The Rise Of Australasia

"Mr. Tesla, when can we develop a radar that can be applied to airplanes?" the Air Force Commander asked with a hint of disappointment.

Seeing such advanced radar technology unable to be equipped on airplanes was most distressing for the Air Force Commander.

More importantly, the navy could clearly equip the current radar, signifying a potential boost in its significance. Perhaps next year's budget for the navy would be even higher, increasingly widening the gap with the army and the Air Force.

"It's still uncertain, Your Excellency the General," Tesla said helplessly, shaking his head, "In fact, equipping it on airplanes is the most difficult task. Even if we push for improvements with all our might, I can't guarantee completion in a short time."

This was actually a question to which the answer was known before it was asked. The Air Force Commander nodded, indicating his understanding.

Arthur smiled and said, "Now you understand the importance of radar, don't you? To reject the offer to test radar on warships without witnessing its capabilities is akin to pushing away such excellent technology.

I hope that through this incident, you understand that we can only become stronger by continuously updating our scientific technologies.

I do not want to see such incidents in the upcoming radar tests; you must cooperate fully with any radar tests."

In truth, Arthur needn't have mentioned this, as the generals were already the ones most eager to have radar equipped in their military forces.

Because it was already night, it was too late to return to Saint Arthur Castle, so Arthur had no choice but to stay at Sydney Palace, the palace he had left just a few months ago.

Early the next morning, Arthur visited the radar research center again. On one hand, it was to reward Tesla, his assistants, and all the personnel at the radar research center; on the other, it was to discuss with Tesla the future directions for radar improvement, including various areas of development.

The rewards for the research staff at the radar research center were quite high due to the importance of radar.

They were certainly due their honors, and in addition, they received financial rewards ranging from 200 to 1000 Australian dollars based on their merit, as well as a variety of supplies, even land rewards.

And Tesla, who had the greatest merit in the development of radar, not only received a large amount of land and funds, but his achievements took him a step closer to the title of Viscount.

In Australasia, there is no Marquess among the aristocratic levels. The aristocracy system in Australasia is composed of five levels: Sir, Baron, Viscount, Earl, and Duke.

Of course, Arthur, the King, naturally holds the highest position in the aristocracy system and has the power of life and death.

In this system of new nobles, the nobility has no power to resist the Monarch.

However, the Monarch would not actively strip titles from nobility or threaten their lives. After all, the interests of the Monarch and the nobility are essentially aligned; the nobility is the biggest supporter of the Monarch.

Although the lowest reward is only 200 Australian dollars, this amount is equivalent to more than three years of income for the average person, which is still attractive to those lower-ranked research personnel.

Moreover, the rewards are basically given according to one's contribution to the development of radar; those who made contributions naturally received more rewards, such as Tesla's assistant, who was awarded as much as 3000 Australian dollars.

Even those who didn't have any particular achievements could get a reward of 200 Australian dollars, which actually proves Arthur's benevolence and generosity.

Apart from financial rewards which were distributed on the spot by check, the registration was first made for other rewards including land and supplies, which could be exchanged by the research personnel at the government office at their convenience.

They didn't need to worry about the government reneging on the deal, as the Aristocracy system and the system of granting titles of Nobility based on military merit are the most inviolable systems in Australasia; nobody would risk losing their head over embezzling their rewards.

After the rewards were distributed, naturally, the next important matter was discussing the future direction of radar development.

When Arthur arrived at the meeting room with Tesla and listened to Tesla's plan for radar improvement, he then asked with a smile, "Baron Tesla, have you ever thought about using radar to detect rockets?"

"Rockets?" Tesla was taken aback.

Tesla was naturally familiar with the Larasian Testet rockets; he had even participated in the development of the Testet rockets.

But the idea of using radar to detect rockets was somewhat astonishing—it was akin to trying to observe bullets with the naked eye. Who could achieve that?

One should know that while rockets have a long attack range, their speed is also very fast.

The existing first-generation Testet rockets of Australasia had a maximum range of 75.3 kilometers, which was far beyond the detection range of the existing R1 radar.

More importantly, the maximum flight altitude of the Testet rockets reached 11.2 kilometers. To expect the current R1 radar to detect Testet rockets, not to mention whether it would be possible, even if it could detect them, the rockets would probably have already reached their destination quickly.

In such a case, whether or not they could be detected would be irrelevant, after all, it was impossible to counter the enemy's rockets, or rather, missiles converted from rockets.

"It's just an idea, Baron Tesla," Arthur explained with a smile, "Of course, current rockets are only the first generation products, which means the idea of using radar to detect rockets will become even more difficult.

But one has to admit, the progress in rocket development by other countries is not null. According to the rate of rocket research and development in Europe, they are very likely to catch up with us within ten years and develop such a thing as rockets.

In light of this, we need to prepare in advance and strive to detect the flight trajectory of rockets with radar, to defend against the threat of enemy missiles to us.

Of course, as I said, this is just an idea. Even if it can be realized, it definitely won't happen in a short time.

I have great expectations for it, but the current focus of the research center remains equipping the navy, army, and air force with radar, and deploying large radars along the coastline."

Arthur was merely proposing a research direction for radar, urging Tesla to start scientific research in the field of missiles ahead of time.

But in reality, it would be simply impossible for European nations to catch up with Australasia's progress in rockets and missiles without ten to twenty years of effort.

Even the simplest Testet-1 rocket could not be developed by any country, including Britain, without three to five years.

Arthur's strategy, which began twenty years ago, was not without effect; a significant part of the talent in rockets and aviation had already congregated in Australasia, with the remainder scattered across European and American countries, already weakening Europe and the United States' ability to develop rockets.

Even if rockets and missiles were exposed in the future and European countries and the United States started to develop missiles in response, they were doomed not to keep up with Australasia's pace.

Unless a country could gather aerospace power experts on a scale comparable to that of Australasia, who could achieve that?

With a significant portion of talent already gathered in Australasia, to amass a scale of talent comparable to Australasia's would be to practically drain other countries' reserves of rocket and aviation experts, wouldn't it?
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Such an action was practically impossible to execute because other countries would react swiftly. Even if they did not know the purpose of these excavations of rocket and aviation talent, they would do their best to protect these individuals to prevent the harm of losses to foreign lands.

The reason Australasia could attract these talents before other countries reacted was twofold: one was the influence of the Victoria Award on the scientific community, and the second was that at the time, rocket and aviation specialties were not well-known, nor did they have such significant influence.

One should know that before practical military aircraft were developed, Arthur had already begun laying out plans for rocket and aviation talent.

Who else would catch onto such early planning? Unless someone else had prescience like Arthur, just the choice between airships and airplanes was enough to distract the vision of most countries.