Rise of Australia

Chapter 906 Long-Range Shipborne Missiles

After driving for about two hours, the group finally arrived at their destination, a missile and rocket test base located in the suburbs of the capital's Special Administrative Region.

Yes, the missile and rocket test bases are both here, but as two research projects and groups, they are adjacent to each other but do not interfere with each other.

Of course, the initial theories of rockets and missiles are the same, and many of the principles and concepts can be borrowed from each other, so there is communication between the two experimental bases.

It’s just that compared to rockets that are more civilian-oriented, Arthur pays more attention to missiles that are more militaristic.

But these two bases receive a large amount of research budget every year, so Arthur does not lose out on either.

Fortunately, missile and rocket experiments do not require nuclear weapons at all, which is why they can be built in the suburbs of the National Capital District instead of moving to the interior of the Australasian Desert like the nuclear weapons research and development project team.

The nuclear weapons research and development test team is located in Carnegie. There are vast deserts to the north and south, and uninhabited plateau mountains to the east and west. The surrounding area within hundreds of miles is basically in the desert area.

Such terrain is perfect for the development and testing of nuclear weapons. Under the premise that countries do not have satellites, it is entirely possible to conceal nuclear tests from all countries.

This trip was much more grand than the last one. In addition to dozens of guards, more than a dozen senior military officials also went with them.

After all, this is a new generation of missile technology. The name of the cruise missile sounds very high-end, so it is no wonder that it attracts these senior military officials.

The only difference from last time was that the Chief of the General Staff of National Defense, Ma Long, did not come. After all, the General Staff had to plan the entire war and really could not spare the time.

But at least he was accompanied by Defense Secretary Thomas, who is the highest-ranking official in the military and can fully reflect the military's emphasis on missiles.

Entering the missile research base, Hermann, the chief missile developer, introduced to everyone respectfully: "

Your Majesty, everyone. This is our latest new generation cruise missile, equipped with our most advanced radar technology, which can achieve accuracy exceeding that of pigeon missiles without the need for pigeons.

At present, our cruise missiles are divided into land-based missiles, air-based missiles and sea-based missiles, corresponding to ground launch, air launch and sea launch respectively.

The warhead of a cruise missile is detachable and can be replaced with any type of special warhead we want. There are currently two more conventional warheads, namely, explosive warheads and fragmentation warheads.

Of course, if nuclear weapons can be made into warheads, it is entirely possible to install such warheads on cruise missiles.”

Because the lowest rank of those who came to the missile research and development base was lieutenant general or above, which was the highest level of the military in Australasia, there was no need to conceal the news of nuclear weapons.

After all, given their level of prominence, information related to nuclear weapons is not something that is too secretive.

Of course, Arthur also trusts his subordinates. After all, the three intelligence agencies are not vegetarians. If there are really traitors, they will definitely not escape the mutual supervision of the three intelligence agencies.

"Mr. Hermann, what is the hit rate of such a missile? Can it achieve an effective hit rate similar to that of the Dove missile?" Lieutenant General Maen, Minister of Army Logistics, asked impatiently.

Judging from Herman’s current introduction, the new generation of cruise missiles has been greatly improved in terms of use and power compared to the previous generation of Dove missiles.

What the military is most concerned about at the moment is the accuracy of cruise missiles. After all, it is impossible for all cruise missiles to carry a unified nuclear warhead, and most cruise missiles have to be used as conventional weapons, which also means that accuracy is still very important.

"Of course, Mr. Lieutenant General." Herman nodded and said with a smile: "Please believe in our most advanced technology, which is far from being replaced by animals. According to our current calculations, in the worst case scenario, our new generation of cruise missiles can also achieve the same accuracy as the Dove missile."

Maan nodded, and was quite satisfied with Hermann's answer.

The accuracy of the new generation of cruise missiles is at least equivalent to that of the Dove missile, which also means that cruise missiles have almost been comprehensively improved compared to the Dove missile.

“I believe you all know that, without the influence of weather factors, the maximum hit rate of the Dove missile can reach about 60%, which is already an extremely high number.

But according to our calculations on the new generation of cruise missiles, without the influence of external factors, the maximum hit rate of the new generation of cruise missiles can reach about 65%, which is a full five percentage points higher. "Hermann said proudly, no longer hiding the effective hit rate of the new generation of missiles.

Although the increase from 60% to 65% seems to be only a 5% improvement, for missiles, this 5% improvement requires a lot of technological accumulation to achieve.

甚至毫不夸张的说，60%到65%的这5%的差距，要比50%到60%这样10%的差距还要艰难。

The highest hit rate is only 100%. As the hit rate gets higher and higher, even a small improvement requires a lot of time and technology accumulation.

It is also because of this that although Herman said that the new generation of cruise missiles only improved the hit rate by 5%, the military still had no objection, and most officers even had happy expressions on their faces.

"Mr. Herman, when can the test begin?" Arthur was much calmer than the officers. He looked at Herman calmly and asked.

"If Your Majesty is willing, you can start the test at any time." Hermann nodded and said respectfully.

"Let's get started. I'm also curious about how well our latest missile can perform in the test." Arthur nodded, indicating that the missile test could begin.

Before the war broke out, the average annual research funds allocated to the missile research and development base were more than 300 million Australian dollars.

After the outbreak of the war, the annual research and development costs of the missile research and development base had reached about 700 million Australian dollars, more than twice as much as before.

Such a high R&D budget already represents Arthur's emphasis on missile technology. Missiles can attack targets in three directions: sea, land, and air, and can also carry nuclear warheads to achieve nuclear strikes. This is definitely the strongest conventional weapon besides nuclear weapons.

Arthur also deeply understood that the current investment in missile research would become a powerful trump card for Australasia after the war.

Once nuclear weapons are used on the battlefield, all countries will realize the powerful power of nuclear weapons and will work hard to develop their own nuclear weapons.

Once countries have their own nuclear weapons, it becomes very difficult to use them, unless they are prepared to fight to the death with other countries.

But it is obvious that no country will be prepared for this unless it is already facing the risk of national destruction.

Under the premise that nuclear weapons cannot be used, missiles, the most powerful conventional weapon, become very important. As long as they have advanced enough missile technology, Australasia will be able to sit firmly on the throne of world hegemony and achieve Arthur's greatest ambition.

The new generation of cruise missiles, like previous missiles, are divided into multiple series.

The most mainstream one, the version developed by Hermann, is a more traditional land-based missile.

Land-based missiles are larger in size, and can carry larger warheads, making them more powerful.

But this also means that it is difficult for land-based missiles to hit aerial targets, and their greatest function is to achieve ground-to-ground strikes.

In other words, the biggest function of land-based missiles is actually to attack enemy ground targets, or to launch nuclear strikes on enemy facilities and cities, etc.

In addition to ground-based missiles, there are also air-based missiles and sea-based missiles.

The air-based missile is actually a combination of the Tester missile and the cruise missile. The overall size is smaller, but it also means that the aircraft can carry more missiles.

Compared to ground and sea versions, missiles carried by aircraft are the best means of attacking enemy aircraft.

Finally, there is the sea-based version. The sea-based version of the missile can be carried on main warships and submarines. This is almost the most useful version of the missile.

It can be used as an air defense missile to attack enemy aircraft, and it can also be used as a version similar to a land-based missile to attack enemy ground targets.

Of course, it can also be used as the main killing method for main warships to attack enemy warships.

For different types of missiles, there will naturally be different types of testing methods to effectively test the specific performance of the missiles.

The first missile to be tested is the current main version of the cruise missile, which is the land-based cruise missile developed by Hermann.

This missile is code-named H-36 land-based cruise missile. There are two versions. The H-36A is a close-range rapid strike missile. The effective killing distance of the missile is shorter, but the missile is faster.

The H-36B is a long-range, large-scale strike missile. The missile is larger in size, so its strike range is naturally longer.

In order to test these two missiles, the missile research base also specially designed a car that can be unmanned for a short period of time.

Of course, this type of unmanned driving is very simple, and it can only drive forward without thinking.

This type of unmanned vehicle can crash into walls or people, and is a test vehicle specially built for missile testing.

The content of the test is very simple, which is to launch a missile to see whether the missile can hit this carefully made test vehicle to obtain the specific hit rate of the missile.

Because this is a test, the missile does not need to be too powerful, as long as it can hit the test vehicle within a certain range.

After all, if the test vehicle is destroyed, it will delay the entire test for a certain amount of time.

The final test results are quite reasonable. There are two versions of the Herman land-based missile. In clear and windless weather, the hit rate can reach 61%-65%, which is quite good.

Among them, the smaller H-36A missile has a slightly higher hit rate, with an average hit rate of around 63% to 64%.

The larger H-36B missile has a slightly lower hit rate, but the hit rate can still reach 61% to 63%.

The number of missiles tested for both types is 20, which can basically reflect the specific hit rates of the two missiles.

Of course, if the weather is bad, the hit rate will definitely be affected.

For example, the previous generation of Dove missiles, although they can achieve a hit rate of nearly 60% when the weather is relatively bright and good, but as long as they are affected by the weather, the hit rate will drop below 50%.

The next thing to be tested was the air-launched missile.

The air-to-air version of the previous generation Dove missile performed quite well in actual warfare.

It was precisely because of the large number of air-to-air missiles that Australasia was able to quickly destroy a large number of island country aircraft and win the air battle even though the number of aircraft was the same or even inferior.

The Japanese have been suppressed by Australasian aircraft so far. In addition to the fact that Australasian aircraft are indeed leading in performance, air-to-air missiles are also one of the most important reasons.

There are two ways to test air-based missiles. One is to test the air-to-air combat mode, and the other is to test the air-to-ground bombing mode.

After all, the missiles carried by aircraft also have two uses, one is to attack enemy aircraft, and the other is to bomb ground targets on a large scale.

The testing method for air-to-air combat is still the same as that for the previous generation of missiles.

After all, the previous generation of Dove missiles measured in this way performed quite well in actual wars. A carefully crafted aircraft model was transported to high altitude, and then several aircraft took off, ready to use the latest version of air-to-air missiles to attack the aircraft model that fell from the sky.

These missiles have also been specially modified. The gunpowder inside has been basically hollowed out, and the missiles will not explode after hitting the aircraft model.

Because the air-based version of the missile is smaller, more missiles were used in this test, with a total of 100 missiles simultaneously attacking the plane that fell from the sky.

The final test results were quite encouraging. Just as Hermann had expected, the missile's hit rate remained at around 65%, and at worst was 60%.

In the end, 100 out of 67 missiles hit the aircraft model. Although this was mostly due to the windless and sunny weather, it was indeed an excellent test result.

After the air-to-air test, the next step is the air-to-ground test.

Using the same test method as before, the specially modified vehicle on the ground started running again, while the plane in the sky was preparing to bomb the car.

In addition, the air-to-ground version also tests the bombing of stationary targets, which means drawing a specific open space and launching a large number of missiles to test the hit rate.

Both tests launched 60 missiles each, and the results obtained are almost the same as the specific data of air-based missiles.

Finally, in the air-to-ground segment, a total of 11 missiles hit dynamic targets, 17 missiles hit within two meters around dynamic targets, and 5 missiles hit within two to three meters of dynamic targets, totaling 33 missiles, with a hit rate of approximately 55%.

A total of 39 missiles hit static targets, with a hit rate of just 65%.

Such a gap is actually acceptable, after all, it is more difficult to hit a dynamic target.

Moreover, if it is equipped with a more powerful warhead, it can cause relatively effective damage if it hits the target within three meters.

Especially for those warships, the size of the warships is much larger, as long as the deviation is within five meters, it can basically ensure 100% hit rate of the warship.

This also means that the new generation of missiles pose a huge threat to both ground targets and sea targets, and the combat effectiveness of the Australasian Air Force is further enhanced.

Of course, the current missiles are only in the testing stage. If we want to achieve mass production and put them into war, one year is probably not enough.

Even under extremely ideal circumstances, it would probably take until the second half of 1937 before the Air Force could use such missiles.

In fact, from the testing of land-based and air-based missiles, it can be seen that the new generation of cruise missiles is an improvement over the previous generation of missiles.

You know, this is based on the premise of diversifying the missile's functions, and it can also effectively improve the hit rate, which is more than just a little improvement.

It is no exaggeration to say that, under the premise of the same aircraft, the combat effectiveness and destructive power that can be exerted by carrying Dove missiles and the new generation of cruise missiles are definitely not at the same level.

Because of this, Arthur is undoubtedly more curious about the ship-borne missiles carried by main warships and submarines.

Since its birth, ship-borne missiles have had only one function and goal, which is to attack large enemy targets.

Whether it is the enemy's important facilities, city ports, or the enemy's large main warships, they are all within the strike range of ship-borne missiles.

This also means that the size of ship-borne missiles is definitely the largest among all missiles, and when equipped with nuclear warheads, their effective strike distance and strike power are also the strongest.

Of course, the testing of ship-borne missiles will be more complicated than other types of missiles because according to Hermann's design of ship-borne missiles, the effective killing range of the largest ship-borne missiles is already as high as 560 kilometers, which is already a very long distance.

You know, as a country with a long and narrow territory, the widest land width of the entire country is only about 300 kilometers.

For ship-borne missiles, it is entirely possible to launch missiles in the deep sea more than 200 kilometers from the coastline of an island country and hit any land within the country.

Of course, Arthur was not too happy about such a long killing range, because for the island nation, the biggest enemy of Australasia, the killing range of the previous generation of Dove missiles of 320 kilometers was enough to cover their homeland.

There are also two types of current ship-borne missiles, namely medium-sized short-range missiles and large long-range missiles.

The names of these two missiles also reveal their specific uses. The main target of medium-sized missiles is ground and sea targets within a short range, and their greatest role and purpose is to effectively kill enemy warships.

The targets of large-scale long-range missiles are ground targets at longer distances, and their main function is to strike important enemy facilities and cities from a long distance.

I believe that it can be seen from these two uses that the most suitable weapon for carrying nuclear warheads is actually large-scale long-range missiles.

This also means that if ship-borne missiles can be mass-produced, Australasia can completely carry out a nuclear strike on the island country's homeland from more than 500 kilometers away.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if Australasia conceals its whereabouts, such a long-distance attack would make it impossible for the island country to determine the source of the attack.

Amidst expectant gazes, the testing of ship-borne missiles officially began.

There are also two ways to test ship-borne missiles, corresponding to medium missiles and large missiles respectively.

A total of 20 medium-sized missiles were launched, mainly attacking moving targets on land to simulate enemy warships advancing in the ocean.

A total of 10 large missiles were launched, mainly attacking the open areas marked on the ground, simulating the enemy's cities and important facilities.

Because of the size and cost of the missiles, the cost of the 30 ship-borne missiles participating in the test far exceeded the more than 200 missiles tested previously.

Of course, their lethality is also different. The lethality of a ship-borne missile is equivalent to the lethality of more than ten air-to-air missiles. The two have different functions and are not comparable.

Air-based missiles cannot do the work of ship-based missiles, and ship-based missiles cannot do the work of air-based missiles.

If ship-borne missiles were used to attack planes in the sky, it would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Soon, testing of ship-borne missiles began.

The first missiles tested were medium-sized missiles, a total of 20, and 13 of them hit within ten meters of the test vehicle.

Of course, the test vehicle's speed also simulated the speed of a warship, which is completely different from the speed of other previous missile tests.

After all, the speed of the fastest warship currently available is far slower than that of an airplane. Warships are large ships, not to mention that they are sailing on the sea with great resistance.

A 65% hit rate is pretty good for a medium-sized missile. If it were a real naval battle, the hit rate would naturally drop to a certain extent, but it would still be enough to sink an enemy main warship with two or three medium-sized missiles, which is definitely a sure win.

After all, the cost of building any main warship is as high as millions or even tens of millions of Australian dollars, while the cost of a missile does not exceed 100,000 Australian dollars at most. This is a difference of dozens or even hundreds of times.

For Australasia, let alone exchanging 2 to 3 missiles for one of the enemy's main warships, even if it was 10 missiles for one of the enemy's main warships, the enemy would definitely suffer a greater loss.

The test data of large missiles is still quite good. Because they attack stationary targets on the ground, the hit rate is actually higher than that of medium-sized missiles attacking dynamic targets.

A total of seven of the ten large missiles hit the target, and the remaining three missiles were not far from the target range.

If they were equipped with conventional warheads, these three missiles that failed to hit the target would basically be useless.

But if it is carrying a nuclear warhead and the error is only two or three hundred meters, it doesn’t really matter whether it hits or not.

Anyway, after a nuclear explosion occurs, the area within a few kilometers around it will be an absolute hell. What does it matter whether you are hit by a missile or not?

Of course, the specific difference between the two may only be felt by those who truly experience the explosion of missiles and nuclear warheads in the future.

The people with the most hope should be the islanders. Maybe in the future we can interview them about their feelings after being hit by a nuclear bomb, provided that they were not in the epicenter of the explosion and survived the cruel torture of nuclear radiation.

After watching the entire test, the missile hit rate data is no longer so attractive.

Because compared with the hit rate data, the obvious improvement of the cruise missile in other data is the reason why it has become the new generation of main missile.

According to previous data, the maximum flight distance of the previous generation of Dove missiles is 320 kilometers, the maximum flight altitude is 19.7 kilometers, and the maximum flight speed is 480 kilometers per hour.

Such data is still quite exaggerated. Although the flight distance is relatively short, as a weapon it already has the longest strike distance.

In terms of maximum flight altitude and speed, it even exceeds the aircraft of Australasia, which is why the Dove missile can easily destroy enemy aircraft.

After all, only when the missile flies faster than the plane can it effectively hit the enemy's plane. If it flies slower than the plane, the enemy's plane may be able to react easily.

The data shown by the new generation of cruise missiles are even more exaggerated.

The maximum flight range of the land-based version of the cruise missile is 380 kilometers, the maximum flight altitude is 21.6 kilometers, and the maximum flight speed is 525 kilometers per hour.

The maximum flight distance of the ship-borne version of the cruise missile is similar to the 560 kilometers predicted by Hermann, and can actually reach about 575 kilometers.

The maximum flight altitude can also reach 22.5 kilometers, which exceeds the maximum altitude limit that current aircraft can reach.

In terms of flight speed, although a more advanced jet engine was used, the speed increase was not obvious due to the larger overall size and weight, and it only barely reached about 515 kilometers per hour.

However, considering that the ship-borne version does not need to deal with aircraft and its main targets are enemy warships and ground facilities, this speed is completely sufficient.

At present, the sailing speed of warships is less than one-tenth of that of ship-borne missiles, and ground facilities and targets cannot move at all. This speed is fully capable of dealing with all targets.

As for the smallest air-to-air missile, due to its smaller size and weight, the speed of the missile is close to 600 kilometers per hour, which is the weapon that can truly deal with aircraft from all over the world.

Even the most advanced aircraft in Australasia has a maximum flight speed of only over 600 kilometers per hour.

According to current intelligence, the maximum speed of aircraft in various countries around the world still remains at around 300 to 400 kilometers per hour, and the fastest is only maintained at 450 kilometers per hour, which is still a long way from the most advanced aircraft in Australasia.

Of course, the biggest gap is actually the aircraft's power system, which is the jet engine that is currently very important in Australasia.

Whether it is missiles, rockets, or aircraft, jet engines are currently widely used. This latest type of engine not only provides extremely powerful power, but is also more stable than previous engine types.

Before other countries developed jet engines, Australasia was invincible in the field of aircraft, and could proudly say that it was far ahead of other countries.

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(End of this chapter)