20: Chief: This is a war artifact!

"The explosion of a thermobaric weapon can instantly drain the oxygen from the vicinity. Even if someone in the cave survives the blast, they will suffocate!"

"This Individual Thermobaric Weapon is simply the bane of the Yue Hou Country's various mountain defense positions!"

The two operations staff officers carefully inspected the various defensive fortifications on the mountaintop and finally reached a conclusion.

"That's right, if our army can widely equip this new type of Individual Thermobaric Weapon."

"Then the Yue Hou Country's military strongholds and various defense positions will be like paper!"

General Xu Liyou nodded in agreement.

During their conversation, Hou Weiguo also led the soldiers of the guard company up the mountain.

"Hou Weiguo, please give Comrade Peng Lin feedback on your experience using this Individual Thermobaric Weapon."

The Old General looked at the guard company and instructed him.

"Reporting!"

"It was exhilarating, truly exhilarating!"

"Also... the number of these rocket launchers given to our guard company was a bit too small; we didn't get to fire them enough!"

Hou Weiguo looked around at his masterpiece, then said with a slight blush.

Hearing this report, General Xu Liyou gave him an exasperated look.

The mountaintop had been blasted to such an extent, the ground plowed over, and he actually said he hadn't fired it enough?

"Just focused on the exhilaration?"

"What about the usage data and various live-fire parameters?"

General Xu Liyou was very dissatisfied with his report and asked again.

Because he knew that as the designer, Peng Lin needed to record these parameters to verify the research and development data.

"Usage data and live-fire parameters?"

When asked these questions, Hou Weiguo, the commander of the guard company, suddenly fell silent.

Because the scene after the thermobaric weapon was fired was truly too shocking.

So much so that he completely forgot about recording the firing parameters.

"The entire company will conduct a self-criticism upon return."

General Xu Liyou glared at him and said.

At the same time, he looked at Peng Lin with a hint of apology:

"Comrade Peng Lin, the Individual Thermobaric Weapon is of great significance to our army. Your Changhe Factory must complete testing as soon as possible so that the troops can be equipped early."

"Whatever the value of the thermobaric weapons wasted this time, I will have my secretary mail it to your Changhe Factory later."

No data was recorded for the Individual Thermobaric Weapon that was supposed to be tested; it was like watching a fireworks display.

So General Xu Liyou felt very apologetic.

"It's fine. To thoroughly test various data, our Changhe Factory produced quite a few Individual Thermobaric Weapons in one trial."

"Moreover, the cost of this Individual Thermobaric Weapon is even lower than that of the Type 69 Rocket Launcher. Our research institute has this much funding."

Upon hearing that General Xu Liyou wanted to reimburse his R&D expenses, Peng Lin quickly waved his hand and said.

Based on his understanding of the Old General's integrity and incorruptibility.

It was even very likely that his secretary would mail his personal allowance.

"What?"

"The cost of this Individual Thermobaric Weapon is even lower than that of the Type 69 Rocket Launcher?"

The two operations staff officers were the first to be unable to remain calm when they heard Peng Lin's words.

Because in their estimation, the Individual Thermobaric Weapon's firing range was two to three times that of the Type 69 Rocket Launcher, and its weight was also much lighter.

As for the explosive power, the two were incomparable.

Under such a huge performance difference, the cost of the Individual Thermobaric Weapon should be several times higher than that of the Type 69 Rocket Launcher.

But who knew that Peng Lin actually said this thing was cheaper than the Type 69 Rocket Launcher?

"Does that mean that not only elite troops, but our entire Dragon Country military can be equipped with this new type of Individual Thermobaric Weapon in large quantities?"

Even Hou Weiguo, who was not sensitive to equipment data, became excited at this moment.

What was the positioning of the Type 69 Rocket Launcher in the Dragon Country military?

The answer was a million-scale "infantry divine weapon" and "war consumable"!

Due to the deteriorating relationship with the Soviet Union, and to counter their armor and Steel Torrent, from 1970 until now, Dragon Country has produced at least hundreds of thousands of Type 69 Rocket Launchers.

This also made the Type 69 Rocket Launcher one of the highest-produced anti-tank weapons in the world today.

The greatest advantage of the Type 69 was its low cost and high maintainability, suitable for large-scale equipment and rapid replenishment.

In addition to regular troops, even some militias were equipped with it.

But now, Peng Lin actually said that the Individual Thermobaric Weapon, with such immense power, was cheaper than the Type 69?

"Comrade Peng Lin, is what you said true?"

Due to his excitement, General Xu Liyou even directly grabbed Peng Lin's arm.

Because war is not only about the combat capability of the army, but also about national strength and logistical supply capability.

Everyone saw the terrifying power and excellent performance of the Individual Thermobaric Weapon; it was definitely a very excellent weapon system.

It was even several times stronger than the individual rocket launchers of the Soviet Union and the USA.

However, excellent performance is one thing.

If its production cost is too high, no country can equip and use it in large quantities.

It could only be equipped by elite troops for some special campaigns and battlefields.

But now, Peng Lin said this thing was cheaper than the Type 69.

Then General Xu Liyou's evaluation of the Individual Thermobaric Weapon was not just about its powerful performance.

He was even willing to call it a "weapon of war"!

"Naturally, it's true!"

"For individual rocket launchers, the most expensive part is actually not the warhead, but the launcher."

"The Type 69 Rocket Launcher uses alloy steel, and with the warhead, the overall cost is around 10,000 yuan."

"However, the Individual Thermobaric Weapon's rocket launcher uses a new material, resin fiberglass, and its cost is only one-tenth of alloy steel."

"Even with the warhead, the cost of the Individual Thermobaric Weapon will not exceed 2,000 yuan."

"If production lines are scaled up, this cost can even be lowered!"

Peng Lin explained.

"Additionally, because the launcher is inexpensive, on a real battlefield, the launcher can be directly discarded after firing the thermobaric weapon."

"It can be treated entirely as a disposable item."

"Besides that, our Changhe Factory Military Industry Research Institute is also preparing to develop rocket projectiles other than thermobaric weapons for this 80mm launcher."

"For example, armor-piercing rounds, high-explosive rounds, incendiary rounds, smoke rounds, illumination rounds, breaching rounds, training rounds, etc."

"Making it a universal launch device."

"This way, the pressure on both production and logistics for the troops will be greatly reduced."

At the same time, Peng Lin also outlined his next plan.

"This rocket launcher can be discarded after use, and it can also use other ammunition?"

A glint flashed in General Xu Liyou's eyes.

On the battlefield, the advantages of a universal launcher were simply too obvious.

Not only could the logistical pressure be reduced, but the burden on soldiers carrying equipment could also be lessened.

And there would absolutely be no situation where the launcher and ammunition were mismatched.

As for the series of ammunition types Peng Lin listed, such as armor-piercing rounds, high-explosive rounds, incendiary rounds, smoke rounds, illumination rounds, breaching rounds, and training rounds.

They further filled General Xu Liyou with imagination.

As far as he knew, currently, perhaps only the USA might be able to develop so many specialized rocket projectiles!

He had never even heard of some of the rocket projectile types.

He could only say that the young man's ideas were truly too bold!

Peng Lin was practically describing a grand blueprint for the future of Dragon Country Military Industry to him!