Chapter 401 Death Indicator

As the train pulled into the station, the soldiers of the 4th Armored Division began intensive pre-war preparations.

The tank soldiers got out of the carriage, climbed onto the flatbed at the back, dismantled the fixings, and then the tank driver climbed into the cab.

"Buzz, buzz." As a puff of black smoke came out, the gas turbine was quickly started. The driver stepped on the accelerator twice. He had a love-hate relationship with this engine.

In the past, diesel engines had to be preheated before starting. In the cold winter, starting the engine was very painful, and sometimes you had to ignite it from below to bake the engine. However, this gas turbine can start the engine quickly no matter how cold the weather is, as long as you turn the start knob! This thing is really suitable for the cold winter!

However, the disadvantages are also so obvious. For example, the fuel consumption makes the task of the logistics supply convoy quite heavy!

There is no need to think so much now, it is just an exercise, the logistics and fuel have been prepared long ago! The commander was directing from below, the driver pulled the operating lever, and the huge vehicle body began to turn slowly.

Moving forward and backward twice, the tank was already arranged horizontally on the flatbed truck. The tank driver slowly started the tank, and when the front track was suspended in the air, it began to gradually tilt downward.

"Bang!" The front track touched the ground, while the rear track was still on the flatbed. The entire vehicle body was tilted, and the flatbed was creaking due to the lateral force.

Keep going! After walking a few meters, the tank came down from the flatbed with a bang!

At this time, all the tanks on the train were unloading the flatbed in this unique way, and soon the tank troops gathered together.

"Everyone, assemble at the designated location. Position, 432, 567. The route has been issued."

All commands are issued through digital terminals, and the route has been displayed on the vehicle's information terminal receiver. This terminal has a larger monochrome LCD display produced by Toshiba, which can roughly display the route map.

Assemble, move! The tanks and armored vehicles of the 4th Armored Division quickly assembled at the station and headed towards the exercise area according to the display of the vehicle terminal, constantly making corrections through the navigation system along the way.

With Andrei's intervention, the Soviet Union's electronic technology has made rapid progress, various technical problems that have troubled them have been solved, and new equipment has been introduced. In the past, it would have been impossible to get such advanced electronic equipment on the vehicle terminal, all of which are made of large-scale integrated circuits!

At the same time, the vehicle's navigation system is also the most advanced, with navigation signals provided by satellites overhead!

Generally speaking, when talking about satellite navigation, people will think of GPS. This system was not completed and put into operation until 1994. However, in fact, the research on satellite navigation started much earlier than this time.

The predecessor of GPS was a transept satellite positioning system developed by the US military. This system was developed in 1958 and officially put into use in 1964. It used a star network consisting of 5 to 6 satellites to orbit the earth up to 13 times a day. This system was crude, unable to provide altitude information, and its positioning accuracy was not satisfactory. Even so, the transept system enabled the R&D department to gain initial experience in satellite positioning and verified the feasibility of positioning by satellite systems, laying the foundation for the development of GPS.

Under this system, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory launched a test satellite in 1967, 1969 and 1974, respectively, on which the atomic clock timing system was initially tested, which is the basis for GPS precise positioning. In 1973, the United States formally established the GPS system plan.

During the Cold War, whatever the United States had, the Soviet Union also wanted.

In late 1960, the Soviet military confirmed the need for a satellite radio navigation system for the precision guidance of the planned new generation of ballistic missiles. Since the existing Tsiklon satellite navigation system receiving stations required several minutes of observation to determine a position, it could not achieve the purpose of navigation positioning. In 1968, the Ministry of Defense, the Academy of Sciences and some naval research institutes joined forces to create a single solution for the navy, army, air force and space forces.

The requirements document for this system was completed in 1970. In 1976, the former Soviet Union issued a decree to establish GLONASS (Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema), which is the Soviet satellite navigation system.

In later generations, the GLONASS satellite constellation has basically been in a reduced-efficiency operation state, with only 8 satellites fully functional. One of the important reasons is that the lifespan of the satellites in this system is very short, almost about a year. In this way, to complete the network, it is necessary to continuously launch satellites into space. The Soviet Union was rich in wealth, but in the Russian era, they simply did not have the ability to continue launching satellites to replenish the network.

Now, with the arrival of advanced electronic technology from the West, the Soviet Union has made rapid progress in all aspects. This satellite navigation system has already launched six navigation satellites with a lifespan of more than five years. In addition, a part of the ground receiver has also been developed and equipped to the Fourth Armored Division first.

This is an information-based and digital army!

Forward, forward! The 4th Armored Division came out of the station and drove all the way. After three hours of trekking, they arrived at the exercise assembly area. At this time, there was already a huge army here.

The roar of chariots echoed across the Polish plains. This was a gathering of hundreds of thousands of troops!

"Please observe discipline, observers. Stay within the observation area we set and do not go beyond it. As everyone knows, we have a certain death target for every exercise." Andre said with a smile to the observation groups from the West.

Many military attachés and reporters came, and the reception of these people was assigned to Andrei. As a result, Andrei, the commander of the military district, had an extra task, which was to take care of these guys. He had to show the strength of the Soviet armed forces, but at the same time, he couldn't let these guys spy on more Soviet secrets!

Andre's burden was heavy, but he was even braver. When he saw these guys, his first words were "death order!" If you don't obey, you deserve to die!