Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1703 Friends, I'm going to explode gold coins (first update, please subscribe)
The best embodiment of cooperation between countries is not politics or economy, but military!

In the past six years, military cooperation between South Africa and the SEA has deepened. Military schools and training centers are filled with officers from South Africa, and weapons manufacturers also have South Africans.

Half of the South African president's entourage this time are soldiers. Their purpose of coming here is the same as in the past, which is to purchase weapons.

At the training range, the sun was scorching the earth and the air was filled with the smell of dust and gunpowder.

A group of officers from South Africa stood on the viewing stand, watching the weapons display on the field intently.

The VT1 tank's maneuvering and shooting demonstration had just ended, and the roar of the tank was still ringing in our ears. Then, the new truck gun's shooting performance kicked off. The shells whizzed out and hit the distant target accurately, stirring up a cloud of dust and fire.

Both of them are the trump cards of Nanyang Defense Equipment Company. They performed extremely well in the Six-Day War a few months ago.

As soon as the war ended, the military of many countries placed additional orders, ranging from tanks and artillery to aircraft and Sidewinder missiles.

A war brings billions of dollars in orders to SEA, so war is the best advertisement.

South Africa was not attracted by the advertisements, because South Africa was almost its only source of weapons. Six years ago, in 1961, South Africa announced its withdrawal from the Commonwealth through a referendum. The UK immediately cancelled the relevant tax reciprocity policy and even took advantage of the UN's voluntary arms embargo on South Africa to directly participate in it. This became the "last straw that broke the camel's back". After a set of "combination punches", the South African military industry, which was once quite famous, was in a depression.

South Africa has since been determined to reduce its reliance on foreign countries and develop its own military industry independently. In order to quickly improve its ability to develop cutting-edge military weapons, South Africa has increased its mineral resource exports to earn foreign exchange while increasing its investment in the military industry, actively absorbing top international experts, and cultivating domestic scientific research talents.

However, the complexity of modern equipment has led to slow progress, and the regional security situation has forced it to purchase heavy equipment such as aircraft, tanks and artillery from abroad, and SEA is the most important source.

In the past few years, VT1 tanks, F2 fighters and other Southeast Asian products have been pouring into the South African National Defense Force. They came here to purchase more weapons and discuss technology transfer.

After the truck gun demonstration, an 8*8 wheeled armored vehicle quickly drove into the venue, attracting everyone's attention. Several South African officers exchanged puzzled looks, and one of them whispered:
"A wheeled armored vehicle? How can its passing performance compare to that of a tracked vehicle on this kind of terrain?"

"Yes, there are still many restrictions on the use of wheeled armored vehicles."

The reason why these South African officers have this stereotype is the impression brought by the American-made M8 Greyhound armored vehicle they use, but that is a wheeled armored vehicle from the World War II era.

Apart from the fact that the wheels look a bit similar, the difference between the two is huge.

Zhang Zhentao, the company's deputy manager, keenly caught their questions, smiled and stepped forward, and began to introduce them in detail:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I know you have some concerns about the passability of wheeled armored vehicles, which is mainly affected by the poor performance of traditional wheeled vehicles. However, technology has been developing since World War II, which has further improved the passability of wheeled armored vehicles.

Compared with traditional wheeled armored vehicles, its passing performance has been specifically enhanced during its design. Not only is the engine more powerful, but the transmission system is also more advanced. At the same time, it also uses new bulletproof tires and a central inflation and deflation system..."

After introducing the new technology used in this wheeled armored vehicle in detail, Zhang Zhentao gave a targeted introduction:
“Moreover, wheeled armored vehicles have unique advantages on the modern battlefield, especially in an environment like Africa.”

In fact, the reason why the military proposed to develop wheeled armored vehicles is directly related to the combat environment faced by the military in East Africa.

Although the military only had the M8 Greyhound armored vehicle at the time, its outstanding performance still made the military very satisfied most of the time.

He paused, glanced at the South African officers present, and continued:
“African battlefields present unique terrain and environmental challenges. Poor road infrastructure, limited access routes, long marching distances, rugged terrain, and limited logistical resources.

In this context, wheeled vehicles offer a greater logistical and strategic advantage. Not only are they 40-60% cheaper, they also last 300% longer, consume 60% less fuel, and have 200-300% longer maintenance intervals.

Additionally, a wheeled vehicle would require a smaller power pack to achieve the same performance as a tracked vehicle.”

These South African soldiers are not unfamiliar with the advantages of wheeled armored vehicles, after all, they also use M8 Greyhounds.

A South African officer frowned and asked:

"But don't tracked vehicles have better passing performance, especially on complex terrain?"

Zhang Zhentao nodded and said calmly:
"Tracked vehicles do perform better on certain terrains, but they also have significant disadvantages. For example, tracked vehicles are more vulnerable to mine explosions, and once the tracks are damaged, the vehicle loses mobility.

After a wheeled armored vehicle triggers a mine, even if it loses one wheel, it can still maintain a certain degree of mobility, which is a huge advantage on the battlefield. "

At this moment, the wheeled armored vehicle began to demonstrate its mobility. It sped along the road, then drove into the mud and trenches, showing its excellent passing performance. The South African officers followed closely, and gradually showed amazement on their faces.

"The passing performance of this vehicle is really unexpected!" a South African officer couldn't help but exclaimed.
"It's incredible that he can be so agile in the mud!"

Another officer nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it is much stronger than I thought. It seems that wheeled armored vehicles do have advantages in African terrain."

What is the terrain of South Africa in particular? It is the arid African grasslands. Those grasslands are flat. Even if there are no roads, wheeled armored vehicles can gallop across the grasslands with their excellent off-road mobility.

The company staff struck while the iron was hot and continued to introduce:

"This wheeled armored vehicle has a combat weight of 19 tons and can carry 12 infantrymen or 8 tons of cargo in addition to the driver and the commander who also serves as the co-driver.

In the future, it will also be equipped with a turret with a 30mm cannon, which can not only destroy light tanks, but even threaten T-55 tanks. Of course, under normal circumstances, our suggestion is to use Predator anti-tank missiles to destroy the enemy's main battle tanks. "

The Predator anti-tank missile is also a well-known product of SEA and the best anti-tank missile in the Western world.

A South African officer couldn't help asking:

"So how does it protect against the elements?"

The company staff smiled and replied:
"What you see now is the basic model. Its front can withstand attacks from 14.5mm machine guns, and its sides can withstand 7.62mm armor-piercing bullets. Although its protection performance is not as good as that of a tank, it can provide good protection for infantry."

It's just an armored vehicle, of course no one would compare it to a tank.

“However, considering the different missions, its body adopts a modular armor design, which can adjust the protection level according to the mission requirements.

That is to add additional bulletproof kits, which are made of armored steel and bulletproof ceramics. After adding the bulletproof kits, the front can withstand 23mm cannon fire and the side can withstand 12.7mm machine gun fire. "

The South African officers nodded one after another. Now they were interested. In fact, after knowing that the range of these two wheeled armored vehicles exceeded 1000 km, these officers became even more interested.

One of them whispered to his companions:

"This vehicle is really suitable for our needs, especially in southern Africa. Once the troops leave the base, they cannot be effectively supplied within hundreds of kilometers, so an ultra-long range is still very necessary."

"Yes, it is indeed very important. Its firepower can even threaten tanks. It should be an armored vehicle that is very suitable for our needs."

Seeing this, Zhang Zhentao immediately added:
"If you are interested, we can arrange further testing to ensure it fully meets your operational requirements.

Testing can be done in South Africa.”

The South African officers exchanged glances, and then the leading officer stepped forward and said solemnly:

“We are indeed very interested in this car and hope to arrange a test soon.”

Zhang Zhentao smiled and nodded:

"Of course, we will arrange it as soon as possible. I believe this car will not disappoint you."

Of course, these guests from South Africa would not disappoint the company. After the test, they signed a letter of intent to purchase 300 to 500 eight-wheeled armored vehicles and put forward some of their requirements, such as adding fire support armored vehicles - that is, models using 90mm tank guns. To a certain extent, what they wanted was a wheeled tank.

For manufacturing companies, customers are God and they will certainly not refuse the requirements of customers. Not only will they not refuse, but they will also further improve their performance to meet the potential needs of customers.

For a wheeled armored vehicle that has already opened up the market before it was even equipped, this can be said to be an unprecedented success.

The South African military's purchase even affected the military's mood - because the military was worried about whether the order production would be affected, it signed a purchase intention of 1000 first with the attitude of striking first.

In this way, a popular wheeled armored vehicle was born. However, for the South African delegation, this is just one of the ones they purchased.

After all, they still need various other weapons.

(End of this chapter)