From the source, the U.S. Army Armored Forces are actually obsessed with light tanks. Ever since the Army acquired its first tank, mobility has become the focus of the generals.
This concept lasted until World War II, when the United States discovered that the light tanks they were currently equipped with were crap, especially for the European battlefield.
Fortunately, the American armor design concept soon changed, and then began to catch up with the progress. However, after the war, the Americans could still stand in the face of the T54T55 that came out of the Soviet Union. Then, the Soviet Union came up with the amphibious pt76, now the United States can no longer hold back.
Amphibious and air transport, the Soviets could do these things, so we should be able to, so Cadillac came up with the famous 551 Sheridan tank, which is amphibious, can shoot missiles, and can be airdropped. What a great car!
But after the Vietnam War, both the Army and the Marine Corps felt that the Sheridan car was very easy to use, but it had some disadvantages, that is, it was not very easy to use. The aluminum alloy body was too fragile and it was difficult to replace it. In other words, the skin is thin but the filling is big. If you get hit even a little bit, you will get angry. Read the book
Sheridan has been serving in the army for almost ten years. The senior management has never felt that there is any problem. After all, most of the people who can think of the problem are no longer around. In short, the Army and Marine Corps who felt that this car was not good immediately fought. Report.
Congress spends money! I want a new car!
After all, there is always an enemy in this era, so the gentlemen in Congress also know that no matter how hard it is, the Army must not suffer, otherwise what will happen if the Soviets come over and no one resists the line.
Therefore, under the leadership of the National Defense Research Agency, a new light tank proposal was put on the table. Among them, the experimental vehicle produced by aai company barely caught the eye of the military, and it initially passed the chassis test.
But as we all know, during the research and development stage, under normal circumstances, the military will not allocate funds, because no one knows whether the car can be completed. If the money is taken and the project fails, the Congressmen will definitely pull the military leaders away. Guantánamo was eaten alive!
Shepard chose this time. AAI spent millions of dollars on the prototype vehicle. In addition, the vehicle's artillery system required even more investment. Although the company had a great business, it could not withstand such consumption.
Shepard made his debut at this moment. He provided an initial financial support of five million to aai company, which was in urgent need of funds for further research and development.
The aai company, which was short of money, naturally accepted the capital injection from Shadow Company without hesitation. After all, there were not many rip offs who were rushing to give away money, so they had to hurry up.
This money was undoubtedly a timely help for AAI, which had basically completed chassis testing. Later, Shepard took the lead and invited Stoner to design the artillery system for the prototype in the name of Shadow Company.
In fact, AAI originally invited Stoner to design the artillery system of the prototype vehicle, but this time it was Shepard who took the lead. Faced with the invitation from partners, Stoner naturally agreed.
"I didn't expect you to be interested in these things!"
"Men don't have many hobbies, except for guns, that is, cannons. You are so talented in weapon design, you must be able to design an impressive artillery system!"
In KAC's research room, Shepard answered while helping Stoner.
"Really, then you don't have any ideas?"
"I?"
Shepard didn't expect Stoner to ask him this, but he later realized that after all, there was no one in history who was so eager to pursue the admiration of the other party as he was. Although Eugene Stoner was a master of firearms, but now He is also an elderly man and would also like to hear a few good words.
So he immediately bit the bullet and continued copying books.
In his previous life, Shepard was very interested in Eugene Stoner's design concepts, so he consulted information frequently, plus various videos and documents. Now he was not panicking. After clearing his throat with a cough, he started Come on.
"I saw the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's plan. They want a high-speed kinetic energy missile launch system, so I have some ideas!"
Shepard immediately put down what he was holding and began to dance and gesture.
"First of all, because of the size problem, traditional ammunition will definitely not work, so countersunk bullets will be a very good choice. And if the rate of fire is high, then we can use a piston system to directly push out the cartridge case of the previous ammunition with the next round of ammunition. , unmanned turret, external gun bolt, in addition to various fire control systems..."
"What a genius idea!"
Stoner's eyes lit up when he heard this. What Shepard said coincided with him. In fact, these things were designed by him, but they were brought up by Shepard before they were put into practice.
"You are so humble. You must have thought of these things about me!"
Shepard was really embarrassed to be praised by the other party. After all, he copied something and was praised by the original owner. This was really shameless!
Stoner thought more. He and Shepard had the same idea about the new artillery system, so the manufacturing could not be solely handled by his Ares company. Therefore, both KAC and Ares The researchers formed a joint development team, led by Stoner, and began to invest in the research and development of new artillery systems.
Shepard, who was completely just a fake person, was also fortunate to hold an important position among them, but everyone also knew that this guy was good at rhetoric, but in actual operation, he was just a piece of rubbish. Therefore, in terms of specific work, Shepard was not assigned any work at all.
Of course, not assigning work does not mean that Shepard will be relaxed. In fact, his work is the most important, because when it comes to military procurement issues, the joints that need to be opened up are not only the design team, but also the military, just like The shitty three-shot design of the 16a2 rifle was proposed by the military. Therefore, if AAI's prototype vehicle plan wants to be recognized by the military, in addition to its own design meeting the standards, necessary lobbying is also essential!
"As for the Admiralty, it's up to you!"
Shepard also didn't expect that one day the relationship would come to him!
After all, orders from the Marine Corps must be approved by the Navy Department, and when it comes to the Navy Department, no one here is more familiar with it than him.
"Then let me think of a way!"
Shepard could only agree with a wry smile. Although he had never done lobbying before, it shouldn't be difficult to operate. After all, as long as the meaning is in place, the meaning can be whatever you want!
But before that, he had to find someone to help him give advice!
"Prepare me a ticket to Rome!"
