BSTT Chimera

     Country of Origin: Britain

     Seen in: A 1984 proposal by the British School of Tank Technology to prolong the lifetime of the Chieftain MBT.  It was a drawing-board proposal that got very close to being built, but in the end only subscale conceptual models were built.

     Notes: The Chimera (never type-standardized) was the result of work which would have been done to extend the lifetime of the Chieftain chassis (the Chieftain turret was always the problem, and the BSTT never had access to full-scale turrets).  The idea then became a design for a vehicle with a casemated main gun, looking very similar to a German Jagdpanzer Kanone. The result was to be an effective tank destroyer/assault gun, but lighter and cheaper than either a Chieftain or the Challenger 1 that was about to appear in British Army units.

     The Chimera was to have the standard L11 120mm rifled gun; because much internal space was freed up by not using a turret, a relatively large amount of ammunition could be carried – both machinegun and main gun rounds. (A version of the Chimera with an XL30 120mm cannon, which is slightly longer and designed to fire more powerful ammo was postulated, which, though it was a low-pressure design, could still fire conventional L11 rounds.) The Chimera has an L7A2 coaxial machinegun and the commander, in a manually-rotating cupola with all-around vision blocks, and also an early form of a OHWS, mounting an M2HB, and fully capable of being aimed, fired, and reloaded from under armor.  The commander has an aiming reticle because the L7A2 in front of the cupola can be aimed and fired with the commander under armor, and the main gun can be fired by the commander if necessary.  The main gun and coaxial, due to the unturreted design, have a limited traverse of 5 degrees in either direction and to the top and down; the coaxial can manage 10 degrees back and forth and 5 degrees up and down.  Like all such designs, further gun movement is done by pivot steering its tracks.

     The Chieftain hull is lengthened by one roadwheel, in order to allow the recoil stroke of its main gun in its new, lower position.  The two front roadwheels are of steel instead of aluminum, as the design of the Chimera places much more stress on those front roadwheels. The profile is of course low, and the Chimera would have done well in a hull-down position.  Armor was also heavily increased over the glacis and hull front, including the use of the then-new Chobham armor. The hull side armor was thick spaced RHA on the top hull side, and somewhat lighter on the lower hull side.  This side armor also had a moderate sloping design. The Chimera would have sported a comprehensive fire control system for the time, including a laser rangefinder, ballistic computer, and a night vision suite normally found on the best British tanks. In addition, the Chimera was operated using inertial navigation, with a special mapping unit that contains the maps which would be needed for the most optimistic 48-hour outlook.

     The power was provided by a late model L60 multifuel engine, most likely to have been the 12A/N model, giving the Chimera 750 horsepower. An alternate engine mounting was a 1200-horsepower version of the one being fitted into the Challenger 1. There was also talk of using the full-power version of the L60, which would have given the Chimera 1500 horsepower.  In addition, the Chimera was to have a 10kW APU for silent watches.

     The Chimera was to have a crew of four, driver, commander, gunner, and loader. Their positions are essentially the same as they would have been on the Chieftain – driver on the front right, commander and loader’s hatches on the right and left of the rear of the casemate, and the gunner, whose normal station is to the right of the gun, uses the loader’s hatch.  Though the commander’s hatch was equipped with an OHWS, there was a relatively smallish hatch for the commander to squeeze through.

     In the end, MoD and Army tank experts examined all of the models, draft drawings, and documents related to the Chimera.  Though they determined that the Chimera would be highly effective in a European war, the work on the Chimera came to naught, and they were filed away in one of the BSTT warehouses. Ironically, the whole idea had been thought of in 1972, and one prototype was actually built before the design program was shelved.

     Maintenance tools, extra track sections and roadwheels, a first aid kit, and a ration/water heater completed the equipment of the Chimera.

 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Chimera and British tankers had sort of a love affair with the Chimera, as they were surprisingly effective at taking out armor and smashing fortifications, while also having an excellent survivability credit.  Some Chimera crews took to calling their vehicle the Goliath, or, seeing the resemblance to the Jagdpanzer Kanone, christened it with the name “JagdChieftain.”

Vehicle

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

Chimera (750hp Engine)

$576,265

D, G, AvG, A

694 kg

57.89 tons

4

43

Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G, C)

Shielded

Chimera (1200hp Engine)

$587,041

D, G, AvG, A

714 kg

57.89 tons

4

43

Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G, C)

Shielded

Chimera (1500 hp Engine)

$588,462

D, G, AvG, A

727 kg

57.89 tons

4

43

Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G, C)

Shielded

 

Vehicle

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

Chimera (750hp Engine)

115/80

32/22

950

278

Stnd

T6

HF90Cp  HS27Sp  HR10

Chimera (1200hp Engine)

159/111

44/31

950

446

Stnd

T6

HF90Cp  HS27Sp  HR10

Chimera (1500 hp Engine)

188/132

52/37

950

558

Stnd

T6

HF90Cp  HS27Sp  HR10

 

Vehicle

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

Chimera

+3

Basic

120mm L11 Rifled Gun, L7A2, M2HB (OHWS)

70x120mm, 600x.50, 9000x7.62mm

 

BSTT Excalibur

      Notes: Another Cold War prototypical design, the Excalibur predates the Chimera by about ten years.  The aim was to produce a tank destroyer which would be amphibious and air-droppable (from the Blackburn B-101 Beverley, a transport of the time a little larger than the C-130). and offer as low a profile as possible.  The vehicle was also to have excellent agility, mount a weapon capable of destroying any Soviet tank of the period (early 1960s).  It was also expected to be able to mass in formations to plug holes in the mass of tanks that would be on the East/West German border.

     The BSTT decided to go with an unusual configuration – a casemated gun, but with the gun in the front of the hull in a “semi-turret”, able to traverse up to 45 degrees in either direction, so that the Excalibur was less dependent on track pivoting to aim its main gun or coaxial machinegun. The gun also sat higher in the casemate than most casemated designs, allowing it a little better of a hull-down position.  The gun was a 105mm low-pressure gun that, while it didn’t function so well with the saboted penetrators which were new issue at the time, but armed with HEAT, HESH, or AP could put up a credible attack against the Soviet tanks of the 1960s.  Unfortunately, the low-pressure gun also meant less range then the (also then-new) 105mm L7-type gun.  The main gun was also short-barreled, to fit inside aircraft.  The result was a gun, though seemingly adequate, was little more effective than an M40 106mm recoilless rifle. The gun was also not stabilized and getting a hit on the move would be largely a matter of luck. In addition to the main gun, the Excalibur was also meant to be able to mount eight Swingfire missiles. These were mounted on four staggered boxes on either side of the vehicle. (The gun was to be made specifically for the Excalibur, and I have given it a fictional designation below.  The gun I used was modified from the French Modele F-1.)

     To further lighten the Excalibur, the armor was primarily composed of aluminum alloy armor, with a thin steel backing (as Kevlar was not in military use at the time, the steel layer was supposed to be an antispalling layer). The steel backing plate was only 5 millimeters in thickness, and the armor was otherwise not much to write home about.  The glacis and side armor was spaced in addition with simple air spaces in the aluminum armor.  The Excalibur was not meant to stop an ATGM or a tank main gun round; the armor was designed to stop 14.5mm rounds from the front, 12.7mm rounds from the sides, and assault rifle rounds from the rear. The glacis is sharply raked, and the sides have a moderate slope.

     The commander had, on a pintle mount, an M2HB heavy machinegun. The loader had a hatch on the left superstructure, and the gunner used the loader’s hatch.  The driver was on the front left behind the glacis plate. However, the driver doubled up as the gunner, as the Excalibur was meant to fight from prepared firing positions, and a separate gunner and driver would not be needed, and because the commander could also function as a gunner.  The crew has a vehicular NBC system, with an external scrubber on the rear face.

     Power was to be provided by a Leyland L50 multifuel engine developing 580 horsepower.  It was envisioned that the vehicle’s primary fuel would be diesel, with other fuels used if no diesel was available.  The engine was coupled to an Allison XTG 411-3 automatic transmission.  The Excalibur was amphibious without preparation, propelled in the water by two waterjets.  Suspension is by torsion bars.

     In the end, the British Army was not interested in a casemated-gun tank destroyer with a limited gun, and they rejected the Excalibur.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$392,628

D, G, AvG, A

533 kg

30 tons

3

21

Passive IR (D, G)

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

139/97

39/27/5

700

172

CiH

T4

TF24Sp TS8Sp HF20Sp HS8Sp HR3*

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+1

None

105mm L8A2 Low-Pressure Gun, 8xSwingfire Missile Launchers, L7A2, M2HB (C)

70x105mm, 600x.50, 9000x7.62mm, 8xSwingfire ATGM

*The turret is in fact a semi-casemated installation.  Hits on the TR are not possible; treat these as misses.

 

Hagglunds Ikv-93

     Country of Origin: Sweden

     Notes: The Ikv-93 is a version of the Ikv-91 armed with a 105mm gun, produced only as an experiment to increase the Ikv-91's firepower and allow it to continue on in its role as a tank destroyer. It was decided that a new vehicle was needed instead and the Ikv-93 project shelved.  The commander, loader, and gunner exit through hatches in the turret deck, while the driver has a hatch on the deck on the front left side. The commander and gunner have periscopes that are the equivalent of binoculars as well as night vision devices. Like the Ikv-91, the Ikv-93 is designed for operations in northern Sweden, and is sure-footed on difficult terrain. The engine has a preheater to ensure that it starts in cold weather. The commander can control the gun as well as the gunner, but the commander has no access to the fire control computer, and his shots are at +2 at best.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: A number of conversions from Ikv-91s were made to the Ikv-93 standard before the Twilight War; some more were made afterwards, and there was even a tiny amount produced as new vehicles.  About 50 were available for the Twilight War.

     Merc 2000 Notes: The Ikv-93 was never produced in any large numbers.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$193,201

D, A

600 kg

16.2 tons

4

14

Active/Passive IR

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

131/92

31/21/3

400

114

Trtd

T4

TF8 TS7 TR6 HF10 HS6 HR4

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+3

Fair

105mm L-7 gun, Ksp m/39, Ksp m/39 (C)

39x105mm, 4250x7.62mm

 

Hagglunds Ikv-2000

     Country of Origin: Sweden

     Notes: This vehicle was never developed beyond several reduced-scale models in real life.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This odd-looking vehicle was designed before the Twilight War to produce a capable tank destroyer that could be used on deep snow and rough terrain of the northern reaches of Sweden and in the mountains. It is based on the chassis of the Bv-206 all-terrain vehicle, much upgraded with armor, night vision, and a 120mm stabilized gun. The gun and crew are carried in the front section, while the ammunition is carried in the rear, connected to the gun by a conduit. This is a very rare vehicle, which began production only in mid-1997.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$297,804

D, A

500 kg

25 tons

3

20

Thermal Imaging, Passive IR

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

156/104

36/26

680

213

CiH

T4

TF19Cp TS12 TR8 HF24Cp HS10Sp HR6

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+3

Fair

120mm Rheinmetal gun, Ksp m/39

36x120mm, 2400x7.62mm

 

Henschel Marder-105

     Country of Origin: Germany

     Notes: The Marder-105 is the result of an experimental tank destroyer program of the 1980s. They were never actually produced beyond the prototype stage.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: When deliveries of the Vextra 105 from France stopped due to the hostilities between the two countries, the Germans were in need of another light vehicle to take the Vextra 105s place. To that end, they mounted a casemated 105mm gun, mounted in a turret with reasonably heavy armor. These vehicles first went into action against Polish troops in late 1997, and gave a good accounting of themselves. Through a combination of good luck and camouflage, the factory producing these vehicles was not destroyed until nearly New Years of 2000, and thus numbers of this vehicle were surprisingly high, surpassing the numbers of Vextra 105s in German service. They gave a good accounting themselves in combat, especially when fighting from hull down positions.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$342,250

D, A

800 kg

29 tons

3

24

Thermal Imaging, Passive IR

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

133/93

31/23

650

203

CiH

T4

TF11Cp TS7 TR6 HF27 HS12 HR8

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+4

Good

105mm L-7 gun, MG-3

36x105mm, 2400x7.62mm

 

M113/TS 90

Notes: This is an M113 modification offered as an upgrade to customers around the world, but without success.  It was also trialed in the US for use as an infantry support vehicle. It is an M113 (which may be an A1, A2, or A3) fitted out with the TS 90 turret, as found on many French-designed armored vehicles.  The turret turns the M113 into a light tank destroyer and support vehicle.  In this role, the M113's passenger compartment is taken up with the turret and ammunition, and the rear deck hatches and commander's cupola are removed; the fuel tanks, if the base vehicle is an A1 or A2, are moved to the rear.

The engine of the M113A1 is the General Motors 6V53, which develops 212 horsepower. The steering system used is by differential tillers; the vehicle is steered by pulling on the tillers and braked by pulling them both sharply to the rear and put into parking brake by locking them to the rear. The M113A1 has a crew heater, which actually works quite well. The M113A2 is similar, but uses the updated 6V53T engine with an upgraded transmission that has an additional forward speed. The ground clearance is raised by 25mm, due to a beefed-up and more shock-absorbing suspension. The M113A2 has a rather unreliable and accident-prone pivot steering system; this system is usually disabled to prevent thrown tracks. The smoke-grenade system of the M113A2 is replaced by the smoke grenade launchers mounted on the TS 90 turret.

The M113A3 uses a modification of the 6V53T called the RISE package.  This version of the 6V53 develops 275 horsepower.  The differential steering controls are replaced by a conventional driving yoke and brake pedal. An improved neutral steering system is fitted, restoring the pivot steer capability. Kevlar anti-spalling liners were fitted to increase protection for the occupants.  The M113A3-based version of the TS 90-equipped vehicle is absolutely not amphibious, even with flotation cells.

Vehicle

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

M113A1/TS 90

$373,269

D, A

558 kg

13 tons

3

9

Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (G)

Shielded

M113A2/TS 90

$373,269

D, A

603 kg

13.4 tons

3

9

Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (G)

Shielded

M113A3/TS 90

$381,069

D, A

616 kg

14.3 tons

3

9

Thermal Imaging (D), Passive IR (G), Image Intensification (G)

Shielded

 

Vehicle

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

M113A1/TS 90

133/93

37/26/4

360

124

Trtd

T2

TF6  TS7  TR6  HF6  HS4  HR4

M113A2/TS 90

131/92

36/25/4

360

124

Trtd

T2

TF6  TS7  TR6  HF6  HS4  HR4

M113A3/TS 90

150/105

43/29

360

136

Trtd

T2

TF6  TS7  TR6  HF6  HS5  HR4

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+1

Fair

90mm CN 90 F2 Gun, MAG, MAG (C)

45x90mm, 2200x7.62mm

 

Nuffield A39 Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank

     Country of Origin: Britain

     Seen In: British preparations for the invasion of France in Operation Overlord.

     Notes: The Tortoise was essentially an assault gun (though the British designated it a Heavy Assault Tank, it was also known as the Special Vehicle, Assault), conceived of in early 1943 in preparation for the Operation Overlord landings in France.  It’s job was to destroy heavy fortifications, and especially the Siegfried Line fortifications, which intelligence said was being used by the Nazis (the intelligence was largely wrong, however).  The Tortoise was designed to have a powerful gun (for the time) coupled with heavy frontal armor (again, for the time; the glacis had 228mm of armor, sharply sloped; even the top had 33 millimeters of armor.  Only a few prototypes were produced by the end of World War 2, and none took part in any action.  It’s size, simply, made it almost impossible to deploy with the methods available at the time.  After the war, six were produced and sent to the BAOR for field trials, but proved to be too heavy for any sort of agility. Only two Tortoises survive today, one as The Tank Museum in Bovington in the UK; this one is kept in perfect running order, despite being only rarely displayed.  The other is in the Kirkcudbright Military Training Area in Scotland, and the MoD has declared it a Site of Scientific Special Interest.  This greatly complicates the ongoing effort to bring the Tortoise back to running order, as the vehicle cannot be recovered without the M0Ds approval, which they never seem to give.

     The weight quickly grew to extreme proportions; at 78 tons, it was much heavier than an M1A2 or a Challenger 2.  This is despite the fact that it has only a casemated gun, and not a true turret.  The armor of the casemate is, in fact continuous with the armor of the vehicle, especially in the front of the vehicle. The gun could be traversed 40 degrees to either side of the front.  The main itself was an Ordnance QF 32-pounder (94mm) high-velocity gun, along with two Besa 7.92mm machineguns in ball mounts on the right side of the glacis, and another in a ball mount to the left of the main gun’s ball mount

     The Tortoise had a large crew – the driver, commander, assistant driver, gunner, machinegunner and two loaders. The driver and the assistant driver operated the two glacis-mounted machineguns, while the machinegunner operated the casemate’s machinegun.  The long main gun length meant that a travel lock was necessary, and this was electrically operated.  The Tortoise also had three clusters of 76mm grenades, a cluster of three on each side of the hull, and a three-round cluster was to the right of the casemate’s machinegun ball mount.  A third weapon was a 2-Inch smoke and ILLUM launching mortar, mounted in the rear of the casemate.  Atop the casemate were two hatches for the commander and one for everyone else.  The Tortoise also had an azimuth indicator, another advanced feature for the time.

     However, the Tortoise was not blessed with agility, being equipped with an engine of only 600 horsepower.  Though weak for the Tortoise’s weight, it one of the most powerful engines available for armored vehicles of the time, and was based on the Spitfire’s Merlin engine.  The Tortoise was difficult to deploy, even disassembled, and could not cross most European bridges, nor could it cross a Bailey Bridge. Also not helping were the tracks, as they were an astounding 90 centimeters wide.

     The Tortoise was fitted with experimental night vision gear (advanced for the time).

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$396,738

G, A

800 kg

78 tons

7

40

Active IR (G)

Enclosed

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

73/51

20/14

720

266

Stnd

T6

HF116  HS44  HR15

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+1

None

Ordnance QF 32-Pounder (94mm) Gun, 3xBesa Machineguns

60x94mm, 4500x7.92mm