Africa was a loyal ally of Atlas. From a business perspective, it was the only place left in the world whose oil had not been integrated into Roxxon's network.
From a political perspective, no matter how involved Atlas had been in sinking the Truman, all people saw was "the Africa Union attacking the American military."
So the alliance between Atlas and the Africa Union was extremely close. Everyone knew that.
But calling Africa safe did not really make sense.
Leaving everything else aside, sinking an aircraft carrier was an extremely drastic move. Could a place really be safe with carrier strike groups cruising around?
Besides, this time it had been an aircraft carrier. If a guided-missile destroyer came next time, there would be trouble. Africa still lacked missile defenses and sufficient modern combat capabilities. Military satellites, early-warning aircraft-they had none of those. Frankly, even if the Americans secretly bombarded the coast, all the world could do was condemn the American military over the ruins.
Lier never assumed his opponents would show too much restraint.
With little accumulated industrial capacity, Africa could currently produce only a fairly limited range of products. Precision, high-tech military equipment was not something they could cobble together in the short term. They could only arm themselves as best they could with the limited industrial capabilities they possessed.
On the mainland, their ability to manufacture military vehicles would improve by leaps and bounds with the incorporation of the two automotive companies. The Mackinaw Mammoth provided an excellent foundation: powerful, with a stable chassis and protection comparable to a light tank, yet with mobility and terrain adaptability far superior to those big machines.
They only needed to mount an electromagnetic cannon on the Mackinaw Mammoth and make appropriate modifications. Its existing electronic control system could support this new