While the T-31 medium tank is good enough in terms of design data, it can only be used as a regular main battle tank in the short term, and it is by no means one of those formidable giants in terms of tanks.

In order to compensate for the shortcomings of the armored forces in attacking fortifications and frontal combat, it was necessary to design a very large heavy tank.

Australasia's design philosophy for heavy tanks abandoned the speed it had been striving for, and the main design direction was changed to firepower and armor protection.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank is the best answer given by the Royal Military Factory to the heavy tank requirements of the Ministry of Defense.

Although it seems to be the same model as the T-31 medium tank, the two tanks are similar in appearance, but the weapons and the fundamental design concept are completely two directions.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank, known inside the Royal Military Factory as the Bear Tank. In fact, it is also very easy to understand that the design concept of the T-31A heavy main battle tank is originally strong firepower and high protection, which is still relatively similar to an animal like a bear in this regard.

Of course, bears are one of the few powerful wild animals in the whole of Australasia (Alaska brown bears are found in the territory of Alaska).

It is for this reason that when it came to naming tanks, the Alaskan Bruins were also given priority, and the T-31A heavy main battle tank received the honor of being the first tank in the history of Australasian tanks to bear a code name.

To be honest, Arthur was also very curious about this heavy tank that the Ministry of Defense was very happy with.

After seeing the specific design data submitted by the Ministry of Defense, Arthur finally understood why the generals of the Ministry of Defense were so satisfied.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank has a total length of 8.41 meters, a width of 3.45 meters, and a height of about 2.93 meters.

This is currently the largest tank in Australasia, with a conventional weight of 37 tons and a full combat weight of up to 45 tons.

In terms of weight alone, a crushing has been formed for the tanks of this era. The reason for such an exaggerated weight is largely due to the special steel armor covered by the T-31A heavy main battle tank and the newly upgraded fire system.

The entire tank can be said to be almost devoid of any defensive flaws. The underside of the vehicle, which had not paid much attention to the previous armor protection, was also completely covered with a layer of steel armor of more than 25 mm.

In the area where the tank was mainly hit, the armor reached 102 mm at the thickest point and 82 mm at the thinnest point, which can be described as a key area of care.

And the rest of the tank is still covered with a layer of armor from 40 to 82 mm. The thickness of the armor varies depending on where the explosion is damaged.

But what is certain is that the protection capability of the T-31A heavy main battle tank is definitely at least several times higher than that of the previous generation of tanks, and even compared to the T-31 medium tank.

In terms of tank firepower, the T-31A heavy main battle tank is equipped with an 88mm rapid-fire gun specially designed for it by the Royal Military Factory, and the rate of fire can reach about 12 rounds per minute, which can be described as a balance of power and firepower.

Of course, tanks in general will not be so wasteful. After all, the number of shells it carries, as well as whether the base of the tank can withstand such a high level of recoil, limit the rate of fire of the tank's artillery.

The 88-mm gun was equipped with shells of three types, namely 88-mm PRV5 armor-piercing shells, which were designed to crush the enemy's armored forces.

The second type is the lethal 88mm blasting projectile, which has a large number of iron pieces and steel balls inside, which can cause a wider area of damage after exploding.

The third type of artillery shell is a more ordinary and conventional 88 mm artillery shell, which has a more balanced armor-piercing and lethal capabilities, and the overall applicability is a little higher.

With these three different types of shells, the lethality of the T-31A heavy main battle tank has been greatly increased.

Coupled with the great bonus of the heavy tank's load, the 88 mm shell reserve alone has reached 72 rounds, allowing this heavy tank to kill and damage the enemy on the battlefield without any worries.

In terms of secondary weapons, the T-31A heavy main battle tank has a completely different mix from its predecessors.

While most of the previous main battle tanks chose a combination of artillery and machine guns, the T-31A heavy main battle tank not only has a secondary gun on top of this, but also increases the number of machine guns.

In the rear of the tank, there was a 180-mm cannon that could only rotate 20 degrees. This gun was the main weapon of the Cromwell I tank, which was already a testament to the firepower of the T-31A heavy main battle tank.

Of course, the 20-mm cannon did not have a large reserve of shells, only 45 rounds. The machine gun designed at the rear of the tank is mainly used to preemptively cover the fire when the main gun cannot react in time, so as to prevent dangerous situations in some specific situations.

In addition, this machine gun can also supplement some of the shortcomings of the T-31A heavy main battle tank in terms of light force, and strengthen the lethality of infantry units.

In addition to the two guns, one large and one small, the T-31A heavy main battle tank also has a total of 3 machine guns in the front and 1 in the rear, which further strengthens the lethality of infantry units.

The reserve of ammunition for the machine gun has also been greatly improved compared to all previous tanks, reaching 5,200 rounds.

With these weapons and ammunition reserves, the T-31A heavy main battle tank can be said to be the most powerful tank at present, not only can easily destroy the enemy's tank, but also can inflict terrible damage on the enemy's other troops.

The reason why the Ministry of Defense has praised the T-31A heavy main battle tank is that in addition to the really excellent design data of the T-31A heavy main battle tank, the experiments with its samples are really convincing.

Yes, the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Military Factory conducted experiments on this tank long before the Ministry of Defense reported the design of the T-31A heavy main battle tank to Arthur's desk.

It's just that Arthur had other things to do at that time, so he didn't participate in the experiment of this tank, and he didn't be able to witness the moment when this tank showed its excellent performance.

In fact, with its powerful artillery and heavy armor, it is impossible for the T-31A heavy main battle tank to fail to test results.

If you have to say that there may be a problem, it may be whether the power system of the T-31A heavy main battle tank can drive the entire tank forward steadily.

However, considering that the company that provides engines for the tank construction of the Royal Military Factory is the Diesel Engine Research Laboratory with the ability to build aero engines, this question has long been answered in the affirmative, that is, it can definitely be driven.

Of course, as I said before, when this tank was designed, it abandoned the previous concept of pursuing speed.

This also led to the fact that the T-31A heavy main battle tank was the lowest of the new generation of tanks, and even worse than the previous generation of main battle tanks.

According to the design data and forecasts provided by the Royal Military Factory, the T-31A heavy main battle tank is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour and a stable travel speed of only 20 kilometers per hour.

In initial tests, the maximum speed was indeed 30 km/h, and even on extremely flat roads, it was repeatedly reached at 32 km/h.

However, in the test session of stable speed, the performance of the T-31A heavy main battle tank was still somewhat unexpected.

Data predicts that it can reach a steady speed of 20 km/h, but this is only occasionally seen on relatively flat roads.

In the simulated battlefield environment and uneven roads, the steady marching speed of the T-31A heavy main battle tank was reduced to 15 kilometers per hour and 18 kilometers per hour, respectively, which is still far from the design data.

This is actually normal. After all, there is still a big gap between a flat road and a simulated battlefield environment. Cars travel at different speeds on different roads, not to mention larger and heavier tanks.

And considering the powerful firepower and excellent armor protection of the T-31A heavy main battle tank, the small flaws in terms of speed can actually be ignored.

For Australasia, there may be two main battlefields of future wars. One is the site of the outbreak of World War II in history, that is, the troubled Europe.

The other is Australasia's only competitor in the Pacific Ocean, which is also an island country with a strong military and a serious military bias.

Needless to say, island countries. The battlefield with the island nation is either on the islands of the Pacific Ocean or on the island nation's mainland.

Most of the time, tanks don't play much of a role, relying more on the powerful firepower of the Navy and the air support of the Air Force.

The main battlefield of Australasian tanks is still in Europe. Europe is currently the region with the most complete infrastructure, and both Western and Central Europe have dense and well-developed road systems, that is, ideal flat areas.

When the T-31A heavy main battle tank arrives in Europe, it can use these roads to rush and greatly reduce the time required on the road.

This also makes up for some of the shortcomings of the T-31A heavy main battle tank in terms of speed. It is precisely for these reasons that the T-31A heavy main battle tank has been able to fully meet the expectations of the Ministry of Defense and Arthur for heavy main battle tanks, and Arthur has naturally agreed to the Ministry of Defense's procurement plan for these tanks.

Then again, because it was already the second half of 1931, it was very close to Arthur's imaginary war.

I can't guarantee that there will be a few more years, but there is a high probability that Australasia will not have time to develop the next generation of tanks before the war comes.

In other words, by the outbreak of World War II or even the middle of the war, the tanks that Australasia could rely on were most likely three different styles of tanks of this generation.

Because of this, the Ministry of Defense still procures a lot of these three tanks.

In the order signed by Arthur for the purchase of tanks, the Ministry of Defense purchased a total of 1,025 tanks.

Of these, 153 were Cromwell I tanks. These 153 light tanks will be dismantled from the three tank divisions to form a reconnaissance tank unit for each tank division.

As the main force of tanks, the Ministry of Defense will purchase 637 T-31 medium tanks, most of which will be used to replace the main battle tanks that have fallen significantly behind in the 1st to 2nd divisions, and a small part will be kept in stock.

As for the T-31A heavy main battle tank, the Ministry of Defense gave the number of 235 units for procurement. According to the plan given by Defense Secretary Thomas, the vast majority of these 235 tanks will be reequipped with the 3rd Tank Division, which will be transformed into a heavy tank unit in Australasia.

This tank unit will be mainly responsible for attacking and destroying enemy tanks and attacking important enemy defensive points in wartime.

The remaining small number of heavy tanks will serve as a warehouse stockpile, which will facilitate timely replacement in case of serious problems with tanks in the army.

3200 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)