After Shepard left the matter in Mozambique to Plomri to deal with the aftermath, he returned to the United States. The light tank project that he currently has high hopes for has finally taken shape. Not only has the artillery system and turret been installed, but the power system of the vehicle has also been installed. The combination is also completed, and then it’s time for the long actual vehicle test.
"The Marine Corps feels good about our vehicle, but I don't know how the Army does?"
"It shouldn't matter to the Army!"
Shepard is still very optimistic about the plan. The light tank is really useful. Otherwise, why would the United States take up this project again and develop a new light tank?
That thing is too weirdly long, and the price is not low, one costs 12.9 million US dollars. At the same time, the main battle tanks of other countries only cost a few million, and even the large tanks carefully crafted by Japanese tank immortals The Type 10, the decisive battle tank in East Asia, only costs US$8.4 million.
For this kind of price, Shepard can only say that democratic tanks are expensive, but in this life, he would like to be as expensive as possible. After all, how can he make money if it is not expensive?
The product code name of aai company is hs-l. Compared with the so-called tank, most people may think that the appearance of this thing is more like a flying saucer at first impression.
Because of considerations such as protection and concealment, this car is very low and looks like a flat box, but this box has a very wild heart. The powerful av650 gas turbine can make this twenty-ton The guy ran at a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour.
In addition, this car also uses a lot of advanced technologies in the 1980s, such as black and white thermal imaging, laser ranging, and unmanned turrets. Of course, the most advanced technology is naturally designed by Stoner. That black technology artillery piece.
Now that all the systems are ready, it’s time to start the first actual test!
As for the tank test site, it is definitely not the Aberdeen weapons proving ground. It is the place for final testing. Any vehicle must be tested elsewhere first, and only after confirming that it meets Party A's needs, will a good day be selected for testing in Aberdeen. Bertin conducts testing. Once the testing is completed, it can be directly accepted for production.
The test site was in the desert of Nevada. Shepard surrounded a large area of desert with nothing but a lot of sand. He originally planned to turn it into a mercenary training camp, but later, this place became It has become a special testing ground for Knight's ordnance, a place where tanks can be used to shoot guns. Even Stoner couldn't help but want to praise Shepard's generosity.
Before dawn, a convoy entered the desert and stopped at a military airport in the middle of the desert that had obviously been abandoned for a long time. Then, armed guards carrying only submachine guns and light firepower quickly got out of the car and began to attack the airport. After cleaning up and confirming that there were no suspicious targets nearby, a heavy-duty flatbed truck covered with a raincoat entered the scene escorted by several other jeeps.
As the rain cover was lifted, the hsl test vehicle that had completed system integration appeared in front of everyone.
"How is the protection of this car?"
Because it was the first test, there were no big leaders from the military, only a Navy colonel and an Air Force lieutenant colonel. Although these two people knew nothing about tanks, they also knew that the protection of armored vehicles was important.
"The protection can only be said to be acceptable, because of its good bulletproof appearance. In theory, those fin-stabilized armor-piercing bullets will be bounced off by the armor!"
"Theoretically, haven't you tested it?"
The air force lieutenant colonel looked puzzled, and then the test supervisor of AAI said leisurely.
"Lieutenant Colonel Brody, this prototype has cost us seven million dollars so far!"
The latter suddenly realized it and stopped talking about the live ammunition test.
It was a test vehicle that cost seven million dollars to build, and there was only one. No one would be stupid enough to use it for attack testing, at least not now.
Because it is considered the first real vehicle test, there are not many projects that HSL has to carry out, including passing performance, weapon performance and so on.
The commander of the tank is also from Shadow Company. He is Captain Yandel who performed very well in Angola. He is a veteran of the armored force. In addition, there are two personnel responsible for the tank.
The driver and gunner were both armored soldiers, but they were only serving the AAI company. Although they had different affiliations, after many days of running-in and simulated driving, the crew members had a lot of tacit understanding.
After the ground crew completed the inspection, the crew immediately started the vehicle. With the roar of the gas turbine, the test vehicle then rushed out of the parking area like a wild horse, heading towards the distance and the complex terrain modified by the engineering team for testing. District killed him.
Although it was the first time to go into battle, the gas turbine and the car's suspension system performed very well. The driver drove this thing for more than 20 kilometers, and the dark green body was dyed khaki by the sand.
Of course, these twenty kilometers are just an appetizer. For a tank to pass the acceptance inspection, it must at least run thousands of kilometers or more. Of course, it is definitely not enough at one time. Not to mention maintenance issues, the tank's fuel tank alone cannot hold it. Housing consumption, let alone gas turbines, which are big oil eaters.
To put it bluntly, the maneuver at the beginning was just a warm-up. Next, the crew drove the test vehicle and started to perform other projects, such as maneuvers in various states. During this period, the test vehicle completed these projects normally. The naval officer watching on the side He nodded repeatedly with the Air Force officer. After all, an expert is a spectator and a layman is a spectator. Just like Shepard, he was very satisfied just seeing this thing running and fighting. As for the other things, it had nothing to do with him!
After completing the preliminary maneuver test, the test vehicle conducted a firing test. Because it was the first time to fire the gun, the gunner was still a little nervous. He aimed at the huge target one thousand meters away for a long time. Yandel was a little impatient. Then he used the commander's fire control in front of him to take over the gunner's work. Because it was daytime, he did not turn on the thermal imaging. Instead, he simply used the fire control's laser ranging to measure the distance. Then, based on the cross wind, he After making slight adjustments to other factors, Yandel pressed the gun button.
The sound of the 75mm artillery firing was not too loud, but it was enough to make all the men present excited. Everyone stood up, holding binoculars and eagerly looking at the target in the distance, and saw a target that was almost the size of a jeep appearing on the paper. Got a small black eye.
"The first shot hit, okay!"
"Yes, so far it seems that this new type of tank is pretty good!"...
"Indeed, judging from the current situation, this project should be stable!"
