Nice. Rubber tracks? On one hand they are supposed to reduce weight and vibration, on the other, those in the videos look somewhat beaten up on an otherwise pristine vehicle. Surprised that there are only six dismount seats in there though, considering that the turreted IFV version has seats for as ...

It would make sense to make all the vehicles in a unit similar to simplify logistics, maintenance and mobility. So Warrior-based units have Warrior or warrior-based vehicles for all roles, including mortar carriers, ambulances and the like. AFV-based ambulances are only to get the injured out of the...

To be precise, CTAI says that it is "greater than" 140mm at 1.5km. And simply taking the "front is Xmm" thing doesn't speak the whole story about the protection of a vehicle, especially when it's a 200 RPM weapon hammering shots into it. There are untold variations in armour den...

The CT40 can indeed knock out T-55's, as sourced via CT40 International themselves. That's also accounting only for front armour. There is virtually no way that any thing even up to (and including) T-72 and T-80 could resist a CT40 or Bofors L70 from the side unloading rapid shots. They certainly a...

If we're trying to engage tanks with recon units with no alternative, something has gone terribly wrong. Indeed. Handy in a pinch, but certainly not underarmed. Literally anything but a modern MBT the CT40 can absolutely devastate. If by 'modern' you mean T55 and up, then I'd agree, but I'm not sur...

RetroSicotte wrote:

whitelancer wrote:not well enough armed.

Giving it the most advanced autocannon available to any AFV is "not well enough armed"?

Not when it still needs ATGW to take on tanks.

Air support with whatever is available? Brimstone, Hellfire, smart bombs and smart submunitions if you have them. If you are carrying out airborne operations in a high armour threat environment I would imagine that you would make sure you've got more air support available than usual. Air support doe...

Exactor is far closer to an artillery piece than a classical battlefield ATGW. For one thing it outranges the M777 with basic ammunition. As far as I see it, the L118 and the Exactor are quite similar in the way they complement each other as the AS90 and the GMLRS. Also, how often will airborne forc...

I guess that operational analysis should be updated with time and technological advances. If light forces have the exactor (Spike NLOS) system then perhaps the anti-armour capability of their gun artillery is not so necessary. That said, with the proliferation of Active Protection Systems (APS), the...

sub-munitions, as in anti-armour, intelligent munitions? I was actually thinking about dumb dual purpose submunitions. Google tells me that there are (US uses M915 and M916 with 42 bomblets). I was wondering if the effectiveness of the 155mm shell against armour was based on the comparison as a car...

marktigger wrote:the 155mm shell was calculated as the minimum sized shell effective against armoured forces.

Is that still the case, and does it consider submunitions?

I'm curious as to what the expected advantages of the M777 over the L118 are, for light forces. The 155mm piece weighs more in itself, so needs a bigger tractor. The 155mm ammunition weighs more so you need more crew and more logistics support to keep them supplied. The larger gun has more range, bu...

Soldiers supplement their own gear for the ally factor, to look slightly different, it a bit like when your at school and the brand of what you use comes into the foray. Issue tissue is fit for purpose, signed off and actually very good, go back 22 years to when I first joined it a quantum leap. I'...

Commercial standards, look at HMS Ocean, for an example at how commercial vs military stands up. Naval design standards vs. civilian marine design standards doesn't necessarily carry over to the Land domain. In any case, I think that Sharkbait may mean that the components are made for sale rather t...

Tinman wrote: Commercial components? Really?

Are you twelve.

I'd be interested in hearing why you disagree.
Certainly more interested than I am in vague implication and childish insults.

Tony Williams wrote:A gas turbine exhaust also produces a high volume of hot gas which is much easier to spot with thermal imagers.

Is it? I thought that the exhaust plume is normally invisible to TI. Anything it impinges on is a different matter, but hot gas is transparent.

If we were to buy American, we'd 1) end up with another tank with growing obsolescence 2) modify it to bring in to our standards, thus taking it out of the US upgrade line 3) not spend the money to upgrade in line with the US, thus falling back further into obsolescence 4) not be able to get the lat...

For us to design build and operate our own MBT in the future would be costly and a serious error In judgement when we could just buy in from Germany or America. The USA won't have one ready for when we need it. The Germans/French may, but there's no guarantee that it will fit into our concept of op...

Please explain your business model for the UK to re generate MBT building and design. Thanks . Personally I'd find a design house (either the two existing ones or use the skill sets existing within the MoD), use the collected operational analysis to inform the design, buy all the parts from the exi...

Tinman wrote:

mr.fred wrote:

Tinman wrote:... but We are out of the tank building bespoke game.

Why do you think that?

Seriously?

Yes.

Tinman wrote:... but We are out of the tank building bespoke game.

Why do you think that?

I see no sense in carrying on butting heads.
Make of the data what you will, I shall do the same.
Thanks for the Greek trials info.

Facts are facts though. Numbers don't lie. Every other modern tank has higher top speed, higher hp/t, better suspension liftspace, faster acceleration, sharper braking, better driver control method, better driver visibility and most also have better range. Numbers don't lie, just like photographs. ...

Which you can find if you do a little digging. The results of the Greek trials, for example, contain very pertinent information. You only need look for information on the Challenger 1's hull (which is far more available) given they have the same hull, and you can see that it's really not very impre...

One shell going off doesn't lift a tank's full turret. That was a catastrophic explosion. Either way, mis-stored or not, the rounds are stored openly either behind them or in a compartment with no blow out panels beneath their feet. Either way, that is bad news compared to say, the completely store...