Munitions Empire-Chapter 1226 - 1146 various new weapons

In the weapons design department of the Great Tang Group, several young engineers were studying the blueprint for a brand-new weapon obtained from a mysterious advanced department.

They had encountered this sort of situation several times before. That department, rumored to be personally led by His Majesty The Emperor, was spearheading the design of weapons worldwide.

It was said that the Emperor was truly the reincarnation of a deity, who exercised control over technology and warfare, while embodying wisdom and happiness. He was the greatest god in the world, towering above all other deities.

As for why seemingly unrelated attributes like happiness, wisdom, technology, and warfare could converge in a single deity, this was not something they felt obliged to contemplate.

After all, His Majesty certainly brought happiness to the Tang People. He was brimming with wisdom and possessed formidable technical prowess, invincible and unstoppable. Thus, he represented these divine attributes—a great deity!

"I’ve heard the aerospace department is trying to utilize satellites for weapon positioning. If successful, future weapons will achieve terrifying strike precision." A staff member remarked to his colleague while looking at the blueprint of a new missile on the table before them.

On the table lay the blueprint for the renowned Tomahawk Cruise Missile. Its technology wasn’t exceptionally advanced—it was essentially a cheaper alternative to tactical ballistic missiles.

Whether it was Scud Missiles or other tactical ballistic missiles, their costs were prohibitively high. The exorbitant expense restricted deployment quantity, which significantly impacted their usage in warfare.

The wealthy Great Tang Empire could certainly afford to procure hundreds of Scud ballistic missiles, but other nations clearly purchased far fewer of them.

Moreover, these missiles only had a range of around 300 kilometers, and their precision was notably poor. Therefore, Tang Country itself was also eager to acquire a cheaper alternative to ballistic missiles as soon as possible.

As a result, the affordable Tomahawk Cruise Missile came into being: its technology was even cheaper, sacrificing both flight speed and ballistic arc in exchange for lower costs and enhanced precision.

To use an imperfect analogy, this was akin to replacing a rocket with an aircraft—the price was significantly reduced.

Once the Beidou navigation system is established, the Great Tang Empire’s aircraft and missiles will become significantly more formidable. This isn’t a simple one plus one equals two scenario; it’s one plus one equals one hundred!

Another engineer nodded in agreement. "That’s right. Once the coordinates of the target are fixed and the weapon can determine its own position, true precision strike capability will be realized!"

Regrettably, the Beidou navigation project is still not fully built, and the Great Tang Empire’s GPS system remains a distant prospect.

However, alternatives are not absent. Another weapons development department of the Great Tang Group is working on developing a new type of bomb, which could provide the A-6 attack aircraft with greater precision strike capability.

This precision strike capability stems from lasers. As long as ground-based laser guidance indicates a target, bombs dropped from aircraft can accurately hit targets.

Experimental results have been nothing short of astonishing—the bombs can easily hit their targets, eliminating the need for dangerous dive bombing maneuvers by aircraft.

The entirely new bombs can even be launched from ten kilometers away from the target area, ensuring complete safety for the aircraft.

However, this new technology is not without flaws: its greatest issue is the high requirements it places on battlefield environments. Soldiers must first use laser guidance to illuminate the target, and the surroundings of the target must not have overly dense obstructions.

Simply put, the laser guidance head on the bomb must be able to "see" the endpoint of the laser beam, a requirement difficult to meet in complex battlefield environments.

Additionally, there’s another issue: the Great Tang Empire’s troops tend to use various smoke screens on the battlefield, which can obstruct similar laser beams... Therefore, future Great Tang Empire tactics may need some modifications.

At present, the technological challenges are no longer the issue. The main problem with these new precision-guided bombs remains their high cost: the price of laser guidance devices remains exorbitantly high, requiring the Great Tang Group to advance manufacturing processes to reduce costs.

Although it seems as though the Great Tang Empire is rapidly transitioning into the missile era, the immaturity of the technology means that reality doesn’t quite live up to expectations.

The highly anticipated "Infrared Guided Combat Missile" project has stalled due to enemy aircraft emitting insufficient heat sources, preventing deployment. Initially advanced missiles have ended up relegated to warehouse stock as backup munitions.

This was a typical case of progressing too quickly, where advanced weapons were rendered useless because the opposing forces didn’t possess jet fighters, thus delaying air-to-air missile deployment...

Due to insufficient numbers and technical limitations, the Beidou navigation system can only develop gradually. It currently has no way of providing navigation for weapons, though it holds promising prospects in civilian aviation.

Laser-guided bombs remain expensive. While the Great Tang Empire has the money to procure a batch for outfitting A-6 attack aircraft, the problem lies in the fact that the A-6 attack planes are still on the production line. The aircraft carriers for launching A-6 attack planes are still in dry docks. No matter how fast they act, precision-guided bombs won’t be operational anytime soon.

Cruise missile development is hindered by immature turbofan engine technology and guidance system issues, preventing short-term deployment of these missiles.

However, since Tang Mo himself is confident in this, production of missile components has already begun: this kind of time-saving maneuver is probably something only the Great Tang Group could pull off.

The Air Force is most anxious about the "Future Attack Aircraft" project. The outdated performance of the Stuka and Yir Attack Aircraft has left the search for replacements at a standstill, causing great distress for Air Force officials.

Their requirements are simple: capable of carrying future advanced munitions, equipped with fierce aerial cannons for ground sweeps, and powered by jet engines...

Essentially, these requirements are modeled after the Navy’s A-6 attack aircraft, except for the inability to carry anti-ship missiles! Moreover, the Air Force has its own proud traditions, stubbornness, and persistence.

That’s right, they demand the new attack aircraft to possess close-air support capabilities: diving, firing, suppressing ground targets, sweeping everything... This is what Army generals demand of attack planes, believing it would boost Great Tang Empire Army morale.

In terms of performance, Tang Mo actually has quite a few options: he could simply replicate the Q-5, although its tactical performance is decidedly unimpressive.

It is essentially a fighter jet, with speeds too high to effectively suppress ground targets. Tang Mo is therefore more inclined toward two other renowned attack aircraft: the A-10 and SU-25 attack planes.

Both aircraft have their qualities and appear to be excellent choices. Comparing their service times, SU-25 debuted a decade later than the A-10. However, as far as technical specifications are concerned… there’s actually not much difference.

Given that Army generals hope for an aircraft capable of diving to attack with cannons, delivering at least a visually morale-boosting spectacle, Tang Mo decided to give the A-10 attack aircraft a chance.

The Warthog’s 30-mm autocannon during ground-attack missions is utterly awe-inspiring. It could be called the perfect replacement for the Stuka dive bomber.

Its heart-rending screams are replaced by the thunderous roar of the terrifying 30-mm autocannon, forcing enemies to live in perpetual terror.

However, with the introduction of the A-10 attack aircraft, the Great Tang Air Force began to exhibit a somewhat inconsistent configuration: its fighter jets and bombers were Soviet-inspired models, yet its attack aircraft followed the United States’ design philosophy.

In terms of technology, 50s-60s-era J-6 and J-7 jets seem far older than the 70s-era Warthog A-10.

Using J-6 jets and mass-produced J-7s to escort future Warthog attack aircraft… the setup certainly appears quite fantastical.

In fact, another fantastical aspect is the Great Tang Empire Air Force using A-10 attack aircraft to cover Type 59 and Type 64 main battle tanks in assaults against enemies.

Indeed, Great Tang Empire tank designers didn’t see the Type 59 tank as the pinnacle of tank design. They’ve begun exploring the incorporation of newer and more sophisticated technologies on tanks to make them appear more formidable.

Lighthouse Country Air Force covering Soviet steel floodwaters—this could perhaps be considered the Great Tang Empire version of the "Zhurihe Supremacy."

In conclusion, from the perspective of the Great Tang Group’s technical research teams, who are gradually reaching Cold War-era levels of technological development, the shape of future warfare has already been completely reimagined.

This is an era of US-Soviet Cold War competition, during which technological development speeds are unprecedented. Advanced weaponry will soon be widely deployed, and Great Tang Empire’s tactical transformations will shock the world once again.

"The new project is called the Longsword? Sounds rather impressive." Upon noticing the name on the blueprint, the two engineers showed interest in the moniker.

After all, this weapon’s name was far more appealing than something like "Gem Road," a laser-guided bomb name. Little did they know, the name of the future second-generation cruise missile would be even better: Longsword!

"Maximum flight speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour? Range of 1,500 kilometers? Good heavens! Comparable to the Dongfeng Missile?" Seeing the specific performance metrics of the missile, the two were blown away by the rapid advancement of technology.

Both were professionals in the field, so they clearly understood how swiftly Tang Empire’s missile technology had developed over the past two years: the earlier secret weapon, Dongfeng-3 missile, had a range of only around 2,000 kilometers; now, a cheaper missile could strike targets 1,500 kilometers away.

Although they knew the two were inherently different kinds of weapons, with vastly different interception difficulties, still… this new missile was astonishingly affordable.

When a weapon becomes cheap enough for mass production—say, purchasing 10,000 units at once—its drawbacks essentially cease to matter! Its advantages are magnified infinitely, making it the brightest star on the battlefield!