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Chapter 1798: The King of Land War (Third update, please subscribe)

Changan, Sany Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Nanyang Defense Industries Co., Ltd.)

The dazzling sunlight shone on the company's experimental field, and suddenly the silence on the test field was interrupted by a burst of noise.

The roar of the engine echoed across the land, and the tracks rolled over the soft soil, stirring up clouds of dust. Australian Prime Minister John Gorton and his accompanying officers stood on the viewing platform, their eyes fixed on the VT2 main battle tank in the distance.

"Gentlemen, please look at its maneuverability."

The engineer pressed the radio and issued a brief command.

In an instant, the tank accelerated suddenly like a beast out of a cage!
At this moment, the tank, which had been stationary, suddenly started to move. The tracks dug into the muddy ground like crazy, and the heavy tank body was as agile as a cheetah, speeding across the undulating test field.

It easily crushes obstacles, and its body tilts slightly when turning sharply, but it does not slow down at all. No matter how bumpy it is, its gun barrel always points steadily in the direction of the target.

"Oh my god, that must be 30 miles per hour!"

An Australian colonel widened his eyes and subconsciously looked at his watch to estimate.

He had never seen any tank that could travel so fast in such off-road conditions.

The engineer at the side smiled slightly, with pride in his tone:

"In fact, its 1500-horsepower diesel engine allows it to reach a top speed of 72 kilometers per hour - which is even faster than some countries' armored vehicles."

The officers gasped and exchanged shocked looks. But the more shocking thing was yet to come.

After the maneuverability demonstration, the tank did not shut down, but turned around and drove straight towards the viewing platform. As the distance got closer, someone suddenly pointed at the gun barrel and exclaimed:

"What's on that?!"

At once, everyone looked in the direction of his finger.

In the sunlight, a glass full of beer was placed steadily on top of the muzzle!
The tank did not slow down at all, and the body of the tank shook violently when the tracks rolled over the potholes, but the golden liquid in the wine glass did not move at all, as if it was under a spell, and not even a drop of foam splashed out.

"This is impossible..." a major general muttered, his hands unconsciously holding the railing.

The engineer duly explained:
"The hydraulic suspension system and gun stabilization system allow the gun barrel to remain absolutely stable during high-speed maneuvers - in other words, it can accurately hit the target while charging at full speed."

Prime Minister Gorton looked at the steel behemoth approaching, the beer cup on the barrel gleaming in the sun. He heard the officers behind him exclaiming in amazement, some even unconsciously stepped forward, as if they wanted to touch this mechanical miracle with their own hands.

When the tank finally stopped in front of the viewing stand, they even saw the gun barrel shake slightly at the moment it stopped, but the beer cup at the muzzle remained firmly there.

"my Lord!"

A major couldn't help but make the sign of the cross. They just stared at the armor of the steel behemoth in front of them. The thick tank armor was shining with a cold metallic luster.

Australian Prime Minister John Gorton stood among a group of officers and engineers, staring at the prototype of the VT2 main battle tank in front of him.

Although the development of the VT2 main battle tank began three years ago, this is the first time it has been presented to the world.

Its huge body, angular wedge-shaped turret, and the sturdy-looking main gun all demonstrate its dominance as the king of land warfare.

"Mr. Prime Minister, this tank uses composite armor, and its protection capability far exceeds any main battle tank currently in service."

All these Australian officers asked with some confusion.

"Composite armor? What kind of armor is this?"

The engineer pushed up his glasses, his tone slightly smug.

It is the world's first tank to use composite armor. Compared with traditional armor steel, ceramic materials have the characteristics of high hardness, high strength, especially at high temperatures, and low density, so they can provide higher protection capabilities at a lighter weight.

Moreover, the bulletproof ceramics used are the latest new generation bulletproof ceramics developed, not the alumina ceramics that have been used as early as World War II.

Advanced composite armor gives it unprecedented protection.

The engineer raised his mouth and said with some pride:
"It is a new type of armor. It is not just traditional steel armor. It has multiple layers of bulletproof ceramics and other composite materials with different structures. The use of new composite armor makes its armor-piercing protection equivalent to 550 mm armor..."

Before he could finish, an officer exclaimed:
“Oh my god, 550mm, is this true?”

"The protection against armor-piercing shells is equivalent to more than 800 mm! We have made rigorous calculations and there is absolutely no problem!" For a moment, everyone was silent. How could they not know what these numbers meant? Even if the Australians used imperial units, they could easily convert them. Such powerful protection meant that it would be indestructible!

All this is entirely due to this latest composite armor, which was simply unimaginable in the era of steel armor. No one would suspect that they were falsifying the data. After all, if they were to purchase this type of tank, they would definitely conduct targeted experiments, including experiments on its protective capabilities.

Seeing everyone's incredible expressions, the engineer continued to introduce:

"Its 1500 horsepower diesel engine allows it to maintain high-speed maneuverability in complex terrain..."

Although the diesel engine he used was further improved based on the AVDS-1790 diesel engine produced under license in the United States.

But not only does it have 1500 horsepower, it also inherits the advantages of high reliability of an air-cooled engine.

Coupled with the high-performance transmission system, all of this gives him unprecedented maneuverability.

"And the fire control system is even more revolutionary. With the advanced artillery stabilization system and the use of multiple sensors, its first-shot hit rate exceeds 90%. At the same time..."

The engineer patted the barrel of the gun and said:

"The gun it uses is also an unprecedented 120mm smoothbore gun."

"Smoothbore gun? Like the T62 tank?"

They are not unfamiliar with the Soviet T62 tank, which is also an extremely powerful tank. They even know the T64 tank. The biggest feature of these two tanks is that they both use smoothbore guns.

Compared with rifled guns, smoothbore guns are more powerful and more suitable for firing fin-stabilized armor-piercing projectiles. This is also the fundamental reason why Soviet tanks currently have an advantage over NATO.

"Yes, but it is more powerful. The fin-stabilized armor-piercing projectile it fires can penetrate 2000mm thick homogeneous armor at 350 meters."

In fact, this 120mm smoothbore tank gun is not mature enough at present, and it is not even a product of SEA. Last year, after the Kpz70 tank project jointly developed by West Germany and the United States was terminated, the military proposed a joint development plan to West Germany, which is different from the United States' insistence on using missile tank guns when developing tanks.

The SEA military was very interested in the high-pressure 120mm smoothbore tank gun that West Germany was developing. After the Kpz70 tank project was terminated, SEA expressed its willingness to jointly develop a 120mm smoothbore tank gun with Rheinmetall. The two sides then launched technical cooperation and continued to develop this smoothbore tank gun.

Finally, with the joint efforts of both parties, the prototype of the Rh-120/L44 smoothbore gun was launched. Its performance surpassed the L7 tank gun in all aspects, and its ballistic performance was about 7% higher than that of the L3A60, but its shell size and recoil were almost the same as those of the L7A3. The Nanyang Defense Equipment Company, which already had the world's most advanced fin-stabilized armor-piercing projectile technology, developed a fin-stabilized armor-piercing projectile for it, which could penetrate the front armor of all active tanks at a distance of 2000 meters.
It can be said that this tank is definitely the most advanced tank in the world. Of course, what appears before them now is just a prototype.

“It is indeed an excellent tank.”

Gorton nodded slightly. Although he was a pilot, he was a soldier and could still distinguish good from bad. In fact, anyone could see how excellent this guy's performance was. He turned his head to look at the army generals beside him and found that their eyes had long been firmly attracted by this steel beast.

"My God, this thing is much stronger than our 'Centurion'!"

An army colonel exclaimed in a low voice, rubbing his fingers together unconsciously, like a little boy seeing his favorite toy.

"If all European tank forces are equipped with it, then the Russian tank forces will be nothing to mention!"

Another officer grinned, his eyes gleaming with desire. Although this place is far away from Europe, Australians still care about it very much.

At this moment, they even saw the scene of this tank dominating the European battlefield.

Gorton's mouth curled up slightly, and he began to calculate the military budget in his mind. He knew that these officers had only one thought in their minds at this moment - "We must have it!"

In that case, buy it!
"Mr. Engineer, when can you complete its development?"

In response to the Australian Prime Minister's question, the engineer answered truthfully:
"This is just a prototype. It still has many subsystems under development. We will probably need another three years to conduct further tests and adjustments."

"That means it can be put into active service in three years?"

"In theory, there is really no problem!"

"Well, I think we can come to an agreement."

Yes, they would definitely be able to reach an agreement. There was no need to have any doubts anymore. Just by looking at the expressions of the officers accompanying him, he could almost understand everything.

These guys have been completely attracted by the tank in front of them. They are like children seeing their favorite toys and have been conquered by this new toy.

Okay, the remaining issue is signing the letter of intent.

(End of this chapter)