Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

Vol 2: National Development – Chapter 7: Wunderwaffe Air Force

Berlin Imperator Air Force base. Right now, I am touring one of its hangars to get a feel for our national Air Force. So far, the tour has been pleasant, especially when I get to see a Bf-109F close-up. The hangar is tidy and the aircraft are well-organized, lining up on both sides of the armored hangar, ready to take off at a moment's notice.

The trip to Imperator air base was a spontaneous choice, having decided to bring Ningyo out for her to touch some grass. I chuckle as I watch her hop in and out behind a 109, much to the amusement of the nearby mechanics. Though I did have to remind her to be mindful of her surrounding. Can't have my dear sister being injured now, can I?

Ningyo has been of great help lately, her computation power has been crucial in calculating the necessary material strength for the void reactor, and just how much juice we can safely draw from it. With her help, the upcoming trial run for the reactor should be a breeze... I just jinxed it, didn't I? Anyway, these days, Ningyo has been locking herself up with Dreamer and Einstein to do a lot of computational work, too much in fact. That's the biggest reason why I'm bringing her out to play right now, she needs to have some downtime of her own.

Mama and mom, on the other hand, have been helping me deal with political issues. They have been keeping me away from the shadier side of running a country, letting me operate in relative peace. The upcoming delegation from the Long Dynasty will be received by them, allowing me to concentrate on adding the final bits of the groundwork for our arms development. Well, I will still have to meet the Chinese later down the line, however. My mothers have fully entrusted me with anything military-related, when they talk about arms trading, I will have to step up.

Fortunately, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. The Long Dynasty should be easy to supply, much like the Ustian Reformists. Speaking of Rosa's faction, colored me surprised when they actually managed to stage and attack the Loyalists in the middle of the Time of Demons, and they freaking succeed! Utilizing the time when Demons' numbers are still low and the enemy awareness was lacking, Rosa gave the order to Francis, now General, to mount a surprise attack on the towns and villages bordering their control zone. They've managed to capture five towns and three villages, expanding their territory and resource by not a small amount. Of course, such action also comes at a risk of stretching themselves thin, posing a big target for the Demons. Thankfully, Rosa has been keeping a close eye on the field situation and is solidifying her gains and foothold in the region. She did, however, request more transportation for her troops, a request I gladly obliged, merely as a gift for managing to surprise me.  The blood of Napoleon runs strong in her, no doubt the short man would be laughing in glee in the afterlife.

As for Bryn, my dear trusty aide, she and Brigadier General Alexa have been busied with reorganizing and refitting the 404th at my behest. The division is now acting as my personal guard and taking orders solely from me. Right now, I am having them outfitted to be the temporarily dubbed '404th Experimental Division'. When the next generation of weapons comes out, the 404th will be the first to trial them and create new tactics for the rest of the military to follow.

I am pulled out of my thoughts when I notice Ningyo climbing up on a 109, shaking my head at her antics, I call out.

"That's enough, little lady!" I move up to her, my arms holding up to help her get down from the aircraft. "You're ten years too early to fly one of these beasts."

Ningyo lets me catch her with my arms, pouting at me, she says. "But big sis! Didn't you also fly one of these? I want to try too!"

Eyes twitching, I explain. "That was an emergency situation, Ningyo. If I didn't take control of the aircraft at the time, I wouldn't be here with you now." I must keep an eye on this girl in case she tries to pull something dangerous on us.

"But it seems like fun..." Don't you dare pull that puppy expression on me, damn it! Because it's damn effective!

Sighing, I let her down on the ground before bringing my hands up and pinching her cheeks.

"Wait till you're at least 15, by that time, I can accompany you to the sky for a bit of fun. Right now, you're a tad too young for flying, missy."

"Promise?"

Switching to pat her head, I say with a small smile on my lips. "Promise."

"Yay!" Ningyo jumps around in glee, causing me to shake my head. I then let her run around for a bit while I turn to address the person behind me.

"Thanks for waiting, General Jurgen. Had to keep her in check otherwise, she would be doing something that makes us all worry."

"Hahaha! It's all fine and dandy, your Highness." Air Force General Jurgen turns to look at the excited Ningyo. "Kids these days sure grow up fast, my daughter is also poising herself to take to the sky in the future."

I chuckle internally at the General's words. The official story is that Ningyo is an adopted daughter, just like me. Nobody aside from those presented at Castle Itter knows about her true nature as an artificial human.

"It's good that a child has a dream, General. What's important is the journey to reach that dream, and that's where family comes in."

"Right, there are no truer words than what you said, your Highness." The General nodded.

I then turn to Erika and Lola, my personal guards. "Help me keep an eye on Ningyo and make sure you stop anything you deem dangerous for a kid her age."

Lola puts a thumbs up while Erika nods, the latter already moves to intercept Ningyo. "Will do, Little Boss."

I watch a moment as they all gather up with Erika gently chiding Ningyo while Lola pulls out a lollipop for my sis. Seeing that they'll be fine on their own, I follow General Jurgen further into the airbase, reaching a large meeting room. There, Dreamer and Einstein are already waiting.

Once inside, I and General Jurgen give our greetings.

"Ladies, I hope you're comfortable."

It's Dreamer that answer with her legs swinging as she's sitting on the table.

"We are feeling fine and dandy, for sure. In fact, it's surprising that you serve a very good cup of coffee here. Actually better than the crap my coworker, Mobius made."

We both chuckle when Einstein facepalms, having remembered the monstrosity that's Mobius's coffee. General Jurgen gives an explanation as to why Imperator airbase's coffee is so good.

"My subordinates are working in a high-intensity environment, regularly, they would have to pull all-nighters to accomplish their task safely. During such times, a good cup of coffee is a must. That's why I invested a lot in procuring the finest beans and renowned coffee makers to serve the base."

Dreamer nods at the explanation before picking up her coffee that's placed to the side.

"So that's the case. As they said, you can work with an empty tank or something along that line."

I smile before turning to the General. "That bit of exchange about coffee makes me crave some."

General Jurgen nods before turning to a soldier guarding the door. "Head to the cafeteria and tell Lucius to bring another set of coffee, milk, and sugar included."

The soldier salutes before heading out, leaving us to take a seat at the table, ready to get to work.

I speak up first as I see that everybody is now comfortable in their seat. 

"Well General, you should have known by now about my trips across all branches of the military and my plans to modernize every sector." I point my finger at the folder in front of him. "The Air Force is my last stop and the files in front of you are the information needed to bring this branch up to the standard I envision."

General Jurgen removes the seal on the folder, taking out from it a lot of papers about the improvement plans I made for the Air Force.

I let the General peruses them with a frown for a bit before saying.

"As you can see, the Air Force made a big mistake by hoarding their control over any and all aircraft under the sky. Going as far as to create a communication tree that is separated from all other branches of the military. This severely limited the Air Force's effectiveness in anything that was not related to Air Superiority. But as you can see, during my campaign for Arash, I've revised the chain of command between the Army and Air Force. This has allowed both branches to work seamlessly in times of need. If it weren't for that, taking Arash would have been much bloodier than it was, General Jurgen."

With a serious look on his face, General Jurgen nods.

"I will reform the Air Force per your instructions, Marshal. This incompetency won't stand."

I accept his pledge. "You do that when we're done here. Now, it's time to give you some insights into what's about to come. Dreamer, would you mind?"

Dreamer nods, standing up before handing out the blueprints and their related documents to us. It's at this moment that the previously ordered coffee arrives. We all get ourselves a cup of that goodness before delving deeper into work. Mine cup is filled with White Coffee, in case you're wondering.

"This here is the design for what I've called 'Mana jet engine'."

We take a look at the paper in our hands, showcasing a design for the engine that Dreamer said. To put it plainly, it's a turbofan engine that, instead of running with fuel and gas, it's powered by mana. A standard turbofan is a gas turbine engine that achieves mechanical energy from combustion. The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid: atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure; energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so that the combustion generates a high-temperature flow. The main difference here being instead of spraying gas into the combustion chamber, thus igniting it, mana will be pumped into a script that produces a constant high-intensity flame. This high-temperature pressurized flow then enters a turbine, producing a shaft work output in the process, used to drive the compressor. The unused energy coming out can be repurposed for external work, such as directly producing thrust, thus achieving forward propulsion for aircraft.

Dreamer then proceeds to explore the prospect of mounting such engines on our new generation of aircraft. It's pros and cons. And its impact on aeronautic development as a whole. 

General Jurgen and I listen with deep fascination as the talk goes on, sometimes both of us will pitch in with a question. To which, Dreamer or Einstein answered with professionalism, fully knowing what they were doing. A fact that made me proud to have such adept subordinates and friends.

Even though I can make something better if I am to fully invest myself in the job, I opt not to and choose to only hand out some instructions and design ideas whenever I can. I cannot do anything on my own for if I do that, what's the use of fostering a generation of geniuses in the first place? Their drafting up a mana jet, based solely on breadcrumbs I left behind, is a big step up in our technological prowess and ability.

Moving on, I and the General agreed that jet engines will be the future of aerial warfare. Yet, it goes to say that not all aircraft will be needed to field such fine and expensive machinery. Hence, Einstein that steps up to introduce the turboprop engine. This is much simpler than the jet engine and much cheaper to produce. 

A short discussion later, we all familiarized ourselves with the capability of the two engine types. Then, Einstein pulls out another set of folders, it's time to introduce the new aircraft designs to the General.

"General Jurgen, these here are the designs that I, alongside Dreamer and with the help of the Marshal, have created. It's our hope that Belka will later dominate the sky with these aircraft."

The first to be introduced is a two-seat multi-role jet fighter that is capable of going supersonic, much to the pleasant surprise of me and the General. So far, the concept of supersonic has only been theorized, not made possible for an aircraft. 

This supersonic jet, aptly named Phantom, has a low radar profile, is powered by two mana jet engines, has a speed of 2,743 km/h (MACH 2.3) at 12000 meters, a combat range of 900 km, and a service ceiling of 18400 meters. The Phantom can carry 9000 kg of weapons on external hardpoints and it has a quad barrel 30mm Gatling based on the Gepard's Gatling. Auxiliary systems include radar, recon and/or night fighting equipment, drop tank for mana batteries and aerial recharging rod. It has enough room to be upgraded with newer weapon systems in the future. 

The Phantom is made with carrier operation in mind, hence it has a short-takeoff and landing ability. However, Air Force and Army can make use of it just the same for it can take off and land at rough landing strips. 

The Phantom is slated to be produced by Messerschmitt, fully replacing the Bf-109 and Bf-110 in service.

The next aircraft is more niche, being a single-seat subsonic jump jet, codename Harrier. Unlike the Phantom with its rear-facing engines, the Harrier has four rotating jet nozzles with two on each side of the fuselage. This provides the Harrier with the ability of vertical/short takeoff and landing, lessening greatly the requirement of a landing strip. Made with to be fielded on a Bayern-class battlecarrier, the Harrier has an impressive capability, even though not capable of reaching supersonic. Like the Phantom, it has a low-signature design while has a speed of 1200km/h and a ceiling of 18000 meters. The Harrier has a respectable combat range of 800km and can carry 8000kg of weapon. Like the Phantom, it also uses the four-barrel 30mm Gatling and ordnance types, while also sharing the same auxiliary systems as the Phantom. This lessens the strain on logistics and allows them both to be upgraded to the same standard. Regardless of its capability, however, the Harrier is expected to only be used by the navy on their Bayern-class. It's slated to be produced by Dornier for its expertise in naval aircraft.

Both the Phantom and the Harrier have ejection seats built-in into them as a safety measure for the pilots.

The upcoming aircraft, Osprey, is prospected to be the workhorse for all branches of service. The Osprey is a multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft that has both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is a twin-turboprop aircraft designed with long-range, high-speed cruise performance in mind. Meaning it can operate anywhere and everywhere with speed and power. Its two turboprops, mounted on the two ends of its foldable wings, give the Osprey a speed of 600km/h at a combat range of 820km/h, putting it on par with the range of jet fighters. Though its service ceiling is only 9000 meters. Again, its auxiliary systems are the same as both the Phantom and Harrier.

The Osprey has two doors on the side and a loading ramp on the rear. It has a crew of 4 and a troop complement of 24. The soldiers aboard can fast-rope out from the side and down to the ground for a tactical insertion. It's possible to remove the benches on the Osprey to carry a small armed transport with a squad of troopers for special operations. 

The Osprey is also capable of carrying armaments, most notably a gimbal-mounted 30mm Mk103 and a few others on four external hardpoints under the wings. The external pylons can be armed with rockets, bombs, or missiles, for close support. The sides and the rear of the Osprey can also be mounted with retractable machine guns to provide fire support for infantry.

The design greatly intrigues General Jurgen for its multi-purpose trait like a Swiss army knife. He commented that it's a game-changer for any army and no doubt we should procure a great number of them.

The Osprey is just a perfect design that can do logistics, transport, or CAS... All in one package. It will be a great support craft for the Bayern-class in addition to the Harrier too. We're planning to let Fieseler manufactures it.

Last but not least will be the major transport aircraft, Atlas. Fulfilling the role of strategic/tactical airlift, and aerial refueling, the Atlas has four turboprops, each with 13000 horsepower, giving it a speed of 800km/h at max-take-off-weight. The aircraft has a crew of 4 and can carry 116 fully equipped troops or paratroopers, or up to 66 stretchers accompanied by 25 medical personnel. If fitted for heavy-duty cargo, it can carry up to 46 tons of cargo. Meaning it can carry a combat-ready Leopard MBT and five Atlas can carry a tank platoon of four with enough auxiliary equipment and infantry support. At max load, the Atlas has a range of 3800km, a takeoff distance of 950 meters, and a service ceiling of 14000 meters. In theory, it can be catapulted by the Yggdrasil-class aircraft carrier, neat. Atlas is slated to be manufactured by Junker. 

After we go through every single aircraft of the next-gen. Jurgen can't help but sport a silly grin like a kid in a candy store. I can understand the man's excitement though.

I can't wait till any of them are made, just so I can take my family for a fun trip in the sky. It's a must to showcase to them the newest advancement in Belkan technology.