Empire Conquest-Chapter 780 - 62: Tiger at Low Altitude

Returning to the unit, Lian Mingyang immediately adjusted the mission, replacing the rocket pod with lightweight air-to-air missiles specifically developed for armed helicopters.

If the 30-millimeter machine gun is barely adequate against the "Mi-24," it is far from sufficient against the "Tiger."

Globally, only two types of armed helicopters qualify to challenge the "Z-10A," and the "Tiger" is one of them.

In fact, the Tiaoman Empire has teamed up with the Locke Kingdom and several major member states of the West Continent Group, including the Raleigh Kingdom, to jointly fund the development of this specialized armed helicopter, which directly reflects a significant shift in the West Continent Group’s military strategy towards strategic defense.

In the past few decades, apart from the western Luosha, many member states of the West Continent Group, including the Tiaoman Empire, did not pay much attention to armed helicopters. Fundamentally speaking, it wasn’t that they failed to recognize the importance of armed helicopters but that basic strategic limitations were in play.

Simply put, in a long post-war period, the West Continent Group never considered achieving victory through defense because their overall strength was far inferior to the Eastern Group. They bet everything on offense, hoping to force the Eastern Group into negotiations through aggressive actions.

This served as the guiding philosophy for the West Continent Group’s development of weapons and equipment.

In summary, after the war starts, they focus entirely on offense, and once they gain sufficient battlefield advantage, they then sit down to negotiate with the Eastern Group.

A distinctive characteristic of offense is the high loss rate of weapons and equipment, where almost all main battle platforms cannot achieve their designed lifespan.

Unlike the inexpensive main battle tanks, the costly armed helicopters are not well-suited for offensive operations.

To put it bluntly, this view of waging a war of attrition was vividly reflected in the main combat equipment of the western Luosha.

Whether it is the T-series Main Battle Tanks or the MG-series Fighters, and the MI-series Helicopters, all have very short design lifespans. The airframe structure of the MG-29 fighter has only about 2,000 hours of flying lifespan, whereas contemporary Empire fighters extend beyond 6,000 hours.

As for whether this all-out attack tactic worked, it was actually not important.

The reasoning is simple; there was no better alternative strategy at that time!

After the Liangxia Empire established diplomatic relations with the Newland Republic, the global pattern underwent a major transformation.

From the perspective of the West Continent Group, their survival environment improved significantly.

Simply put, after the global influence of the Beigu Group led by the Newland Republic was recognized, the military threat faced by the West Continent Group was significantly reduced.

Against this backdrop, the West Continent Group initiated the development of the "Tiger" armed helicopter.

Evidently, this is very representative in itself.

The West Continent Group began considering defense, believing they could achieve victory in future wars through defense.

Interestingly, the Tiaoman Empire did not involve the western Luosha.

To be clear, in the West Continent Group, the western Luosha is truly the helicopter powerhouse and was the first to develop and equip armed helicopters. Thousands of MI-24 "Mi-24s" were produced, not only for domestic use but also exported to dozens of countries, becoming a truly global helicopter.

Moreover, several years before the Tiaoman Empire initiated the "Tiger" project, the western Luosha had already started planning new armed helicopters with the aim to surpass, or at least match the capabilities of the Liangxia Empire’s "Z-10A."

Interestingly, the western Luosha concurrently developed two types of new armed helicopters, the MI-28 which essentially enlarges the "Z-10A," and the KA-50, featuring a coaxial dual-rotor layout with side-by-side seating, and both helicopters underwent engineering test flights simultaneously.

Unfortunately, they are still far from being officially equipped.

This clearly demonstrates the western Luosha’s more urgent demand for armed helicopters.

This is precisely the key reason why the Tiaoman Empire kept the western Luosha at bay.

Here, it’s not just a matter of dominance.

The Tiaoman Empire, as a victorious nation, has tens of thousands of troops stationed in the western Luosha, and there is fundamentally no issue of contending for leadership within the West Continent Group with the western Luosha.

The key here is the utility of armed helicopters.

In the Luosha Army, armed helicopters are primarily used for offense; therefore, their design places greater emphasis on offense, mainly supporting armored forces.

This requirement is vividly reflected in the "Mi-24."

Behind the cockpit of the "Mi-24," there is a troop compartment that can accommodate eight infantrymen, the only armed helicopter globally capable of carrying infantry into combat.

As a result, the "Mi-24" has the most massive size among armed helicopters.

According to the Luosha Army’s concept, the "Mi-24" not only strikes the enemy’s armored forces but also deploys infantry to the front line during attacks to capture and control advance outposts and, if necessary, assist tanks in combat, to realize the value of infantry-tank coordination.

Evidently, this idea is quite "idealized."

Actual combat has long proven that the large troop compartment of the "Mi-24" is largely useless and not even considered a display.

Even if infantry deployment to the front line is truly necessary, transport helicopters should be dispatched.

This extreme design is certainly unpalatable to the Tiaoman Empire.

Although the western Luosha learned from this and abandoned many impractical demands on the new armed helicopters, the MI-28 and KA-50 are still under development, and several accidents occurred during this period, making it hard for the Tiaoman Empire to trust them.