They made short but precise description of the Tankettes, Whell-Cum-Track and Super heavy tanks; A good weekend read.
Saturday 4 April 2015
Armored Warfare: Extinct armor classes
Check out this Armored Warfare article about the extinct armor classes during nearly 100 years of development: http://aw.my.com/us/news/general/extinct-armor-classes
They made short but precise description of the Tankettes, Whell-Cum-Track and Super heavy tanks; A good weekend read.
They made short but precise description of the Tankettes, Whell-Cum-Track and Super heavy tanks; A good weekend read.
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What about the assult gun class?
ReplyDeleteI guess tank destroyers are extinct too today.
ReplyDeleteNot quite, they just sprouted wings :)
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_aircraft
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_helicopter
Not wings, missiles:
Deletehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Khrizantema_1.jpg
No, there were many TD and assault gun concepts after the war as well. The allied forces saw what benefits TDs (less complicated assembly, cheaper, ability to re-use outdated chassis and fit it with stronger guns) have over regular turreted tanks, and therefore also created their own.
DeleteAfter the war yes, but today no. An armored vehicle with the single task to destroy enemy tanks is simply to inflexible. It lasted into the 1970s when the war scenario for central Europe was a major clash between armored forces (take the German Kanonenjagdpanzer as a direct sibling of the Jagdpanzer IV). It vanished completely in the 1980s.
DeleteNo it didn't, "armored vehicle with the single task to destroy enemy tanks" concept still exist, but with ATGM launcher instead of a gun. Examples: M901, M1134, Shturm-S, Khrizantema-S.
DeleteCan't forget that they also sprouted wheels.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1128_Mobile_Gun_System
Mainly shifted from large, non turreted vehicles built on tank chassis to really big guns on small, fast moving and lightly armored vehicles.
105mm is a really big gun compared to nowadays' MBTs?
DeleteMaybe not but with modern TDs it's the size of the chassis which really counts.
DeleteThe gun may not be nearly as big as modern MBT guns (turns out most the most popular ones like the leopard 2 use a 125mm) but it's mounted on something that would normally only have a 30mm gun or similar.
That lighter vehicle weight much easier transport(The M1 which used the same gun was 54 t vs the Stryker's 18.77 t) and it's a much smaller target vs an MBT.
The gun may not be very big vs an MBT but it is compared to the IFVs and lighter vehicles it's likely to encounter it's pretty big.
Leopard 2 has 120mm. Soviet/Russian vehicles have 125mm.
DeleteNote that the Wikipedia page for the AGS says 'it is not designed to engage in combat with tanks'. This is true, it is not a Tank Destroyer. Its closest WWII equivalent is the Assault Gun. Its Direct Fire artillery, whilst it could try and engage enemy MBT, its not designed to go hunting them - its job is to deal with Light Armour, dug in positions and enemy infantry. There are plenty enough ATGW around in the units it supports to deal with MBT and if its job were only anti Light Armour a 30-40mm round would suffice, the modern 40mm Caseless fitted to the British Scout SV has a better anti-armour capability than the WWII 2 pdr fitted to the Churchill.
In reality 'classes' of vehicle have basically disappeared, at least in Western nations. We no longer say 'we require a Medium Tank', we say 'we require some set of systems to provide these capabilities' - I should know, its been my job for the last 30 years to build and run models to help advise on that. Its that sort of thinking that led to the MBT in the first place -
. We require a force equipped to move fast and be able to deal with enemy Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy Tanks
. Oh look, we can provide most of that capability with one ground platform and the aircraft and artillery we already have can deal with the Supers
not
. We require a force equipped to move fast and be able to deal with enemy Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy Tanks
. We will design and buy X, Y and Z Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy Tanks
The British produced some thing on the edge of the Tankette class - the Universal Carrier. It did many of the jobs the 'true' Tankette was designed for. However it was rather more successful - ite ended up as the most produced Armoured Vehicle in hitory, with production ending in 1960 with 113,000 built. Its modern equivalents are lightly armoured wheeled vehicles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Carrier
ReplyDelete