Well, there's barely any room in the tank for the crew as it is and we're still a far cry from any aircraft. As for general communications, I don't think we're mobile enough that instant communication is really necessary, especially in the trenches.
If the upgrade we gave to the artillery isn't enough to deal with the armoured cars, I think we'll need to develop some 12.7mm (.50 cal) weaponry. It only has 8mm armour and considering how the 15mm Horsekiller pierced our T15's armour, a 12.7mm should be more than enough.
There are three ways we could go with .50 cal weapons.
1) Sniper rifle. I would prefer this out of the other methods. Arstotzka is great at marksmanship and this would play to our advantage. It would have usage in the trenches and especially in the Mountains. We may be able to develop a scope at the same time, further increasing its usefulness.
2) Machine gun. A heavier machine gun would allow our defensive positions in the Mountains to be stronger and they'll be able to compete with the Stallions at range in the trenches. It'll also let our tanks fight back against the armoured cars easily. The problem is that we already have two machine gun variants and making another could just be an inefficient use of our time. Moreover, Moskurg is probably developing their own tank or tank-killer which this tank-mounted machine gun won't be able to stop. In the end, a useless endeavour in the case of tank-protection.
3) Pistol. Our pistol suck ass and it would be good to replace it. This pistol would work in a similar way that the Desert Eagle works today. The advantages to this over the sniper rifle include being able to be used both in the Jungle and in the trenches as well as being equippable by all of our soldiers. This means, however, that the stalemate will continue in the Mountains at best, we get no Patient bonus when using it, and its short range means it might not be effective against the armoured car, even in volleys. (The AC has much longer range with its Stallion.)
Glory to Arstotzka.
1) We don't have the technology to do this and it would likely use more Oil than a car, in which case it would make it even more Expensive.
I don't mind it being expensive or very expensive because at the very least it will grant our side huge advantage in reconnaissance. And it is a long term decision, if we go for biplane, then we go for more aviation.
If we're going for a long-term decision, a vehicle that uses more than 1 Oil is certainly a bad idea. Also, I'm not entirely ruling out the biplane, I'm just saying we should pick up more technology before we try. A smaller, more efficient steam engine would make our trains run better, allow our tank crews to exist in more reasonable temperatures (as well as go faster), and allow us to have a plane. If you can think of other technologies that would help in its development, feel free to share.
I prefer to not delay using oil for unreliable spying, after all we will have few turns to use additional oil. If we want to become enemies of allies we need to design something oil based now, not later or else it was a bad decision. Besides, stolen technologies are more expensive.
You certainly have a point in not waiting for unreliable spying. If we're making the truck, we shouldn't wait for espionage. I for one chose to help Antegra not for the Oil gain, but so Moskurg wouldn't get the Oil and to prevent Nazi Germany. Stolen technologies have
not been proven to be more expensive. Stolen
designs are more Expensive due to the Imperial system, but technologies have yet to be stolen and so we don't know if they'd be Expensive or not.
EDIT: Wow that was a long post. God damn.