Iron Sonata of World War II

It must be admitted that although the fixed landing gear is lighter in weight and simpler in structure than the retractable landing gear, it will indeed add about 10% of the aerodynamic drag to the "Stuka" bomber in flight, which will Let this aircraft lose the maximum level flight speed of more than ten kilometers per hour, and it will increase the fuel consumption during cruising.

However, the negative aerodynamic effects brought by the fixed landing gear to the "Stuka" bomber are not all negative. When the "Stuka" bomber is aimed at the bombing target and dives at high speed, this pair of exaggerated landing gear can provide Similar to the dual function of speedbrake and vertical stabilizer.Among them, the former can prevent the dive speed from being too fast, exceeding the maximum speed limit that the aircraft can safely pull up; the latter can cooperate with the vertical tail to provide additional directional stability to the diving aircraft.

Therefore, if the landing gear of the "Stuka" bomber is simply changed from a fixed type to a retractable type, then while eliminating the level flight resistance caused by the fixed landing gear, it will also inevitably eliminate the impact of the fixed landing gear at the same time. Favorable effect when diving.In order to reconcile the contradiction between the bomber's need to reduce drag during level flight and the need for moderate deceleration during a dive attack, chief designer Hermann Baumann redesigned the Ju-87 in this plane at the suggestion of Helena The main landing gear of a dive bomber.

The main landing gear of the Ju-87 bomber in the original plane has been changed to a retractable type, but the position is still located at the turning point of the inverted gull-shaped wing, but the distance between the turning point of the wing and the fuselage of the Ju-87 bomber in the original plane It is slightly farther than the previous plane, so the distance between the main landing gear has also been enlarged a lot.This is actually an improvement measure taken by the last Junkers company on the Ju-87, a deeply improved model of the Ju-187. Although the development of this model has not been completed, the Ju-187 contains the experience of using the Ju-87. The summary was something Helena could draw from.

The larger spacing of the landing gear brings a larger rollover angle to the Ju-87 on this plane, which greatly improves the adaptability of this bomber to field airports.After all, the main design purpose of the Ju-87 is to perform close air support and air interdiction missions on shallow battlefields under the cover of air superiority fighters. improve the attack efficiency.Helena didn't want to see novice pilots driving the plane off the runway when the main landing gear track was too narrow when taking off and landing at the field airport in the future, or directly facing the landing gear.

It is also based on the same reason that the main landing gear of the standard plane Ju-87 adopts a very strong double-strut structure, that is, a strut is connected to each side of the wheel. Compared with the single-strut landing gear, this structure not only has higher structural strength , and also has a greater advantage in resisting lateral forces.Unlike the fixed landing gear used by the "Stuka" bomber in the previous plane, the landing gear of the Ju-87 in this plane can be retracted backwards under the traction of the actuator, but the landing gear is not fully retracted into the wings Instead, it is half-buried in the cocoon bag under the wing. These two long cocoon bags also have the function of improving the direction stability of the aircraft.

This landing gear recovery scheme is somewhat similar to the Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft in the previous plane. Compared with those schemes that completely retract the landing gear into the wings or fuselage, the level flight resistance will be more prominent due to the cocoon under the wings. It is slightly larger due to the presence of objects, but it is still much smaller than the fixed landing gear.However, the structure of this kind of landing gear is relatively simple. Each pair of landing gear only needs one actuator to control the retraction and retraction, unlike those aircrafts in the United States that also retract the landing gear backwards. While retracting the landing gear at the rear, the body needs to be turned 90 degrees to be fully retracted into the wing.

If you just talk about this, you may think that the landing gear of the Ju-87 dive bomber on the standard plane is just a replica of the landing gear of the Il-2 attack plane of the Soviet Union on the previous plane.Helena does not deny her reference to the main landing gear structure of the Il-2, but the truly ingenious design of this landing gear system lies in: it is not only a part of the fighter's take-off and landing system, but also part-time as a part of the fighter's aerodynamic control system. part.

Specifically, when the dive speed of the Ju-87 bomber exceeds 600 kilometers, the actuator of the landing gear will automatically expand the landing gear that was originally in the retracted state. The cover plate of the hatch door of the aircraft constitutes two large-scale airbrakes that are stretched out, which can work together with the airbrakes on other parts of the aircraft to prevent the bomber's dive speed from exceeding the critical value of 700 kilometers per hour. Overloading can cause structural damage to the aircraft or unconsciousness of the pilot.

In general, the design proposed by Helena only uses a small structural weight and mechanical complexity at the cost of reducing the aerodynamic resistance of the landing gear of the Ju-87 dive bomber on the original plane in level flight. It also improves the deceleration efficiency when the aircraft dives at high speed (because the wide landing gear door increases the area of ​​the speedbrake).Even the heading stability is due to the existence of the long and narrow cocoon bag used to accommodate the landing gear. After all, it is not significantly lower than when the fixed landing gear is used, and there is even a certain improvement.It can be said that this time on the issue of the landing gear of the Ju-87, the German designer really killed two birds with one stone.

The author has something to say, Storm Assault has corrected some minor problems in the line diagram of the BF-109 fighter plane in the previous chapter, and you can refresh it to see it.

Chapter 259 Rejecting the Proposal

In addition to the two main landing gears and the accompanying doors that can also serve as speed brakes, there are many other parts that can serve multiple functions on the Ju-87 dive bomber fuselage in this plane.For example, the aerodynamic control surface located on the trailing edge of the wing combines the functions of slotted flaps and airbrakes, which can provide the aircraft with the effect of increasing the flaps during takeoff and landing and hovering, and can also provide the aircraft with Similar to the braking effect of speed brakes.

On the surface, this device is no different from our common slotted trailing edge flaps. It can be deflected downward when the aircraft takes off, lands, climbs or circles with a small radius, and splits a strip between the flaps and the main wing. Narrow seams.In this way, while increasing the camber of the wing, part of the airflow on the lower surface of the wing can flow to the upper surface of the wing through the slot to increase the speed of the airflow on the upper surface of the wing, thereby increasing the lift of the wing and reducing the occurrence of stall.

But if we take a closer look, we can immediately see the difference between this device and ordinary slotted flaps.Because the trailing edge flap of this bomber is not a simple one-piece aerodynamic rudder surface, the seemingly flat and smooth flap surface is actually composed of two upper and lower wings with combs that are tightly meshed together. .

The working principle of the device is: when the aircraft needs to be braked, the two flaps with comb teeth at the rear of the flaps can be driven by the actuator to open up and down like a clamshell. Increase the windward area, and then the two wings have the function of the speed brake, and through the linkage with the landing gear door that also has the function of the speed brake, it can provide a strong braking force for the aircraft.And when the braking process is over, the two wings will be closed again and meshed into a flat airfoil.

This design method of integrating the functions of flaps and speedbrakes is quite common in the carrier-based dive bombers launched by the United States after the 40s in the last plane.For example, the SBD "fearless" dive bomber, which made outstanding achievements in the Coral Sea and Midway battles, adopted this design idea.It's just that the flap/speed brake complex of the SBD "Dreadnought" dive bomber uses two porous flaps instead of comb-shaped flaps.

The most direct source of inspiration for the comb-shaped wing plate structure used by Helena on the Ju-87 dive bomber in this plane is actually the last-generation piston-propeller carrier-based attack aircraft developed by the Martin Company of the United States after the war in the previous plane. - AM-1 "Boxer" multipurpose attack aircraft.Compared with the perforated wing plates used on Douglas's SBD "Dreadnought" dive bombers, this speed brake not only has higher structural strength, but also has a smoother flap surface that can bring less level flight resistance, indeed It is a very classic and successful design.

Because it uses an inverted gull-shaped wing, the flap of the Ju-87 bomber in this plane is at the turning point of the wing, and is divided into two sections by the cocoon compartment of the landing gear.In this way, the control surfaces of the trailing edge of the Ju-87 wing are arranged from the inside to the outside, and the typical inner slotted flap (combined with the function of the speed brake), the outer slotted flap (combined with the function of the speed brake) and the aileron are used. The three-stage layout of .

However, the leading edge of the Ju-87's wing does not have any control surfaces or lift devices, which is also out of consideration for simplifying the production process.After all, as a dive bomber, its job is still to "reform the surface of the earth" in Helena's mouth, and the control surfaces at the leading edge of the wings and the booster device are of limited use in completing this task, and the maneuverability gain is not enough for it to compete with The option of equipping a dive bomber with such a tasteless option for confrontation with enemy fighter jets is naturally not within the scope of designers' consideration.

What makes Helena very interesting is that the exhaust ejection cooling system, which was applied to the BF-109 fighter at the beginning of the year, is now used by the chief designer Hermann Baumann on this dive bomber, so the standard The previous Ju-87 still has two prominent ejector coolers installed in front of the inboard flaps.

It's not that Herman Bowman cared about the thrust brought by the expansion of the exhaust gas. In fact, for bombers with high flight resistance, this little thrust can't increase the speed much. Herman Bowman is more concerned about For the consideration of improving cooling efficiency and resisting engine torsional moment.After the Ju-87 on this plane adopts the large-displacement and high-power Jumo213 engine, the torsional force borne by the body also increases.It is really a tempting option to direct the high-speed airflow ejected by the exhaust gas to the inner flap of the aircraft, and then to balance the engine torsional force through different positions of the flaps on both sides.

However, as far as the design of the entire aircraft is concerned, the most tangled thing for designers is the tail that many military fans pay less attention to.It's not because the designers couldn't design an empennage that matched the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft, but because the bomber's empennage design has a persistent problem, that is, the problem of blocking the shooting range of the rear-facing machine gun.

We must know that once a heavy bomber is bitten by the tail of a light and flexible fighter, it is difficult to get rid of it with its own speed and maneuverability.At this time, apart from praying for the escorting fighter jets to come to "rescue him" quickly, the only thing the bomber can rely on is basically the rear-facing machine gun it carries.

However, the towering vertical tail often blocks the shooting range of the rearward machine gun, and the single-engine bomber does not have as much space as the heavy bomber. A special tail guard cannon can be installed on the tip of the tail to avoid the shadow of the tail fin. The rear-facing machine gun is served part-time by an electromechanical officer in the back seat.Many enemy fighters will use this shooting blind spot to approach the bomber, which poses a huge threat to the bomber's survivability.

The initial efforts of designers are to change the shape of the vertical tail. There are roughly two specific solutions: the first is to adopt the H-shaped double vertical tail design, that is, to use two small vertical tails installed at both ends of the horizontal tail to replace the original installation on the fuselage. A large vertical tail at the rear; the second is to adopt a reversible tail structure, that is, when the aircraft is on the ground, it still has a normal tail layout, but after take-off, the entire tail can be flipped 180 degrees, so that the vertical tail originally located on the back of the aircraft can be rotated. to the belly of the aircraft, thus giving way to the rear-facing machine guns.The supporters of the two factions insisted on their views, but no one could convince the other, and the matter was so deadlocked for a while.

Faced with such a difficult problem, a group of designers including Bowman had formed a conditioned reflex, and the first thing they thought of was naturally Helena again.For the two proposals proposed by the designer, Helena was actually quite moved, but after repeated weighing, she still persuaded Herman Baumann to give up these proposals, because at this moment she had already thought of The price paid is smaller, but it can also basically guarantee the new plan of shooting the machine gun backwards.

2 Chapter [-] Revolving Gun Tower

Helena’s advice to the designers is actually very simple, that is, there is no need to think hard about modifying the shape and structure of the vertical tail. After all, the tail is an important aerodynamic part of the aircraft, and there are many factors that designers need to consider and weigh. If at this time Forcibly adding the not-so-difficult design goal of letting the rear-firing machine gun out of the shooting world will only make the entire tail design work lose sight of the other, and completely fall into the embarrassing situation of constant cutting and chaos.

The H-shaped double vertical tails and reversible tails proposed by the designers of this plane are actually nothing new in Helena's view, because in the last plane, the German designers These schemes were also considered when designing and improving the "Stuka" dive bomber.For example, the prototype of the "Stuka" used an H-shaped double vertical tail instead of the single vertical tail image that military fans are more familiar with; Flip tail design.In other words, these solutions themselves are actually feasible from a purely technical point of view.

However, as one might have expected, none of these schemes were successfully applied in the previous plane, although the specific causes and processes varied.

During the high-speed dive test of the "Stuka" prototype with H-shaped double vertical tails, the tail of the aircraft broke due to insufficient structural strength, resulting in the death of two test pilots on board.At this time, if a large-scale reinforcement of the tail structure of the aircraft is selected, the center of gravity of the aircraft will inevitably move backward, and the entire design needs to be re-trimmed. Therefore, Junkers finally chose to install a monolithic structure with a substantially equal weight but a stronger structure for the aircraft. The vertical tail, so the mass-produced "Stuka" dive bomber has become familiar to military fans of later generations.

As for the Ju-187 dive bomber that Junkers originally planned to replace the "Stuka", the entire project was stopped by the military before even the prototype could be built.On the one hand, this is of course because Nazi Germany has turned defensive on the battlefield at that time, and the demand for dive bombers, which require fighter aircraft to cover, has also declined. The "weird" reversible tail will bring unpredictable engineering technology risks. Although Junkers' wind tunnel test is no problem, who can guarantee that it will be so smooth in the actual machine test?

The problems existing in the two schemes of using H-shaped double vertical tails and using reversible tails can be summed up in order to solve the shooting dead angle of less than 10 degrees for rear-firing machine guns, and pay a huge price that is not commensurate with the benefits.Among them, the scheme of adopting H-shaped double vertical tails paid an excessive structural weight price, and the scheme of adopting reversible tails paid an excessive technical risk price. This kind of scheme is obviously difficult for Helena. accepted.

Although the H-shaped double vertical tail and the reversible tail were rejected, the shooting blind spot of the rear-facing machine gun is still a problem that needs to be solved. After all, there are not a few bombers lost by countries in the previous plane because of this problem.We must know that the main significance of the rear-firing machine gun for the survivability of the bomber is not to directly shoot down the trailing fighter, but to prevent the approach of the enemy fighter as much as possible and destroy the shooting window of the enemy fighter.Therefore, in a sense, the importance of the coverage of the rear-firing machine gun even exceeds the importance of its power itself.

For this difficult problem, Helena insisted on the solution principle of "if the mountain does not come, I will go to the mountain", since the price to be paid by changing the vertical tail design to avoid the shooting range of the machine gun is too high, so do not Fang changed his thinking, and actively avoided the vertical tail block by directly changing the layout of the rear-firing machine gun.

Therefore, Helena’s suggestion to the designers is to change the fixed seat of the electromechanical operator and rear-firing machine gunner in the back seat of the aircraft into a machine gun turret that can rotate within a range of 220 degrees behind the aircraft.Among them, the electromechanical operator sits in the very center of the turret, and two dual-mounted 13.25mm aviation machine guns using Gast's automatic principle are located on both sides of his body.These machine guns all use arc strikes with a shooting stopper. When the muzzle is facing the direction of the tail or wing, the stopper will automatically control the firing device to stop shooting to prevent damage to the aircraft's own wing.

Under this design, although the vertical tail will still block the shooting range of the rear-firing machine gun, but because the four machine guns are arranged on both sides of the machine gun turret at a wide distance, they do not face the vertical tail in the middle. Tail.Therefore, the shooting blind spots of the machine guns on both sides are also located at the left rear and right rear of the vertical tail without overlapping, so even if the shooting range of the machine gun on one side of the machine gun turret is blocked by the vertical tail, the two machine guns on the other side of the machine gun turret can continue to function.In this way, although there will be areas with weaker firepower in the rear of the aircraft, there will be no obvious shooting blind spots.

Fearing that the MG-17 7.92mm aviation machine gun commonly equipped on German fighter planes will become more and more difficult to deal with the enemy's new fighter planes with increasingly stronger structures, Helena has long urged domestic manufacturers to upgrade their fighter jets. Gun fire.Rheinmetall, which had previously developed the MG-17 7.92mm machine gun, was the first to come up with a solution.

They directly enlarged and improved the design of the MG-17 machine gun, which transformed the medium-caliber machine gun using 7.92×57mm ammunition into a large-caliber machine gun using 13.25×68mm ammunition, and the volume of the whole gun did not change much. The weight has only increased from 10.2 kg to 17.2 kg, so there is almost no need to make major structural adjustments to the carrier aircraft, and the MG-17 machine guns that have been installed on the fighter aircraft can be replaced in situ.

这款大口径机枪被德国军方赋予了和上个位面一样的MG-131的编号，但除了因为弹药规格略微扩大（上个位面是13×64毫米）带来的弹头重量从上个位面的34克提高到36.5克，弹头初速从上个位面的750米每秒提高到765米每秒的微小提升外，本位面的MG-131机枪和上个位面的同名产品相比几乎没有其他性能变化，只是重量增加了几百克。

Although the muzzle velocity and warhead weight are much lower than the full-blooded large-caliber machine guns like the American M2, the MG-131 machine gun is not highly rated among military fans of later generations, and even in some air combat games, but this does not prevent Helen Na likes this machine gun very much.With a body not much larger than a medium-caliber machine gun, the MG131 can be easily mounted anywhere a 7.92mm machine gun can, including on the nose of a single-shot fighter.Helena even asked Rheinmetall to develop a double-mounted version based on the MG131 machine gun using the Gast automatic principle, which is the one used on the machine gun turret on the rear seat of the Ju-87.

The Gast automatic principle was invented by German engineer Carl Gast in 1916. It connects the two barrels or barrels of a dual-mounted weapon with a lever. When one of the barrels on one side shoots, the recoil It will be passed to the barrel on the other side through the lever to help it complete the process of loading and firing.Guns using this principle can obtain extremely high rates of fire with a very compact volume and a very simple mechanical structure, but their weight is far lower than that of dual-mounted weapons that each use a set of automatic machines. Later generations of the Eastern Group during the Cold War This principle is used in the widely used twin-mounted 23mm cannon.

Although the shooting accuracy of the machine gun using the Gast automatic principle is inherently limited due to the two barrels advancing and retreating like a seesaw when shooting, this is not a big problem for bomber rear-firing machine guns. However, the advantage of the Gast machine gun's short-term rapid rate of fire can be fully utilized in this occasion.On the Ju-87 dive bomber on this plane, the twin Gast machine guns on each side of the rear machine gun turret can reach an instantaneous rate of fire of 2000 rounds per minute. This kind of tail protection firepower is enough to make most chasing fighters think twice Then go.

Chapter 261 Flying Heavy Cannon

Although the idea of ​​installing a rear-seat machine gun turret on a single-engine combat aircraft is a bit weird, this is not an exclusive idea that Helena had after drinking too much at the Oktoberfest in Munich, because the British designer in the previous plane also had I just used the plan of the rear machine gun turret. This is the "dreadnought" fighter that once served in the Royal Air Force. This fighter does not have a fixed front-firing machine gun. The only weapon is four 7.7mm mounted in the rear machine gun turret. mm machine gun.Your eyes are not deceiving you here. The British with clear thinking directly installed the rear seat machine gun turret on the single-engine fighter as the main firepower, instead of using it as the rear firepower of the bomber.

However, like most weirdly designed weapons in history, the actual combat experience of the "dreadnought" fighters in the last plane was not very successful.Except for a few German fighters who were not familiar with the characteristics of this fighter in the early days of the war, they were stuck in the face by the four 7.7mm machine guns in the back seat when they tried to bite the tail. The "Dreadnought" fighter was defeated in the confrontation with the German fighter. More wins and less, in the air battle in England, naturally, we can only watch "Hurricane" and "Spitfire" with envy while playing soy sauce.

The reason for this situation is not difficult to understand. The superfluous two-seater design adds a lot of weight and resistance to the "dreadnought" as a fighter for no reason. As a result, this fighter uses the same engine. The performance is not comparable to that of a lightweight single-seat fighter, not to mention that the weak firepower composed of four 7.7mm small water pipes cannot effectively kill enemy aircraft with better protection. Let such an aircraft go to the enemy alone It is indeed difficult for a strongman to compete for air supremacy with two fighter jets.

While the rotating machine gun turret on a fighter jet might be a pretty poor design, it might not be a bad idea to replace it with a full-time dive bomber like the Ju-87.Unlike single-engine fighters, which usually use a single-seat design, dive bombers generally use a two-seat design.That is to say, for the "dreadnought" fighters of the previous plane, the entire turret structure behind the driver, including the rear seat machine gunner, is an additional burden; while for the Ju-87 dive bomber of this plane , the price to be paid for adopting a machine gun turret is nothing more than changing the originally fixed rear seat into a rotatable turret structure, and the additional weight and resistance costs that need to be paid are obviously smaller than the "fearless" fighter planes of the previous plane. much.

More importantly, the solution of the rear seat machine gun turret has the least additional impact on the overall design of the aircraft compared to the H-shaped double vertical tail or reversible tail proposed by German designers.This is because although the rear seat machine gun turret will also increase the empty weight and aerodynamic drag of the aircraft, but because the position of the rear seat machine gun turret is very close to the center of gravity of the aircraft, it will not strengthen the structure like the relatively fragile H-shaped tail It may be necessary to re-trim the aircraft; also because the rear machine gun turret is relatively close to the aerodynamic center of the aircraft, and it does not need to take on important aerodynamic control functions like the tail, so it will not give the whole aircraft the same effect as changing the tail layout. Aerodynamic design brings unpredictable risks.

In addition to the two twin-mounted 13.25mm Gast machine guns installed in the rear machine gun turret, two twin-mounted Gast machine guns of the same model are installed on the wings of the Ju-87 on this plane as forward-facing The firepower is installed near the landing gear pod in the middle of the wing. Since it avoids the front propeller disk, its rate of fire does not need to accommodate the rotation speed of the propeller.

In this way, the whole machine is equipped with a total of four double-mounted 13.25mm machine guns. These 8 large-caliber machine guns are not only used for self-defense when facing enemy fighter jets, but also can take care of the enemy while diving to attack ground targets. An unarmored target that slipped through the net.In view of the different characteristics of the targets that need to be attacked, the four double-mounted 87mm machine guns on the Ju-13.2 on this plane can also be replaced by four 20mm single-barreled machine guns in the future, and the reduction in firepower density is exchanged for single-shot power. increase.

Although the MG131 13.25mm machine gun in this plane is more powerful than the previous plane, the muzzle kinetic energy is only a little over 1 joules, which is even less than one-fifth of the American M2 12.7mm aviation machine gun. Three, and the long-distance shooting accuracy is not very ideal because of the Gast principle, but with its extremely high single-barreled rate of fire twice that of the M2 machine gun, it is very suitable for attacking soft targets such as exposed personnel .After all, even with only 1 joules of muzzle kinetic energy, it is no problem to smash human flesh and blood.As for the shooting accuracy, it is not a problem. Pilots and machine gunners don't know how to aim carefully. Helena even thinks that the moderate random distribution of bullet impact points will be more conducive to the formation of bullet screens.

Since the dive bomber often needs to directly face the fierce counterattack of the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower when performing a ground attack mission, the Ju-87 in this plane is equipped with protective armor on important parts at the beginning of the design, while the Ju-700 in the previous plane The "Stuka" dive bomber will not start to put on armor until the D model. This is because the engine power of the early model of the "Stuka" on the previous plane is seriously insufficient, with less than [-] horsepower. There simply isn't enough remaining power allocated to armor protection.

The protection of the main surface of Ju-87 completely covers the engine compartment, the front and rear passenger cockpits and the main fuel tank located under the cockpit.The specific protection standards are: the thickness of the rear armor of the cockpit and fuel tank is 12 mm, the thickness of the armor of the bottom of the fuel tank and engine compartment is 6 mm, the thickness of the side armor of the cockpit and engine compartment is 4 mm, and the thickness of the armor on the top of the engine compartment is 4 mm.These armor plates enclose the engine compartment, the passenger cockpit and the main fuel tank of the fuselage into a complete armor box, and together with the firewall separating the engine compartment and the passenger compartment, constitute the main load-bearing structure of the front and middle fuselage.Compared with the armor plate installed in the later stage of the "Stuka" in history, this design method with both armor protection and structural load-bearing has greatly improved the utilization efficiency of the aircraft's empty weight.

The Ju-87 on this plane still has three heavy-duty hardpoints, among which the maximum load capacity of the hardpoint under the belly is 2000 kg, and the maximum load capacity of the two hardpoints under the wing is 600 kg.Of course, this does not mean that the Ju-87 on this plane can really take off with 3200 kilograms of ammunition, because the mounting capacity of the entire fighter is definitely far less than the sum of the carrying capacity of all hardpoints.

综合考虑了实用性和使用安全性后，本位面的Ju-87最大载弹量原则上不应超过2200千克，而更加常见的挂载方式则是：机身中腹下挂载一枚1000千克级重磅炸弹，每侧翼下的复合挂架上再挂载两枚重125千克的轻型航空炸弹，此时Ju-87的总载弹量为1500千克。不过这也已经超过了上个位面的历史上1941年服役的“斯图卡”D型最大1800千克，常用1200千克（机腹一枚1000千克加机翼四枚50千克）的挂载能力了。

The short leg disease in the last plane "Stuka" was only 820-850 kilometers, which was cured to a certain extent in this plane: without carrying weapons, the standard plane Ju- The maximum transition range of the 87 is about 1200 kilometers. Of course, if it carries two disposable auxiliary fuel tanks with a capacity of 500 liters, this number can also be increased to more than 2100 kilometers.This number is actually not excellent among the aircraft of the same era, but Helena believes that in terms of the combat positioning of the Ju-87 dive bomber's shallow battlefield interception, such a range is completely sufficient.

Although it has a 1650-horsepower engine and retractable landing gear, the Ju-87 in this plane is larger than the "Stuka" in the previous plane, with a wingspan of 14.8 meters and a fuselage length of 12.2 meters. , the maximum take-off weight is as high as 7800 kg, and the empty weight has reached 4450 kg due to the enhanced armor protection.Therefore, no matter what standard is used to evaluate it, the Ju-87 on this plane is still a slow aircraft. Even without any weapons, the maximum level flight speed is only 468 kilometers per hour, which is only faster than the previous one. The 410 kilometers per hour of the "Stuka" D-type in the plane is a little faster.

Generally speaking, although the performance indicators of the Ju-87 dive bomber in this plane have been greatly improved compared with the "Stuka" predecessors in the previous plane, such as speed, range, ammunition load, protection level, and self-defense firepower, but In Helena's mind, the Ju-87 on this plane is still a very "fundamentalist" dive bomber.

So from a certain point of view, the Ju-87 dive bomber on this plane is still a kind of "flying heavy artillery", that is, the extension of the army's long-range heavy artillery firepower in the sky, and it is a highly specialized tactical ground attack. machine.Its most important mission is to separate the enemy's frontline troops from the friendly troops on both sides and the rear reinforcement troops as much as possible by striking the enemy's shallow tactical nodes under the cover of its own fighters.At the same time, through close cooperation with the ground forces, the solid support points on the enemy's front are eliminated with precise bombing, which facilitates the armored forces on the ground to complete assault operations.

Helena does not intend to let the Ju-87 take over all the ground tactical strike missions of the German army on this plane. Although the high degree of professionalism can make the Ju-87 a fish in water when performing shallow tactical interdiction, it also brings many uses to this aircraft. on the limitations.For example, when attacking the enemy's deep target, the strength of the fighter's air supremacy protection will inevitably be weakened as the enemy's airspace continues to deepen. It will face huge risks; for another example, when performing close air support, although the Ju-87 can help the army brothers below pull out the enemy's solid firepower points, it is difficult to form continuous firepower suppression against the enemy troops near the fire line.

Chapter 262 Air Support

If we want to understand the limitations of the Ju-87 dive bomber more deeply, we must first understand the three most important tactical missions of the modern air force: gaining air superiority, close air support, and air interdiction.

Among these major tactical missions, seizing air supremacy is a prerequisite for the realization of close air support missions and air interdiction missions. While depriving the opponent of the ability to use air power within a short period of time, it can maximize the use of its own air power.

Considering that it is mainly the mission of fighter jets and interceptors to seize air supremacy, let us first focus on the two missions of ground attack aircraft - close air support and completion of air interdiction.It should be noted that although the two concepts of close air support and air interdiction are essentially in the category of air support operations, there are also very significant differences between them.

Among them, close air support, as the name suggests, means that one's own air strike force, under the guidance of ground guides, launches air fire assaults on enemy targets located at or near the front of the front.The purpose of close air support is to directly destroy or weaken the opponent's front-line forces, to help one's own side open a gap in the enemy's defense line during offensive operations, or to wear down or even break the enemy's offensive spearhead during defensive operations.

Although the task of close air support may seem to have no technical content, in fact, this job requires quite high coordination capabilities between the air and the ground.That's because in close air support operations, ground forces on both sides are usually already engaged in an exchange of fire, and the battle lines are criss-crossed and constantly changing.If the cooperation between the air and the ground is out of touch at this time, then the probability of the air support you call pouring bombs on yourself may not be lower than the probability of accurately covering the enemy. , not just for fun.

After talking about close air support, let's take a look at air interdiction. In fact, this type of mission can be further subdivided into two types.

The main purpose of the first type is to cut off the connection between the enemy forces facing our army and the surrounding friendly forces. It mainly attacks the enemy forces that are moving or may be moving towards the front line but have not yet exchanged fire with our army. It is to separate the key local battlefield from the entire battle map, and prevent or delay the reinforcement of the enemy's follow-up troops to the front-line combat troops.This method of air interdiction support is also called "battlefield air interdiction", and it is called BAI in later Western combat theories, which is the abbreviation of Battlefield Air Interdiction.

The other is called Air Interdiction in Western countries in later generations, and the English abbreviation is AI. If it is directly translated, it is the simplest "air interdiction", but here we may call it "deep air interdiction" for the sake of distinction. .Compared with the "battlefield air interdiction" mentioned earlier, "deep air interdiction" focuses more on the overall situation of the battlefield, rather than just focusing on the enemy troops that are fighting our army.

The tactical purpose of "deep air interdiction" is very clear: to isolate the enemy's entire ground combat force from the system it relies on in a planned way. Therefore, the target of "deep air interdiction" is usually the enemy's logistics first. Supply lines, communications facilities, and other vital nodes in support of operations before it is the turn of the enemy forces themselves to strike.

After understanding the respective characteristics of the three air-to-ground support methods of "close air support", "battlefield air interdiction" and "deep air interdiction", it is not difficult for us to find that if we want to rely on the development of a certain type of aircraft, we must take care of all the air-to-ground support methods. Air support missions are almost impossible tasks for designers.Because these three requirements for aircraft performance characteristics are largely contradictory.

For example, close-range air support requires fighters to have good low-altitude maneuverability and flight stability, as well as relatively strong and comprehensive protection capabilities to resist ground anti-aircraft firepower, so that they can afford to stay at low altitude for a long time near the front lines of both sides. Wandering; and deep air interdiction requires the aircraft not only to have a larger range, but also to have a faster flight speed and good maneuverability, so as to compress the reaction time of the enemy's interception force and greatly improve the enemy's rear nodes. Strike efficiency and penetration probability.

Wanting to combine the above-mentioned performance requirements on a fighter aircraft, Helena believes that it is almost impossible to complete the task under the current technical conditions, so she decided to solve this dilemma by developing multiple models with complementary performance .Although this seems to run counter to Helena's goal of simplifying the pedigree of military aircraft models at first glance, there is actually no contradiction, because the simplification of the pedigree of fighter aircraft models must be based on the premise that the existing combination can well complete the tactical mission.

So did the Luftwaffe in the previous plane do this?Although "Stuka" was invincible in a series of blitz operations in the early days of the war, turning the sky into a stage for high-precision dive bombing, but Helena still believed that in the early days of the war on the previous plane, Germany was highly dependent on "Stuka". There are serious problems in the construction of the air-to-ground support system for "ka" dive bombing, but these problems were not exposed prematurely against the backdrop of a group of opponents who performed worse.

Chapter 263 Brand New Model

However, with the progress of the war situation on the previous plane, as a highly specialized dive attack aircraft, the inherent limitations of the "Stuka" bomber airframe became increasingly apparent.

In fact, as early as during the French campaign, the problem of the "Stuka" bomber's own low penetration capability was exposed. On May 1940, 5, 12 "Stuka" bombers were returning home without the cover of fighter jets. On the way, they encountered the Hawk-12A fighter group of Curtiss of the United States equipped by the French Air Force. Although this fighter was not considered advanced in 75, the result was that the "Stuka" bomber formation was completely wiped out. The group of human fighters remained unscathed.Although the great victory in the Battle of France made the Germans quickly forget this little unpleasantness, the scene where the dive bombers lacking fighter cover became the prey of enemy fighter jets would happen again and again in the subsequent British air battles. staged.

Previous war practices have conclusively proved a fact: under the tight cover of one's own fighter jets, dive bombers like the "Stuka" can indeed pull out the enemy's solid firepower points in close air support missions, and can also be used in the air. Cut off the link between enemy and friendly forces in battlefield-level air interdiction missions.However, once the air capability of one's own fighter jets declines, this kind of flying heavy artillery is easily slaughtered by enemy fighter jets.

This shortcoming is undoubtedly very fatal when performing deep interdiction missions, because even if your overall air force has a great advantage over the enemy, you cannot guarantee that you have reached the enemy's deep airspace, and your fighter jets can still penetrate the defense. Bombers are protected in every possible way, unless a large number of bombers can be formed into a formation when performing strategic bombing missions, and then the same large number of fighter jets can be used to concentrate cover penetration. Of course, this topic is beyond the scope of the discussion of tactical strikes.

In the Battle of Kursk that broke out in July 1943, the weakness of the "Stuka" bomber was fully reflected. At this time, it was impossible for the Luftwaffe to fly unimpeded over the Soviet Union as it was in the early days of the war, and the flying speed was slow. The "Stuka" bombers of the Soviet Union were simply not capable of attacking the deep targets of the Soviet Army against the interception of Soviet fighter jets, so it was impossible to prevent the Soviet Union from continuously investing follow-up forces on the battlefield. Helena believed that this was Germany's strategy. The main reason why the campaign objectives cannot be achieved.

When military fans of later generations talk about the Battle of Kursk, they often like to debate whether the remaining German attacking forces did not choose to withdraw from the battle at a critical moment, but chose to continue attacking regardless of the risk of being attacked on the flanks. Pass through the last line of defense of the Soviet defenders, thereby encircling the Soviet troops in the Kursk salient.Faced with this controversial question, Helena actually did not dare to give a firm answer, but she was certain of one thing: that was the key to the victory of the Battle of Kursk, and it was not just the German ground Whether the troops can penetrate the Soviet defense line depends more on whether the Luftwaffe can contain the Soviet reinforcements and support operations on the battlefield on a larger scale.

In other words, if the Luftwaffe cannot prevent the Soviet Union from sending more follow-up forces to the battlefield while covering the attack of the ground forces, then even if the German army can barely encircle the Soviet army guarding Kursk, it will not be too big. It is more meaningful, but it may put one's own offensive troops into a dangerous situation of being flanked back and forth.Therefore, the German army in Kursk chose to terminate the attack at the last moment, which was actually a wise choice in desperation.In a gamble where winning is limited but losing is possible, even the most insane gambler is unlikely to continue adding chips to the table.

In addition to the disadvantage of poor penetration capabilities that make it unsuitable for deep interdiction missions, dive bombers like the "Stuka" are not perfect when performing close air support and battlefield air interception.Its unique attack mode of diving with heavy bombs makes this aircraft very suitable for precision attacking point targets, especially those that are relatively solid.For example, if the attacking force is blocked by a certain strong firepower point of the enemy, the "Stuka" bomber can be dealt with with only one heavy bomb. .

Although the dive bombing of the "Stuka" is amazing in terms of strike power and strike accuracy, the "Stuka" bomber is not so easy to use against all types of targets.First of all, the dive bombing needs to have a sufficient initial height, otherwise the plane may not have time to get out of the dive state after the bombing is completed, and it will directly fall to the ground, so the dive bomber is not suitable for long-term low-altitude hovering like the attack aircraft or armed helicopters of later generations.The second is that although the "Stuka" has a strong mounting capacity, the number of external mounting points is relatively limited, and the mounting scheme is mainly based on a small number of heavy ammunition. However, the resulting damage range is not as good as those models that can carry a large number of light ammunition.

The above factors made it quite difficult for the "Stuka" bombers of the previous plane to deal with scattered targets such as infantry and small targets with high mobility such as vehicles.However, the "Stuka" bomber did not think about transformation. For example, in the late war, Germany developed the Ju-37G, which removed the underwing speed brakes and added two 87mm anti-tank gun pods, commonly known as "Cannon Bird". Tungsten-core armor-piercing projectiles can be used to attack the weak top and side rear armor of enemy tanks in a shallow dive.

However, the "Stuka" itself is not the kind of attack aircraft that specially optimizes the stability of low-altitude and low-speed flight. In addition, the adverse effect of the cannon pod on the flight performance makes the Ju-87G quite demanding on the pilot's personal skills. Therefore, except for a few veteran pilots with extremely rich experience, it is difficult for most pilots to grasp the attack rhythm of this aircraft. After all, not everyone has the ability to become a fighter like Hans Rudel or Horst Kobisch. Level "Stuka" master.

Although the performance of the Ju-87 in this plane is better than that of the "Stuka" in the previous plane, but it is also a fundamentalist dive bomber. The same is true for the Ju-87 above.In order to complement the advantages of the Ju-87 on this plane, it will create an all-round, multi-level, and wide-area air tactical strike system for Germany.Under the suggestion of Helena, the newly established Luftwaffe decided to develop two brand new ground attack models in addition to the professional dive bomber. The era has not been formally proposed.

One of the models is called a "fighter-bomber" by Helena. It requires high flight speed and self-defense air combat capabilities. It can penetrate defenses without relying on fighter jets for cover. It is mainly used to quickly strike the enemy's rear Tactical goals, and the future twin-engine high-speed bomber to complete the mission of deep air interdiction.

The other type is called "strike aircraft" by Helena, which is required to have more powerful and comprehensive anti-strike capabilities than the Ju-87, as well as better low-altitude and low-speed flight qualities, while being able to mount a large number of small and medium-sized ammunition, It is mainly used to kill the exposed personnel, vehicles and weapons of the enemy. The purpose is to complement the advantages of the Ju-87 dive bomber and jointly complete the tasks of close air support and battlefield air interdiction.

Chapter 264 Returning from the Dead

Very similar to the experience of Hugo Junkers, the founder of Junkers, the 47-year-old Ernst Heinkel also founded the famous aircraft manufacturer Heinkel as an engineer.This time, the He-87 bomber that Heinkel took out to compete with Junkers' Ju-118 for the Air Force's dive bomber project was developed under the auspices of Ernst Heinkel himself.This middle-aged man, who is always energetic, always wears a pair of glasses with round frames on the bridge of his nose. Coupled with his big head that is as round as the frame of the glasses, it looks extraordinarily comical, so Helena often likes to wear these glasses. Mr. Heinkel was amusing.

"Dear Uncle Ernst, Helena has two important news for you. I wonder if uncle wants to hear the good news first or the bad news first?" There was a sly smile on the corner of Helena's mouth.

"I think I'd better get your bad news first," replied Dr. Ernst Heinkel cautiously.

"The bad news is: Although the work designed by you and your team is very good, Major General Udet and I personally appreciate your design concept very much, but I must regret to inform you of this unfortunate news. Your company developed The He-118 bomber of the Air Force's dive bomber project has been determined to have lost to the Ju-87 bomber designed by Junkers." Helena quickly put away her hippie smile just now, and spoke to Heinkel in a slightly sad tone. Dr. said.

Although Dr. Henkel had made preliminary psychological preparations for the failure of the bidding based on the unknown information he had inquired from many sources before this, but when this bloody fact was more formally confirmed by Helena, Dr. Henkel It is still difficult to hide my disappointment, because the failure of this bidding means that since the He-112 fighter developed by Heinkel lost to the BF-109 fighter designed by the Bavarian Aircraft Factory in the bidding for new fighters, Heinkel All the efforts of the company's designers in the field of dive bombers over the past six months have once again been declared in vain.

The reason why Heinkel failed to bid for the dive bomber project was not because the performance of the He-118 bomber they designed was not advanced enough.In fact, thanks to its highly smooth aerodynamic shape and fully recoverable landing gear, this aircraft has a lot of performance indicators to be proud of. The He-118 bomber recorded the fastest level flight speed, the best maneuverability, and the farthest internal fuel range among all competing products.However, in terms of the performance index that is crucial for a dive bomber-vertical dive capability, this He-118 bomber is greatly inferior to its competitors.

The Ju-87 dive bomber of Junkers on this plane can perform a nearly vertical dive at the bombing target at a depression angle of more than 85 degrees like the product of the same name on the previous plane.Although Heinkel's He-118 bomber, like its competitor Ju-87 bomber, uses a comb-shaped flap/speed brake dual-purpose device linked to the propeller moment adjustment system, its body structure does not accommodate Ke's products are so strong, and they don't use the landing gear and the landing gear cover as an additional deceleration device, and there is no power-assisted system that can automatically pull the plane up after the bomb is dropped, so its maximum dive angle is strictly limited to 60 degrees, in fact, thanks to the more effective flap/speedbrake dual-purpose device, the maximum dive angle of 60 degrees has improved compared to the previous plane. The maximum dive angle of the He-118 bomber in the previous plane is only Just 50 degrees.