Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

The larger the caliber, the greater the power, but the slower the rate of fire. A 30mm autocannon can use a belt feed, firing in bursts, but if you increase it to 40mm, it has to be a magazine feed. Five rounds per magazine, loaded into the ammo box, and you can only fit five or six magazines at most, which isn't very sustainable. Of course, the specific choice depends on the needs.

Qin Yang didn't need to overthink it. Since the later-generation Type 09 infantry fighting vehicle used a 30mm autocannon, they would use a 30mm autocannon as well, striking a perfect balance between rate of fire and power.

"Although the autocannon doesn't have a large caliber, it still needs to be mounted on a turret, capable of all-around firing, especially the ability to fire on the move. We can just transplant the down-stabilized image fire control system from our tanks."

All-around firing is easy; as long as there's a rotating turret, it can fire in all directions. But firing on the move is more complicated. To have this capability, you need a stabilized image fire control system.

The turret must be stable. During movement, no matter how bumpy the vehicle is, the gun barrel must always face the target, and the sight must also be stable, providing a clear and steady view regardless of the vehicle's shaking.

This requires transplanting the entire system from a tank.

"In recent years, we've matured the development of the stabilized image system, and the cost won't be high during mass production," said Elder Zhu. "I think it can be added."

Previous armored personnel carriers simply mounted a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, relying on luck to hit anything. Now, advanced fire control is needed to complete the aiming and firing tasks.

"A 30mm autocannon is sufficient for conventional infantry fighting vehicles," Qin Yang continued, introducing his vision. However, this was just the basic model; there would be other versions, such as an armored personnel carrier with just a machine gun.

They were currently discussing the standard model, and next would come a simplified model, adding a machine gun to make up the numbers. The advantage of this, of course, was the lower cost.

The Eastern Army has a massive scale. Once they start replacing equipment, it could involve hundreds or even thousands of vehicles. Look at a certain automaker in later generations; they even used drum brakes on the rear wheels, saving thirty yuan each. With hundreds of thousands of vehicles, that could save tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in expenses.

For the stripped-down version, a machine gun would suffice, as it's mainly for transportation and not for the battlefield.

"If there's a low-end version, there's also a high-end version. Our high-end version will be equipped with a 105mm tank gun, serving as a wheeled tank destroyer on the battlefield. Once it encounters enemy tanks or armored vehicles, it can take them out from two thousand meters away."

Wheeled armored vehicles can also be equipped with tank guns. Qin Yang had already mentioned this at the beginning, but he had only briefly introduced it. Now, he was going to explain it in detail.

"On the battlefield, tank destroyers are also a very important type of vehicle. We can look at World War II. In the later stages, the main equipment produced by Germany was tank destroyers."

In the early stages of World War II, Germany had enough resources to start building all kinds of high-end equipment. Whether it was the Tiger or the King Tiger, they were invincible on the battlefield.

However, as the quality increased, the quantity decreased. This was a trade-off. The old Soviets on the other side adopted quantity tactics, using tank swarms to besiege German tank units.

Of course, they had to carry a large gun. As tank armor became thicker and thicker, the caliber of the guns mounted on German tank destroyers also became larger and larger. 75mm became standard, and there were even 88mm and 100mm versions. To simplify the vehicle body, the Germans didn't even install a turret, relying on the rotation of the tracks on both sides to adjust the angle, essentially a vehicle carrying an anti-tank gun.

Our wheeled infantry fighting vehicle can't be too shabby; it also needs to have a powerful enough gun. Looking at the domestic arsenal, of course, it's the 105mm tank gun. This thing has been modified to the extreme in the East. Although the firepower isn't as good as 120mm and 125mm guns, it's enough to tear through the frontal armor of potential enemy tanks.

A wheeled infantry fighting vehicle carrying a 105mm tank gun, converted into an advanced self-propelled anti-tank gun, is also quite important. It can usually accompany wheeled vehicles forward, and if it encounters danger, it can temporarily resist, not requiring it to completely annihilate the enemy, just scaring them away.

The crowd nodded. The East has always advocated firepower, putting mobility and protection aside; firepower must be the strongest. Under this demand, the high-end version with the 105mm gun will certainly be quickly approved.

"With all of these, the other solutions can be left to the brother units."

"President Qin, are you going to be a hands-off manager?" Everyone was very curious.

"Our energy is limited," Qin Yang said. "We can't possibly take all the projects onto ourselves. We provide the chassis, and if the brother units want to modify anything, they can modify it themselves."

Historically, the Type 09 infantry fighting vehicle had more than forty modified versions, of which only three or four were modified by the design unit, and the rest were improved by users according to their needs.

Of course, being able to modify it boldly also has a prerequisite.

"When developing this wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, we will adopt a modular approach," Qin Yang continued. "The entire vehicle is divided into six modules: the power module, the transmission module, the control module, the suspension module, the chassis, and the weapon module. Users can replace the corresponding modules according to their needs."

The most important, of course, is the weapon module. As long as it's designed according to the reserved modules, users can get the weapon equipment they want. They can install whatever they want. If they want air defense, they can install air defense missiles. If they want to fight tanks, they can install anti-tank missiles. They can even install a drone module if they want to use drones, and so on.

The next is the power module.

The existing power is still not strong enough. If a heavy-load solution is used, or if it's to be used on the plateau, the power may be stretched, and a power system replacement will be needed at this time.

Making it modular will naturally make the overall replacement easier and more convenient. When the new Deutz or self-developed engine comes out, as long as it's designed according to the module, it can be easily inserted.

The suspension module is reserved. In the future, if you want to use air-liquid suspension, you can also replace this new suspension to further improve off-road comfort.