Chapter 587 Anti-Tank Missile
After leaving the court, Yannick came to the German Missile Research and Development Center.
Speaking of missiles, we have to mention Germany in World War II. It is no exaggeration to say that Germany in World War II is the ancestor of missiles in later generations.
In addition to the world's first cruise missile V-1 and the first ballistic missile V-2, there are also the world's first anti-tank missile X-7 "Little Red Riding Hood"; the world's first surface-to-air missile "Waterfall"; the world's first smart bomb X-1; the world's first air-to-air missile X-4; the world's first air-to-ship missiles Hs293A and Hs293D (TV-guided version of Hs293); the world's first anti-radiation missile Bv246 "Hail".
In addition, there are Rhine Daughter surface-to-air missiles, Rhine Messenger surface-to-surface missiles, HS298 air-to-air missiles, HS294 anti-ship missiles, HS295 anti-ship missiles, BV L10/L11 (Peace Messenger, Snow) smart bombs, BV143/B anti-ship missiles, Flatfish ground attack missiles, Gentian air defense missiles, Spear air defense missiles, Fire Lily air defense missiles... and so on, too many to count.
In the post-war Operation Paperclip, the United States snatched more than 1,600 top scientists from Germany, including 104 top rocket experts; these experts have made great contributions to the development of the United States' aviation industry.
Now, Germany not only gathers the top scientists in Europe, but also plundered a lot of talents from the Soviet Union and the United States a few years ago.
"Greetings, Your Royal Highness. I am Max Kramer, the head of the anti-tank missile project. This is our latest anti-tank missile, temporarily named X-7."
The 1W company in the original time and space proposed a plan to develop an air-launched rocket-propelled anti-tank missile. However, no one at that time would have foreseen the red armored torrent that would appear on the European plains three years later, so the German Aviation Ministry had no interest in such weapons.
Later in 1943, Dr. Max Kramer of the German Aviation Test Center began to develop a small winged fire bomb as an airborne weapon, used as an air-launched anti-tank weapon, code-named X-7 "Little Red Riding Hood".
In 1944, as Soviet tanks began to be produced like water, in order to resist the attack of the powerful Soviet armored forces, the German Air Force, which was in urgent need of anti-armor weapons, became interested in the X-7 and tried to develop it into an anti-tank missile equipped with ground attack aircraft.
However, according to Yannick's requirements, the current X-7 is designed as a ground weapon for the army. After all, the Il-2 and A-1 attack aircraft of the German Army Aviation are already quite good and do not need this special anti-tank weapon.
From the outside, the X-7 is a 150mm mortar shell (armor-piercing warhead) equipped with wings and stabilizer tails. The front of the warhead is a percussion fuze, followed by a hollow charge warhead.
The missile is powered by a WASAG 109-506 solid rocket engine with two coaxial combustion chambers, separated by a layer of flame retardant material made of asbestos, graphite and calcium silicate. The first stage contains 3 kg of fuel, a thrust of 66 kN, and a working time of 5 seconds: the second stage contains 5 kg of fuel, a working time of 8 seconds, and a thrust of 0.5 kN. During combat, as the engine generates enough thrust, the missile is released. The missile then rotates around its own longitudinal axis at an angular velocity of 720° per second and flies towards the target.
After listening to Dr. Max Kramer's introduction, Yannick nodded with satisfaction. "Good, let's try it now. It's boring to shoot at fixed targets. Let's go for moving targets directly." For shooting at fixed targets, ordinary anti-tank guns can do the job; the biggest advantage of anti-tank missiles is that they can change direction in flight and accurately capture targets, which is absolutely epoch-making.
Everyone came to the test site. A thousand meters away, a remote-controlled jackal tank was driving at a normal speed.
Several engineers quickly set up the missile control console and launcher. Max Kramer asked Yannick for instructions. "Your Highness, we are ready. Please give us your instructions."
"Let's start."
"Fire!" Following Max Kramer's order, the shooter sitting in front of the console pressed the ignition button on the console. Everyone present held their breath and opened their eyes wide. If this shooting is successful, it will definitely go down in history.
The tail of the missile on the launcher first sprayed a cloud of black smoke, and then a hot flame. Soon, the missile left the launcher and flew forward with flames.
Soon, the fuel in the first-stage combustion chamber was burned out, and the second-stage combustion chamber was ignited. The flame it emits is much dimmer than the first stage. Although its thrust is not great, it burns longer.
The wings on both sides of the missile body are not stationary. As the flaps unfold, the missile begins to rotate in flight. Since the rotation speed is very low, it can be followed with the naked eye.
When the missile is flying, the shooter visually tracks the missile and the enemy tank, and issues control commands by operating the two control handles on the control box to control the missile's course so that the tail tracer of the engine is above the aiming line. Since the missile rotates slowly during flight, when the missile wing is in a horizontal state, the shooter operates the height handle to give a height correction command; when the missile wing is in a vertical state, the shooter operates the azimuth handle to give a direction correction command until the missile hits the target.
When the missile wing is in a horizontal state, the shooter controls the height handle and gives a height correction instruction; when the missile wing is in a vertical state, the shooter controls the azimuth handle and gives a direction correction instruction. In everyone's field of vision, the missile is moving rapidly towards The target pounced, and within a few seconds the Kung Fu missile accurately hit the moving Jackal tank.
"boom!"
As the tank exploded, everyone in the observation seat applauded enthusiastically; but they saw Yannick frowning slightly, with a solemn expression on his face.
The applause gradually became sparse, and Max Kramer asked anxiously. "Your Highness, do you have any questions?"
"The missiles are good, but whether the missiles can hit the target completely depends on the skill of the shooter. The shooter needs strict training, right?" Compared with rockets that can be used with simple training, the operation of anti-tank missiles is quite complicated. After all, the flight trajectory and missile body state need to be constantly adjusted during the flight of the missile.
And he just noticed that from launch to hit, the shooter needs to concentrate on the operation. If this is placed in a battlefield filled with bullets and smoke, can the shooter still display such strength? The hit rate of missiles on the battlefield may drop significantly. "Is it more troublesome to train a shooter than to produce a missile?"
Max Kramer had a look of embarrassment on his face. "Your Highness is wise, indeed."
Yannick shook his head. "That is to say, this missile is not perfect enough and needs to continue to be improved and upgraded to semi-automatic."