The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Moving the Adeptus Custodes technology onto the Astartes equipment is a very bold idea."

Sol sighed, stroking his chin as he spoke his opinion, but he did not object. After all, weapons are only useful if they work well. Moreover, strengthening the radar fire control and information chains is indeed a good way to improve combat effectiveness.

"How long did it take to produce these 250 aircraft?"

"Strictly speaking, it's 200. Fifty were quickly assembled using existing parts from the warehouse. These 200 took about 12 years."

"That fast?"

This really surprised Sol. He knew that Astartes equipment, among other things, was notorious for its long production times and difficult births. Otherwise, so many Chapters wouldn't treat a single Land Raider as a treasure, and they wouldn't have to beg and plead with the Forge Worlds to replenish their flying vehicles.

Therefore, in his mind, the production of heavy armor, including Terminators, should be very low and small, equivalent to the efficiency of sages crafting them bit by bit by hand.

Ulan Huda opened his eyes today.

"Chapter Master, Ulan Huda used to supply equipment to the Eighth Legion. You and Captain Talos are so familiar, you should also know the tactical style of the Eighth Legion in the past. Although as a Legion, the Eighth Legion, like other Legions, was inclined to all-round combat methods and deployed various types of troops, after all, due to the special atmosphere of the Eighth Legion, the number of their ground heavy armor and siege equipment was proportionally less than other Legions. Conversely, they also greatly favored rapid aerial assaults. In addition to rapid air drops, terror squads often attacked opponents and carried out air drops in low-altitude raids using flying vehicles. In addition, Raptor squads often used large gunboats such as Stormbirds as their bases of operations. This made the Eighth Legion's demand for flying vehicles far higher than other Legions, and Ulan Huda's equipment production line was naturally dominated by various types of flying vehicles."

"...For example, the Wrathstorm engine of the Stormhawk Interceptor is actually a type of Stormtalon and Stormraven series, and this is the most time-consuming part. At present, there are 311 factories producing various parts related to the Wrathstorm engine on the Forge World, and 46 general factories. Under 100% efficiency, the annual limit output of the engine can reach 4,000 units, which can assemble 2,000 Stormhawk Interceptors. Of course, this is just the ideal state. In reality, the current annual output can only reach 600 units at most, because a lot of productivity has to be used to produce other types of engines."

"So, this number of 200 is actually very small? According to Ulan Huda's production standards?"

Sol smiled and looked at the surrounding warriors.

"Why don't you all stop being infantry and just fly Stormhawk Interceptors?"

The surrounding Space Marines burst into laughter, and Bangula continued:

"Because you only instructed me to produce more Stormhawk Interceptors at the time, and I wasn't sure how many you actually wanted."

Sol immediately shook his head.

"It's okay, it's okay. Magos Bangula, you considered it very carefully. These 250 are already a lot. For the current Chapter, no, for two Chapters, it's too much. After all, this requires Space Marines to pilot, and it's not good to configure too many, otherwise there will be no one on the ground infantry line."

Then Sol pondered for a moment and said to Bangula:

"Magos Bangula, do you think it is necessary to manufacture Stormtalons and Stormravens?"

"You are the commander, and the application and selection of weapons depend entirely on your tactical needs. However, from my point of view, the Stormraven is not very necessary, because as a gunboat with transportation capabilities, its functions highly overlap with the Stormbird and Land Raider, as well as the Chapter's existing Stormbirds. Too many complex equipment models only increase the maintenance pressure on the Techmarines. It is better to simplify the types of equipment as much as possible. I think the size combination of Stormbirds and Land Raiders can actually meet the transportation needs of Astartes company-level units. As for the Stormtalon, it is definitely not as good as the Stormhawk Interceptor in terms of air combat, and in terms of ground combat, the firepower seems to be weaker than the Stormhawk Interceptor. After all, its size and maximum take-off weight are one-third less than the Stormhawk Interceptor. However, the Stormtalon has an advantage that the Stormhawk Interceptor does not have. It adopts an active engine structure, which makes its flight mode much more flexible than the Stormhawk Interceptor. It can even hover for a long time, and it can also take off and land vertically. The take-off and landing of the Stormhawk Interceptor still have some conditions, because it does not have downward buffer nozzles, and the engine is also fixed."

Bangula is indeed a very pragmatic person. As a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, his evaluation of equipment and weapons is completely based on rationality and practicality, rather than symbolism or religiosity. This is also a point that Sol admires and appreciates very much.

Sol turned to look at the other warriors. He wanted to hear the warriors' thoughts and see everyone's understanding of equipment and tactics.

"Chieftain Arash, what do you think?"

Arash thought for a while and replied in a deep voice:

"I think it is necessary to equip Stormtalons. There is a Stormtalon in the Chapter, and it has created many merits in the Chapter's few expeditions in the past. This vehicle can effectively fill the gap in the Chapter's low-altitude firepower. Although the Land Speeder can fly at low altitude for a short time, it is not used as a flying vehicle itself. If Stormtalons can be assigned to each company, they only need to stand by in the rear during operations, and they can greatly increase the flexibility of the company's tactics when they are called upon."

Sol nodded slightly and looked at Mark.

"First Captain, what do you think?"

"I also think the Stormtalon is very necessary. Although the Stormhawk Interceptor has powerful firepower, it can only perform one-time fire strikes in a short period of time due to its high speed. If you want to return to the battlefield after a dive attack, you need to circle back with a large radius, and there is a firepower gap period, which cannot maintain continuous suppression of the battlefield. In addition, the battlefield environment is complex, and the enemy may be hiding in jungles, mountains, or even canyons. It is difficult for the fast Stormhawk Interceptor to search for the enemy in that environment, and too low altitude also means higher risks for them. The Stormhawk Interceptor has a fully enclosed cockpit, and the pilot's vision relies entirely on the simulated images formed by the connection between the helmet and the sensors. Accidents may occur in complex terrain. The Stormtalon has a bulletproof glass cockpit with a wide field of vision, and can conduct battlefield patrols at very low altitudes to discover isolated or hidden enemies."

Sol then turned his attention to Ben Albert, the Forge Master of the White Templars. This was a Techmarine with a serious face and neat short hair. He was also a very powerful forging master. The melee weapons he forged were very strong and durable. Sol's personal armory had a power hammer forged by the other party, but he rarely used such weapons, so he just kept it as a collection. Many company commanders and veterans, including the Astral Knights, had a sword or battle axe forged by the other party. (Tribute to my favorite Forged in Fire Ben~)