Chapter 411 Planning (6)
As a surprise force, paratroopers can often achieve unexpected results.
However, because they fight alone and are often deployed behind enemy lines, paratroopers are also very dangerous. First, on the way to the target location, the plane is likely to encounter an enemy fighter formation or hit the enemy's air defense position. Once the plane is destroyed, the soldiers on board basically have no chance of survival.
Secondly, when paratroopers land, they are often large targets and have no ability to fight back in the air, so the risk of being killed in the air is not small.
Finally, after landing on the ground, it is difficult to assemble because of the large dispersion area. In World War II, an airborne division of the US military airborne more than 8,000 people, but could only gather less than 2,000 people. Moreover, on the way to landing, weapons and supplies are likely to be lost, and after landing, they can only passively be beaten. Because they are behind enemy lines and cannot get support from friendly forces, they are likely to be surrounded. Therefore, there is a saying that paratroopers are born to be surrounded.
Yannick wants to equip paratroopers with better and stronger weapons as much as possible. "Has there been any progress in airdropping armored vehicles?"
Student said respectfully. "The paratrooper motorcycle developed by BMW has been drop-tested and can be put into actual combat."
The airdroppable paratrooper motorcycle first appeared in Britain during World War II. It was loaded into special equipment and landed on the battlefield with the paratroopers.
This foldable motorcycle weighs only 32 kilograms without fuel and can reach a maximum speed of 48 kilometers per hour. Relying on the two 6-liter fuel tanks on the left and right sides of the front lower part of the frame, it can travel continuously for about 145 kilometers. Due to its simple operation, a skilled soldier can open the special device and start the motorcycle within 11 seconds.
However, the practicality of this motorcycle is average. The motorcycle is only 32 kilograms, while the average person is about 60 to 70 kilograms. Due to the weight difference, there will be a large error between the landing point of the motorcycle and the soldier when parachuting. Although the container carrying the motorcycle is marked with a more eye-catching color, it is still very troublesome to find it.
Even if it is found, the power is much smaller due to the small engine displacement (its displacement is only 98 ml). Although it can reach 48 kilometers per hour under ideal conditions, how can there be an ideal condition on the battlefield? There are many shell pits on the battlefield. Once encountering a relatively steep terrain, the motorcycle can't bear it. On the bad battlefield roads, it was thrown away by many soldiers, and sometimes it didn't go fast.
Under Yannick's instructions, BMW designed an off-road motorcycle, reducing the parts as much as possible, using various new lightweight materials, and built a motorcycle weighing 100 kilograms and reaching a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Although it is not as foldable as the British motorcycle, it is a complete victory in performance.
Student continued to report. "A DFS230 glider can transport a jeep and four fully armed soldiers."
Yannick nodded slightly. What he cares most about is the tanks that can be put into battle.
How to make tanks fly? All countries in World War II have studied it, but I am afraid that there is no bigger brain hole than the Soviet Union's "flying tank".
The Soviet army believes that once the tanks are airlifted to a distant place to fight the enemy, they can achieve unexpected results. However, if the tank is airdropped by a transport plane alone, it cannot carry the crew at the same time, which will cause the separation of people and tanks, which is not conducive to the rapid deployment of the tank into combat. Finally, the Soviet army thought of the combination of gliders and tanks.
After the mother aircraft such as large bombers or transport planes drag the "flying tank" to the airspace near the enemy target and drop it, the "flying tank" can slide to the battlefield as quickly as a glider, without the problem of separation between people and tanks, and also avoid the problem of transport planes flying into the battlefield due to the loud noise and being exposed and hit, making it easier to achieve the effect of surprise attack on the enemy.
It is the A-40, also called KT-40, also called "tank flying wing", which is mainly composed of two large upper and lower wings, similar to early biplanes. The wings are made of high-quality wood and other materials. A 5-ton tank can be installed under the wings. The tank becomes the fuselage of the entire glider, and the wings become the wings of the tank. The tank can carry crew members. When the "flying tank" lands, the tank's tracks serve as the aircraft's landing gear.
In 1942, the Soviet army developed a new T-60 tank with great combat potential. The T-60 is about 4 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 7 meters high. The armor thickness is 15~35 mm. It has 2 crew members, a maximum speed of 44 km/h, a range of 450 km, and a 20 mm cannon or machine gun. The Soviet army believed that if the T-60 could fly long distances, it would achieve great combat results. Therefore, a T-60 tank was installed under the A-40 "tank flying wing", becoming a rare "flying tank" in the world.
Soon after, the prototype "flying tank" began its first test flight.
The entire prototype "flying tank" weighs about 8 tons (of which the glider is more than 2 tons), has a wingspan of about 15 meters, a total length of about 5 meters, and a maximum speed of 160 km/h. After the test flight began, a large mother aircraft towed the "flying tank" slowly lifted off from the airport runway and began to fly in the air. Under the wing is a T-60 tank weighing about 8 tons without a turret. Just as Soviet commanders and technical experts were excited about the successful launch of the "flying tank", problems arose.
The "flying tank" is heavy and creates a lot of resistance. Although the towing mother aircraft has chosen the model with the largest carrying capacity, the carrying capacity is still insufficient and it is obviously struggling. The engine begins to overheat. This is a very dangerous signal. As we all know, the engine is the heart of the aircraft. Once the engine fails, the aircraft may crash at any time. As the engine becomes more and more struggling, the mother aircraft has not yet flown to the designated airspace. The frightened pilot has to make a painful decision to release the "flying tank" in advance to prevent the mother aircraft from crashing together with the "flying tank"!
Fortunately, the "flying tank" that has separated from the mother aircraft performed well. Pilot Arnold began to fly the glider to a small field below. He turned on the engine while operating the glider. Then, he operated the tank's drive device. The tracks began to rotate rapidly. Finally, the "flying tank" successfully landed on the ground. Arnold removed the flying wing of the "flying tank" and successfully returned to the base in the "flying tank".
Although the "flying tank" achieved certain success in its first test flight, it never conducted a new test flight, nor was it quickly put into production and put into actual combat. It just became a ripple in the history of the development of strange weapons in the world.
In fact, the Soviet army did not want to put the "flying tank" into actual combat, but the technical limitations made the Soviet army helpless. At that time, the Soviet army did not have any large aircraft that could tow the "flying tank" for long-distance combat. If a new large-scale carrier aircraft is developed, it will take time and financial resources. After all, the war situation was critical at the time, and the Soviet army needed weapons that could be quickly put into actual combat.
The Soviet army once tried to "slim down" the "flying tank" T-60 so that the mother aircraft could tow it into the air for long-distance combat. The problem is that if the T-60 is "slimmed down", it is impossible to reduce the armor for self-protection by a large amount, and most of the weapons, ammunition and fuel can only be removed. However, if the "flying tank" does not have enough weapons and ammunition, it will not be able to deal a fatal blow to the enemy, and it may also be subjected to a devastating attack by the enemy. Not only that, if the "flying tank" does not have enough fuel, it will not be able to fight for a long time. Obviously, a "flying tank" with such poor combat effectiveness cannot be put into combat. Therefore, the "flying tank" project was secretly cancelled shortly after its first test flight.
Yannick had considered this approach before, but after discussing it with engineers, he found that it was a useless idea.