Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Modern tank engines emphasize modularity and overall hoisting for convenient field maintenance and replacement. Therefore, the engine compartment cover at the rear of the tank is easier to remove.

Since the engine compartment cover is easy to remove, placing the bulky battery in the engine compartment makes disassembly even easier.

Western tanks do this, such as the M1 tank, which has its battery located at the rear right of the hull, next to the noisy gas turbine.

In the past, domestic tank engines were horizontally mounted and compact, leaving no extra space in the power compartment. Moreover, they were entirely based on the original Soviet design, which placed the battery behind the driver. So, we also put the battery in the same location.

Want to change it? There's simply no extra space to work with!

Now it's different. This 99 tank is a completely new design. We can arrange it however we want. If we want to put the battery in the engine compartment, we can, as long as there's space. And it's not just the battery; in the future, we can even add an auxiliary power unit if needed.

Auxiliary power units are common. Large passenger planes have them, so when the plane is waiting at the airport, it can turn on this engine to provide power. Some fighter jets also have similar engines.

The reason for not turning on the main engine is, of course, to save fuel. Turbine engines are very fuel-consuming, which is wasteful when used on the ground.

Diesel engines used in tanks are also very fuel-efficient. However, the Soviets and Americans, in an effort to be fashionable, used advanced gas turbine engines, which start quickly, don't stall, and have strong maneuverability. They can be started with one ignition in cold winters or hot summers, which sounds great.

However, these engines, modified from aircraft engines, also inherit the shortcomings of aircraft engines, which is that they are extremely fuel-consuming. The Soviet T-80 tank once burned through all its fuel while waiting for a mission. The Americans didn't encounter this predicament only because they had a strong transportation fleet. But even so, the Americans installed auxiliary power units on the M1A2.

With the continuous development of tank technology, electronic equipment is becoming more and more numerous. Tank tactics have also evolved to include waiting in place, quietly observing opponents with their observation and aiming devices, waiting for them to enter their ambush range. In this situation, it's too wasteful to run the main engine, and the battery can't last long enough. Therefore, tanks also need to use auxiliary power units.

Many advanced tanks have this device. The main engine is 1200 horsepower or even 1500 horsepower, while the auxiliary engine only needs 30 to 50 horsepower to drive a generator to power the electronic equipment. If it could also power the air conditioner, that would be even more comfortable.

The Eastern 99 tank also reserved space for this device during development. If needed in the future, this equipment can be installed at any time.

Now, hearing Zhu Lao's arrangement, Qin Yang gave a thumbs up: "Zhu Lao, you've considered everything very carefully."

"We're just making reservations according to the trend of world development. However, these are all future matters. For now, let's focus on getting the tank out. Our engine has undergone several years of testing and is much more mature. However, we still can't guarantee 100% reliability. As for developing a more advanced 1500 horsepower engine, it's even more distant."

The tonnage of tanks is getting larger and larger, requiring the tank's weight to also increase. Advanced third-generation tanks need at least a 1200 horsepower engine, and preferably 1500 horsepower. The stronger the power, the better the tank's protection.

Now, with only a 1200 horsepower engine, it's still somewhat insufficient.

"It's already good enough," Qin Yang said. "The British engine level is about the same. Let's solve the problem of having one first, and improvements will be easy later."

In this era, British technology was still quite advanced. Their Challenger tank already used a 1200 horsepower engine and had a 1500 horsepower engine improvement plan. However, after that, British technology stagnated at this level for a long time and didn't continue to develop. Now it's 1200 horsepower, and forty years later, it's still 1200 horsepower.

As a result, when the British later exported, they also launched tanks with European power packs. This European power pack is actually a combination of a German MTU diesel engine and an automatic transmission.

However, the technology of Eastern tank engines has been continuously developing and progressing, from 1200 horsepower to 1500 horsepower, and then to 1800 horsepower. Eastern tank technology has finally achieved catching up and surpassing.

Not to mention the 150HB diesel engine, the later developed plateau tank diesel engine has a lower displacement and higher power, fully demonstrating the technical strength of the East.

Qin Yang is full of confidence in the future.

"Yes, I hope that the power of our future tank engines can be further improved, and I also hope that our gearboxes can catch up with the world's top level," Zhu Lao said. "Now, we have already developed the third-generation tank. What else is there to worry about for future improvements? I believe that our future technical personnel will be even more powerful than now."

Zhu Lao is also full of confidence in the future. He feels very accomplished that he was able to develop the third-generation tank. The next generation of tanks should be left to others to take the lead.

Who should it be given to?

Originally, giving it to Qin Yang should be the best. He is optimistic about Qin Yang, but Qin Yang also has a disadvantage, which is that he has too many things to do and wants to get involved in everything. Don't think he's still here now; he might be called away at any moment!

Just then, someone rushed in from outside: "Is General Manager Qin here? Is General Manager Qin here? Someone outside is looking for him!"

"Who's looking for me?" Qin Yang frowned. He had just come out; was he going to have to go back again? Was it the air force or the navy?

"Marrani."

"Who is Marrani?"

"It's the Iranian who's waiting here to receive the tanks. Didn't you mediate their conflict last time?"

Iranians?

He had just agreed to provide advanced tanks to Iraq, and the Iranians were unhappy, demanding the same advanced tanks? As long as it wasn't the domestic air force or navy looking for him, it would be much simpler.

"Okay, I'll go see him right away."

Anyway, selling weapons and equipment is always a good thing. However, since he had provided 85 tanks to Iraq, he couldn't provide the same type of tanks to the Iranians. Besides, their improved 69 tanks still have decent combat capabilities and can compete with the 85 tanks! There's no need to import new tanks.