The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 971: 728: Test-2 Missile (3/3 Update)

Chapter 971: Chapter 728: Test-2 Missile (3/3 Update)

As April 1929 approached, preparations were underway for several kingdoms to be established in the United States region.

The British had implemented military control over New York, which barely suppressed the continuous protests occurring there.

ngine serving as the foundation for the missile’s propulsion.

The ground-launched missile is 8.7 meters long and weighs 7.9 tons, capable of carrying nearly a ton of explosives.

Given the missile’s power system, the ground-launched version can achieve a maximum flight altitude of 17.5 kilometers and a range of up to 240 kilometers, allowing it to strike targets in marine, terrestrial, and aerial domains from a distance.

However, due to the underdeveloped technology, this missile doesn’t have much targeting ability, and the final explosion site might deviate by hundreds of meters to several kilometers from the intended target.

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Yes, the deviation can be that outrageous.

If the weather is good and no accidents occur during the missile launch, the deviation might be within one kilometer.

But if any accidents happen, the deviation will basically exceed one kilometer.

This means that this version of the missile is more suited for striking ground troops, urban cities, and important areas—large targets—as the hit rate for small targets like aircraft and warships would be worrying.

t and airships shouldn’t be an issue. But poor targeting could mean the missile could end up anywhere, even exploding amidst a crowd of people.

Arthur was very interested in both versions of the missile.

To personally experience the power and hit rate of both missiles, Arthur decided to conduct a test launch and assessment of the two missiles in the mountainous areas of Australasia.

Although the destructive power of the missiles was still impressive, a 17% hit rate meant that to effectively destroy the enemy’s industrial area and ground troops, a large number of missiles would have to be deployed.

In other words, if the quality is inadequate, rely on quantity: launch hundreds of missiles in each bombing run, and dozens of them are bound to hit the target.

The downside to this approach is the financial pressure. After all, the missiles contain air jet engines, plus gunpowder and various other components, making the cost of each missile close to 12,000 Australian dollars.

To have at least a hundred missiles hit the enemy’s targets, at least 600 missiles would have to be fired, which means a cost of 7.2 million Australian dollars.

However, if one thinks about it, being able to destroy the enemy’s industrial base or massively harming the enemy’s ground troops means that even a cost of several million Australian dollars is not a problem.

It can only be said that war is indeed too expensive, whether the wars of now or of a hundred years later, they all represent a huge financial burden for countries.

Although the current war does not involve a massive use of high-tech weapons, the fund needed for the war is also substantial.

The military expenditures of the powers during World War I were calculated in hundreds of billions of US dollars, and even with their vast colonies, Britain and France could only sustain it for a few years.

Now that tanks and airplanes have become one of the mainstream weapons for various countries, the next large-scale war will consume even more funds, making war a last resort for countries without colonies and backup markets.

llions of Australian dollars, which is nearly equivalent to 1,000 missiles.

This doesn’t even account for the cost of training navy soldiers and the daily maintenance of the warships.

If 1,000 small missiles could take out one enemy main battleship, then strategically speaking, it was undoubtedly worth it.

After all, manufacturing missiles is much simpler than building warships, which can be used immediately once produced.

The construction of a single main battleship takes at least nearly two years, so the investment in time for both parties is completely disproportionate, and in war, time is the most important factor.