Xiao Weiguo continued: "We have to be responsible for the development and production of the hull and turret of the new tank, after all, we are the general contracting company, and the final assembly and production of the new tank in the future will also be dominated by us." The hull and turret of the tank are the shields of the tank, which are used to defend against the enemy's various weapons, protect the crew, weapons and internal equipment of the tank from damage as much as possible, or even if it is damaged to a certain extent, it can continue to work normally, so that the tank can continue to fight, and in the worst case, it is necessary to be able to ensure that the tank does not explode and ignite. I considered using a part of the high-strength aluminum alloy armor on the 15-ton light tank, which would effectively reduce the weight of the hull and prevent the loss of protection. ”

Karl said: "The cost of aluminum alloy is more expensive, and it can only be tried in small quantities. Of course, in terms of protective performance, I believe that there are certain advantages over steel armor. ”

Xiao Weiguo nodded and said: "Yes, the weight of the armor of the car body accounts for about one-third of the mass of the whole vehicle. In fact, it has been calculated that for every 100 mm reduction in body height, the weight of the car can be reduced by 500 kg, and for every 100 mm of car length, the weight of the car can be reduced by 200 kg. Of course, we use the method of welding molding, which can effectively reduce the weight of the vehicle under the condition of ensuring the protective force, and controlling the weight of the tank is also a very critical task. The tank hull is mainly composed of several parts of armor, including the front, sides, rear, top, bottom and partition, which are connected with adjacent armor according to the box-shaped structure. We use welding, so that the front part of the body is the cab, the middle part is the fighting room, and the rear part is the power transmission room, which is divided into these three large modules. ”

Karl nodded and said, "I see, it seems that it is not easy to design a tank!" ”

Xiao Weiguo smiled: "Yes! This is a systems project. For example, the front armor of the car is designed to be composed of two inclined homogeneous steel armor and composite armor plates, which can be used to protect against incoming shells to the greatest extent. On the upper armor plate, there are also facilities such as the driver's periscope mount and lights. The armor on both sides should also be designed with skirt armor. It is used to protect the transmission wheels and induction wheels of the tank, as well as the load-bearing wheels, etc. The fenders are welded to the outside of the side armor and can be used to place fuel tanks, water tanks, and spare parts boxes covered with covers, to prevent mud and water from splashing on the vehicle, and to carry infantry. The rear armor is mainly used to protect the power compartment, and there should be an engine fan armor hinge on the upper armor plate, and an exhaust window in the middle. Although it is not easy to be hit directly by shells, it is also necessary to prevent the blow of shell fragments, and once it hits the tank, it will not be able to move. The bottom armor is also very important, especially anti-tank mines, which are also very threatening for tanks! We designed the bottom of the tank in a V-shape, which can effectively protect against mines, which can also increase the stiffness of the bottom armor. The top armor is mainly to protect against blows from the sky, and at the moment it is mainly small-caliber guns and machine guns, of course, the top armor cannot be too thick. ”

Karl said: "The main guns of the two tanks. We must have developed it ourselves. However, we don't have much experience with tank guns, and we will encounter a lot of difficulties in the future. ”

Xiao Weiguo said: "Don't worry, Carl! The tank gun is not much more complicated, it mainly increases the length of the barrel, and at the same time has higher requirements for accuracy, Bofors has a history of developing artillery for decades. And now our various artillery pieces are selling well, which speaks to the fact that they are performing very well. What we need now is to revamp the Vulcan Cannon. Development of a 30 mm caliber single-barreled rapid-fire gun, which can use a rotating structure, similar to a revolver. As for the 30-ton medium tank, we can use a 100-mm rifled gun with low recoil, with an emphasis on weight reduction and recoil, while maintaining ballistic performance well. By extending the recoil distance and introducing an efficient muzzle brake, the recoil was smaller, and the 100 mm tank gun was definitely the largest caliber available, enough to penetrate the frontal armor of any tank. This will allow us to develop new tanks more quickly, and we will be able to continue to develop 100 mm high-pressure tank guns. Further increase the firepower of medium tanks. ”

"I totally agree with Philip. The tanks of various countries are not equipped with special tank guns, and their caliber and power are relatively small. Our 100 mm tank gun is definitely the largest. The tank guns used in World War I were converted from ready-made naval and ground guns, and were only used as auxiliary weapons for machine guns. At that time, the muzzle velocity of tank guns was very low, only about 500 meters per second. For example, the 57-mm guns of British tanks mainly fire grenades, and the main task of tank guns is to destroy the enemy's living forces and destroy machine-gun fire points and fortifications. However, now that our theory of armored warfare has developed in a new way, the tank is no longer a movable pillbox, but a land combat weapon that focuses on annihilating the enemy's armored combat forces and is supplemented by the destruction of living forces. The tanks now equipped by Britain and France are generally 37 mm and 57 mm guns, which probably increase the muzzle velocity of the shell to 600 to 800 meters per second, and the armor-piercing power has been improved, which can penetrate 60 mm thick armor at a distance of 500 meters. This is not much stronger than our Vulcan cannon, and if our 100-mm tank gun comes out, it can definitely take an overwhelming advantage. ”

Xiao Weiguo, of course, knew that the real tank gun was born during the Second World War. Now, though, it may have to appear in the world ahead of time. In the early stage of World War II, it can be seen that almost all tanks are short-barreled guns, and the shells fired by these short-barreled guns are generally grenades, which basically do not have much armor-piercing power. During World War II, the Soviets first equipped the T34 medium tank with a 76mm tank gun, and later Germany also replaced the No. 4 tank with a 75mm long-barreled tank gun, and the United Kingdom and the United States also developed and equipped 75mm and 90mm tank guns respectively. Later in the war, the 88 mm rifled guns of the German Tiger heavy tanks were the first to use rotational stabilized hollow charge armor-piercing shells, and the armor-piercing power at this time was only 90 mm.

Xiao Weiguo nodded and said, "Not bad!" Our 100-mm tank gun, at least to maintain a leading position for twenty years, is definitely not comparable to those small-caliber short-barreled tank guns. This is to have a sense of advance in the development of tanks! In this way, the developed tank can be ahead of its time and become a real classic weapon! (To be continued.) )