Chapter 465: Airships and Paratroopers

If the current first-generation tank already possessed preliminary combat effectiveness and could even be directly put into use on the battlefield, then Spain's current research progress on airplanes was undoubtedly lagging far behind.

In fact, thinking about it, it was also very easy to understand. Things like tanks were actually not complicated; it was nothing more than installing artillery on a car or tractor, and then covering it with a layer of sturdy steel armor.

The so-called improvements were nothing more than adjusting the tank's internal structure and replacing it with an engine that was more powerful and stable.

But airplanes were different. Airplanes had to fly in the sky, and the requirements for the engine were much higher than for tanks. If a tank broke down, it was nothing more than losing mobility; the artillery on the tank could still be used, and the soldiers could also choose to leave the tank and temporarily act as ordinary infantry.

But airplane pilots were different. Because airplanes were in the sky, once the airplane engine failed, the only result faced was the destruction of the plane and the death of the people.

For airplanes, the failure rate absolutely could not be as high as that of tanks. Before the airplane failure rate was reduced to an acceptable level, Gao Da would absolutely not start the plan to equip the troops with airplanes on a large scale.

Even the training for airplanes had to be conducted cautiously; Spain's current research progress on airplanes was only achieving manned flight of over a hundred kilometers.

If the time point for the outbreak of the world war was the same as in history, then Spain had hope of possessing airplanes during World War I.

If the world war broke out early, Spain might still possess air force troops, but the only things the air force troops could use would be those large and clumsy airships.

Compared to airplanes, whose research progress was slightly lagging, Spain's research on airships was actually quite advanced.

The airship displayed at the military parade before was Spain's second-generation product, named "Dreamer."

Spain's so-called air force troops currently equipped a total of 12 Dreamer airships; this type of airship could already achieve long-distance flight of over a thousand kilometers, and the flight speed could also reach a relatively good 40 kilometers per hour.

If compared to airplanes, the speed of 40 kilometers per hour was extremely slow. For airplanes to truly fly, with the help of wind, they also needed a speed of over a hundred kilometers per hour.

After flying into the sky, the speed would be even faster, easily reaching a cruising speed of over a hundred kilometers per hour. The latest model of airplane currently being researched by Spain could reach a maximum takeoff speed of 105 kilometers per hour, and a maximum flight speed of 130 kilometers per hour, which was already more than three times the flight speed of an airship.

Do not look at the fact that the airplane's speed was quite fast; the current airplanes could not yet achieve commercial use at all, let alone carry multiple passengers or heavier cargo.

Even flight experiments were as much as possible choosing relatively thin pilots; doing so could reduce the airplane's own weight and help the airplane take off and fly better.

If compared to ground vehicles, airships actually still possessed certain advantages.

Trains were the most mainstream means of transportation in European countries at present, and the speed of passenger trains had also experienced very rapid development in the decades since the birth of the train.

The speed of the earliest passenger trains was only less than 20 kilometers per hour, step by step increasing to 30 kilometers per hour, 40 kilometers per hour, and the current 50 kilometers per hour.

The speed of mainstream passenger trains in European countries at present could reach over 50 kilometers per hour, and the speed of some major trunk lines or express trains could even increase to between 70 kilometers and 100 kilometers per hour.

Spain's current passenger trains, because of terrain limitations, were slower than those in other European countries. But on some relatively important branch lines, such as Ma Deli to Barcelona, Ma Deli to Valencia, Ma Deli to Santiago, Ma Deli to Seville, etc., the train speed could also increase to over 70 kilometers per hour.

Especially the express train between the two largest cities, Ma Deli and Barcelona, on some relatively flat and straight railway lines, the driving speed could even reach over a hundred kilometers per hour.

If one only looked at this data, perhaps one would feel that the current train speed was very fast. But in reality, the speed of freight trains and passenger trains was completely different.

The average speed of passenger trains in Europe could reach about 50 kilometers per hour, but the average speed of freight trains was only less than 30 kilometers per hour, and the speed in most areas was only over 20 kilometers per hour.

The reason was also simple: trains pulled relatively heavy cargo, so the driving speed naturally could not be fast. Adding the fact that the loading and unloading of cargo required more time, back and forth, it also delayed the driving speed of freight trains.

If the current airships were compared to these freight trains, the advantage in flight speed was still very large. After all, airships could also be used to transport cargo; the Dreamer airship had a load capacity of 2.2 tons, and with 9 crew members, it could accommodate a maximum of 20 passengers or 1.5 tons of cargo.

Apart from the Dreamer airships already equipped by the air force troops, Spain's airship research project team was also researching a new generation of airships, named "Empire."

Although Spain's research focus was on airplanes, most of the research personnel in the airship research project team were not clear about this. They still had great confidence in their research results, and the role currently displayed by airships was also very large.

The Empire airship was the most ambitious generation of products from the airship research project team. According to the plan of the entire project team, the Empire airship's own weight would reach an exaggerated 11.8 tons, which also allowed the entire airship's load capacity to be estimated to reach over 5 tons, which was more than twice that of the current Dreamer airship.

The volume of the airship would be infinitely expanded, and the airship research project team planned to use two or even more diesel engines to provide power for the airship, which could also allow the airship's flight speed to obtain a large increase.

According to the experimental data of the current airship model, if the Empire airship could be successfully built, it was expected that the flight speed of this airship could exceed 70 kilometers per hour, achieving a speed that could match or even exceed that of trains, whether carrying passengers or cargo.

Just imagine, an airship with a load capacity of over 5 tons and a flight speed of over 70 kilometers per hour still had a considerable role.

In the civil field, whether carrying passengers or cargo, it could allow the public to have one more choice of transportation. Especially for the Strait of Gibraltar, where it was impossible to build a cross-sea bridge, airships could allow Spain and Morocco to have more choices of transportation, strengthening the connection between the two places.

The role in the military field naturally did not need to be mentioned. Although a larger airship meant it was more clumsy, it could also transport more military supplies or soldiers.

According to a load capacity of over 5 tons, this airship could transport over 60 soldiers at most, which could allow Spain to form its own paratrooper troops.

If it was just parachuting 60 soldiers, naturally it would not be of much help to the battlefield. But what if Spain equipped dozens or even hundreds of airships at once? Did this represent that Spain possessed the ability to drop thousands of troops over a long distance at once?

Once such paratrooper troops were formed, Spain could drop troops to the enemy's cities and important areas over a long distance when the future war broke out, capturing these important locations before the enemy could react at all. ===== CHAPTER 466 =====