Caedryn
19-07-2004, 06:30
WILL BE HOME TO HUSSAR LIGHT TANK
The Caedrynian Army has seen fit to and recieved permission to sell armored vehicles formerly in service or currently in service in the Armored and Cavalry Divisions, with the intent of obtaining money with which to buy modern vehicles.
M-48 "Patton": 15,000 currently for sale
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m48-001-s.jpg
M48 "Patton" specifications:
Hull length: 21 ft with gun forward 30ft 6 in
Width: 11ft 11in
Height: 10ft 1 in
Ground Clearance: 16 in
Track Width: 28 in
Weight: 52 tons total
(Hull 20 tons
Turret 18 tons
Engine/Transmission 6 tons
Engine cover 2 tons
Track 2 tons each
Basic load 2 tons)
Performance:
Range 258 miles / 463 km
Top speed 40 mph / 48 km/h
Fuel consumption: 1 gallon per mile on-road, 2 gallons per mile offroad
Fording: 1.2 meters
Vertical Obstacle: 0 .9 meters
Gap Crossing: 2.59 meters
Powerplant:
Engine Continental AVDS
1790 cu in 690 horsepower
Transmission Alison CD-850
Armament:
Main gun: 90 mm rifled cannon 64 rds
Tank Commander: .50 cal M2 HB machine gun 3000 rds
Coaxial 7.62mm M73 machine gun 10,000 rds
(Note: The following ammunitions will not be sold with the tank; they're just examples of what can be used)
Ammunition: HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank)
HEP (High Explosive Plastic)
Canister
WP (White Phosphorus)
Beehive
Armor: Homogeneous cast steel
Hull Front: 120 mm
Hull Side, front: 76 mm
Hull Side, rear: 51 mm
Hull rear: 44 mm
Hull floor: 25 mm
Turret Front: 110 mm
Turret Side: 76 mm
Turret Rear: 50 mm
Crew: 4 (driver, gunner, loader, Commander)
Developed from the M47 "General Patton" tank, the M48 was the mainstay of the US Army and Marines in Vietnam. The M48 was withdrawn from American service in favor of the M60, a further development of the M48, but the M48 Patton remains in service in a number of armies around the world.
The M48 was been designed for combat in Europe against Soviet tanks. When first deployed, the M48-A3 had for the 1960s a state-of-the-art fire control system. At the time computers were mechanical, and range to the target was provided by a stereoscopic range finder, which functioned similarly to a 35mm camera. An end-box on each side of the turret exterior held a prism-type mirror. Turning a hand-crank on the range finder would pivot these mirrors until the double-image in the range finder merged. As the distance between the mirrors is exactly known, a little trigonometry provided the range (in meters) to the target. This information was displayed on a range indicator, and also fed to the ballistic computer by a rotating shaft. The ballistic computer was a collection of gears and cams--nothing was solid-state--which had a handle so that the gunner could select the type of ammunition that was to be fired. Each round had a different muzzle velocity, and therefore the computer had a different cam for each type. The computer would take the range data, merge it with the velocity data, and via a set of rotating shafts, supply this information to the gun's super-elevation mechanism, resulting in the gun being elevated above the gunners line of sight sufficiently for the round to overcome the downward pull of gravity on its way to the target. The gunner's sight however remained locked onto the target.
A good crew in Europe was able to put the first round on target 90% of the time, but this required excellent teamwork and communication on the part of the entire crew. In peacetime qualification, it was possible to stop from a speed of 20 mph, acquire the target, and get off a first round kill at 2,000 yards in seven seconds. This precision fire control system was almost irrelevant in Vietnam where typical engagement ranges could be measured more reasonably in feet than in yards. So in Vietnam it was common to take the gunner out of the turret and put him on the back deck with an M16 or M79 for close-in protection. This also afforded him some protection from mines, and indeed the tank commander and loader often rode on the turret roof or the hatch lips when mines were expected. The TC laid the main gun by eye, and fired using the commander's override control or a lanyard to the manual trigger on the main gun. Most M48's in Vietnam had the commander's .50 cal. mounted on top of the cupola on a simple pintle mount. This location gave a better field of fire, was faster to reload, and less prone to jamming than when the M2 was placed on its side inside the armored cupola. But the TC was terribly exposed to fire when firing the M2.
Rocket Propelled Grenades were a constant threat in Vietnam, and M48 tanks countered this threat by mounting Pierced Steel Plank, chain link fence, and spare track blocks on the fenders to prematurely detonate incoming RPG's. The bustle rack was extended with welded steel, and the turret sides buttressed with extra .50 cal. ammo, C-ration cases, and the crew's duffel bags. The cases of C-rations strapped to the infantry rail on the turret, like the PSP and track blocks, acted as a stand-off shield. If an enemy anti-tank rocket struck the C-rations, it would explode prematurely. Since anti-tank rounds require a certain stand-off distance to function effectively, the C-rations dissipated the force of the explosion away from the armor. It was also the only place to store the rations, since space in the vehicle was at a premium and occupied mostly by ammunition.
The Caedrynian Army has seen fit to and recieved permission to sell armored vehicles formerly in service or currently in service in the Armored and Cavalry Divisions, with the intent of obtaining money with which to buy modern vehicles.
M-48 "Patton": 15,000 currently for sale
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m48-001-s.jpg
M48 "Patton" specifications:
Hull length: 21 ft with gun forward 30ft 6 in
Width: 11ft 11in
Height: 10ft 1 in
Ground Clearance: 16 in
Track Width: 28 in
Weight: 52 tons total
(Hull 20 tons
Turret 18 tons
Engine/Transmission 6 tons
Engine cover 2 tons
Track 2 tons each
Basic load 2 tons)
Performance:
Range 258 miles / 463 km
Top speed 40 mph / 48 km/h
Fuel consumption: 1 gallon per mile on-road, 2 gallons per mile offroad
Fording: 1.2 meters
Vertical Obstacle: 0 .9 meters
Gap Crossing: 2.59 meters
Powerplant:
Engine Continental AVDS
1790 cu in 690 horsepower
Transmission Alison CD-850
Armament:
Main gun: 90 mm rifled cannon 64 rds
Tank Commander: .50 cal M2 HB machine gun 3000 rds
Coaxial 7.62mm M73 machine gun 10,000 rds
(Note: The following ammunitions will not be sold with the tank; they're just examples of what can be used)
Ammunition: HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank)
HEP (High Explosive Plastic)
Canister
WP (White Phosphorus)
Beehive
Armor: Homogeneous cast steel
Hull Front: 120 mm
Hull Side, front: 76 mm
Hull Side, rear: 51 mm
Hull rear: 44 mm
Hull floor: 25 mm
Turret Front: 110 mm
Turret Side: 76 mm
Turret Rear: 50 mm
Crew: 4 (driver, gunner, loader, Commander)
Developed from the M47 "General Patton" tank, the M48 was the mainstay of the US Army and Marines in Vietnam. The M48 was withdrawn from American service in favor of the M60, a further development of the M48, but the M48 Patton remains in service in a number of armies around the world.
The M48 was been designed for combat in Europe against Soviet tanks. When first deployed, the M48-A3 had for the 1960s a state-of-the-art fire control system. At the time computers were mechanical, and range to the target was provided by a stereoscopic range finder, which functioned similarly to a 35mm camera. An end-box on each side of the turret exterior held a prism-type mirror. Turning a hand-crank on the range finder would pivot these mirrors until the double-image in the range finder merged. As the distance between the mirrors is exactly known, a little trigonometry provided the range (in meters) to the target. This information was displayed on a range indicator, and also fed to the ballistic computer by a rotating shaft. The ballistic computer was a collection of gears and cams--nothing was solid-state--which had a handle so that the gunner could select the type of ammunition that was to be fired. Each round had a different muzzle velocity, and therefore the computer had a different cam for each type. The computer would take the range data, merge it with the velocity data, and via a set of rotating shafts, supply this information to the gun's super-elevation mechanism, resulting in the gun being elevated above the gunners line of sight sufficiently for the round to overcome the downward pull of gravity on its way to the target. The gunner's sight however remained locked onto the target.
A good crew in Europe was able to put the first round on target 90% of the time, but this required excellent teamwork and communication on the part of the entire crew. In peacetime qualification, it was possible to stop from a speed of 20 mph, acquire the target, and get off a first round kill at 2,000 yards in seven seconds. This precision fire control system was almost irrelevant in Vietnam where typical engagement ranges could be measured more reasonably in feet than in yards. So in Vietnam it was common to take the gunner out of the turret and put him on the back deck with an M16 or M79 for close-in protection. This also afforded him some protection from mines, and indeed the tank commander and loader often rode on the turret roof or the hatch lips when mines were expected. The TC laid the main gun by eye, and fired using the commander's override control or a lanyard to the manual trigger on the main gun. Most M48's in Vietnam had the commander's .50 cal. mounted on top of the cupola on a simple pintle mount. This location gave a better field of fire, was faster to reload, and less prone to jamming than when the M2 was placed on its side inside the armored cupola. But the TC was terribly exposed to fire when firing the M2.
Rocket Propelled Grenades were a constant threat in Vietnam, and M48 tanks countered this threat by mounting Pierced Steel Plank, chain link fence, and spare track blocks on the fenders to prematurely detonate incoming RPG's. The bustle rack was extended with welded steel, and the turret sides buttressed with extra .50 cal. ammo, C-ration cases, and the crew's duffel bags. The cases of C-rations strapped to the infantry rail on the turret, like the PSP and track blocks, acted as a stand-off shield. If an enemy anti-tank rocket struck the C-rations, it would explode prematurely. Since anti-tank rounds require a certain stand-off distance to function effectively, the C-rations dissipated the force of the explosion away from the armor. It was also the only place to store the rations, since space in the vehicle was at a premium and occupied mostly by ammunition.