Chapter 991： Armament development

After the groundbreaking ceremony for the first ship of the Imperial Navy's Deutschland-class aircraft carrier, the Deutschland, Qin Tian did not leave the Deutschland Shipyard immediately, but inspected the Imperial Navy's aircraft carrier research institute.

The construction of the "Deutschland-class" aircraft carrier has started, but this does not mean that the German aircraft carrier design has stopped. Even if the "Deutschland-class" aircraft carrier is in service, the German Navy only has ten aircraft carriers, which is far from enough.

"Your Majesty, this is the next-level aircraft carrier of the Imperial Navy. Its full-load displacement will exceed 30,000 tons, reaching about 33,000 tons. It can carry more than 90 carrier-based aircraft. The hull structure and defense power will also be improved. It has been greatly enhanced. The air defense capability is also stronger than that of the previous aircraft carriers." The general in charge of the aircraft carrier research institute introduced to Qin Tian.

Qin Tian nodded in satisfaction. From the appearance point of view, this class of aircraft carrier is very similar to the "Essex class" aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy in another time and space. The combat capabilities in all aspects are also very close. However, devices such as radar and sonar did not appear on this class of aircraft carriers because they were still under study.

However, it is estimated that this class of aircraft carrier will not start construction until three to four years later. At that time, the technology of the empire must have been improved again. Those advanced devices can be used completely.

Because the war is over now, although the relationship between Germany and its opponents is very tense. However, war cannot be fought for a while. This makes the replacement of German military equipment completely unnecessary. In this way, it can ensure that the empire will apply various advanced technologies to the military field. At the same time, the financial pressure on the empire was much less.

"Your Majesty, this class of aircraft carrier has not yet been named, please name them." Marshal Reinhard Scheer said.

Qin Tian thought for a while, and then said: "This class of aircraft carrier should be named 'Constellation Class'! The first batch of four ships are named 'Aries', 'Taurus', 'Gemini' and 'Cancer' respectively. 'No. In the future, this level of aircraft carrier will be improved, and then subsequent models will be built. For example, the second batch of 'Constellation-class' aircraft carriers can add an angled deck to recover landing aircraft. In this way If this is the case, it will certainly cause some problems for the navigation of the aircraft carrier. However, it can greatly enhance the efficiency of the aircraft carrier's take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft, thereby enhancing combat capabilities."

Qin Tian's suggestion made the engineers' eyes shine. At present, their thinking is almost still in designing the aircraft carrier to be larger so that it can carry more carrier-based aircraft, so as to improve the combat capability of the aircraft carrier in this way. But Qin Tian's suggestion made them see another direction of development, which is to improve the take-off and landing efficiency of aircraft carriers through other methods. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier will also be greatly improved.

"In addition, when designing a new aircraft carrier, don't forget to adopt more new technologies. Only in this way, our aircraft carrier will always be ahead of other countries." Qin Tian continued.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone replied.

Marshal Reinhard Scheer, Minister of the Imperial Navy, already had a smile on his face. Qin Tian named the next level of aircraft carrier 'Constellation-level', which means that at least 12 aircraft carriers will be built! Although it is divided into three batches, and one batch will be built in three to four years, it will be completed in almost ten years! In that case, it means that the number of aircraft carriers of the German Navy will increase to 22. Of course, the 'Pioneer-class' aircraft carrier that first entered service may have already been decommissioned, and even the 'Wilhelm the Great-class' aircraft carrier will be decommissioned and sealed. However, the strength of the German Navy's aircraft carrier fleet is still the most powerful in the world.

Qin Tian also had his considerations in doing this. It's almost 1918 now. When the "Deutschland-class" aircraft carrier enters service, I am afraid it will have to wait until 1921 or even 1922. Once the subsequent twelve "Constellation-class" aircraft carriers enter service, it may not be until 1932. At that time, international relations should also be very tense. At that time, the "Constellation-class" battleship and subsequent aircraft carriers will become the main force of the German Navy in the war. Start building now and accumulate more experience from it, which will allow Germany to build more powerful aircraft carriers faster after the war breaks out.

In another time and space, after the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Navy suffered heavy losses under the sneak attack of the island navy. In order to regain control of the Pacific Ocean, didn't they build the "Essex-class" aircraft carrier like dumplings? At that time, Germany will definitely further speed up the construction of aircraft carriers. Only in that way can Germany be guaranteed victory in future wars.

After returning to Berlin from the Deutsche Shipyard, Qin Tian inspected the Deutsche Heavy Machinery Factory non-stop. Although, this is also Qin Tian's property. But at the same time, the German Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Plant has become the main supplier of armored weapons for the German Army. The tanks and armored vehicles used by the German army in the last world war were almost designed and manufactured by this factory. After the war, the German Heavy Machinery Factory also started the development of new tanks.

At Qin Tian's request, they began to study medium tanks and heavy tanks respectively. As for light tanks, they are fast though. But the firepower is weak, the armor is weak, and there is no survivability on the battlefield. Therefore, the German army directly abandoned light tanks.

Medium tanks, dubbed the title of 'Leopard', will be named after 'Leopard 1', 'Leopard 2', 'Leopard 3'...etc. Heavy tanks are dubbed "Tiger" and named after "Tiger 1", "Tiger 2", "Tiger 3". Of course, whether there will be main battle tanks in the future depends on the development of technology.

In addition to tanks, armored combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers are also the direction of development. Qin Tian hopes that before the outbreak of future wars, the German Army can be motorized, and a small number of elite troops can be mechanized. At least those armored divisions must be fully mechanized. Only in this way can it be ensured that the German Army will defeat powerful enemies one by one on the future battlefield.

The Imperial Air Force is also taking the time to study new fighters, bombers and ground attack aircraft. In particular, single-wing all-metal fighters and long-range strategic bombers have become the focus of research.