amaotonovel Chapter 192 The American Army Development Program
Chapter 192 The American Army Development Program
"That's just nonsense!"
Raffarin Low shouted at the group of weapons engineers. She had expected that Alice's men wouldn't do a good job, but she hadn't expected them to be so bad.
After obtaining the military's data, Admiral Raffarin Low immediately noticed something counterintuitive: Amelanxis was now equipped with three types of individual weapons—various breech-loading rifles used by local garrison troops, the Carcano rifle, and the FN FAL automatic rifle.
The fact that these three weapons, which are from different eras, are simultaneously in the hands of one army is undoubtedly a disadvantage for the current Amerlan Federal Republic Army.
While the FAL rifle was being issued, the Carcano rifle was being distributed as a new weapon to newly formed units and second-line troops.
She went directly to the Trian Arms Factory, now the largest and most advanced state-owned weapons factory in the country, and immediately learned the result.
Yes, Amelanxi Arms Industries is indeed capable of manufacturing FAL automatic rifles, but when she looked at the production line, she knew where the problem lay.
In the so-called "production" environment, 40% of the processes require manual correction! In other words, even now, the Amerlane military industry can barely manage to manufacture FALs.
The tolerances are alarmingly high. Considering Amelia's rapid growth, it still lacks workers with at least ten years of experience. Worker skill levels, process flow, and metallurgical technology are shockingly weak.
She knew she couldn't judge these pre-space age products from the perspective of someone from the post-golden age, but she immediately dismissed the current state of Amerlane's military industry.
This is the effect of blind expansion; these factories, which should have honed their skills in Carcano rifle production, are now forced to produce new weapons at breakneck speed.
The Carcano rifle has ceased production in several of the largest and most technologically advanced factories, but the production capacity and quality of the FAL rifle have never met expectations.
However, before this, the entire country had only just been unified, and the various consequences of the war were now clearly evident. Raffarin Lo knew that there would be another high-intensity war within fifteen years of their control of the country, but not now, and not yet.
As a special advisor to the president, Raffarin Lori was rightfully granted most of the powers that Alice possessed, including the ability to issue executive orders, and even as a space-age naval officer, she had the ability to influence the military to some extent.
She quickly summarized the current situation—the old Carcano rifles had to be put back into production, while production of the new FAL assault rifles was slowed down, and all efforts were focused on mastering the various production technologies required for the assault rifles.
In short, projects that are forced into production and whose technical specifications are not up to par should be put on hold for now after the war, while efforts are focused on tackling related production challenges. There is no need for a large-scale war at present, so there is no rush. Poor quality products would greatly affect the war effort.
Heavy machinery plants are even more significant. Raffarin Lo toured the factory that produced the M4A3 Sherman. Although large parts are easier to manufacture than small parts, once it came to Emilia, a country with a short industrial base, the technical and tactical indicators dropped across the board.
The Sherman suspension produced by Amerlane could not meet the specifications of the original design at all. In order to meet those specifications, the armor of each tank was weakened by a lot compared to the original. The effective thickness of the frontal armor was almost 30% weaker than the original design, but the failure rate was not low.
The original vehicle's wet ammunition rack was a product that was only officially developed a month ago, and the electric turret is out of the question; it is still manual and incredibly slow. When the cannon is turned to the side at a 90-degree angle to fire, the recoil can easily cause the firing ring to jam.
"At least you guys know how to test, my God..."
"Our factory has no problem manufacturing 38T tanks, and it's in normal mass production right now. The Sherman tanks, on the other hand, have a lot of problems... Our factory has conducted many tests, and there have been many issues, but the military needs them urgently, so there's nothing we can do."
“I know. Next, I will be liaising with the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Ordnance and Equipment to get them to come up with a plan. The next few years will be very busy, so you need to be prepared.”
What is the Ordnance and Equipment Department?
"Tsk, it will happen."
Raffarin Lo is determined to reorganize the military industry. She learns from Alice that the hyperspace time teleporter is currently in the hands of the enemy in the south. If they want to obtain this huge device, they must attack their so-called "holy city".
She holds charlatans in contempt, believing that it is precisely the power of these so-called gods that has led humanity to its current state, forcing it to change in order to survive.
She wanted to see just how many armored brigades those so-called "gods" from the south actually had.
When the news reached the Ministry of Defense, the General Military Council immediately convened a meeting. Nobody knew this Raffarin Loe. General Smedley, the then Minister of Defense, waved his hand and said he had never seen her. However, he did know a thing or two about the President's Special Advisor. Alice had told him that this President's Special Advisor had special expertise in military affairs and was a so-called "professional".
"What do you mean by 'The report points out that our country's weaponry and equipment are being rushed into use, and that the hasty adoption of new weapon technologies before the technology and technical specifications meet design requirements will undoubtedly reduce the army's combat effectiveness? Many soldiers complain that the new assault rifles are cumbersome, have high recoil, and have an extremely high failure rate. This is one of the problems, I...'"
"...At present, our country needs to seek a period of high-quality development, continuously improve the production process of military equipment, and take the modernization of the army as the core of development. This is undoubtedly our goal at the current stage, because in the foreseeable future, we will be facing a powerful enemy, and we need a powerful and modern army that can effectively complete combat missions."
Raffarin Low's well-written document quickly caught the attention of these generals. The report pointed out the problems of the Amerlane army today—the gap between the upper and lower limits was too large. The elite front-line troops could undertake the most difficult attack missions, while most of the garrison troops could not even win control of the area, and bandits even broke out outside the area.
"In terms of future strategy, what we need is to develop advanced, mass-produced combat weapons based on a large number of mature, modern weapons, and to proceed as steadily as possible at every step..."
"...In terms of ordnance, it is recommended to suspend the production of various new combat equipment, re-examine the existing production level, tackle the corresponding technical problems, and ensure that all ordnance achieves qualified technical and tactical indicators under mass production."
"In terms of military training, we should establish military training grounds for various environments, conduct realistic combat drills, re-examine and relearn commanders at all levels, and improve the tactical and technical skills of commanders and soldiers at all levels."
Raffarin Lorraine wrote dozens of pages of documents, these indicators of which he had discussed with Alice and Smedley beforehand, and now he was releasing them to give them a heads-up.
The first formal meeting of the Ministry of Defense of the Federal Republic of Amerlan was about to be held. Alice had long been dissatisfied with the status quo, and this briefing was to prepare them.