend against air forces, and various anti-aircraft weapons have not been born.
What they can try is perhaps to use the rifles and machine guns in their hands to shoot down the planes.
But the three types of military aircraft in Australasia are not as simple as those in other countries. They not only have fast flight speeds, but also good armor protection capabilities.
It is indeed possible to shoot down an aircraft with rifles and machine guns, but this possibility may not be as great as the possibility of destroying the opponent's advanced aircraft with backward aircraft.
The Ghost-3 bomber is the slowest of the three military aircraft, with an average flight speed of only 195 kilometers per hour and a maximum flight speed of only 215 kilometers per hour.
This is because the bomber carries a large number of bombs of various types. There are currently three types of bombs available for bombers, namely 45-pound small anti-personnel bombs, 75-pound small and medium-sized anti-personnel bombs and 120-pound blasting bombs.
The bomb loads of these three types of bombs are 42, 24 and 12 respectively.
The launch method uses two bombs per round, and two bombs are released when the launch button is pressed once.
This also leads to a characteristic of the current bomber's firepower, and the frequency of bombing depends on the pilot's hand speed.
Of course, if the hand speed is too fast, it may also cause the launch system to malfunction. However, this possibility is relatively small, after all, pilots will not press the buttons crazily without thinking.
The increase in ammunition load and bomb power has greatly increased the lethality of current bombers.
It is no exaggeration to say that the role of a Ghost-3 bomber is definitely better than that of ten GA1906 semi-automatic guns.
Before anti-aircraft weapons and aircraft from other countries were developed, Arthur was even confident that he could defend the safety of Australasia with the current aircraft in Australasia.
However, looking at the bomber in front of him, Arthur suddenly remembered something particularly important.
Although countries around the world are currently vigorously developing navies and battleships, Arthur understands that the elimination of battleships is not far away.
To put it bluntly, what really made battleships gradually eliminated was not the birth of other powerful warships, but the birth and rise of aircraft.
The armor protection capability of battleships depends on the research on the parabolas of other naval guns. But the bombing of aircraft does not pay attention to parabolas, and basically goes straight down.
This also made aircraft carriers carrying aircraft the nemesis of various powerful battleships. Eventually, the powerful battleships that dominated the late 19th and early 20th centuries were replaced by aircraft carriers.
But in the final analysis, although aircraft carriers were also born during World War I, this type of aircraft carrier can only be said to be simple and crude compared to later generations.
What does the research on aircraft carriers require? First of all, aircraft. Without aircraft, aircraft carriers are also empty talk.
The second is the level of shipbuilding. At present, Australasia has mastered the technology of building dreadnoughts, and the shipbuilding level is definitely capable of building a simple aircraft carrier.
Since you can build an aircraft carrier, why not build an aircraft carrier directly?
Arthur suddenly woke up and said solemnly to Theodore, the head of the aviation laboratory: "Director Theodore, what is the shortest take-off distance of our aircraft at present?"
Theodore replied: "Your Majesty, the shortest take-off distance of our fastest reconnaissance aircraft at present is also about 1,400 meters."
Arthur nodded. This level is close to the take-off distance of aircraft during World War II, which also proves that the researchers in the aviation laboratory have indeed worked hard.
But this is obviously not enough. If you want to equip aircraft on sea warships such as aircraft carriers, you must understand that even the largest warships at present are only one or two hundred meters long.
This also means that the take-off distance of aircraft on aircraft carriers is only two hundred meters at most, which is very demanding for the construction technology of aircraft and aircraft carriers.
What are the take-off methods of aircraft carriers in later generations? Arthur thought about it carefully for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
I only remember that the aircraft seemed to have catapult take-off and vertical take-off, but Arthur didn't remember the specific appearance and principle at all.
Shaking his head slightly, Arthur decided to leave professional matters to professionals.
Looking at Director Theodore who was expectant, Arthur smiled and said, "Director Theodore, your efforts are very good. I am very satisfied with the development of these three military aircraft, and I promise on behalf of the military that at least 500 aircraft will be equipped within three years."
Theodore smiled and replied respectfully, "It is all thanks to your Majesty's support, otherwise we are still just assistants in the development of airships."
"The improvement of the third-generation aircraft and the development of the fourth-generation aircraft cannot be left behind. At the same time, there is also a more important task for you and all researchers." Arthur continued.
"Your Majesty, please give your orders." Theodore listened respectfully.
"I have heard a suggestion before, asking whether it is possible to equip aircraft on warships, so that aircraft can take off at will in the ocean, and expand the attack distance and combat range of our aircraft. Director Theodore, what do you think of this?" Arthur nodded and asked.
"Your Majesty, I wonder which expert has this idea?" Theodore asked cautiously.
It is really not the fault of Theodore for being cautious. The people around Arthur who are qualified to give him advice and ideas must be the ministers or subordinates that Arthur trusts.
In this case, even if the advice and ideas are unrealistic, Theodore dare not refute them!
After all, this is an absolute monarchy. If the minister who made the suggestion is dissatisfied with Theodore and finds an opportunity to suggest to Arthur to remove Theodore, then he will be in big trouble.
Arthur smiled and saw what Theodore was thinking. He said, "If you have any ideas, please speak freely. Don't worry. In aviation, the advice of experts like you is more important."
After getting Arthur's assurance, Theodore said boldly, "Your Majesty, I think this idea is very bold. From the perspective of imagination, if we can equip aircraft on warships, it can indeed greatly improve the combat capability and combat radius of aircraft. But the shortest take-off distance of our current aircraft is 1,400 meters. We can't build a warship with a length of more than 1,400 meters!"
Even in later generations, the world's largest ship, the famous Sea Giant, is only 485 meters long.
But such a super-large warship has a full load displacement of 820,000 tons, which is dozens of times that of the current largest battleship.
Not to mention whether the technology to build such a warship is supported, the cost of building such a huge warship alone is probably enough to drag down a second-power country.
Arthur smiled and explained: "What if a special take-off method is used? For example, an additional power is applied to the aircraft so that the aircraft has enough speed to take off right after it starts. Or the amplitude of the warship deck is changed, slightly bent upward, so that the aircraft has a better take-off amplitude. Can this reduce a certain take-off distance and make it possible for the aircraft to be carried on the warship?"
The birth of aircraft carriers in World War I proves that there were technologies and means to greatly reduce the take-off distance of aircraft during World War I.
Australasian aircraft are currently one step ahead of other countries in the world. Arthur does not believe that the development of aircraft carriers can be stuck in the take-off of small aircraft.
Concentrating the scientific research power of the whole country, in a few years, Arthur does not think that the development of aircraft carriers in Australasia will lag behind other countries.
After hearing Arthur's explanation, Theodore pondered for a while before answering carefully: "Your Majesty, it is not impossible to say so. But let alone us, the research on offshore take-off platforms in various countries around the world is equivalent to zero. Even if this idea can become a reality, it may not be developed in a short time."
Arthur nodded and said with a smile: "This is not urgent, Director Theodore. You can regard it as an important but not urgent task, at least not in three years. At present, our main task is still to equip a large number of aircraft to build a real air force and a large number of warships to build a strong navy. This idea may become the main goal of Australasia's future naval construction, but it will take several years to achieve it at the earliest. If you have time, you can communicate carefully with the experts in the shipyard. I will give you three years. As long as there is progress in this regard, it will be a great success."
Aircraft carriers really played a key role until World War II. Arthur's inner expectation for the development of Australasia's aircraft carriers was three to five years.
As long as we can build a practical aircraft carrier during this period, it will be considered a smooth progress.
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