George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 136

As I emphasize every time, the Chief of Staff is a kind of shackle for Bush. A strong shackle he made himself to prevent himself from going astray.

In other words, that shackle is now gone.

“Wow! Awesome!”

The sound of artillery fire made Bush’s ears ring. Even with ear protection, the sound of the explosive detonating was beyond imagination. Awe from the vibration of the shell was mixed with regret that the eardrums couldn’t be trained.

“The existing main self-propelled howitzer, the M109A6 Paladin, has adequate destructive power and a 155mm caliber main gun with a range of 30km. Next-generation sensors and computer controls provide excellent survivability and strategic advantage. An automatic-encryption digital communication integrated system for electronic warfare, and a reasonable price. I can confidently say that the Paladin is an excellent weapon.”

As the developer took a breath, the artillery fire erupted once more. It was a rate of fire far exceeding what the Paladin could produce.

“That was in the 20th century! In this 21st century, where urban warfare and drones are developing, the Paladin, once the god of the battlefield and a reliable friend to the U.S. Army soldiers, can no longer guarantee its inherent advantage of excellent survivability.”

The developer expressed pride with a proud expression and exaggerated gestures.

“Now, I confidently introduce to the Commander-in-Chief, the President, the new medium self-propelled howitzer that will replace the outdated old self-propelled howitzer! The XM2001 Crusader!”

It was technically a prototype of the XM2001, but it could go into mass production as soon as a few technical issues were resolved.

“Behold the magnificent 155mm 56-caliber MX297 howitzer based on the main gun of the existing Paladin! As you can see, this one main gun can plant 12 rounds per minute into the enemy’s rear! The standard shell used is the M982 Excalibur! Of course, you can also use the existing standard shell, the M107. Using this Excalibur can extend the existing range of 30km to a maximum of 100km. Because it is a next-generation guided smart shell using GPS and INS [Inertial Navigation System]!”

The ‘M982 Excalibur’ that Kim Kap-hwan remembered was a much more important weapon than the XM2001 Crusader. The XM2001 Crusader was scrapped due to its outdated design as a medium self-propelled howitzer, but the M982 Excalibur was different.

In 2000, the United States developed the XM1203 NLOS-C, part of the MGV (Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicles) to develop next-generation combat vehicles suitable for the future combat system presented to strengthen the existing network-centric warfare doctrine. Therefore, the Crusader medium tank could be canceled without much burden, but even the XM2013 was eventually scrapped due to budget problems.

Of course, outwardly, it was due to the lack of protection against IEDs [Improvised Explosive Devices] or the inability to guarantee survivability, but frankly, these issues could be resolved by changing the design a bit or adding more armor.

Anyway, the important thing is the Excalibur. The tank that was supposed to use the Excalibur died forever, but the army, which still had to roll the Paladin whether it liked it or not, racked its brains to make up for the Paladin’s short range. As a result, the Paladin came to use the Excalibur.

Even in 2019, about 17 years from now. From the beginning, the Excalibur was developed much earlier than the Crusader medium self-propelled howitzer, and things went smoothly thanks to the fact that it was intended to be applied to all kinds of platforms. The Excalibur even boasted wide utility, being used in destroyers and cruisers under the name N5.

Moreover, the performance was monstrous as much as it was disgustingly expensive, so the shell did almost the same thing as a missile. In fact, it looked like a missile because it had wings, and it boasted sniper-level precision thanks to the GPS and INS inside.

Precision doesn’t matter for artillery characteristics that need to suppress areas rather than points, but in war, if you just swing a club, kill everyone, and burn everything, it’s only a matter of time before you become socially and diplomatically isolated. Of course, the United States won’t be immediately isolated if it does that because it has size and has done things in the meantime, but the important thing is that localized wars where the battlefield is limited will become more common than all-out wars in the future.

Then the question arises, ‘Is the Excalibur important and the Crusader medium self-propelled howitzer not very meaningful?’ Of course, it matters. The Crusader could fire 14 rounds with a fully automated system while the existing Paladin fired 2 rounds. The core and foundation of artillery is overwhelming firepower deployment.

‘Of course, unlike the history I knew, there is plenty of budget, so the old Paladin will soon return to reserve duty.’

Is it a problem because it is a medium self-propelled howitzer that is not suitable for the modern era? High mobility and lightweight? Changes in the battlefield environment? All that can be solved with ‘money.’ Above all, in order to maintain the current situation, absolute superiority in defense must be maintained. The moment you are looked down upon by the other party, you will be eaten in an instant.

“For God and country! Welcome aboard the RAH-66 Comanche [a stealth attack helicopter]. It is the first experimental aircraft to be given Marine One status. How is the ride?”

“Not bad!”

After the Crusader tour, he switched to the RAH-66 Comanche, which was waiting right next to him. The Comanche had secured sufficient stability through long-term test flights, and since he had already shown the bizarre act of taking a fighter plane when going to other countries, no one stopped him because it was not a big deal.

Of course, if the Chief of Staff was next to him, he would slap him on the back with his palm without exaggeration or give him no time to experience such bizarre acts with more reports, but now the Chief of Staff was on vacation in Hawaii.

“Really. The ride is better than I thought? Honestly, I didn’t think it would be this comfortable.”

“It is an overwhelming honor! We are currently cruising at 300km/h.”

Some said the Comanche was useless, but this is a similar story to the Crusader. From the beginning, the Comanche helicopter was a machine developed to replace all the standard helicopters operated by the U.S. military. Drones are developing, but helicopters won’t disappear in the next few decades.

Originally, weapons should be replaced after about 80 years at most. Even if you don’t have money, you should at least improve them. If you don’t want to ruin your defense.

The designs of the Cobra and Kiowa are looking at 50 years beyond 40 years, so shouldn’t they be replaced soon?

Unmanned aerial vehicles will take on Hellfire [an air-to-surface missile] assassination missions in the future, but there is nothing like a stealth helicopter when ground forces infiltrate secretly. Even Osama bin Laden used a special forces infiltration through stealth helicopters, not drones, because drones are caught in the air defense network.

Of course, in the current history, Osama bin Laden was simply dragged to the United States and executed meaninglessly thanks to the Shock and Awe operation, but there was no guarantee that this would not happen again in the future.

“I’m quite satisfied. Above all, I really like the fact that it can reach such a high speed despite being stealth.”

He had already ordered the production of a multi-purpose stealth helicopter with the technologies applied to the Comanche. It wasn’t about creating a completely new design, but a stealth helicopter based on the Black Hawk, one of the lineages of the UH-60. There were also budget reduction issues, and he remembered that the helicopter used in Operation Neptune Spear was based on the Black Hawk.

“I’m concerned that the armory is a bit small, but I guess that’s inevitable because it’s stealth.”

“You can attach more externally if you give up stealth. Of course, we won’t operate that way in peacetime, but we need to respond as flexibly as possible in wartime.”

“The Pentagon is reporting that we should reduce helicopters and increase drones. What do you think?”

This was also a statement that would make the Chief of Staff grab the back of his head and fall from his seat. How could he so easily leak information that was almost a national secret to a mere pilot?

“Drones are the future of the United States.”

Bush, who had imagined a very negative answer, thought it was quite unexpected.

“In other words, it means they are garbage at the moment. I think this is still an era where people can play a more active role than drones.”

That was until this answer came back. The pilot’s answer reminded Bush of the crossbows that were gradually being pushed back by muskets with increasingly powerful firepower in the Middle Ages. More intuitively, it was like a worker who thought his job was being taken away by machines.

In any case, the drones currently in operation are still controlled by humans, so they are not truly unmanned in the true sense of the word that moves entirely with AI, but in the sense that they are taking away jobs, wouldn’t that be the same thing?

Bush, embarrassed, opened his mouth to smooth over the atmosphere.

“Is there anything you want regarding the Comanche? I can grant you almost anything.”

“Honestly, I don’t know about the Comanche because I think I’ll be retiring by the time it’s mass-produced and deployed, but I have a question.”

It was a truly mind-boggling answer. Well, he certainly looked quite old just by looking at his face. Although all that was visible now was the back of the pilot’s shiny helmet, he had definitely seen his beard was quite grizzled before getting in.

“What is it?”

“How does that seat feel?”

Of course, he wasn’t asking how this seat was.

“You mean the position of President?”

“Yes.”

Bush thought for a few times in his mind but couldn’t easily come to a conclusion. He could have answered casually, but for some reason, he didn’t feel comfortable.

“What do you think?”

“I think it would feel like being a god. It’s the President of the United States, not another country. You can do anything.”

“Hahaha, gods don’t go to work.”

Jokes were coming out of his mouth, but cold sweat was running down his back. Certainly, the position of President was a position where you could do anything. Of course, if you commit illegal acts and get caught, you might have to go to jail like some president of South Korea, but even if you don’t use illegal methods, you can fully satisfy most of the desires that humans can imagine.

Even Bush is satisfying all kinds of desires right now, isn’t he? Even now, he was reviving projects that had been developed but scrapped due to budget problems, satisfying the secret desire to promote national defense inherent in Bush.

In particular, the pinnacle of this desire was the Arsenal Ship. If you only thought about budget efficiency, it would have been better to make more Aegis ships than Arsenal Ships. Of course, no one could refute this because Bush was the one who brought in the budget.

When I think about it, it was actually weapons, but I wanted to invest more in ‘space development.’ To the point where other countries can’t catch up. To be exact, I wanted to raise the level of technology to the point where civilians could travel in space. It’s impossible within my term, but wouldn’t I be able to go before I die?

“I can already see the landing site.”

“Mr. President! It was an honor to have you!”

The pilot escorted Bush with a bright voice as if he had never done that before.

“I’m already starting to miss the Chief of Staff.”

Unlike someone who was busy checking each new weapon, the Chief of Staff was leisurely sunbathing at a villa built in Hawaii.

“Is the next one the M8 Buford?”

Bush’s exploration of new weapons seemed to be getting longer.