Chapter 212: Equipped Aircraft
However, Arthur was not satisfied with the current performance of these three types of aircraft, so the aviation laboratory focused its efforts on further developing the Pioneer-3. After successfully improving the Pioneer-3, they created the second generation of military aircraft based on its design, namely the Eagle-2 reconnaissance plane, the Tiger-2 fighter, and the Ghost-2 bomber.
Arthur was confident that, in terms of military aircraft, Australasia had already successfully positioned itself at the forefront of the world, and could even be considered the most powerful aircraft manufacturing nation at present.
Of course, this conclusion was not made lightly. It was based on Arthur's firsthand observation of the combat performance of the three military aircraft.
First, the Eagle-2 reconnaissance plane. This reconnaissance aircraft featured two seats, with the front one for the pilot and the back for the observer. The Eagle-2 was slightly larger in size because it was equipped with a bigger fuel tank, giving it a maximum range of about 600 kilometers. With two auxiliary fuel tanks, it could even reach over a thousand kilometers.
Naturally, with the increase in size and weight, the speed of this reconnaissance plane was slightly reduced. The average flight speed of the Eagle-2 is 190 kilometers per hour, and its top speed is just 210 kilometers per hour. While it couldn't compare to the faster fighter planes, this speed was sufficient for intelligence reconnaissance missions.
Now, regarding the fighter plane, the current weaponry on the Tiger-2 was still rudimentary. Aside from the two MA-107 Maxim machine guns developed by Australasia's military factories, the rest of the weapons were mostly carried by the pilot themselves.
What does this mean? If the two machine guns installed in the Tiger-2 fighter run out of ammunition, the only option for the fighter plane to continue fighting would be for the pilot to carry additional weapons.
This was inevitable; various weapons just didn't fit well with the current fighter planes, and even the machine guns mounted on the aircraft took a long time to develop.
The two machine guns were equipped with a drum-type magazine, giving them a total capacity of 1,500 rounds.
This was one of the disappointing aspects of the Tiger-2 fighter, but the hope was that its armament would become more diverse with the combined efforts of the military factories and the aviation laboratory, eventually maturing into a true fighter aircraft.
Despite the lack of variety in weapons, the Tiger-2's top speed had already reached 235 kilometers per hour, with a maximum range of 500 kilometers.
Currently, among the three aircraft, the Tiger-2 fighter had the worst combat performance, and its practicality was still limited.
Of course, this was also one of the reasons why most countries in the world had not yet fully realized the importance of aircraft.
Even the world-famous Wright brothers, at this time, despite having built the Flyer 2 and 3, did not receive much attention from the media or the U.S. military. Their planes had even been stored in a barn for over two years before the U.S. military realized the aircraft's potential.
In other words, currently, the only country seriously investing in the research of aircraft was Australasia.
This was why Arthur was confident that Australasia was the leading aircraft power in the world at present—because, in such a short period, it had no real competitors.
This also drastically reduced the practical utility of the fighter planes. Because there were no enemies, Australasia's various aircraft were still very safe in the skies.
In terms of practicality, the reconnaissance plane and the bomber were the most useful.
Currently, the only way for the military to target distant objects was through artillery, but the trajectory of artillery was largely fixed, and even the powerful naval guns couldn't avoid this limitation.
This was one of the reasons why even the most powerful battleships, in terms of armor protection, could only protect some important facilities.
One of the main reasons that battleships began to fall out of favor was the rise of aircraft.
The thick armor on the sides and other areas of battleships was ineffective against bombers carrying explosives.
Bombers could easily find the weak spots of battleships and bomb them.
Additionally, the increasing cost of building battleships made them less practical, which is why after World War II, battleships gradually fell out of use.
The range of a battleship's firepower typically extended only a few dozen kilometers, while aircraft carriers, equipped with various planes, could strike targets over hundreds of kilometers.
This meant that, even before a battleship could spot the enemy aircraft carrier, the enemy's reconnaissance and bombers would already be overhead.
Aircraft carriers were also very simple in design, with the earliest ones being quite rudimentary, primarily requiring only functional and effective aircraft.
At present, Australasia had the ability to design aircraft carriers, and it was not far from the birth of the world's first true aircraft carrier.
The bomber currently in service with Australasia was the Ghost-2, an advanced bomber modified from the Pioneer-3.
To give this bomber the capability to carry out high-altitude bombing, the military factory had specifically modified the current bombs to be suitable for aircraft use.
To adapt to various combat targets, the bombs came in two models: 35mm and 75mm.
If the 35mm bombs were loaded, the Ghost-2 could carry up to 32 bombs. However, if the 75mm bombs were used, the payload would be reduced to around 18 bombs.
These bombs were arranged in rows on bomb racks, and when the pilot pressed the firing button, the first row of bombs would drop, then automatically switch to the second row of bombs.
Currently, the amount of ammunition carried by the bombers was still relatively low compared to future standards, but it could still meet current operational needs.
Imagine, in the absence of enemy defenses, the sheer number of bombs falling from the sky would cause significant casualties.
More importantly, the current warships were also one of the bomber's targets. Since aircraft were not yet considered a major threat by most countries, warships generally had no anti-aircraft capabilities.
If they had any, it would likely only be navy soldiers shooting with rifles.
But warships couldn't maintain stability like land-based positions, and navy soldiers focused more on maneuvering the ships than on marksmanship.
In this situation, relying on navy soldiers to bring down a bomber would be quite a challenge.
This also meant that the current fighter planes could cause immense damage to today's warships, and the research into aircraft carriers had become a real possibility.
After watching the aviation laboratory's demonstration of all the aircraft types, Arthur nodded in satisfaction and immediately announced a reward of 10,000 Australian dollars to each staff member of the aviation laboratory.
"Theodore, how is the production of these three types of aircraft? If Australasia were to equip them, would their price allow for mass production?" Arthur asked.
After the birth of aircraft, the next issue was about mass production and equipping them.
No matter how luxurious the aircraft's paper specifications were, they would ultimately need to be equipped with the military, tested through training and real battles.
Although Australasia currently did not face any war threats, Arthur had already planned to equip large numbers of aircraft.
Not only would this increase the combat capabilities of Australasia's military, but it would also allow for the early training of pilots for Australasia's future air force.
It is known that pilots are not like army or navy soldiers, who can be trained to become official soldiers in one or two years.
Becoming a qualified pilot requires at least two years of training, along with numerous flying tests and real combat experience, before becoming an excellent pilot.
This is why, even at the risk of aircraft destruction, countries prioritize the safety of pilots over the aircraft itself.
For industrialized nations, manufacturing an aircraft is not a troublesome task. However, training a pilot requires significant funds and time, and pilots are far more valuable than the aircraft itself.
Of course, the research on aircraft is not yet complete, and the training system for pilots is still being established.
Currently, Australasia's way of training pilots was relying on the aviation laboratory's experts, as they were the most familiar with operating the aircraft facilities.
But even so, training pilots was still a very complicated matter.
It had been more than two years since the Pioneer-1 was developed, but the aviation laboratory had trained fewer than a hundred pilots.
Although in these two years, the laboratory had gained a lot of experience in training pilots, speeding up the process in the future, pilots were still a precious asset for Australasia, even now.
"Your Majesty, due to the differences in the types of aircraft, the costs vary greatly. If produced in bulk, the cost of the Pioneer-3 is around 18,600 Australian dollars, the Eagle-2 reconnaissance plane costs around 20,100 Australian dollars, the Tiger-2 fighter costs around 22,000 Australian dollars, and the Ghost-2 bomber could exceed 23,500 Australian dollars," Theodore quickly responded, as the aviation laboratory had already estimated the production costs for these four types of aircraft.
Arthur nodded.
Since no wars had broken out, the currencies of various countries were relatively strong.
The production costs of Australasia's various aircraft were mostly around 10,000 pounds, with the highest not exceeding 12,000 pounds.
This was a good thing for Arthur, as mass-producing and equipping aircraft would not be a financial burden for the Australasia government; they could still afford it.
(End of Chapter)
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