Chapter 911 The Importance of Industrial Base
The laboratory that Philip mentioned is actually a row of small bungalows. After all, the Rukwa Lake Basin is not a prosperous place, so the construction of the test site is also sloppy from the outside.
Of course, as an important national secret project that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally inquired about, the facilities equipped are not bad. The East African government even built a road from Mbeya City to the test site, but ordinary people need to be checked when they come here.
Mbeya City is originally located inland, and coupled with the closed nature of East Africa itself, it is impossible for anyone to easily explore the specific situation of the East African tank test site. Even the East African high-level officials know very little.
Even if they know, they can't take it too seriously. After all, what is a "tank"? I have never heard of it, I have never seen it, and no one can realize the importance of tanks to future battlefields like Ernst.
"From the engine situation, it should be too heavy, resulting in insufficient power. This is not a problem we can solve. We need to cooperate with domestic internal combustion engine manufacturers to improve engine performance. Otherwise, we can only reduce the configuration of the tank prototype and sacrifice some functions to reduce weight, which may achieve similar results." Liarsk said to Philip in the laboratory.
Philip: "Make preparations for both situations! We have long asked for this about the engine problem, but it takes time for them to produce results, so we can't just wait for the relevant factories and research institutions to produce results. We should first re-optimize and adjust the tank structure, and perhaps lower some standards to make it available as soon as possible. As for other problems, we will slowly improve them later."
Both of them thought that the tone was too high before. Tank production is actually more in line with the tractor industry, and the East African tractor industry was born only a few years ago, much later than the automobile industry.
Tanks are different from tractors. They are too heavy and have high performance requirements. For example, one of Ernst's important requirements for tanks is that they can easily cross trenches, which is not something that ordinary tractors can do.
"In addition to the engine, there are also tracks, which is also the focus. Many faults were concentrated in these two areas before, so we need to cooperate with other institutions to solve this problem. Before the tank is finalized, no one knows what will be installed in the future. We also considered heat dissipation and other issues before. Now it seems that we still have to take it step by step and solve its activity problem first. As for the driver, let him suffer a little! This is inevitable." Yarske suggested.
The internal environment of the tank is like a big steamer, and the driver is really uncomfortable. Philip and Yarske wanted to work harder in this regard before, and now the two have to be more realistic.
In fact, the temperature in East Africa, at least in the Rukwa Lake Basin, is not too high. The average altitude here is above 800 meters, and the temperature is about four to five degrees lower than that in coastal areas, which is basically the same as the spring and summer in Europe, so even the steamer environment inside the tank will not be too exaggerated.
Of course, for Philip and Yarske, they will make major changes to the overall structure of the tank next, so comfort must give way to practicality. As for the future, when the relevant technology is mature, they will start to improve the comfort of the tank.
In fact, these difficulties in tank research are not bad. Ernst can give some references. After all, the overall shape of tanks in the past has not changed much. As for aircraft research, it is a mess, and there is no relevant reference object.
Tanks can also learn from tractors. There is a tractor industry to support them, but aircraft do not have this condition. Even how to choose the engine is a big problem, but this matter is naturally a headache for relevant researchers.
East Africa's tank research is "far away", and when it is developed, it may not be able to be used in actual combat. Even if it can be used in actual combat, it will take time to form combat effectiveness.
Ernst is naturally clear about this. After all, tanks did not perform well before World War II. Even because of the dazzling performance of trench tactics in World War I, France took a different military route from Germany.
So in Ernst's view, if the armored forces in East Africa can be formed at the beginning of the next century, everything will be fine. At least they must become combat-capable arms in 1920.
Of course, this does not mean that the progress of tank research in East Africa is slow. In fact, the tanks at the Rukwa Lake Test Site already have certain operational capabilities, but there are too many problems, big and small, and further improvements are needed.
Optimistically speaking, the finished product should be able to meet the army's initial requirements within three years. The engine and track issues that Philip and others focus on are not too difficult. After all, East Africa's technology in related fields has been improving.
…
Mbeya City First Tractor Factory.
"This is Philip's request. He said that the performance of the engine provided to them last time was still a little poor. He hopes that we can provide them with better products. In addition to the requirements on the engine, there is also the problem of the track."
In response, Mendes, the director of the Mbeya City First Tractor Factory, asked: "How is the progress of our latest engine development?"
"Director, the current experimental data has been released, and there is no major technical problem, but we only have one prototype."
"If that's the case..." Mendes pondered for a moment and said, "We will try to copy one within a month and send it to Lake Rukwa. After all, they are in a hurry this time. If we can meet their needs, we may be able to sign a stable order directly with the military in the future. We have many competitors. Tractor factories in Dar es Salaam, Harare, and Mombasa may have related research."
In addition to meeting the needs of the Lake Rukwa test site, the First Tractor Factory of Mbeya City also needs a new generation of engines to improve the performance of its tractors, so supporting the Lake Rukwa test site is also in their interests.
After Director Mendes gave the order, the First Tractor Factory of Mbeya City quickly delivered the latest engine. As for the track problem, it will take some time. After all, this requires the improvement of material performance. The First Tractor Factory of Mbeya City can only seek help from the Mbeya Iron and Steel Materials Research Institute.
At this time, Philip and others were making major changes to the tank structure. The tank sample, which originally seemed bulky, was directly reduced by one ton. Some armor was also reduced and replaced by lighter materials. Although this greatly reduced the defense function, there was no other way.
After the new engine arrived, Philip and others made major adjustments, because the structure of the engine sent this time had some changes, after all, it was not a model.
In this way, with the continuous adjustments and modifications of East African tank researchers, East African tanks are becoming more and more mature. Research and development is like this, full of compromise and trial and error.
Moreover, in the process of tank development, hundreds of companies in Mbeya City and other parts of East Africa are involved. After all, it is the First Tractor Factory of Mbeya City that provides the main support. Their parts are not all self-produced, but come from other factories. This reflects the importance of industrial foundation to tank research and development. Of course, the leading role is still played by the First Tractor Factory of Mbeya City.
The fastest unit in the development of East African tanks is the Rukwa Lake Test Site, which relies on the most complete industrial system and the most intensive scientific research institutions in East Africa owned by Mbeya City.
This also reflects the importance of a complete industrial system to the military. If any link is missing, the difficulty of tank development will rise to a higher level. After all, if it relies on foreign imports, there will be no problem at ordinary times, but once it is blocked, it will inevitably be blind.