Judging from the readings in Weiss's special field of view, this silver winged aircraft has 15-16 members, and it flies faster than those common flying ships, and has a certain amount of self-defense firepower, and the corresponding protection ability is not as good as that of a flying ship, but it is stronger than any previous aircraft.

Without waiting for the aircraft to land, Weiss asked the management of the Belakaser airport to check the Norman reports. According to the archives, the Normans registered that a light aircraft would arrive today, of the type "Small Cargo Vehicle", carrying a smaller capacity than the smallest transport, and was registered as "Meteor 1". In the international airport trade agreement, there is no agreement on what tonnage or volume the carrier must reach, and the Normans need to complete the corresponding registration and reporting procedures to let the aircraft land in Belakasser, and occupy a arrival quota - of course, only a reasonable allocation is required, and its "cutting in line" will not affect the normal trade transportation, and the Normans will send a larger tonnage transport every other day to make up for the day's traffic gap.

Weiss stood on the second-floor terrace of the office building, looking at the silver flying machine that was getting closer and closer. The airport was intended for flying ships, and there was no regular airstrip for aircraft to take off and land, and it maintained its original speed until it approached the airport, slowing down, and then landing in the transport area in a manner that was different from that of airplanes and flying ships. It was only then that Weiss could see the form of the comer: unlike the long-range planes developed by the Star Group, this silver flying machine did not have particularly wide wings, but resembled a fish on the bottom of the sea, and the pair of short wings were designed to maintain balance rather than gain levitation power, indicating that it was still essentially a flying machine that used star source stones to provide floating power. It has two engines, and the size of the propeller also seems to be smaller than that of the Star Group, and the propeller is mounted behind the engine, creating a backward propulsion. Its body resembles an elegant barracuda, or it can be seen as an enlarged spindle, and its tail is triangular, which generally resembles a Q version of an airplane from the comics.

Perhaps in order to maintain a streamlined form, or perhaps due to technical concerns, this silver aircraft was not equipped with a round machine gun turret, but instead set up firing windows throughout the fuselage, and at first glance there were about twenty of them, which should be equipped with machine guns or machine guns of medium caliber or above. For flying warships, these weapons can only scratch the itch of the boot, but there is still room for dealing with equally highly maneuverable fighters.

Reminiscent of the announcement of the Norman Empire a few days ago, Weiss couldn't help but wonder if the so-called space shuttle was this thing? This thing in front of me is indeed one level higher than the previous aircraft, but it does not seem to have a completely enclosed structure, perhaps that thing is based on this to further improve the enclosed and high-altitude performance, coupled with auxiliary rocket thrusters, so that it has the ability to fly in the atmosphere with conventional power, and use the rocket to help rush out of the atmosphere for a short space trip.

With Ballas, the entire Belakaser airport is busy again. Instead of going to dinner, Weiss typed on a typewriter in the makeshift office and compiled a written report of Gunnival's activities in Bela Casser and her meeting with Bass, and reported it to the Office of the President of the Federation and the Federal Security Inspectorate. He was originally well-intentioned in this matter, but private contact with the Normans was a very sensitive matter in the Commonwealth, and it was also a taboo in military and political circles. They can testify to each other in Octavier's presence, but Octavir hasn't come yet, so he has to avoid being alone with Ballas as much as possible, and justify his actions by reporting it in a timely manner, so as not to face an unknown death in the future.

Because of some temporary tasks, Octavir arrived in Belakaser at noon the next day, and the special commissioner of the Federal Security Inspectorate arrived at about this time. After all the formalities were completed, Weiss was relieved to meet with Prince Ballas again. As always, he didn't take a detour, but picked out the problem. Ballas, still answering in an ambiguous manner, told Weiss that the space explorer was real, and that it did leave the atmosphere and enter space. He can vouch for this with his reputation, and as for the details, he can't reveal them because they involve confidentiality.

This time, Barras stayed in Bellakaser for three days and two hours less, a full day shorter than the previous one. Weiss observes that this guy seems to have nothing to do, and spends all day with Gunnevere, but in reality he is not completely oblivious to affairs. After his arrival in Belakasser, the number of telegrams received and sent by the Norman administrators increased dramatically, although the codes were encrypted.

While deciphering the code is a very difficult task, and in peacetime the military is less funded than in wartime, the radio listening and deciphering services appear to have been reduced in size. Weiss asked for help from the Federal Security Inspectorate, who sent a radio detachment. Before Prince Barras left, the team had not yet achieved much, but Weiss believed that efforts from various channels and details would eventually pay off.

During his stay in Barras, Weiss met with him three times, all of which took advantage of the opportunity of breakfast to have some conversation. It's hard to get some truth out of this smart man's mouth, and sometimes it's easy to be led astray by him, but it's better to have communication than closed speculation. At least judging by the self-confidence shown by Baras, the Norman Empire must have been constantly digesting and absorbing the fruits of the last major discovery. If they are allowed to continue, maybe a few years, maybe a dozen years. They will have a great advantage in the field of technology, and then this advantage will be reflected in military strategy.

Just a few days after Weiss returned from Bellakaser, Nikolai came to Lorraine and told him in person that the Federal Military Commission had issued a tender for the design of the space vehicle to the two most powerful conglomerates in the field of aviation machinery, Starry Sky and Doson, requiring them to come up with a short-term achievable design within three months, and the winning party would receive 20,000 gold crowns of special research and development funds and a "5+20" guaranteed order, that is, at least 5 test machines and 20 small batch production machines.

20,000 gold crowns, enough for the people of Lorraine to build twenty or thirty artificial canals, or to provide sufficient financial support for their ten-year development plan, and this is only a special research and development fund, the later testing machine and small batch production machine will also pay the order fee according to a certain percentage of the cost increase, not to mention the expected profit, at least in terms of scale, this is a considerable "big order"!

Nikolai came to Weiss, not to talk about cooperation, but to hear his thoughts on space vehicles and see if he could give him some inspiration. She said that after receiving the military's design proposal for bidding, the core technical personnel of the Star Group were "brainstorming", and various ideas confused people's eyes and made her feel pressured. Of course, if Weiss didn't have a solid idea here, she would have come out for a walk and look for inspiration.

Hearing this, Weiss was calm from head to toe, not to mention anything else, he is still quite good at making suggestions and coming up with ideas in the field of science and technology, and he is more reliable than the vast majority of people on this planet.

"Not long after the end of the war, a new round of military competition began. The development of armaments is undoubtedly the most expensive in all fields, 20,000 gold crowns...... How many things can be used for it? In my estimation, the federal government will spend much more than that, maybe 50 or 100 times more than that. Weiss didn't rush to give his good friend an idea, but sent a sigh of emotion.

"In the Leibold era, the federal government was generally able to exercise restraint, but now ......" Nikolai shook his head helplessly, "Forget it, don't talk about these boring things, let's get down to business!" I have an idea, with our current technical conditions, the only thing that can send a vehicle into space is the Star Source Stone. In an environment without air, the engine cannot work, and after flying out of the atmosphere, our aircraft either use compressed air to drive the engine to provide power, or use batteries to provide power, or both, but the limit time for them to maintain the operation of the Star Source Stone is only a quarter of an hour, which is too short! ”

"Yes, under the existing conditions, the general direction you consider is correct, we have no other way, I suspect that the so-called space vehicle of the Normans is also designed and manufactured according to this idea, before I made a simple calculation, from the limit altitude of the normal vehicle to leave the atmosphere, the shortest only takes twenty minutes, and the gap between the quarter of an hour you calculated is not much, and it should be bridged by some technical means. I think the biggest problem right now is ...... What is the practical significance of making such a space vehicle? Converting altitude advantage into relative air supremacy? Weiss mused.

Nikolai did not answer this question, but wondered to himself: "After going into space, can the aircraft maintain its existing altitude without power, like the first gliders?" No, there's no air, there's no way to glide. ”

In Weiss's view, the technology of artificial satellites and space stations will become very mature in the near future, and there is essentially no difference between being carried by rockets or spacecraft. So, he said to Nikolai: "You can get a positive answer to this question from the point of view of physics...... Yes, it can maintain unpowered flight under certain conditions, even if the Star Stone is not functional. Well, this is knowledge in the field of space physics, I think it seems to be called a space orbit or something, you can ask top physics experts for advice. ”

Nikolai pondered, "But even if you can let it stay in space for a while, even for three or four days, what is the actual use?" From an altitude of 100,000 feet or more, it is difficult to see the ground even with a telescope with the maximum magnification. Or, go over the enemy's head and attack from the very top of the enemy target? If you drop a bomb at such a high place, the hit rate should be very bad, and if you enter the atmosphere and attack again, what is the difference between it and an ordinary aircraft? ”

Seeing her distressed, Weiss enlightened, "Want to know the answers to these questions? Ask Professor Yang to recommend one or two top physics experts, and then be a student and listen to their professional insights on the subject. ”

Nikolai nodded: "Together?" ”

She, the technical director, is very comfortable most of the time, and Weiss, the governor of Lorraine, is not too difficult to get on track with various affairs, so he said: "Let's go!" ”