The Rise Of Australasia

Australasia had also relied heavily on a large number of antiair missiles to quickly destroy numerous Island Nation planes and secure aerial victory, despite having an equal or even smaller number of airplanes.

Up to this point, the Islanders had been consistently outperformed by Australasian planes, not just because of the superior performance of the Australasian planes, but also due to the significant role played by antiair missiles.

There were two methods of testing air-based missiles, one being for air-to-air combat and the other for air-to-ground bombing.

After all, the missiles carried by planes served two purposes, one to attack enemy planes and the other to bombard ground targets on a large scale.

The test method for air-to-air combat remained the same as the previous generation of missiles.

After all, the performance of the previous generation's Dove missiles in actual war was quite outstanding when measured this way.

A carefully crafted airplane model was transported to high altitude, and then multiple planes took off, ready to use the latest version of the air strike missiles to attack this model descending from the sky.

These missiles were also specially modified; almost all the gunpowder inside had been removed so they would not explode upon hitting the plane model.

Since the air-based version of the missiles was smaller in size, this test employed many more missiles, with a total of 100 missiles simultaneously attacking the plane that descended from above.

The final test results were quite satisfying, and just as Hermann had anticipated, the hit rate of the missiles remained around 65%, with the lowest being 60%.

Out of 100 missiles, 67 successfully hit the plane model; although much of this success was due to the windless, clear weather, it was still an excellent outcome for the test.

After concluding the tests for air-to-air, it was time for the air-to-ground tests.

Using the same method as before, the specially modified vehicle on the ground started moving again, while the planes in the sky prepared to bomb this car.

Additionally, the air-to-ground version needed to test bombing stationary targets, which meant designating a specific open space on the ground and dropping a large number of missiles to test the hit rate.

Both types of tests released 60 missiles, and the results provided a fairly accurate performance data for the air-based missiles.

In the end, 11 missiles hit the moving target in the air-to-ground segment, 17 hit within two meters of the moving target, and 5 hit within two to three meters of it, totaling 33 hits and a hit rate of approximately 55%.

There were 39 hits on stationary targets, with a hit rate that just hit 65%.

Such a disparity was acceptable, given the higher difficulty of hitting moving targets.

Moreover, if the warhead carried was potent enough, hitting within three meters of the target could still cause effective damage.

Especially for warships with their much larger size, a deviation of only within five meters would almost guarantee a 100% hit rate on the warship.

This signified that the new generation of missiles posed a significant threat to both ground and sea targets, further enhancing the combat capability of the Australasian Air Force.

Of course, these missiles were still in the testing phase, and a year would not be sufficient to start mass production and integrate them into the war.

Even under ideal circumstances, it would likely not be until the second half of 1937 that Air Force troops could be seen using such missiles.

Indeed, from the tests of both land- and air-based missiles, the improvements of the new generation cruise missiles over the previous generation were evident.

It was significant that, despite a diversification of missile functions, an effective increase in hit rates was still achieved.

Without exaggeration, given the same airplanes, the combat power and destructive force that could be unleashed with Dove missiles compared to the new generation cruise missiles were not on the same level.

It was for these reasons that Arthur was even more curious about the shipborne missiles deployed on the main warships and submarines.

From their inception, the role and target of shipborne missiles were singular—attack the enemy's large targets.

Whether it was key enemy facilities or urban harbors, or the enemy's large main warships, they were all within the strike range of shipborne missiles.

This also meant that shipborne missiles were certainly the largest among all missile types, and when armed with a nuclear warhead, they had the longest effective strike distance and power.

Naturally, the testing of shipborne missiles would be more complex than other types. According to Hermann's design for shipborne missiles, the largest size of such missiles already had an effective kill range exceeding 560 kilometers, which was quite a formidable distance.

It is important to note that, as a country with a narrow territory, the Island Nation's widest stretch of land was only about 300 kilometers across.

For shipborne missiles, it was entirely possible to launch from over 200 kilometers away from the Island Nation's coastline in the deep sea and hit any spot of land within the Nationwide range.

Of course, Arthur was no longer too excited about such a long killing range because, for Australasia's biggest enemy, the Island Nation, the previous generation's Dove missiles with a 320-kilometer range were already sufficient to cover their Native Land.