NationStates Jolt Archive

NPM-A Type-03 Main Battle Tank

Program:

The Type-03 is a modification of the Chinese Type-98 Main Battle Tank, of which Novikovian authorities purchased a single model three years prior to the release of this vehicle. The Type-03 is intended to replace the Type-80 (also Type88) Chinese Tank which has serve in Novikov for three years. Production estimates detail that this move to the Type-03 should be complete within three years, completely phasing out the Type-80 from front-line duties.

The design principle on this tank was simple, to make something on indigenous design comparable to the T-90, M1A2, and Challenger II Main Battle Tanks currently employed by the majority of the world's armies. This vehicle also has the distinction of one being proposed by Novikov for use in the IADF's military, both by Novikov's forces and, it is hoped, by the forces of their allies.

Design:

Laid out in traditional Soviet style, the Type-03 has a driver's compartment in the front, a central turret and fighting compartment, and the main power plant in the rear. Main power plant is designed to be removable in under one hour, should the need arise.

It is also worth noting that this tank is the first to feature such Western design features as armored bulkheads and armored barriers between crew and fuel/ammunition stores. These are all designed to give the tank crew maximum survivability on the modern battlefield.

Additionally, a snorkel and extra fuel tanks can be mounted on the vehicle, giving it extended range and the ability to deploy across rivers up to five meters deep. Other kits are planned, including a longer snorkel, and a floatation/propeller system, both intended to allow this vehicle to fill the role currently played by the PT-76 Amphibious Tanks in service supporting Novikov's infantry.

Armament:

Principal armament for the Type-03 is a Chinese 125mm smoothbore gun, fully-stabilized. The weapon incorporates an autoloader which serves to conserve space and gives the tank a fire rate of 16 rounds in 90 seconds. The weapon is capable of firing traditional HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank), APFSDS (Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot), and traditional HE/HE-FRAG (High-Explosive / High-Explosive Fragmentation) rounds.

The main gun carries 48 rounds stored in protected compartments inside the turret, with 17 being mounted automatically in the auto-reloader. After the initial 16 shells have been fired, either the gunner or commander is forced to begin an automatic reload sub-routine, which takes some 180 seconds to complete, though it can be interrupted to resume firing.

Fire accuracy is attained by the laser rangefinder, wind sensor, ballistic computer, and thermal barrel sleeve. Dual axis stabilization ensures effective firing on the move. The commander is has three periscopes and a stabilized panoramic sight fitted with day/thermal viewing options, all to ensure accurate target acquisition.

Finally, the Type-03 is fitted with a computerized onboard information processing system, which can collect information from vehicle navigation (Inertia/GPS), observation systems and sensors, process it in the computer and display it on the commander's display, giving the ability of real-time command and beyond-vision-range target engaging.

Other weapons include a 12.7mm heavy machinegun mounted outside the gunner's hatch, intended to serve as protection from enemy infantry as well as a last-ditch defense from hostile aircraft. Principal anti-aircraft duties are taken over by a package of four SA-7 light SAMs mounted to the side of the turret. These are controlled by a secondary gunners sight or by a target acquisition program run through the commander's main panoramic sight.

Protection:

The turret and hull are all of a steel/ceramic compound construction (note: this armor is only slightly more effective than welded steel and is distinctly different from other composite armors), with a more typical ceramic plating attached over most of the vehicle's surface in 20mm or 40mm layering. Additional dual-blow off panels have also been added over the turret front and sides, as well as the frontal hull armor. A final defensive measure exists in the form of mounting points for replacement tracks over the vulnerable rear engine compartment. This combination or armors has almost completely removed the effectiveness of HE, HE-FRAG, and most HEAT rounds, achieving the said design goal of increased survivability.

A final defensive measure comes in the form of the Chinese JD-3 integrated laser rangefinder/warning/self-defense device. This device is mounted atop the turret in a circular configuration. When activated, it detects incoming laser-range finding systems as they strike the tank and, in return, fires a parallel beam back towards the optics/range finding equipment on the enemy tank. Initial tests indicate that is system can diminish targeting effectiveness by up to 50%, and in several cases, completely blind the crews of enemy tanks trying to engage the Type-03.

Propulsion:

The Type-03 is powered by a liquid cooled, turbocharged 1,200 hp diesel derived from Germany WD396 diesel technology. At its current battle weight of 52 tons, this gives the tank a power-to-weight ratio of about 23 hp/tonne and a maximum speed of 65km/h.

Basic Statistics:

Crew: 3
Weight: 51 tons
Engine: 1,200 hp liquid cooled diesel
Transmission: Mechanical, planetary
Track: Metallic with RMSh, with rubber-tyred road wheels
Suspension: Torsion bar
Radio: Receive/transmit, telephone, laser communications
Dimension: Length: 11.00 m; Height: 1.80 m; Width: 3.60 m
Cruising Range: 450 km, or 600 km with external tanks
Speed: Max road 65 km/h; max off-road 47 km/h; average cross-country 35 km/h; max swim N/A
Fording Depths: 5 m with snorkel
Main Gun: Chinese 125 mm smoothbore w/ autoloader
Rate of Fire: 10.5 rounds/min
Elevation/Depression: 32 / -8 degrees
Auxiliary Weapon: One 12.7mm machinegun mounted atop turret, Four SA-7 Surface-Air Missiles mounted on turret extension, elevation 0 to 66 degrees
Fire Control: Laser rangefinder input, onboard computer, wind sensor, and control panel
Protection: 1,040 mm RHA (Front), 910 mm RHA (Sides), 880 mm RHA (Rear), 350 mm RHA (Top)

Production Cost: 4.000.000 USD
Export Cost: 4.400.000 USD
Export Cost (Allies Only): 4.050.000 USD

[Bump... Comments Appreciated]

ooc: i am no expert tank designer, but it looks pretty damn solid to me... and by solid i mean non-uber, and that is always a good thing... not just for my own tanks, but for the purposes of realistic and enjoyable RPs... so roll on... i'd buy some 'cept i just redid my MBT a few weeks back...

OOC: Nice; You should get a picture to go along with it. ;)

IC:
The Government of the Dystopian Police State of Uzb3kistan would like to purchase the production rights, and plans to the NPM-A Type-03 Main Battle Tank.

We are not able to sell production rights to any nation outside of the IADF at the current moment.

The Democratic States of Basque Spain would like to purchase 15 tanks how much do each cost

4.400.000 USD each, so 66.000.000 USD for the whole batch. We will begin shippment of these export models as soon as funds are recived.

(OOC: Meh. Autoloaders ain't that good, always better for a man to do it. Though it's just a personal gripe of mine. But aren't the SAMs a bit much?)

[OOC: We here in Novikov have become quite adept at taking exsisting technology/weapons and grafting them onto new designs (We've even used aircraft radar to guide SAms mounted on a submarine O_o). Such is what we have done. Realize that the SAMs are all SA-7s (man-portable SAMs), and that they have limited effectiveness. They also don't weigh much or take up much space, so it was considered an innovative solution to the problem of defending our vehicle from aircraft. Also know that we only have some 8.000 SAMs in our military arsenal, and most aren't highly portable, hence this gives the vehicle an additional role as a local SAM battery.]

(OOC: Then make a mobile one you cheap bastard :P)

[OOC: This is a cheap one, and it's a good tank. I'm a cheap bastard, so I'll take the two-for-one.]

The Democratic States of Basque Spain will take 15 of them

Wire funds and we will begin shipment within the month.

how

Well, say you're doing it.

OOC: thats it all this time Ive had my guys fight in war using Kung-Fu and that is all I had to do! LAUGH AT MYSELF I THOUGHT YOU HAD TO ATUALLY HAVE A BUDGET FOR YOUR COUNTRY TO BALANCE IN ORDER TO DO IT!

wow i feel dumb

I have wired the money to you using western union

Though we rarely useing anything much heavier than our Karak LST's it would certianly be nice to have a heavy offensive armored force avaialble just in case, as they say. And would thus be interested in purchaseing the production rights as we are a fellow IADF member. Though we are curious as to any sort of problem you would have with us modifing the design to repace the external 12.7mm HMG, and SA-7 with our K50 AGL, and SA-33 SAM respectively. We have no intention of selling it and are simply trying to lessen the local logistical strain of haveing two system rarely used within our ranks. We are also curious as to why a coaxial weapon was not fitted. Payment will be wired upon confirmation fo the sale.

Sincerely,
Sean Roberts
MoD, DPRM

OOC: You do have a budget (taken from http://www.sunsetrpg.com/nsxmlparser.php)

The Democratic States of Basque Spain
Population: 205,000,000
Civil Rights: Good
Economy: Very Strong
Political Freedoms: Average
Tax Rate: 72%
Government Budget: $2,189,152,107,347
Administration: $483,364,785,302
Welfare Spending: $462,348,925,072
Healthcare: $126,095,161,383
Education: $294,222,043,227
Spirituality: $294,222,043,227
Defence: $168,126,881,844
Law and Order: $105,079,301,153
Commerce: $105,079,301,153
Public Transport: $0
Envirnment: $0
Social Equality: $21,015,860,231
Government Waste: $87,566,084,294
GDP Per Capita: $12,698
Total Output: $2,603,132,179,406
Private Consumption: $722,759,804,064
Black Market Economy (Estimated): 30.61%
Black Market Product (Estimated): $1,148,146,302,356
Black Market Breakdown:
Basic Necessities: 3.57%
Healthcare: 6.62%
Education: 5.09%
Transportation: 7.76%
Luxuries: 7.57%
Recovered: $55,111,022,513
Worker Enthusiasm: 81%
Government Efficiency: 96%
Consumer Confidence: 76%
Unemployment: 21.66%
Exchange Rate: 1 euro = $0.96

IC;

Funds recived, expect the vehicles in 12 RL hours. Oh, and we would also like to take this time to extend you an offer to join the IADF. We feel you would make a fine addition to the alliance, and either way, you'd recive a discount on these vehicles.

(http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=402983)

We also reccomend you build a military of at least 250.000 men, preferably around 1.000.000 men. We would be happy to provide those troops with Tanks (Type-03s), Aircraft (84 Spare Mirage F1s and 84 spare MiG-21s), Weapons (as many Uzis as you want), and submarines (Swordfish, Swordfish II, Sabre, or Areis design.), all at reduced prices, seeing as we are a minor arms dealer, and much of our equipment needs to be replaced (it's not bad, it's just slightly aged Soviet/French/Chinese Technology). If you would like information regarding thiese offers, send me a TG to Novikov, or E-Mail me at BrandoCommando3@aol.com.

Though we rarely useing anything much heavier than our Karak LST's it would certianly be nice to have a heavy offensive armored force avaialble just in case, as they say. And would thus be interested in purchaseing the production rights as we are a fellow IADF member. Though we are curious as to any sort of problem you would have with us modifing the design to repace the external 12.7mm HMG, and SA-7 with our K50 AGL, and SA-33 SAM respectively. We have no intention of selling it and are simply trying to lessen the local logistical strain of haveing two system rarely used within our ranks. We are also curious as to why a coaxial weapon was not fitted. Payment will be wired upon confirmation fo the sale.

Sincerely,
Sean Roberts
MoD, DPRM

Loacl production advisors associated with the IADF COuncil here in Novikov have decided that, as a new nation to the IADF, it would be good policy to provide you with a small token of graditude. We thus have undertaken the task of shipping twenty of these new units, with the parts requested changed removed and ready for your engineers to modify, as well as an additional twenty Type-80 tanks for comparison. We do this free of charge. The requested production rights will be sent along wiht these vessels.

Shippment orders stand as such:

20 Type-03E Novikovian Main Battle Tanks (Export Model)
20 Type-80G Chinese Main Battle Tanks
Blueprints: Type-03E Main Battle Tank

Cost: 0,00 USD

No thanks is necessary.

-Col. E. Zenkov, Production Head, Duma Loacl Ordinance Sector.

We've wired the money for 100 of these tanks to you.

And for the love of god, stop using that ugly ass site for NS Economys. This is much better. http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com/nseconomy.php?nation=Tocrowkia

I prefer that site, and either way, why does it matter? There are lots of sites, so why can't I use one instead of another. All I want is for someone to have some type of standard to show what their budget is.

Oh and build your own tanks. If you can't RP a purchase, I'm not going to accept it (with the exception of extreme n00bs).

Though you state 'no thanks is necessary' we are quite thankful and and quite impressed with the extended capabilities of the SA-33 and once initial testing has completed would be willing to give you the production rights for free, as our way of saying thank you.

((Basically you would be going from only haveing a one aspect Air defense system (SA-7 is based on the American redeye system) to an all aspect 12km range 10,000m ceiling Low Level Air Defense System; not a bad trade off))

[OOC: Cost is an issue, as we are nearly overbudget already. (We do have a large surplus leftover from donations three years ago in the Novikov-Seversky conflict, but we still don't want to go overbudget unless we have to.) So could you tell me, please, what the price of a SA-33 launcher and SA-33 missile is?]

Oh and build your own tanks. If you can't RP a purchase, I'm not going to accept it (with the exception of extreme n00bs).

I RPed the purchase as much as I'm going to. How do you expect me to give a good 6-paragraph post about purchasing TANKS?!?!!?

((Currently undecided, Im about a page and a half into the write up with atleast a page to go (I seem to have a thing for detailed write ups) but Im sure if thats a problem we can probably supply you with quite a large amount under contract from ALPHAtech and have them write it off as tax deductable. So the cost to you would be minor at most...))

I RPed the purchase as much as I'm going to. How do you expect me to give a good 6-paragraph post about purchasing TANKS?!?!!?

Yes, you did. You said:

We've wired the money for 100 of these tanks to you.

Wow. Thanks for the heads up. Ever consider the fact that I can only build a couple hundred each year and that, as I posted in the info on this tank, I'm currently building something on par with 3.000 for myself?!

I'm not here to argue, but if you can't RP a post, and I don't call "we've wired these funds to you" ample enough RP, if it evn can classify as RP (doubtful), I'm not going to give you tanks. So here's the rule you have to follow here, just like my other store (which you royally fucked up on also), as well as everybody elses:

1) RP YOUR POSTS! Use Mekugi as an example. He RP'd just fine. Try having somekind of infastructure that this preposal is being passed through, including an official signing it, and please, for the love of god, come up with a payment meathod, time frame, and possibly a little background on why I ought to give you 100 tanks.

2) Don't whine, I reserve the right to deny anyone at anytime.

3) Don't just send me money and expect something in return. If you don't detail what you want, how am I supposed to know what it is you're asking for?

4) Do your own math. Simple enough, right?

5) If you are a member of the IADF, just build these yourself; case solved.

6) NEVER, and I mean NEVER, insult me by not RPing a post after I've already corrected you (Tocrowkia, you did this same thing in my Sub Storefront.)

OOC: Well said Novikov, and if youd like to read more about the SA-33 I posted what Ive written so far on the IADF forum.

[OOC: Thanks. I've had to deal with Tocrowkia too much as is. Anyway, can you send a link?]

OOC: check TG's

Well thank you for the offer, but I don't swing that way.

Well thank you for the offer, but I don't swing that way.

My, we're in an original mood today, arent we?

Listen, just follow my rules, as I have twice presented you, or leave my stores. I'll not deal with this kind of bickering/spamming/flaming. I haven't made too difficult a request, and I've made it twice now. Just do it or leave, don't disobey and then act stunned when I won't listen to you; I don't want this to spill over into the IADF, seeing as we are both allies.

Of course not. As far as I'm concerned, are countries are on good terms IC. I just hate you OOC.

Okay then, please delete the link to the picture posted and I'll ship you half the tanks you ordered. Also, remember, you have access to the Type-03 Designs, so you can build them yourself.

Deleted. Even though I saw no real reason to.

Thank you. Fifty tanks are en-route, the other fifty will be sent in one NS year.

This is a Bump... this bump is brought to you by the IADF...

The Rogue Nation of Phantom Lemmings would like to purchase 50,000 of these tanks. I have already wired the funds to your account. The confirmation code is A34JTW67K3L333TWE99000001L4.

Just wanted to say this was a great transaction with Novikov. I would recommend him as a seller to anyone. The tanks arrive as described, with only minor packaging defects. The overnight shipping was much appreciated. Customer service was somewhat weak. I called three times to help me figure out how to start the suckers, but eventually figured it out myself (I was using the trunk key instead of the ignition one...)

Thanks for a great transaction!!!

Phantom Lemmings: Request not confirmed. Any tanks you recived were from an outside supplier and were recived through illegial channels. We will keep the funds however. Now we must request you go fuck yourself.

(Damnit. Don't post a prchase unless you can do the math yourself (that means show the motherfucking cost) and don't try to buy nore than 10% of your budget (Phantom Lemmings, you just gave us 200% of your budget).

[And a bump while I'm at it]