Tank Guns

[Keshav Murali]

@Penguin, the ACV-S with BMP-3 turret is a bit irrelevant since the BMP-3's gun is actually a launcher and is supposed to have a ridiculously low chamber pressure and recoil.

 

[Manticore]

2A46M gun with T-80-style autoloader and gunner's instruments

125mm mainguns (D-81T and D-81TM; artillery department indices 2A26 and 2A46 respectively) equip all Soviet and Russian tanks starting with T-64A MBT. They were developed by the Spetstekhnika (OKB-9) design bureau in Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk), and are manufactured at the artillery plants Plant No.9 in Ekaterinburg and Motovilikha in Perm.

One of the drawbacks of this gun is that a high strain on internal surfaces during firing, as well as sheer size of it demands strict manufacturing discipline which initially caused difficulties for the Soviet industry. This resulted in unsatisfatory fire consistency of original models due to all kinds of manufacturing defects, including substandard materials, poor machining, barrel drooping, and so on. It is worth noting, however, that this problem has received due attention during the upgrading efforts (2A46 mainguns), culminating in the purchase of the Western machining equipment for 2A46M/M-1. Improved manufacturing process and better stabilization and recoil equipment provided for increase in accuracy especially on the move and at medium to long ranges.

The average barrel life of production 2A26 guns, according to USSR standards, is 600 EFC. The barrel life of 2A46M guns is twice that (1200 EFC); this modernization also provided for a quick gun barrel replacement in field conditions.

Starting with T-64B, the gun has also been modified to allow it to be used as a launcher tube for ATGMs.

This main gun was developed from the early 60s and first introduced on a T-64A MBT, with the installation series of 20 vehicles delivered in 1967. The main reason for its introduction were the intelligence reports about a new British Chieftain MBT which couldn't be defeated frontally by 115mm D-68 gun originally installed on T-64.

With the upgoing gun and ammo design efforts this gun managed to stay quite abreast with the armor developments in the West until the introduction of M1A1HA model of the Abrams MBT, the reliable counter to which did not materialize due to a tremendous economic and political upheaval associated with the collapse of the USSR.

Currently the ammunition for 2A46M gun still corresponds to the level of threat that existed 15 years ago, and there are certain technical hurdles, primarily the autoloader dimensions, that prevent simple solutions to the problem.

Solutions do exist. These include a complex of deep modernization measures utilising an increased-power 125mm 2A82 gun, new ammunition with 740mm battle parts, and redesigned autoloader to accomodate those. There is also the project of radical increase in main gun caliber to 152mm (2A83?). Given the current geopolitical climate and Russian defence spending priorities, any efforts in this direction are unlikely to materialize in nearest years.

In the middle of the 90s the 125mm caliber gun 2A75 has been developed for a new light airborne tank 2S25 Sprut-SD. Designed to fire all types of 125mm ounds from a much lighter platform, this gun differs from D-81 line of guns in several important respects, including the more than doubled recoil length.

An interesting more recent development of high-caliber Russian mainguns are two 120mm guns M-393 and M-395, designed to fire NATO ammunition. These guns, intended for export only, are offered as an upgrade option for T-62 and T-72 tanks respectively.

http://www.russianarmor.info/Tanks/ARM/2a46.html

 

[Manticore]

 

[Penguin]

@Penguin, the ACV-S with BMP-3 turret is a bit irrelevant since the BMP-3's gun is actually a launcher and is supposed to have a ridiculously low chamber pressure and recoil.

It is a low pressure gun, just like the 73mm on the BMP1 was. The switch to 100mm gives a larger HE-round and allows use of the 100mm gunlaunched ATGW also adopted for the T-54/55's. It is for infantry fire support, just ast the 76mm Saladin and Skorpion turrets are. And so are most older 90mm cannon mounted on light armored vehicles.

Newer 2 man turrets feature long barreled high velocity 60mm, 76mm, 90mm, 105mm and even 120 and 125mm guns, which can pretty much kill anything tracked they encounter, with the possible exception of modern MBTs from the frontal arc (not a problem for 120mm and 125mm).

 

[Umair Nawaz]

is there a double/triple barrel Gun concept?
and small gun on back?
radbot.net - the most radical website around

[/IMG]

 

[Major Shaitan Singh]

 

[shumailatariq]

wow its very nice

 

[Falcon29]

Can anybody tell the specifications of Chinese tank guns.?

Yes, I have an encyclopedia I bought that I want to put to use, LMAO.

You know what, I can't find any Chinese machine guns used for war but I have specifications of German, Japanese, American, Russian, Czech, and more.

Actually I do, but they are mounted guns mostly not what I think you want.

 

[Eland76]

There is something to be said for light armoured vehicles (LAFVs) with big guns being used as ersatz tanks or tank destroyers. Not the easiest solution but if you're a developing country worried about the cost of MBTs it can be done.

I remember when over here in RSA we were still training on thin-skinned Eland/Panhard AML-90 armoured cars. These vehicles had a huge 90mm gun on a very small chassis. Armour thickness was under 10mm - the plate couldn't even stop HE fragments. And the turrets made them so top heavy rumour said it was dangerous to fire them sideways!

In order to understand why we depended on LAFVs instead of main battle tanks (MBTs) in most South African military ops, you have to grasp our tactical doctrine. The idea was to fight as mobile a war as possible, forever staying on the move to retain the initiative and keep the enemy off balance. We couldn't do this with tracked MBTs. So a decision was made to go with mobility and speed over protection and firepower (less armour, less armament, etc). Whenever our LAFVs were engaged by Soviet T-34/55 tanks in force, they executed flanking maneuvers, came up behind them and finished them off with concentrated HEAT. This was made possible by several factors:

1) Superior situational awareness. Saffies could stand on top of our taller armoured cars and see other troops over the thick vegetation, while crews in those squat T-55s couldn't see them.

2) Tactical competence. When being engaged, the enemy Cuban and Angolan soldiers more often than not panicked and failed to identify the threat until it was too late. But if you missed, you had to assume the OPFOR tank now knows where you are - serious indeed for three guys in a little 'noddy car' that can't even resist AP ammo from an AK. Accordingly, our chaps became very skilled at achieving "one shot, one kill".

3) Superior mobility. Our armoured cars were so much faster and mobile they could outmaneuver the slower tanks every time. We did this with T-34s, PT-76s, T-54/55s, and even T-62s. Sometimes when the LAFVs attacked from behind or the flank the enemy tank turrets couldn't turn to engage in time because they kept smacking into old-growth trees. Stupid but true.

So, yes it is possible to get away with light tank destroyers, even if your opponent's MBTs have thicker armour and bigger cannon. You just have to find the right doctrine for local conditions.

 

[Eland76]

Examples of big guns on wheeled LAFVs:

And of course, personal favourite, Panhard AML:

90mm, 60mm, and 76mm high-velocity cannon are easy fits on LAV-type platforms - thanks to advancements in stabilisers, recoil control, etc. And all of them are at least capable of destroying a T-72 tank with SABOT.

 

[Penguin]

@Penguin, the ACV-S with BMP-3 turret is a bit irrelevant since the BMP-3's gun is actually a launcher and is supposed to have a ridiculously low chamber pressure and recoil.

You have a point.

Like the 73mm gun preceeding is in BMP1, the 100mm 2A70 semi-automatic rifled gun / missile launcheris meant to fire either low velocity 3UOF HE-FRAG rounds in an anti-infantry role. Further, it fires 3UBK10 anti-tank guided missiles.
Effective range for the HE-FRAG round is 4,000m. Muzzle velocity is 250m/s. 22 HE-FRAG rounds can be carried in the automatic loader, total ammunition load being 40 rounds. Rate of fire is ten rounds a minute.
The 3UBK10 anti-tank guided missile round consists of the 9M117 laser beamriding missile and container. This missile is used in the Bastion missile system (Nato designation AT-10 Stabber) and in 100mm tankguns (old T-54/55). It can engage tanks with explosive reactive armour as well as slow, low-flying targets such as helicopters. Range is 100m to 4,000m. Hit probability is given as at least 0.8 with armour penetration of 600mm. Ammunition load is eight rounds.

 

[Penguin]

@Eland76: what do you make of this? (it's a Saracen, obviously, but what of the gun: same barrel as on Eland, but its appears the standard MG turret. Fake barrel?)

From APCs,Anti tank tracked & wheeled systems | Page 11

ps: interestingly, SAF defence forces adopted Rooikat with 76mm rather than 105mm (export version)

 

[Penguin]

@fatman17 or @Xeric, Is it possible to decouple the the Gun, swivel/traverse system and the loading mechanism from the turret and mount it onto a howtzer like rig, to in other words recycle obsolete tanks for bolstering up border posts??

Simply dig in the tank, after removing any unnecessary (re)usable parts. Reinforce it with concrete. Or just put the turret onto a bunker. If you need a mobile unit, you might use a reinforced container (which would have to be dug in)

Osprey Publishing - Military History Books - The German use of tank turrets as fixed fortifications

 

[Penguin]

Dutch example. This is actually an encapsulated Sherman tank, with crew entering via the hatch and tunnel to the former engine compartment at the rear of the tank.

This is of interest, from Switzerland: World Military and Police Forces: Switzerland

 

[Penguin]

8.8cm PaK 43/3 mit Behelfslafette (2012)

Sockellafette

Tankturret fortification