Chapter 126 Flying Army

The focus of the second generation of ground warfare platforms is not on the power system, but on the walking system.

Initially, the Army only put forward one combat technical requirement for the second-generation ground warfare platform: it must have all-terrain maneuverability.

It seems that this requirement is not high.

In a conservative sense, tracked combat platforms such as tanks have all-terrain maneuverability.

However, this time, the Army added a clear definition of "all-terrain", namely any terrain environment, rather than specifically referring to several special terrains.

This way, this requirement is very high.

To put it more severely, among all the walking mechanisms in the past, only the air cushion system could meet this requirement, and it could not be fully met.

In the initial development, major manufacturers focused on air cushion systems.

However, as the research work is deepening, more and more engineers realize that the air cushion system cannot meet the requirements of the army at all because it cannot adapt to all special terrains, such as the very low efficiency in mountainous and high altitude areas, which are the main battlefields of the army. In addition, the air cushion system also has many inherent shortcomings, such as inefficient efficiency, high defect rate, etc.

The result is that starting from 2048, major manufacturers have had to find another way.

At that time, the most promising one should be the "aperture lifting system", that is, the use of a built-in lift fan, so that the ground war platform can obtain limited low-altitude flight capabilities.

The problem is that this system also has obvious shortcomings.

The biggest problem is that the propulsion efficiency is inefficient, and it is difficult to be the main walking system of the ground war platform, and it cannot completely replace conservative walking systems such as tracks.

At the end of 2048, Northern Heavy Industry came up with a set of ideas, that is, to install two high-power lift fans on the basis of the original track system, so that the ground war platform can pass through special areas that cannot be reached by the track system, but it still relies on the track system to walk most of the time.

It can be said that this is the best idea that could be proposed at that time.

Of course, the biggest problem is that the lift fan is too large and difficult to integrate into the combat platform, and can only be temporarily configured through plug-ins.

Obviously, this is not in line with the Army's appetite.

However, during the promotion, engineers from Northern Heavy Industry mentioned that by simply equiping the first-generation ground war platform with a second-generation fuel cell and installing the interface of the lift fan, the first-generation ground war platform can be modified to have all-terrain mobile combat capabilities.

For the Army, this is indeed a very big temptation.

To this end, the Army provided a contract worth hundreds of billions of yuan for Northern Heavy Industry and commissioned Northern Heavy Industry to conduct in-depth research on the external lift fan system.

In October 2049, Northern Heavy Industry built the first prototype car with all-terrain mobile combat capabilities based on the first generation of ground warfare platforms. In the subsequent tests, the prototype car achieved severe success, that is, relying on two 7,500 kilowatt lift fans placed on both sides of the vehicle body, the ground warfare platform weighing 44 tons passed all the tests of the army.

The problem is that this is not the second generation ground warfare platform the Army hopes to get.

During the test, this prototype car also exposed many problems. For example, in high-altitude areas, the efficiency of the lift fan has been reduced by more than 30%, resulting in a significant reduction in the maneuverability of the platform, and it cannot be used in areas with an altitude of more than 4,500 meters.

Of course, this is not the most serious problem. After all, there are very few battlefields with an altitude of more than 4,500 meters.

The most prominent problem is protection, that is, two lift fans exposed to the outside can easily be destroyed. As long as one lift fan has a problem, the platform will lose its maneuverability, and when walking on the ground, the lift fans will become a huge burden. If you encounter such a problem during combat, it will reduce the combat effectiveness of the platform, or the crew will have to risk artillery fire to the outside of the vehicle to unload the lift fans.

Although Northern Heavy Industry proposed a solution at that time, such as being able to use a self-dumping system, that is, automatically abandoning the lift fan when not in use, this still made the army very dissatisfied, because the external lift fan is very noble, let alone abandoning it on the battlefield, whether it can be purchased in large quantities is a problem.

When Northern Heavy Industry was committed to external lift fans, Southern Machinery focused on the built-in turbine lift motor, that is, installing a large thrust turbofan motor inside the platform to reduce the total mass of the lift system and enable the platform to obtain limited low-altitude flight capabilities.

In reality, this plan is increasingly unfavorable to the Army because it means fueling the platform.

Obviously, when the Army is moving towards the era of electrification in an all-round way, the turbofan motor does not meet the requirements of the times at all.

From the perspective of the development, the most promising thing is still the plan proposed by Hengtai Group, which is to equip the ground platform with an internal thermal power system.

According to the plan submitted by Hengtai Group, the internal thermal power system will integrate lift and walking system and is uniformly powered by a fuel cell, but uses two different power transmission devices. When flying at low altitudes, the power will be mainly output to the lift system, and when walking on the ground, it will be mainly output to the track system, thereby avoiding the use of two sets of walking mechanisms and minimizing the system quality.

The problem is that the development of this plan is also the most difficult.

You should know that by 2050, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the internal thermal power system is less than 3. If the ground war platform is used to obtain low-altitude flight capabilities in pure lift mode, the power system alone will account for 40% of the total mass of the platform, which is impossible to achieve. In a mature and available ground war platform, the proportion of the power system will not exceed 10%, and it is best to be controlled within 5%. If the walking system, energy system, etc. are included, it should be controlled within 20% as much as possible. Only when this requirement is met can the ground war platform be equipped with enough armor, strong enough firepower, and combat capabilities.

In this way, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the internal heat power system must reach at least twenty to meet the needs.

Obviously, this is a long and arduous task.

Take turbine motors as an example, it took seventy years to increase the thrust-to-weight ratio from three to twenty. Even if the prospect of the internal thermal power system is more optimistic, it will be difficult to achieve without twenty years.

The problem is that the Army can't wait for twenty years.

That's why before 2050, the Army focused on basic research and only entrusted Northern Heavy Industry to improve the external lift system through contract.

Judging from the situation at that time, if Northern Heavy Industry could reduce the cost of external lift systems and Hengtai Group could launch a third-generation fuel cell in a timely manner, this plan is still feasible and is likely to be used to improve the first-generation ground warfare platform.

To put it indirectly, the Army is still struggling to develop the second-generation ground warfare platform.

Without severe technology, I am afraid that the second generation of ground warfare platforms would still have to stay on the drawings before 2070.

From this project, we can see that the Army has very great ambitions.

Even so, it can be said that the Army hopes to use the second generation of ground warfare platform to change its subordinate position and become the backbone of the team again.

You should know that the second generation of ground warfare platforms will bring the Army into the "flying era".

As long as the platform can make a technical breakthrough, the Army will bid farewell to the ground, at least briefly, gain the ability to fight under any terrain, become a comprehensive military force that can carry out strategic maneuvers through large electric transport aircraft, possesses combat and tactical air maneuverability, and can undertake tough tasks on the ground, and gain strong combat capabilities farther than any previous period.

Imagine how much role a armored cluster that can attack at hundreds of kilometers per hour in any environment and no longer move along roads and railway lines can play in the future battlefield? It can be said that this will completely change the face of future ground wars.

You should know that since the age of hot weapons, roads are the lifeblood of the army. After entering the age of mechanization, roads and railways are the basis of ground wars. To put it more vividly, roads and railways are grid lines on chessboards, and even the most powerful army has to rely on highways and railways. When these grid lines that restrict the army no longer exist, the army can freely operate and fight within a wider range, what will the ground war look like? If such an army is used to fight future wars and the opponents are still restricted, then what will the future wars look like?

From a military perspective, the changes brought about by the second-generation ground warfare platform that the Chinese Army actively pursues are no less than the elimination of machine guns on the infantry front and tanks on the trench tactics. If the Chinese Army can take the lead, then in the next war, the Chinese Army will gain a comprehensive advantage like the German armored forces in the early days of World War II and be invincible on the battlefield.

It is precisely because Qi Kaiwei will do everything possible to promote the development of the second generation ground warfare platform.

However, in the 1940s, whether it was Qi Kaiwei or those army officers with dreams, they had to face a cruel reality, that is, the technical difficulty of the second-generation ground warfare platform was too great, and it was impossible to achieve severe breakthroughs in several years or even decades.

As a result, the Army had to focus on improving the first generation of ground warfare platforms.

In fact, this is the main reason why Mu Haoyang made concessions and started the development of the second generation ground warfare platform, but failed to approve the improvement of the first generation ground warfare platform.

You know, it will definitely cost a lot to improve the first generation of ground warfare platforms.

However, on this issue, Qi Kaiwei took a set of methods, that is, to develop the second-generation ground warfare platform as a cover to make technical reserves for improving the first-generation ground warfare platform. In addition to entrusting Northern Heavy Industry to display an external lift system, the Army has also put a lot of effort in other aspects.

Chapter 126 Flying Army
Chapter completed!