Empire Conquest-Chapter 692 - 21 Missile Threat

Prime Minister Mansion of the Imperial Capital.

"How do you view this matter?"

As Zhou Yongtao spoke, he placed an unopened pack of cigarettes in front of Lin Shiping and then went to open the window facing the garden.

It was clearly meant to block Lin Shiping’s excuse to grab a smoke and slip away.

War had already begun, and time was incredibly precious.

Even though Zhou Yongtao disliked people smoking, he could only tolerate it for now.

Besides, Lin Shiping had encountered a severe traffic jam on his way, which had delayed his arrival.

According to Lin Shiping, when this war was over, it really should be considered to relocate the capital, or at least to move the administrative institutions.

The population of the Imperial Capital had already exceeded 20 million!

In this congested city, people wasted more than four hours daily just commuting, and during major events, the entire city would inevitably be paralyzed.

The population density was too high, and there were numerous historical and cultural sites that needed protection. Even owning the world’s most complex and largest urban transit network did nothing to ameliorate the situation.

A few days ago, Lin Shiping had joked with Zhou Yongtao about having to put the whole city under martial law to improve the efficiency of various departments.

In fact, Zhou Yongtao had already been considering the relocation and had gained support from both chambers of parliament, but it definitely could not be implemented at this time.

As for martial law, that was even more unnecessary.

To put it simply, if it were not for a major emergency, the traffic issue was not too severe.

Don’t forget, the Imperial Capital time was five hours behind the battlefield time. Thus, when Shi Shouliang sent back messages, it coincided with the Imperial Capital’s evening rush hour.

If it had been just a bit later, it could have missed the rush hour.

However, this matter simply couldn’t be delayed.

After receiving Shi Shouliang’s battle report, Qin Fenglie immediately called Zhou Yongtao. Besides announcing good news, he also proposed deploying the latest air defense system in Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, it was the "Divine Archer," the "DK-10A" long-range air defense system, nicknamed thus.

This was a joint investment by the Empire’s Air Force and Army, creating several of the world’s firsts in the most cutting-edge long-range air defense missile systems.

Firstly, this system utilized a phased array radar system for the first time.

Thanks to the phased array technology, specifically its miniaturization and high integration, it integrated the search and illumination functions for the first time, significantly simplifying the fire control system.

Moreover, it greatly enhanced its reliability.

In addition, it achieved another first that hadn’t yet been tested in actual combat, meaning immense significance and value—it had the ability to intercept tactical ballistic missiles.

Actually, this was an accidental discovery.

During the design phase, the Empire’s Air Force and Army did not require the "Divine Archer" to intercept ballistic missiles, as the needed technology was too advanced. If it couldn’t achieve a breakthrough within the designated development period, it would definitely hinder the entire project, or at least delay the "Divine Archer’s" service time.

Unexpectedly, during the acceptance tests conducted by the military, the system was found to possess a certain anti-missile capability.

It wasn’t very strong, but it was better than none.

According to the military’s tests, for ballistic missiles with a range of less than 1000 kilometers, the "Divine Archer’s" single-shot kill probability was around 60%, so theoretically using two "Divine Archers" to intercept one incoming missile could raise the shoot-down probability to 84%.

For missile defense, this shoot-down probability was already sufficient.

Indeed, following the completion of acceptance, the Army quickly ordered a batch and equipped its main forces to cope with the increasingly severe ballistic missile threats.

Interestingly, the Empire’s Army had historically not prioritized ballistic missiles.

It boiled down to the fact that the Empire’s Army never lacked firepower support. Apart from being equipped with numerous artillery and rocket launchers, it had over a thousand armed helicopters and could always receive support from the Air Force and Navy; there simply was no need for ballistic missiles for firepower support.

As for campaign-level firepower assault, ballistic missiles were even less needed.

The Air Force had plenty of bombers, along with thousands of attack aircraft and multi-purpose fighters, all traditionally used for campaign-level assault missions.

According to functional divisions, Tactical Air Force itself existed for the Army!

In the organizational system of the Empire’s Air Force, there was no place for ballistic missiles.

They were not prioritized, and this was largely due to the operational efficiency of ballistic missiles.

Although in the later stages of the Boi War, the Empire’s Army completed testing of medium-range ballistic missiles with terminal guidance capabilities, achieving and surpassing design specifications like an accuracy within 50 meters and minimum battle response time within five minutes, in the end, the Army did not make a purchase but instead treated it as a technology reserve after paying the related development costs.

The key reason was that the cost-effectiveness ratio was simply too low.

This type of missile, nicknamed "Mountain Fire" with a maximum range of 1400 kilometers, had a bulk purchase unit price of 3.5 million Gold Yuan, in New Calendar year 130 equivalent to 16 million today, nearly 20 times that of a cruise missile of the same range.

Even if "Mountain Fires" performance was more advanced, its combat efficiency certainly could not reach 20 times that of cruise missiles.

As Army generals said, only when lacking effective firepower strike means would one consider the frightfully low cost-effectiveness ratio of ballistic missiles as a trump.

Of course, this was also the truth.

Today, among the strongest military forces in the world, Liangxia’s Army and Newland Army, none have equipped ballistic missiles on a large scale.