Chapter 916 - Magnetic Confinement and Plasma

In the warehouse of Camp 27, a seven-meter-long gun barrel was connected to a turret covering an area of ​​more than ten square meters. The middle section of the gun barrel was connected with a hydraulic triangle bracket. With just one look, this cannon seemed to just be “long”, but it was not the case.

The narrow barrel did not emit any physical projectiles. Instead, it was firing magnetically confined plasma particles with a core temperature of several tens of millions of degrees. After being hit by the magnetic field, the plasma confined by the magnetic field relied on its own thermal energy to melt through the metal armor of the target, and at the same time release the electrical energy condensed in the plasma instantaneously to destroy the soft targets and electronic devices in the armored units.

In short, it was a large plasma gun. It was similar to the Type-52 Particle Cannon on the Wanderer tank, but there were many differences in details. However, whether it was the particle cannon or the plasma cannon, both could be regarded as “tank killers” at close-to-medium range!

Speaking of which, the large-scale plasma cannon was completed with the effort of Lin Lin’s research on antimatter technology. Magnetic confinement devices used to encase antimatter could also be used to wrap plasma. The researchers at Camp 27 used Lin Lin’s research results and made further derivation to solve the problem of delays after the magnetic restraint was disengaged from the device.

To solve this problem, it could shoot out the magnetic confinement wrapped with high-temperature plasma as a projectile.

After the researchers at Camp 27 explained the technical elements to Jiang Chen, they immediately entered the weapon testing stage under the General’s command. Several staff members installed the cannon on a truck and moved into the shooting range.

With the project leader Zou Rong coming to the shooting range, Jiang Chen stood behind a bulletproof glass.

Jiang Chen fixed on the large turret in the middle of the field, knocked on the bulletproof glass, and casually asked Zou Rong.

“Why tainted glass?”

“The bullets fired by the cannon can be blinding. The use of tainted glass is for the protection of your eyes,” Zou Rong explained with a smile.

“Weapon testing commence!]

After receiving the order, a NAC soldier stepped forward and connected the wires behind the turret to a tablet terminal. He skillfully set the firing parameters. On the other side of the shooting range, an Grade-A steel plate with a thickness of 200 mm was raised on an open space of about 800 meters away from the turret.

Zou Rong ordered the soldier, who stood ten meters behind the turret, to immediately press the firing button.

With a flash of blinding white light, the plasma cannon suddenly sprayed the energy projectile confined by the magnetic field. Even in daytime, the bright white plasma was burning to a point where it was blinding to look at.

The energy projectile came in contact with the steel and there was hardly any explosion. Escaping from the constraints of the magnetic field, the high-temperature plasma emerged from the tiny space, and melted through the steel with a thickness of nearly 200 mm!

A blue arc that scintillated behind the armor as it spread like a spider web, and instantly penetrated the ground…

Standing behind the tainted glass and witnessing this shocking scene, Jiang Chen’s eyes widened and the expression on his face gradually changed from shock to excitement.

Observing the facial expression on the General’s face, Zou Rong proudly said.

“In the atmosphere, this plasma projectile can only maintain a steady state for a very short time, so the maximum range of this plasma cannon, tentatively named RK-1, is only 800 meters. However, the damage against armored units, as you can see, is astonishing. As long as the projectile hits, disregarding the Wanderer, even if it were a destroyer of the Pan-Asia Cooperation, it would be melted.”

With a range of 800-meter, as long as it hit the body of the armor, it could turn the almost invincible Wanderer into a pile of scrap iron. It may be difficult to approach the 800-meter distance on the plain, but in the urban terrain, an 800-meter battle distance was common.

Prior to this, Jiang Chen was also skeptical about the “technology that will change the course of the war.” However, when he witness the RK-1 plasma projectile penetrate the 200mm steel armor without any suspense, he firmly believed this point.

“How much is the cost of producing this plasma cannon?” Jiang Chen asked Zou Rong.

“With the same production scale, the production cost of this RK-1 is about three times that of the Type-50 Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon.”

Jiang Chen nodded. The cost was within the acceptable range of NAC. In general, costs and production difficulties were also positively correlated. He didn’t care how much money and materials he spent, but if he wanted the Second Army to list this weapon in the war, he must complete production in the shortest possible time.

Without any hesitation, Jiang Chen immediately found Wang Qing and told her to start organizing the production of RK-1. At present, the industrial level of the Sixth Street has begun to take shape, and more critical high-energy capacitors, electromagnetic generating devices, particle acceleration tracks and other parts could all be outsourced to private factories by placing orders.

In order to be able to carry the RK-1 plasma cannon, the engineers at Camp 27 also made some modifications to the Tiger II body. The turret was redesigned while weakening the armor thickness and increasing engine output.

Due to the difficulty of accelerating particles, the barrel of the RK-1 was designed to be very long. If according to the original design of the turret, the barrel would be several meters beyond the body and the entire center of gravity of the tank would be moved to the front.

The engineers at Camp 27 boldly canceled the design of the turret and sank the entire turret into the carriage. They modified the vehicle into a turretless tank destroyer. This design obviously did not match the historical trend, but it was the design that best suited the Second Army..

There was only one chance to fire. If it missed, there was basically no chance of firing a second shot. If the enemy’s particle cannon fired, it made no difference in whether the vehicle was hit on the front armor or the side armor without energy shields, so having a turret did not impact the performance of the vehicle.

The vintage tank was named Longbow I, with 120 vehicles planned. It was estimated that within ten days, 20 vehicles could be sent to the frontline, replacing the powerless Tiger II.

However, in the eyes of most people, this plan was undoubtedly obscure, such as Zhao Group, which contracted 70% of the plan’s production tasks.

Although coveting the profits of this order of over one hundred tanks, Zhao Chenwu was clear that this was almost an impossible task. On the wasteland, not all problems could be solved with “money”.

When leaving the Fishbone Base Community Center, Zhao Chenwu followed Jiang Chen and ranted to him about the difficulty of the task. He tried to persuade the “nonsensical” General to reduce the number of orders.

“We don’t have that much resources at all. If we want to complete all of these orders, we need tens of thousands of tons of steel and aluminum, countless amounts of chromium, nickel, and other rare earth metals. Even if we buy the entire Sixth Street market, we still can’t—”

Woosh!

Without any explanation, Jiang Chen pushed open the door of the Fishbone warehouse. Incandescent lights on the ceiling lit up and illuminated the entire space.

The words Zhao Chenwu hadn’t finish were stuck in his throat, he stared blankly at the warehouse.

Piles of ore piled up to form a small hill in the warehouse. The reflected lights almost blinded his eyes. At this very moment, he could not think about where the ore came from. He just wanted to pinch his own arm and confirm that he was not dreaming…

Turning around, Jiang Chen looked at Zhao Chenwu, who was dumbfounded, and shrugged.

“You may need some trucks.”