NationStates Jolt Archive

[OOC: The Nakíl goes for 9 million. For those looking for a cheaper alternative see the Broadsword-Tizona R.95 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11615329&postcount=156).]

Note: I'm not totally done yet, and the introduction needs to wait for SafeHaven2 to post more so that A Passion Play can progress past the date the Nakíl is supposedly set to be released in small numbers - and have experiences that resemble German Panthers and Tigers at Kursk; in other words, a series of breakdowns which would no doubt befall a tank designed so expediently to replace what the Fuermak considers a bad design [Arca. I Cougar]. But any changes should be small in number and would sorround specific things - I assumed it would be best to put this on here sooner so that any problems could be ironed out before actual release. Please don't mind any superfluous information and the procurement policy...this is copy/pasted straight from the Word file. And for some [you guys know who you are]... don't copy? a lot[/b] of time on this and have had things copied off a lot before... normally I didn't care, but I will care about this - even if this was the worst design ever...the fact that I spent so much time on this is enough to make be mad if it's copied].

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Procurement Policy
Thank for showing interest in the Arca. IV Nakíl, the future of armored warfare. Kriegzimmer, for the time being, has an individual procurement policy for the Nakíl. Despite the fact that this may be boring, I suggest that you fully read this as if your order is incorrect Kriegzimmer will not authorize it! OOCly, please roleplay your order – it makes for a much better thread, trust me. ICly, Kriegzimmer is ready to make the Nakíl tailored to your national needs, included for logistical ease. That said, ask questions! Kriegzimmer would be more than happy to answer your questions – we are a group of scientists, this is all we like to talk about! We would be thrilled to discus a variant just for your nation. A more national tank variant would make sense when you consider the following. The purchase of the Nakíl does not include production rights for the two propellants, the barrel, autoloader, any of the armor schemes, the suspension fluids, replacements for the suspensions, replacements for the suspension electronics, the active protection system, ammunition, propellant injectors, amongst others. If you purchase the Nakíl as it is you are also pledging to pay (automatic transfer) ~750 per ~150 tanks every mile. Of course, this price is acceptable for the quality, to many – the Abrams is ~400 per mile. Nevertheless, a national variant may bring better results for your army’s needs and may prove cheaper.

Kriegzimmer has a strict policy when it comes to stealing specific technologies. It will result in embargoes, blockades, and/or war. The Golden Throne sees this as a national security threat and [i]will act upon it! You will also be banned from further Kriegzimmer purchases. [OOC: I spent over four months working on this, and despite the fact that I buy a multitude of books and articles on subjects that are in this write-up for my own pleasure, it did cost me money. Please be respectful of this. Should you find yourself in a position where you’ll die without something then ask ICly and I may work something out. But, please give me credit ICly!] This doesn’t apply for those on the guestlist, who I trust enough to produce these small individual parts themselves.

Unfortunately, production rights will not be given; not even to those on the guestlist. Your ability to order will be base off thirdgeek for simplicity, but payment plans can be established if possible. We rarely deny an order – in fact, we don’t think we ever have. So, keep your hopes up! In any case, read the entire write-up – those who win wars are those who know their equipment best. We will be glad to answer your questions – we pleasure ourselves this way! “Tank pr0n,” indeed.

Happy reading,

Kriegzimmer


Arca. IV Nakíl
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil.png


History: The Arca. I Ausva. A, also known as variant A, was introduced into the Ejermacht prematurely in May 2016, seeing combat first at the Battle of the River Nestor. Despite the fact that the tank sold to be one of the most adept at the job it was given, that of a main battle tank, and the fact that it was originally praised as a beast in warfare, given its massive tonnage, and its overly huge main armament, which protruded at over four meters in length, sold it to be the prime example of the next generation of battle tanks. The textbook description of the Ausva. A had described the vehicle as one that threw away all unnecessary electronics and sensor systems, and then replaced what was left of volume with gadgets that would improve on the efficiency of the design. Within the context of comparing the Ausva. A to the BredtSvert, the engineers did a wonderful job, but by the time the tank had gone through the rigors of true warfare, first at the Nestor, and finally truly ended at the massive battle of Ishme-Dagan, it was obvious that the tank had not truly been built to perfection. A resolved Fedor, always a fan of armored warfare and design, as well as an avid perfectionist in regards to his armed forces, asked Kriegzimmer to look over the design once again and provide the Ejermacht with something that was an overarching improvement over the Ausva. A, including in terms of weight, velocity, and overall gunnery. Despite the certain deficiencies in the design, the Arca. I Ausva. A proved to be quite a capable hunk of armor, and it had been the introduction of the Arca. I that the Havenites [SafeHaven2] had been stopped at Mosnoi Bor, and that the rebels had been pierced at the River Nestor. All the same, it had been these exact operations that helped highlight what needed improvement in the design, and it would be these engagements, as well as the massive engagement at Ishme-Dagan, which would ultimately aid in the final product, which was unilaterally released in early 2017, almost a full year the Arca. I Cougar had been released.

Three divisions of Cougars were fed to the River Nestor sector in a deployment operation which continued from 27th of May to the 10th of June, and ended up deploying 1,500 tanks in that area. A further five hundred tanks were rushed south to Mosnoi Bor on the 2nd of June and arrived on the 5th of that month. The vast quantities of armor had been produced between the beginnings of February to just about four days before the shipments began to take form to the River Nestor. In other words, many of the tanks that fought in the battle had just rolled off the conveyor belt. With the surrender of the 3rd Waffen-SS Mechanized Infantry Division at Mons Dei on May 26th, 2016, the Weigari Independence Army, under the command of General Bietz and Prince Heinrich of Dienstad, began a quick offensive towards the River Nestor, beginning to cross the river on the 3rd of June, and finishing the crossings on the 6th of June, thus beginning what would be known as the Battle of the River Nestor. The Arca. I Cougars were not thrown into the battle until the counterstroke was begun on June 12th, where upon two divisions were massed in the north, with a single division places in the south. By the 7th of June the entire Weigari Army, east of Mons Dei, had crossed the River Nestor, hoping to knock through what they thought were rudimentary defenses, and breakthrough towards both Fedala and Dzamiin. The other side of the river had been left with poor defenses, holding a tenuous logistical supply route. The two divisions in the north broke through the rebel line by the night of the 12th, completing a spectacular advance, and began to throw the river bridging that very night. By the late morning of the 13th the bridging was ready and despite numerous Weigari attempts to collapse the new bridges, the Cougars successfully rolled over to the other side of the river that very day, enforcing their dash south, and completely cutting off eighty thousand Weigari soldiers across the other side of the river. The problems were realized in the southern prong of the offensive, as the thrust was immediately blunted by tenacious Weigari defenses, and by the 13th the offensive had almost completely stopped. A renewal of the offensive on the 14th only managed a bit of penetration, and it was not until Emperor Fedor I and Killian President Mark Revello had shown up to personally take command of the situation, on the 15th of June, that the armor truly began its penetration of the rebel lines. Even then, the offensive was slower than expected, almost thwarted by a rebel armored counterattack along the flank of an unscreened armored thrust. It was only the massive armor protection of the tank itself, and its massive gun, that saved the day, stopping the counterattack in its tracks, and turning a potential disaster into a victory. Nevertheless, twelve Cougars lay burning wrecks by the end of the day, while only around thirty-five rebel tanks had been knocked out. Although the River Nestor was reached that very same day, through the help of near continuous close air support, the problems of the Ausva. A were first witnessed there. The reaction rate of the tanks were perfect, which can be attributed to the fact that the turret uses electromagnetic bearings to gyrate, meaning that gyration is much faster. Nevertheless, if the shot was a miss it would take almost double the time it would take a rebel T-80 to reload, meaning a T-80 could put two shots into the flank of the tank, while the Cougar could only put one and miss. In other words, the Cougars took more casualties than needed, although the vast majority were fixed up on the spot, or more so, sent to the rear where they would undergo massive maintenance to be put on the field again. In layman’s terms, the tank melee had proved that the rate of fire of the bulky 140mm electro-thermal chemical cannon was simply not fast enough to compete with other designs. The original intent had been to sacrifice rate of fire and exchange that with a one shot kill to any part of an enemy tank. Unfortunately, the sacrificed rate of fire could sacrifice victory if the first shot was a miss.

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August of 2016 saw the release of two prototype vehicles of the Nakíl (1), quickly completed to participate in the Anjíer Armored Trials. The prototypes failed to have the ‘Giod’ active protection system completed, as well as a lack of reliability testing on the tracks and roll wheels, which would eventually claim both prototypes during the armaments competition in Mandalay, hosted by Anjíer. Before the both tanks saw their track links disengage, causing both to be immobilized and consequently knocked out by the Juumanistran JMT.1 Kyton, the Nakíl actually preformed superior to the other contestants it had time to face, including the KAF-90F, captured from the battlefield in southern Ruska, and the T-7 Gilgamesh. Despite the broken tracks, Anjíer highlighted several incompatibilities with the prototype which would eventually lead to the glossing of the final release, described throughout this entire document. The defeat of the KAF-90F also had a very symbolic importance to it, taking into consideration that Haven [SafeHaven2] used the KAF-90F as its principle main battle tank during the War of Golden Succession, meaning the Empire had openly proved that the prototype was superior to the finished project that the Havenic army was using. Indeed, it also aided in psychologically elevating the position of the Arca. I Cougar as one of the better tanks on the front, as well. It would also solidify the Arca. IV Nakíl, or just Nakíl, as one of the better main battle tanks in current production before it even entered production. At the very least it would staple Kriegzimmer’s achievements in armor technology and perhaps even as a leader in armor technology. It certainly made the first giant steps in that direction with the release of the Cougar, and then of the Ashurbanipal Light Battle Tank, and finally the Shalmanesar Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier. But, as noted before, the single most important thing Anjíer allowed was to wrinkle out any flaws in the prototype and ready the tank for export by late 2017/early 2018, while secondly, it allowed engineers to compare results to other nations, meaning the tank which was still in its early prototype stages could quit easily be altered to address issues that would attempt to make it superior to all of its nearest competitors on the open market.

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Armament: In February 2016, a variety of new gun technologies were tested outside of Villarrobledo, a small village in the center of Arras. An earlier conference in Mandalay, October 2015, had decided upon that the necessary energy output of a tank cannon to successfully penetrate the frontal armor scheme of a current generation main battle tank was 18MJ [mega joules]. This later was increased to 20MJ after a series of tests conducted in Choybalsan against procured testing platforms composed of other current generation main battle tanks used across the world. That said, a conventional 120mm smoothbore cannon puts out around 9MJ, at least when it’s comparable to efficiency of the single piston cannon of the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank. In other words, to be able to fully penetrate the frontal armor of a current tank it would require more than double the kinetic output of older cannon. The original answer to this can be seen with the 140mm Electro-thermal Chemical [ETC] cannon of the Arca. I Ausfva. A. which established a mega joule output of 32MJ, or roughly ten MJ more than required. Despite the apparent power capabilities much of this was on paper, and combat testing, as anybody can deduct from the real combat scenario of The Battle of the River Nestor, and the fact that the gun was too slow to fire truly put inherent maximums of the true capabilities of the cannon. In other words, it was simply not economical to exert so much power with such a bulky system, and as a consequence new gun testing began to look for lighter weight alternatives, even if the power output was decreased by a sizeable chunk. The original consequence was doubling back and eliminating the electro-thermal capabilities of the gun, and instead relying solely on a 140mm conventional smoothbore. Original power output was tested at 19MJ on the high end, with a bit less than 17MJ on the low end. Unfortunately, the less than twenty ton goal for the project was exceeded by said gun system, eliminating the chance that any gun with a bore size as large would be fielded on the new refit.

The old gun also fielded electromagnetic coiling as opposed to standard rifling within the gun, hoping that the additional electromagnetic rifling would increase kinetic output to around 40MJ. Unfortunately, because of a misunderstanding about the technology, it was put to waste. A successful test at Villarrobledo June 2016, using a coil gun, launched an arrow like projectile at 2,000 meters per second, but the entire system weighed near twenty-five tons. The attitude taken post-test was that it should be one or the other, but even then the chances that the gun would reciprocate the efficiency in continuous use was estimated to be rather low, while barrel wear was rather immense, with the superconductors in use facing internal erosion. The biggest engineering hurdle to overcome before electromagnetic technology is deemed feasible for tank employment is how to handle the energy and how to deliver it in pulsed electrical power. Most pressing is the sheer size of the system. Even at two tons the gun system is no smaller than a desk, and the more capable twenty ton systems are overly huge, incapable of fitting in a standard turret size for the Arca. Storage wise, an electromagnetic system would require a capacitor bank .5m³, while providing over 32MJ of energy. In so far, the most capable capacitors can only deliver 3MJ of energy in that volume, while compulsator technology simply isn’t far enough to allow for massive electrical storage.

Originally most of the scientist and engineers that had been included in the project had opted for a simple 120mm electro-thermal chemical cannon, the most tested and successful to date alternate gun technology. In fact, the electro-thermal chemical cannon had been to date the single most used tank gun technology around the world, apparent in all current generation combat vehicles, especially in the main battle tank sector. A major breakthrough, however, was done in Villarrobledo August 2015, and it would ultimately become the example for the upcoming variant to the Cougar. A lightweight 120mm tube launched a projectile at around 2,100 meters per second. Two days later, the same tube, using a controlled liquid propellant launched a projectile at 2,700 meters per second. Liquid propellant technologies had been researched for the past twenty-three years, mostly under the regimes that dotted the area during the Great Civil War. However, it wasn’t until Jonach I began to pour massive amounts of money into the armament technology sector that true breakthroughs were done. By 2016 liquid propellants had begun to see increased usage in the Ejermacht, including in several artillery projectiles, and finally a controlled liquid propellant was used to induce high velocities for armor piercing [AP] projectiles used by the Hali-42 Assault Rifle.

The gun choice was finally settled with the 120mm high pressure breech dual-caliber [120mm/140mm] cannon; the AGS 175. The introduction of new, lightweight, titanium alloys has been able to achieve a serious breakthrough in tank cannon construction technology and has certainly increased the logistic life of the 120mm smoothbore. Most importantly, it has made the cannon lighter, which has been the goal of the Arca project since it was first foreseen that a new tank would be needed to replace the vaunted, but not up to standards, Cougar. The concept gun is not Macabee, and dual breech pressure cannons have been in the prototype stage for the past two decades, however, the Nakíl is the first tank in which the technology is effectively used. In the simplest of explanations, the high breech dual-caliber cannon is a fancy name for a larger magnum gun, using a 140mm charge to propel rounds meant for a 120mm bore down a 120mm bore. While maximum allowable pressures can be increased by improving barrel material technology, gun performance is increased through decreasing temperature sensitivity of the propellant. The barrel is made out a cold-worked, chrome plated titanium alloy core, increasing the amount of inner barrel pressure it could take to around 1,200 MPa, increasing the probability for a first shot hit. The gun includes a booster stage for a down-bore liquid propellant, which is ignited by the combustion gasses of a detonated breech propellant, trailing the projectile down the gun bore. The detonated liquid propellant increases the gun’s gas pressure, systematically increasing the muzzle velocity of the round. A demonstration in Fedala with a 30mm gun, using a two-stage liquid propellant, reached 3,000 meters per second. Using a regenerative injected liquid propellant [RLP] gun, the liquid propellant becomes a much more attractive technology for usage on the tank. That said a liquid propellant also induces much more flexibility in use and a much longer barrel life due to better control of the propellant, as well as the piezometric design. The exact properties of the liquid propellant in use includes the fact that it is a hydroxylammonium nitrate [HAN] based propellant which has shown superior qualities regarding thermal regulation and stabilization. Unlike common perception, should the propellant be stored in designed cells they are, in fact, less vulnerable than a solid propellant. Unfortunately, the liquid propellant injection has to be near simultaneous to the beginning of the combustion of the solid propellant due to the fact that studies have shown that the advantage of a reinforcing liquid propellant after four milliseconds is close to none. Despite the increased measures taken to reduce barrel wear as much as possible, mostly better and lighter materials to build the barrel out of, the fact that injection has to happen so fast does mean that the nozzles do have to be replaced after about seven hundred to eight hundred shots. This compared to the one thousand to one thousand two hundred shots of a conventional smoothbore tank gun. Nevertheless, both Kriegzimmer and the Ejermacht see it as a worthwhile sacrifice.

The gun also receives a velocity boost due to the greater length of the gun, set at 57 calibers, giving the gun length a total of 6.8 meters. Although lengthening of the gun doesn’t yield dramatic improvements it does allow for a more efficient burning of the propellant, which comes especially useful under the use of liquid propellants. However, the negative result of a longer tank gun is that the gun is more prone to dramatic vibrations during movement, making firing on the move over longer distances less accurate. The problem was solved in a ballistics conference in Dzamiin, after the Battle of the River Nestor, which introduced a new dynamically tuned shroud for the gun, which would attenuate the vibration. Longer barrels induce more dramatic vibrations, as said before, which may disperse shot patterns, and this is true for both environmentally induced vibrations and vibrations created by firing a projectile. Understandably, the former is the easiest to deal with, knowing that the round and consequent shockwaves will be too fast to truly solve effectively. The specific shroud chosen for the Arca. IV would work on a series of spring leaves which would report the vibrations through cheap and effective means, which would be mounted on the forward end of the gun’s thermal shroud. Leaf springs were chosen over helical springs through the consideration of simplicity and lower profile design. The mass is attached to the bore evacuator which allows the mass of the shroud to be used as a mass attenuator which is slightly shortened to allow for the space originally set apart to use as a thermal shroud and have the least impact on the system as possible. The forward shroud has a mass of ~16kg, finding that adding more artificial weight would increase the effectiveness of the mass attenuation.


The advance gun concept would require some sort of insensitive solid propellant to be used as the primary propellant, with the regenerative liquid propellant used a secondary and complementary propellant system. The task was subsidized to Agnos, a minor and recently autonomous armaments company that focuses on parts of systems, not systems in their entirety. Agnos was able to introduce a high performance insensitive spheroidal propellant for use in the gun. This was a high nitroglycerine double based undeterred spheroidal propellant, which showed improvement over the low nitroglycerine propellant of the same kind and single base propellants. This was stabilized with diphenylamine, as opposed to ethal centralite and arkadit. Nevertheless, propellant efficiency was narrowed down to two solutions: more energy per density and transfer efficiency. Standard tank propellant design would have a piezometric efficiency of near 50%, while thermodynamic efficiency was nearer to 25%. To increase expansion efficiency the bonding material was replaced with thermoplastic elastomers which operate at a wider range of gun temperatures, increasing the rate of expansion at different and normally unsuitable temperatures, while the conventional stick packing was exchanged with a cylindrical perforated casing which allows the propellant to burn faster throughout the barrel. Furthermore, the propellant was made insensitive to high-pressure, short duration shocks, meaning full detonation is preventable through that means without relying on plasma detonation and regulation [ETC]. Further regulation of dual base propellants can be conducted through the addition of a surface coat, given that enough penetration depth would be necessary in the propellant matrix. Nevertheless, during a performance proof conducted in Mandalay by Agnos using the same round out of a 105mm conventional smoothbore cannon it was shown that there was superior muzzle velocity achieved using techniques adopted by Agnos. With all said and done the new propellant is said to allow for a much more even gas expansion at a much faster rate, allowing the gas to expand fully throughout the entire length of the gun without causing massive damage to the internal skin of the barrel or without the disadvantage of the gas not fully expanding before the round leaves the barrel. In fact, with new high energy propellant advances thermodynamic efficiency should be improved to around 90%, although this should not be taken as a rule, but rather as an exception created in very favorable conditions. Nevertheless, the introduction of the new propellant should allow the AGS 175 the ability to mimic the effects of an electrothermal-chemical cannon without actually using the heavier technology, while the higher energy per square millimeter should make the propellant lighter and despite the new packing techniques, easier to pack. With the added advantage of the liquid propellant system the AGS 175 offers a superior alternative to the electrothermal-chemical gun in the best of results, and at the worst a very original alternative that offers similar results. With all the bells and whistles, including the improved propellant and the improved liquid propellant, total energy behind the penetrator would be ~28MJ, and behind the entire APFSDS ~60MJ at the lowest velocity.

Recoil is handled through a variety of methods, including a quiet muzzle break, although quiet is a relative term. The muzzle break is similar to the ‘pepperpot’ muzzle break on the 120mm/L45 conceptual gun designed by the Italian company Melara. With an extended recoil length of 620mm the recoil energy has been pumped down to under twenty-five tons, which is a considerable achievement and better than the twenty-five ton recoil energy encountered by Melara’s gun – due to the larger recoil length. Recoil is further toned done by the mass attenuation thermal shroud on the gun, explained above. The final estimate for recoil energy has been tested with a mean value of near twenty-three tons, which is considerable. In other words, this gun would be able to be mounted on a larger than twenty-three ton vehicle, and the vehicle would be able to withstand the recoil. Considering the lower recoil the Nakíl will be able to fire more accurately, given the upgraded Cornerstone fire control system (explained below) and the attenuation of the dynamic vibration of the tank cannon both during firing in a fixed position, and especially when firing on the move. On the battlefield accuracy is one of the principle parts of the battle, and will ultimately help the penetrator, or whichever round is used, to win the battle over armor. Originally there had also been plans to include a hydropneumatic recoil mechanism but it was found superfluous to the design, while adding cost and giving no real advantage, since the current recoil energy was sufficiently suppressed for the greater than seventy ton Arca. IV. In any case, the muzzle break has been found to be one of the better recoil suppressants, especially after the generation of more quiet muzzle breaks (proving to be much less harmful to the ears of the crew), especially considering the success they have had in conceptual gun design since the early 2000s. The German 120mm/L52 gun was able to decrease recoil energy to 27 tons, with a recoil length of 550mm, beginning trials in early to mid 2005. Other muzzle breaks on smoothbores have been tested by Israel on the new MG251 120mmL/44 for the Merkava Mk.III upgrade, and South Africa’s GT12 has been shown to have a recoil load at less than 30 tons. Similarly, Switzerland was able to decrease recoil energy from 50 to 26 tons on their 120mmL/50 by increasing the recoil length from 410mm to 500mm. With the advent of the longer gun, necessary due to the secondary liquid propellant, the recoil length can too be increased, offering the Nakíls gun a very good prospective on reducing the weight of the recoil.

The gun can use a series of new and older rounds, including the standard armor piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot [APFSDS], or the newer X-rod, a rocket propelled APFSDS, or more accurately RAKE, rocket assisted KE. The gun can also fire smart target activated fire and forget [STAFF] rounds which are a designated top attack round, much like the artillery SADARM, which use explosively formed projectiles to exert damage on the top armor of a tank. The Ejermacht employs the newly designed fastcore RAKE, which includes a newer cartridge, equipped with an axial thruster assembly and a fastcore rocket engine. Thanks to the use of liquid propellants the thermodynamics governing the use of solid propellants are somewhat displaced. In other words, the velocity of the round is directly relevant to how fast the gas could physically expand. With the supplementation of a chemical propellant with a liquid propellant the round can now travel much faster with the same rate of expansion of the gas. Realistically, a standard chemical solid propellant would be able to punch a round out at around 2,000 meters per second, and more with new barrel technologies capable of withstanding more pressure and faster rates, while with the liquid propellant a standard kinetic energy sabot can likely be expelled at around 2,800 meters per second, and no less than 2,500 meters per second. This coupled with the RAKE can increase the effective kill range to around nine kilometers, although natural and man made obstacles will still be a disadvantage to this. Nevertheless, the importance of the extra power is more than obvious.

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The gun is loaded through a clip-style autoloader, opting for the conserved space and increased loading velocities, as opposed to the continuous loading style of the carousel. Arguably, the clip-style autoloader is also easier on frontline logistics, replacing the auto-loader when it runs out of rounds and simply sending it back to headquarters for reloading. This newer autoloader differentiates itself from that used on the Cougar by adopting something closer to FASTDRAW, than that which will debut on the Black Eagle. This newer system comes with a number of advantages, including reducing the amount of blast door complexity and sealing requirements, making it safer for the crew, and furthermore, allowing for a complete separation of the ammunition compartment and crew compartments by an armored firewall, enhancing vehicle fightability and survivability incase of ammunition penetration. There is also a complete round fratricide protection and it requires no disassembly. The honeycomb construction of the autoloader also makes it much lighter, as compared to other autoloaders used abroad and in other indigenous tank projects. To avoid complex trajectory operations the auto-loader pushes the round into the chamber with a single ramming movement, making it operationally simple, another advantage over the standard carousel auto-loader. Interestingly enough, the new design of the autoloader and the amount of space conserved allows for two to be placed in the same turret. This was fully taken advantage of, not only to carry more rounds, but to carry more type of rounds. A single autoloader holds twenty-eight rounds. This in mind, the reasoning would be that different types of rounds are good for different situations. Because the gunner can decide which round to use through a computerized fire control system, meaning more than one type of round can be fitted in each autoloader, the right autoloaders holds both armor piercing fin stabilized sabots and the newer high explosive anti-tank rounds. The left autoloader holds a conglomeration of armor piercing fin stabilized sabots and either the XG.117, the XG.837 or the XG.451. The computer will also know when one type of round has been depleted and when one autoloader has been depleted from its armor piercing fin stabilized sabots, meaning it will automatically direct the order to load to the opposite autoloader. In case the electrical drive, the rails and the emergency power system fail the system also features a manual back-up flex drive. However, when powered the autoloader is turned electrically using a simple and fast Geneva drive mechanism. This was also chosen over the forty round magazine, which would be stocked into an armored box next to the breech and fed through a carousel, using an independent transfer and rammer unit, which would have proved too bulky to fit the amount of rounds the current autoloader can hold, without cramming the turret. The current autoloader can hold sustained fire at an average of ten rounds a minute, with an absolute maximum of twelve per minute and weights barely ~657.5kg. Despite the fact that unlike the carousel, these would not be placed in a large armored canister unit, each shell is individually protected, supported and isolated by full-length canisters. Furthermore, it reduces the threat that a round will pierce the upper glacis and pierce into the carousel, threatening an ammunition cook off, and instead the autoloader is fully protected by the weakened zone, mantlet and turret corner armor, while there is no inherent weakness as opposed to the carousel regarding side turret armor or rear turret armor.

The Arca. IV is provided with a grand conglomeration of secondary armaments to provide it with additional striking power and defense against infantry. The turret includes a co-axial 5.66mm machinegun on the right side of the main gun, offering a cooperating gun for infantry protection. The loader has his own 5.61mm machinegun as well, which is controlled by lever, as does the commander, which protects the rear and right side of the tank, while the loader’s protects some of the blind spots on the left side of the tank. The 5.61mm round refers to the use of the .221 Orchomenos, which was introduced with the Hali-42 assault rifle in 2016. The .221 Orchomenos is a light aluminum round that weights 73 grains. The round has an internal barbette structure designed to open and severe the wound and make the round harder to remove from a living victim, making the wound much harder to clean. The recent trend in machinegun, and guns in general, technology has asked for a higher velocity with a lower mass, although this means the round might suffer over penetration. A lighter gun was also chosen over a heavier gun, including a fifty caliber machinegun, because it was argued by tankers on the field that the fifty calibers were unwieldy, inaccurate, and difficult to manipulate. Furthermore, throughout separate military testing locations electronically controlled machineguns, at some extent or another, were found to have reached a point where they were developed enough to a point to use on new technology. In the end, this simply meant an improvement over fire and control, and an increase in the velocity of reaction rates. All of this translated into the co-axial being outfitted with flechette rounds, using a controlled binary liquid propellant to fire the rounds and extremely high velocities, aimed for light armor vehicles, such as infantry fighting vehicles or armored personnel vehicles. The co-axial holds 1,200 rounds placed in two equal bins, while the two other machineguns used by the loader and commander fire hollow point rounds designed by Orchomenos, a subgroup of Kriegzimmer. All of the guns are electrically controlled, meaning the internal mechanics work on electrical impulses, as opposed to hydraulically and mechanically, which gives it the ability of higher reaction rates, albeit by a fraction of a second. The tank also includes a quadruple automatic grenade launcher in the back of the turret outfitted with a chain of four hundred grenades in four bins of a hundred, including thermobaric grenades, illumination grenades, and high explosive centrifugal grenades, using small tungsten pellets.

Ammunition: The principle round used on the Cougar is the new XG.784 “Atmos” rocket assisted kinetic energy (RAKE) projectile. The rod weighs ~9.56kg, while the entire round boasts a mass of ~19kg. While the sabot is composed of relatively light weight materials, the true weight increase is a byproduct of adding a single intake under the sabot, powering a ramjet engine with a low thrust augmentator. A barbettage injection method, mixed with the small cartridge augmentator, increases combustion ratios from 1:3 to ~1:7. This offers a lighter weight solution to a solid propellant rocket, as well as slightly higher velocities. Additional weight is provided by fused sensors, making the XG.784 both a sensor fused weapon (SFW) and a smart attack munition (SAM). The engine can boost the velocity of the round to near 2,800 meters per second beyond the muzzle; near 1,700-2,200 meters. However, effective kill range still doesn’t surpass 6-7 kilometers. The rod is a depleted uranium (dU) projectile, covered with a chrome spray to reduce erosion, which provides a 15% increase in penetration efficiency over tungsten. The penetrator itself has a diameter of 28mm and a length of 887.6mm, which details a 30.7:1 aspect ratio. The sabot is 993.4mm long. However, considering the higher velocities the round is moving at penetration begins to take a different form and although penetration of the XG.784 should exceed by much the penetration of a standard 120mm L/55 smoothbore cannon, it wouldn’t necessarily be as proportional as an increase in velocity to 1,900m/s. In other words, the amount of penetration begins to level off, as if reaching an asymptote. Testing in Mandalay using hydrocodes found this to misleading because as velocity of the penetrator increases the resistance put by the target decreases, meaning although actual penetration may not increase linearly, technically there would more penetration because the target would collapse within itself. These tests included penetration studies on single plates, multi-plates, ceramics and ceramic laminates, all showing similar results. A later report was published in Beda Fromm providing tests that had suggested penetration of a 125g rod at 4km/s to be ~198mm, while a 250g rod striking at 2.96km/s penetrated 382mm of semi-infinite RHA – said rod also had an l/d ratio of 30. A 125g rod with an l/d ratio of 30 moving at 3.02km/s penetrated 287mm of semi-infinite RHA. Incidentally, the first rod had an l/d ratio of 15. It all seems to reinforce the Arca. IV Nakíl program in lengthening the l/d ratio to ~30 [a little less], and the fact that despite previous testing higher velocities does not limit penetration depth, although mass plays a bigger part in the hypersonic regime than does actual hypersonic velocity. This was further reinforced by the same report which tested different mass rods with the same l/d ratio of 20. A 1kg rod moving at 2.28km/s penetrated 420mm of semi-infinite RHA, while a 2kg rod moving at 2.06km/s penetrated 486mm! The Nakíl’s RAKE searches for the optimum of both, which is why the round is heavy, yet reliant on higher velocities, attempting to achieve an impact and penetration that has been unseen in prior armor design.

The second most accepted round is the XG.398, a shallow cone shaped charge (SCSC), which consists of a tandem shaped warhead, designed to defeat ERA and then penetrate ~1200mm of armor thereafter, while the jet would be moving at near 13,000 meters per second (the jet, not the round). Studies in the Ejermacht’s Proving Grounds in Mandalay proved that a low mass shaped charge would render higher performance, efficiency and penetration than a higher mass shaped charge, while further penetration would be guaranteed by changing the shape and expansion of the chemical warhead. The former fact was found after extensive testing between high mass tungsten jets and low mass tungsten jets; the high mass jet was found to break up at an increased rate and as mass increases radial velocity gradients increase. For example, a long stand-off shaped charge would increase break-up time, although penetration time would decrease. The two jets themselves are composed of aluminum, chosen for its low density and high velocity, with molybdenum used as the liner due to its intrinsic sound propagating properties. This team has proved to provide quite the warhead. The tandem warhead is actually cooperation between three different explosive conical jets, like later Soviet HEAT designs. This should provide a powerful foe to explosive reactive armor and aid in proving that HEAT warheads are not totally obsolete, especially when matched against side and rear armor.

Secondary rounds include a smart top attack weapon (STAW), and a smart target fire activated fire and forget (STAFF) fire and forget round. Both types use a long-standoff explosively formed penetrator (EFP). Originally, the EFP would use a copper lining, however greater penetration was found to occur with a multiple copper liner concept, which would also work with increasing success against the new ERA roof appliqués being designed. Nevertheless, both rounds (the XG.117 and XG.837, respectively) offer outstanding results for long range application anti-armor warfare. The XG.117 is perhaps the more versatile of the two, and the most likely to compliment the XG.784 “Atmos”, while it’s designed to be fired out of any smoothbore cannon, and any difference is propulsion type with slight variations to the design of the round. Being sensor fused, much like the XG.784 and the XG.398, the XG.117 STAW uses a high arch flight to knock out main battle tanks beyond line of sight, as well as light armored vehicles, dismounted troops, infrastructures or slow moving aerodynes. The total weight is 28kg, with a length of 984mm, while the projectile itself weighs ~20kg. Using a combustible cartridge the round leaves the bore of the gun at ~900-1100m/s, with a range of 2,000 to 9,000 meters using a base bleed type rocket engine at the end of the round. As a warhead the XG.117 uses a long jet penetration explosive formed projectile [EFP] performing a penetration of a maximum of ~300mm rolled homogenous armor equivalent [RHAe]. Guidance is preformed by both millimeter wave radar and an infra-red homing device, combining viewing geometry with the sensing spectrum. The XG.117 round should be the most impressive round from the perspective of poorer nations, and STAWs in general have been considered one of the gravest threats to the modern main battle tank, apart from the anti-tank guided missile.

The XG.451 is a HE/FRAG [high explosive, fragmentation] round measuring 120mm in diameter and 600mm in length. The end of the round is occupied by a drive plug that is designed to break off after the round leaving the muzzle, while it would also carry the drive band, achieving a clean break off by using conical contact surfaces. The drive plug and the solid propellant casing is manufactured out of maraging steel, while newer threads were designed to connect the propellant casing and the nozzle ring and the forward sections of the round. Given the high exit velocities of the round a smaller inlet was designed on the XG.451 while the intake of higher than mach wind velocities also maximizes the performance of the solid propellant ramjet engine [SPRJ]. Understandably, the design of the XG.451 and the XG.784 differ considerably, so the two SPRJs should not be mistaken as the same design, or the same system. In fact, the XG.451 is one of the first ramjet driven high explosive projectiles designed, as opposed to the XG.784, which while being one of the first, most certainly stands on the shoulders of much more design and testing. In any case, the 30kg round, with a 3kg high explosive and almost two thousand tungsten metal balls, is one of the most modern and deadly anti-personnel rounds designed. The round can be used for ranges of over four thousand meters, much longer than the Israeli APAM (by about a kilometer), and much more longer than the future (X)M1028 being designed by the United States (by about 3.3 kilometers). The fuse is designed to be set when the round is already in the firing chamber, programmed by a coil, or in other words the tank’s fire control system. The round would leave the muzzle at around 1,250m/s, using the ramjet mostly for the extended range capabilities.

The anti-tank guided missile [ATGM] ‘Pilum’, a co-development with the tank and meant exclusively for the Arca. IV, is a fairly long enhanced fiber optic guided missile [EFOGM] designed for extended range targets. Much like the XG.784, the Pilum incorporates new ramjet technologies to enhance its range and offer an alternative to a solid fuel rocket engine. The power plant of the missile is a ducted ramjet, using a nozzleless integrated booster which surrounds the ram combustor. The ramjet uses an oxygen deficient boron loaded solid propellant with a gas generator and feed this into the ram combustor using an interstage section. This interstage is composed of a control valve/actuator, a fuel injector, and an igniter. Underneath the missile would be the air duct, with the air intake closure being located just under the fins at the end of the missile. This ramjet propels a fully sensor infused tandem HEAT warhead which, like the XG.398, uses a low mass, shallow coned shape charge, with penetration capabilities of ~1,200mm. The launch sequence follows a simple routine, having a propellant within the tank barrel burn for about a tenth of a second, reducing the amount of recoil, and when the missile is a safe distance from the tank it ignites the main ramjet motor going into full burn sometime thereafter, allowing it to go over trees and other obstacles to defeat the threat. The missile is a top attack ATGM designed to arch up and then begin terminal descent at ~80 degrees, shortening its range but making it harder for active protection systems and hard kill close-in weapon systems to have a great impact on the missile. The sensors infused in the nose include a short range and rather temporary radar jammer, as a counter active protection system, and a small, cylindrical chaff dispenser. Finally, guidance is provided through fiber optic datalinks that use outside sensors and previsualization to guide the missile, as opposed to a bulky on board radar. This, consequently, also allows for the jammer that was previously discussed. In the end, the maximum range is estimated at eight kilometers, making the missile effectively a beyond visual range [BVR] munition, and has a terminal velocity of just over Mach 6, making it hypersonic, while the jet velocity is near 13,000 meters per second. One of the disadvantages of the Pilum is the relative high cost of each missile, which is ~550,000 United States Dollars per unit. Nevertheless, the Ejermacht has seen the cost as worth the effect of the missile, considering the damage done and the ability to confuse and even avoid active protection systems as worth the ridiculously high cost.

Power Plant: Since 2015, engineers have been doubly interested in different engines, including diesels, turbines and quasiturbines. The sudden increase in the usage of quasiturbines around the world, properly termed the ‘quasi-scare’, by Imperial engineers, also found the Empire head to head on development of the engine for its armored fighting vehicles, including the Shalmanesar Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier and the Arca. I Ausva. A. However, given the time between the release of variant A and the release of variant B (~June 2016 to ~February 2017), further research was conducted at an accelerated pace, and a return of the turbine was in order. The choice of the turbine over the diesel piston engine was taken after a series of many considerations. These included the fact that the turbine lost less energy to cooling fans, with a reduced size and mass and very low smoke emissions. Disadvantages, of course, were the more air was necessary for combustion, over a diesel engine, while infantry would have a hard time following the tank since a turbine’s emissions were particularly hot, especially as compared to a diesel engine. More over, fuel consumption would be increased. However, these were considered as viable sacrifices, as the former advantages were considered and the fact that turbines were much quieter, easier to start a lower temperatures, and the engine was less sensitive to changes in fuel. Part-load performance of the turbine is increased through intercooling and recuperation. Nevertheless, the major disadvantage of greater fire threats still persists, including non-combat fire hazards. Engineers claim that intercooling and the greater cooling methods of modern vehicles, especially in the Ejermacht, can deal with the problem. Unfortunately, the vehicle does suffer in the way of range and fuel efficiency. The engine is a 1690 horsepower gas turbine, running on diesel fuel, providing a horsepower to ton ratio of 23.8. The one major advancement was the inclusion of an optical pyrometer which would measure temperatures of individual blades, meaning it can rate blade life and monitor blade condition, making the engine much more efficient by optimizing the maintenance schedule.

Additional efficiency is gained through the use of advance and alternate materials for specific parts of the turbine. In this regard, the Empire already has a great deal of experience, especially considering advancements in turbine designs on aircraft. In 2011, for the design of the now replaced Lu-5 air superiority fighter, a MOD 0 test evaluated ceramic nozzles for turbine application, but it was found through the study of thermally-induced cracks that the nozzle design was too highly stressed. In 2012 a MOD 1 ceramic nozzle engine testing was done, which proved highly successful, which had lower leakage than the MOD 0 design and showed higher performance. Finally, the MOD 2 test in 2014, for use on both the Lu-45 Hawk air superiority fighter and the Lu-27 Condor Hypersonic Interceptor, cantilevered the mount from a resilient attachment to the ceramic post on the nozzle hub platform. The test proved highly successful, leading to an increased use of ceramics, even applying them to turbine fans. However, engineers working on the Nakíl project decided not to take this route and instead experimented with a gamma titanium aluminide alloy, which is a low cost, low-density alloy. Evaluated on the blisk of the gas turbine for the Arca. IV, the fans proved to be in higher quality conditions after one thousand simulated flight cycles than a turbine produced out of an aluminum alloy. In the end, increasing efficiency and lifespan at the miniature level will increase lifespan and efficiency as a whole, and although the new engine for the Arca. IV is merely one more step towards a better gas turbine, it’s considered a rather large step in general.

The transmission, a DMI-34, is fully automatic, with five forward gears and two rear gears, providing near 1500 kilowatts (kW) of power. The transmission is infinitely variable, with a hydrodynamic steering system, with an independent turning radii and a selectable shaft output rotation direction. The new transmission has a power density of 300kW/m³, which is an incredible upgrade which decreases the weight of the entire pack to a dry weight of ~2,450 kg. Interestingly, the transmission project, outsourced to a non-Ejermacht company named Dzamiin Mechanics Incorporated, was not designed around greater power to weight ratios as a priority; instead, it took a route that is much like the Croatian design plan for the Degman main battle tank. Instead, it looked forward to achieving more power density, and solving the problem of getting more effective power to the rear sprocket, which would increase mobility, agility and maneuverability. Furthermore, the DMI-34 showcases a power-take-off with fully digital speed control and cut off, while the engine can be started by towing the vehicle. It should be noted that the DMI-34 is proven to excel in harsh landscapes such as the desert where sand and grit can be a major problem for the engine and has presented unfavorable conditions for other transmissions, especially those included in older third generation main battle tanks.

The entire engine is regulated and monitored by a turbine engine diagnosis using artificial neural networks [TEDANN] system. Older monitoring of the engine’s health required the tedious and expensive task of removing the entire engine from the vehicle, while the TEDANN would allow for a continuous, automated health check which would aid to better prepare for unscheduled maintenance checks. The network would also allow to inform the on board crew on irregularities, making it easier to know when to make a maintenance check, giving the engine a much longer lifespan. Arguably, the system would also increase battle readiness of armored forces by providing enough information on the state of the engine. TEDANN is also designed to learn to recognize differences between slow and gradual decreases in health due to natural fatigue and imminent threats to the engine. TEDANN was born in Richland, Wyoming during the late 90s and saw inclusion in post M1A2 SEP Abrams variations. The TEDANN version debuting with the Arca. IV enjoys slight increases in efficiency and overall control over specific areas of the engines, while unlike its earlier cousin, the newer TEDANN would also control an automated fire suppression system, given the turbine’s increased threat of fire. The fire suppression system is simply a water mist dispenser composed of six cylinders with forty-two separate nozzles. All said and done, TEDANN and subsidiary systems show much promise in increasing engine life and battle readiness.

Finally, the Arca. IV also establishes a new record by the inclusion of several auxiliary power units [APU] which provide power incase the engine is to fail or is turned off purposefully. The main tactical advantage of including the numbers of APUs would be that the tank would be able to track foes passively and fire without being detected beforehand. Defensively, this provides the Arca. IV an insurmountable advantage when it comes to survivability, detection and lethality. This also heightens the tank’s position as an ample defensive unit, as well as a superior offensive vehicle. Arguably, the inclusion of APUs would also decrease the amount of heat radiated from the different systems of the tank also decreasing the threat of detection.

Suspension: The Ausva. A Cougar debuted with an impressive electromagnetic drivetrain which provided for a very capable passive suspension system, however, the project requirement for the Arca. IV sought after the inclusion of an active suspension system, especially one which would improve on the popular hydropneumatic systems which had already seen testing on prior Imperial vehicles. Although the electromagnetic technology provided for impressive capabilities, including the near lack of friction, and better relationship with the weight of the tank itself, the power it required was simply too immense to provide on the Arca. IV, which was destined to be over fifteen tons lighter than its predecessor. Furthermore, it simply wasn’t cost effective. For those reasons, the ultimate choice was the computerized hydropneumatic (dynamic) suspension system. Although the idea has existed since the 1930s, first to make its appearance during the Great Civil War, the CHS is a much more versatile, much more capable variation of the same technology. Hydropneumatic suspension provides great flexibility and a level ride height irrespective of vehicle load. This coupled with computerization makes it much more capable and much more responsive to the needs of the vehicle, while keeping the same superior qualities of hydropneumatic technology. Through computerization the suspension system can smartly increase stiffness when the vehicle turns on a tight radius, while it can also maintain the balance of the tank. Furthermore, such a suspension system would have a vehicle speed sensor and a sensor measuring the steering wheel angle and speed of rotation, which has a direct effect on the above sentence. The computer can enforce these two phases individually or simultaneously, according to the angle of lean that has to be confronted. The new Cougar’s suspension system is also regenerative as well as delft active. The former would imply that it uses an individual pump for each suspension unit, which is driven by a common shaft, while a computer adjusts the level of fluid necessary for the individual strut, providing control of the low frequency body motions. The latter means that the effective length of a mechanical lever with which a preloaded spring is connected to the wheel-axle can be adjusted by means of a servomotor, limiting the amount of energy consumption needed for the suspension. The actuator force would be relatively small since the length of the spring doesn’t change.

Theoretically, through active suspension systems the compromises made by passive suspension systems are fully eliminated. These include the fact that active systems can provide independent treatment of road-induced forces, unfortunately, this comes at a cost, however, the cost of the active computerized hydropneumatic suspension system is nothing compared to the cost of an electromagnetic drivetrain. In the end, the elimination of the compromise between ride comfort and handling performance implies that crew comfort will rise directly and proportionally, although in the end, handling is held in greater priority than comfort, especially on such a vehicle. What’s more, the introduction of aluminum and high strength steel materials, as well as other alloys and superalloys, in suspension components reduces unsprung mass, increasing efficiency and decreasing the amount of power needed for such a system. However, there has been more than one case of complaints against a hydropneumatic suspension system in general. The largest complaint originated from India, where the Arjun’s suspension found grave problems. However, western engineers suggested that this had more to do with overtaxing the system since the Indian tank was not very well engineered to climb sand dunes and other obstacles. Such taxing of, not only the suspension system, but the engine as well becomes readily obvious when you take into consideration that the Arjun’s engine began to overheat during trials in the Rajasthan desert areas. The control of roll, on the other hand, should eliminate one of the largest disadvantages of the suspension, which is sea-sickness, making it superior to a torsion-bar.

The drivetrain of the Nakíl is also protected farther than having each cylinder double walled, with independent valves in each cylinder to reduce the chances of bleeding away the full reserve of compressed air. Apart from being protected by the armored skirt, which also aims to protect the tracks in general, each cylinder is protected against small arms fire by limited independent armor protection, offering very minor aluminum encasements around certain parts that can be encased as a last ditch defensive armor against small arm bullets. Furthermore, it’s said that a fourth of the cylinders can burst and the Arca. IV Nakíl will still be able to limp its way off the battlefield, which was certainly a goal of the project. Certainly, there had been problems on older tanks and even newer modern main battle tanks were unprotected and badly designs suspension systems would give way to bullets and the tank would be incapacitated – it was a kill. The Nakíl aims to be able to lose many parts of the kit presented to it, but still roll off the battlefield to seek maintenance and repair. The newer suspension system, since it is aptly regulated to know exactly when maintenance is needed, means that when the Arca. IV is actually on the battlefield it will have less chance of a technical malfunction. Furthermore, many foreign and indigenous engineers have given the Nakíl’s suspension system the honor of being named one of the most reliable active suspension systems on a main battle tank which is now in service. As if that wasn’t enough, crews driving prototypes, especially those at the Anjíer Competition, despite the unexpected falter in the track link, said that the Nakíl was one of the most comfortable tanks they had ever driven – the successes at the competition before the unfortunate track link snap certainly support their opinions.

Armor: Throughout the Cougar project, even for the Ausva. A, although there was no home grown ceramic armor composite drawn up for the design at that time, there was a series of tests in Targul Frumos. This included a major conference on wave propagation in composite and ceramic armor, and the difference between said two armors, which would eventually allow engineers to decide on which to settle on for the Arca. IV. In the end, it was decided that to stop kinetic penetrations and chemical penetrations alike the best was ceramic armor, and there was a host of ceramics to pick from, as well as other composite materials. From this variety the final product, Cermin Armech Modulien [CAM], was produced. The actual ceramic of CAM is encased in two walls of improved rolled homogenous armor . The program to improve RHA begun in the Republic of Ruska in the late 1970s, before its annexation by the Macabee Kingdom in 1973; since then, the program was dropped until renewed interest in improving older RHA begun anew in the late 90s. True breakthroughs to harden the steel while keeping its ductility, weldability and relative low cost (to other materials). With the constant battle between armor and projectile it is imperative to look for greater strength in mass effectiveness – meaning, without the sacrifice of weight and space. According to ballistic testing using a tungsten penetrator fired out of a 105mm smoothbore, IRHA was superior to conventional RHA, while still having the ease of weldability, while surprisingly, a tested high hardness alloy, which had ~.30% carbon (the IRHA having ~ .26%; for weldability steel should normally have .24-.26% carbon) fell between the IRHA and RHA in resistance to the penetrator. Of all, IRHA proved ballistic superiority over RHA without increase in weight or space. The exact composition of IRHA would be .26 carbon, 3.25 nickel, 1.45 chromium, .55 molybdenum, .40 manganese, .40 Silicone, .009 Phosphorous, .002 sulfur, and this is normalized at 1700 F, and then air cooled, where they were austenitized at 1625 F and water quenched. Finally they were tempered at 925 F for Rc47 hardness, which showed superiority over Rc41 hardness. When put together to form CAM the IRHA is backed up by semi hardened steel and Armox 600, a type of high hardness steel in the Rc55 spectrum. Evidence suggests that the same penetrator striking an Rc47 Semi-infinite IRHA target at 1716 m/s would penetrate 107-109mm of armor. Originally titanium was chosen over both rolled homogenous armor and improved homogenous armor, but the cost of not only producing and properly welding the titanium was far over the budgetary requirements of the Nakíl per unit, while it would prove even more expensive to test titanium with different alloying, including carbon and molybdenum, both of which are used in steel and titanium to increase hardness without sacrificing ductility. Improved rolled homogenous armor proved to be superior in cost and provided a readily available solution to improving CAM.

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In a 2014 test in Beda Fromm it was decided that the ideal ceramic would be of low density to reduce total weight, while it would be high in shear moduli, compressibility and high bulk. A separate conference in 2015 on wave propagation in ceramic found that high tensile strength was also just as urgent to avoid fracturing of the ceramic during impact. In the end three different ceramics were chosen for the job, including [i]sintered silicon carbide [SSiC], Titanium Di-Boride, and Alumina Zirconia. Each of the ceramics during manufacturing is prestressed, increasing resistance to impact and to subsequent shockwaves. The idea is that even should the ceramic crack, because of the confinement of the volume and location, the ceramic’s resistance is still kept, meaning that the armor would not be a one use wonder. The Alumina is arranged first to make use of the alloys excellent poisson’s ratio, which would mean that the alloy would simply compress and powder upon impact, reducing the kinetic energy of a projectile, and breaking up a jet from a high explosive anti-tank warhead, or a similar weapon system. The silicon carbide is arranged second as a neutral buffer to offer slightly less resistance, but at a lesser weight. The idea is that although the silicon carbide performs the job less adequately than the alumina, the fact that the alumina had already attracted much of the energy of the penetrator, the light weight of the silicon carbide would actually lessen the weight of the entire armored scheme, and because it didn’t have the face that same power as the first layer, it wouldn’t undergo the same dangers. The final layer gives the pure force against kinetic penetrators, with high compressibility, but with less chance of powdering, meaning the ceramic is centrally designed to totally stop the projectile. The Titanium Di-Boride also has the less chance to fracture, making it a perfect candidate for the job. Ballistic testing in Targul Frumos also proved the value of fiber reinforcement of ceramics and compounds alike, and so the entirety of CAM is laced with fiber reinforcement, putting the icing on what has been proven to be an extremely effective armored scheme. Originally, depleted uranium [dU] was planned to be alloyed into the confining steel, but instead it was opted to simply stick dU rods at certain intervals which would increase the chance of the rod ricocheting faster, or at least induce greater amounts of yaw on the round. The decision between the two methods of including dU into the armor are not fully understood to physicist, but it is understood that the older chobham, which CAM is largely based off, used either modules of dU or dU rods and gained greater chances of slowing and skewing the rod than by inserting the dU during the heating of the steel, which is evident in the Leclerc’s armor scheme. The study of the impact ballistics of the two will be studied, and it is possible to see a change in a future variant (see below).

As common practice on armored vehicles of the current generation, Fuermak engineers decided to cover the passive ceramic armor with a reactive armor on top. In the summer of 2011, during the design of the Ausva. A, Kriegzimmer conducted a test which decided on the protection capability of dual flying plates against long-rod penetrators, which are by far the greatest threat to modern tank forces given the doctrine of most of the international world. It was decided that although a dual plate explosive reactive armor was superior to a single plate explosive reactive armor, the results yielded by the plates moving in opposite directions were not necessarily all that superior. However, mass efficiency could be reached through making the rear plate as heavy as possible. Consequently, the rear plate is roughly 48.5mm thick, while the front plate is around 25mm thick. These two plates are separated by tightly packed explosives which would force the front plate towards the penetrator and the rear plate away from the penetrator. This concept endured further testing in 2015 at Mandalay and it was decided that the effects of the first plate would be sufficient enough so that the second plate would put up quite a bit of resistance against a long-rod penetrator, that by this time would have either been turned, snapped, or would have lost much of its momentum. The explosive is actually piled forward, with the rear plate and the explosives separated by three thinner inner plates which are said to be segmented, meaning that they are intended to detonate separately. This ultimately means that the blocks may be reusable, although given the strength of modern penetrators, this would be a less frequent occurrence. The effects are said to be maximized at a minimum slope of 60 degrees. In any case, only about 95% of the front of the tank is protected, most notably leaving parts of the bottom of the turret, and mantel, without protection due to the fact that the blocks would impede the depreciation of the main gun. About 80% of the sides and rear are protected. The Arca. IV is also one of the first and few tanks to employ a roof appliqué explosive reactive armor system. This of course is lighter than the heavy ERA fitted as appliqué to the front, sides and rear of the tank, but nonetheless offers a substantial increase in protection of the roof, one of the weakest areas of any vehicle. The fact that the turret roof is relatively completely flat, having the roof hatch at the rear, allowing the gun to depress, means that more of the roof can be effectively protected by light explosive reactive armor. The system uses 7.6 x 11.9mm blocks with two parallel plates lined with explosives underneath. The plates are designed to explode outward, offering ~four times the protection as RHAe [against HEAT] given the ~90 degree sloping of the roof. Nevertheless, the roof mounted ERA appliqué offers an interesting, innovative and effective method of negating the advance of smaller submunitions used in tank killing. Nevertheless, the system is defeated through the use of the tandem warheads on top attack anti-tank guided missiles – but some protection is better than no protection.

Underneath both the explosive reactive armor and the CAM there is a spall liner which offers the ultimate layer of defense for the crew, attempting to avoid hazardous and very hot fragments of penetrators pouring into the crew cabins. Two options were originally available, Kevlar and Steltexolites, and in the end the fact that Kevlar offered similar protection against fragments at just ¾ the density, it was chosen over the latter, although the latter provides greater protection against armor piercing shells. Nevertheless, arguably, the first two layers would provide the most critical defense, and if the round was able to penetrate this then it would most likely be able to penetrate the spall liner as well. However, by 2017 Spectra Shield and Dyneema has been successfully tested in places such as the naval proving grounds at Targul Frumos, and both achieved similar results as Kevlar but at ¾ the weight. Consequently, it was finally decided to adopt Dyneema, which had seen past use in German armored fighting vehicles, while it also boasts comparable resistance to fiberglass at 1/3 the density.

The front turret is cast with an internal cavity that is filled with confined quartz and glass reinforced fibers. The turret reinforcement armor is known as “Idaisu”. The quartz is more accurately quartz sand like filament, produced of a type of quartz gravel, asphalt and wood-flour type composite, and this entire composite resembles a fused silica. Ballistic testing has proved this superior to rolled homogenous armor, with a total effectiveness of around ~1.7 mass wise against kinetic energy, and at least ~3.4 mass effectiveness against HEAT warheads. This reinforcement is completely integrated with the turret corners, mantlet and weakened zones. Similar, if less effective, reinforcements include the filler in the prototype of the T-95, an experiment American tank designed during the Second World War, as well as corundum armor which first debuted with the T-64A and saw an enhanced version in the T-80U-M1 Snow Leopard, which was originally conceived as fiberglass enclosed in steel layers. Idaisu improved on both versions of corundum by using a triple hardness steel composite [the same used for CAM], as well as better confinement – newer manufacturing techniques has also allowed to lighten the composite, and it provides a good armor to place directly under the areas protected by the grenade canisters used by the Giod hard-kill active protection system. Furthermore, the use of glass reinforced fibers as opposed to the Soviet steklotekstolit, which is a similar, if older material used in Combination-K, or corundum. Questioning ensued in the project on the actual purpose of the Idaisu, seeing as how adding CAM to the turret, replacing the Idaisu, would increase resistance. It was finally reasoned that the lighter mass of the Idaisu, while keeping similar densities, if less mass effectiveness, would mean that the turret could be reasonably reinforced in the mantlet, weakened zones and turret corners without seriously forcing the turret to be overweight. It would also mean that the tank could complete the one most important aspect of the Nakíl relevant to the armor.

Originally during the Great Civil War, the trend was to rearrange the armor from the side and rear to the front, which was more or less a global trend as well. It was found that most impacts were on the mantlet, weakened zone and the upper glacis, which is why generally we find these areas to be the most armored on modern main battle tanks since the 1960s. This was further bolstered by explosive reactive armor in some countries, depleted uranium in others and spaced armor in others, depending on national views and army requirements. However, recent anti-tank guided missile threats and more modern targeting computers that have caused a revolution in armored warfare have been changing the most threatened location of the tank from the front to the side and rear. This is one of the reasons for active protection systems, which forces tankers to think outside the frontal arc of the tank. However, the Nakíl goes one step further and again rearranges the armor. The ultramodern materials used with CAM and new techniques improving heavy explosive reactive armors [HERA] allow for high armor ratios in the traditional areas of the tank, while also allowing for the rearrangement of armor to the sides and rear without adding too much weight. In other words, the Nakíl sacrifices frontal armor, without actually sacrificing survivability, and shifts the armor to the once extremely unprotected sectors of the tank. Through the use of lightweight and efficient armors in the front, including Idaisu, while providing sufficient mass efficiency through CAM and the advance HERA, the Nakíl offers awesome protection, and does not forget about the rest of the hull. In fact, the Nakíl is the first tank to take these measures and will most likely cause new trends in armor design throughout the world. To finalize the order of armor, the Nakíl completes itself with a thin layer of armor protecting the bottom of the vehicle to increase crew survivability in case of an exploding mine. The new armors, rearrangement of said armor, and added armor in the bottom should increase the survivability of both the vehicle and crew incrementally, especially with growing technologies in steel and ceramic.

Active Protection System: Interest with “soft-kill” active protective systems (APS) began early on, around the year 1952, when the S-30CD made its debut at the Battle of Quintin’s Barn. The S-30CD, designed by the Republic’s Ministry of Design and Research (RMDR) of Gerfaanlich, was first of a kind and offered an interesting change to the masses of vehicles imported from the Soviet Union. Spectacularly, during Quintin’s Bar, Royal recoilless rifles using early HEAT warheads failed to even engage! The battle ended up revolutionizing the battlefield. Fourteen years later, 1966, Weigar released the “Liesben” active protection system, named after the legendary cavalry commander who had died at the Battle of Dzamiin of 1931. However, the system preformed miserably and it was concluded that the advance in anti-tank weapons, namely better APFSDS rounds, far outpaced the progression in APS design. Interest remained, but even the stunned Royal Army, slaughtered at Quintin’s Barn, decided that current technology wasn’t worth employing on the BredtSvert in the 80s. Even post-bellum, the Arca. I Cougar Ausva. A lacked a dedicated defensive aid suite (DAS). The final appearance of the APS was when Weigari T-72s were outfitted with Dorzd, which preformed only mediocre against more advance fire and forget missiles employed by the Macabee Royal Army. The APS’ deathbed was after the war, in 2007 when an armament commissions team decided to scrap an upgrade project for the BredtSvert. Nevertheless, the question of the worth of adding an active protective system has emerged once again now that engineers are looking for a truly capable main battle tank in the new variant to the Cougar. In an armaments symposium in Fedala in 2011, it was found that the major weaknesses of prior systems were a lack of full coverage of the tank. Furthermore, advances in anti-tank guided missile technology around the world had far outpaced the ability for armor to protect the vehicle, while a qualitative breakthrough in explosive reactive armor was not an option, especially since adding more would simply add weight to the tank, while Ejermacht engineers found their weight maximum at ~75 tons. Finally, newer systems were necessary because tank commanders were forced to look for omni directional threats and leave their preferred frontal arc fixation. From that symposium the “Giod” defensive aid suite was born.

The Giod features both a soft-kill and a hard-kill defensive suite. The Giod is turret mounted and provides three hundred and sixty degree protection, using a laser warning receiver [LWR] for threat detection and transfer. The laser warning system was designed for instantaneous detection of laser rangefinders, designators and IR searchlights, indicating the direction and type of threat on a display screen provided for the tank commander. The Giod can fire smoke rounds, anti-personnel rounds or decoy rounds for up to seventy meters, the former lasting for around forty-five seconds and including a visual and multi-band screening agent. In cooperation, the system has an electro-optical jammer, sometimes referred to as ‘dazzlers’, which aims to jam the adversary’s semiautomatic command to line of sight [SACLOS], anti-tank guided missiles and laser rangefinders, as well as the infra-red targeting and rangefinders used by other anti-tank guided missiles, both newer and older. Giod can elevate and depreciate -5 to +25 degrees. The entire mechanism is activated by the laser threat receiver, and by pressing a button the tank commander [TC] activates Giod to automatically orient the turret in the direction of the threat. The ‘hard-kill’ part of Giod works in cooperation with the soft-kill sensor equipment, and has a reaction of time of ~.3 seconds, which outperforms the Soviet Arena. Furthermore, the Giod has a full three hundred and sixty degree area of protection, covering the dead area that would normally occupy the surface area rear of the turret. This section of Giod is intended to kill antitank grenades and anti-tank guided missiles, including those launched from aircraft, and it can locate any target approaching within one hundred meters of the tank, within the designated velocity band. After targeting the incoming missile and processing the data, the computer chooses the countermeasure, launching the munition, which detonates at ~1.9m to ~25m from the vehicle. .2 seconds later the system is ready to engage a new target. Giod fails to respond to false images of targets, such as small caliber projectiles, or slower flying objects, and it is day and night capable. Although there has been a concern for dismounted infantry, APS technicians claim that the danger to infantry men around the tank is less than one percent, and that the system works both to protect the tank and the infantry around it.

Giod also boasts of a hit-avoidance suite (HAS), which automatically detects, prioritizes and counters incoming projectiles. This includes a false target generation [FTG] active/passive decoy system, which is designed to emulate imaginary signatures to confuse incoming anti-tank guided missiles, and even smart rounds which are heavily sensor fused. That said, the HAS is simply an addition to the soft-kill abilities of Giod, and is considered one of the ‘leap-ahead’ technologies. The HAS is a fully integrated system of Giod and is one of the major technologies to increase the survivability of the vehicle in actual combat. The Arca. IV also featured a counter active protective system (CAPS), which is designed to defeat the active protection suites of enemy main battle tanks and other armored fighting vehicles. CAPS makes a presence on the anti-tank guided missile designed as a co-project for launch out of the Arca. IV; the ‘Pilum’ is supposedly the next generation in anti-tank missiles, as sold by Kriegzimmer, and it will offer alternative technology to defeat modern and ultra-modern active protection systems and their employed hard-kill processes. This includes its introduction as a long stand-off warhead, decoys, ballistic hardening measures, and RF electronic countermeasures. Future variants of the Arca. IV might also include built in counter systems to ‘blind’ the defensive aid suites of adversaries from a substantial range, allowing them to use longer range anti-tank guided missiles.

Crew Compartment and Comfort: The crew compartment is a single compartment not divided by firewalls between separate crew members. The tank commander is on the right side of the turret, behind the gunner [looking at the tank from the top-rear], with their cabin divided by an armored firewall, splitting the dual autoloader, which are themselves split from each other by a firewall. Each combat vehicle crewman [CVC] has an integrated helmet, with a right ocular helmet mounted display [HMD]. The new helmets feature a thicker ballistic shell to protect the head against shell fragments, and an integrated digital intercommunication system between crewmen of the same vehicle. Each of the three members is also cooled by the personal climate control system which is installed in the seat frame. The former provides a cool climate condition for the crew members, increasing crew comfort. The latter is made to be as comfortable as possible, and the seats are slightly tilted forward despite the fact that the crewmember is at a more obtuse angle of deployment in the new tank. Furthermore, directly in front of the crew compartment is an energy absorption unit which works similar to the concept of a front mounted engine by providing further protection to the crew. Unfortunately, this does mean a slightly longer tank, while the EAU is not as large as an engine would be, although admittedly, the density is greater. The argument for greater crew comfort in the Arca. IV came after a study of crew composition in Soviet armor and European armor, and the effects that crew comfort, or the lack thereof, had on the performance of the tank as a whole. For example, the half-egg shaped turret featured on the T-55, T-62 and less obviously on the T-64, while giving good ballistic qualities, cramped working conditions for the crew. This was found to result in a slower rate of fire, which counterbalanced the lower silhouette [as compared to the M60]. Despite the fact that the T-64 introduced an autoloader which seemed to have freed space, the turret was shrunk providing the same cramped conditions and resulting in the same consequences, which were more or less the same for the T-72. The same situation developed in the Leclerc Main Battle Tank. The Leclerc is capable of routinely making the first round fired the most accurate, meaning increased lethality – this is achieved through the inclusion of over fifteen computers having independent tasks and feeding this into the fire and control system, something which the Arca. IV incorporates [explained below]. Nevertheless, the Leclerc’s turret, designed for agility, makes movement impossible and shortens the crew’s optimum time in the tank to six hours, whereupon it must be replaced. Where battles often continue for over half of days this becomes rather undesirable for ultra modern tank design. Nevertheless, something that was adopted from the Leclerc is that each crew member does not need to move very far to access each control, making reaction time much faster. Although crew members cannot operate the tank standing up, due to the lower height of the vehicle, they do have room to move in case of fatigue of certain body parts [such as the legs].

The tank commander [TC] has a retractable and extendable photonic mast with a three hundred and sixty degree turning radius and is fully stabilized. The photonic mast also features a thermal imagine module [TIM] and can be switched to night vision optics and provides fifty orders of magnification with exemplary resolution. This newest reconnaissance device can be extended to a total of nine meters, with the ability to work without the engine turned on, using an auxiliary power unit. The decision to extend the commander’s sights was made with the understanding that this would increase the ability to conduct reconnaissance without putting the tank in danger of being targeted by a single or multiple anti-tank guided missiles, and would allow for a more restricted use of unmanned aerial vehicles which have the tendency to warn of military operations in the direct area. Along the turret, six cameras are mounted to give both the TC and the driver an accurate picture of threats around them; these cameras feed into a three screen display that is duplicated both in the TC’s direct area and the driver’s direct area. The rear mounted camera also helps the driver during retrograde maneuvers. The driver also has a global positioning system [GPS] navigational guide, which too is shared by the TC [to give orders]. The liquid crystal display units provided to the different crewmen, based upon their job distribution, also includes basic terrain maps provided by overhead flight or satellite reconnaissance, while the commander is given a battlefield combat identification system and a multi-purpose chemical agent detection [MICAD] meter. Most of the tank’s well being programs are also directed to the tank commander. The entire integration and better organization of the tank’s electronics allows for faster reactions between crew members, which in turn allows for a greater rate of fire and more precise shots. This latter aspect is enhanced by the better situated gunner’s sights, and the position of the seat of the gunner and of the gunner himself.

Despite the fact that a rounder turret would provide better protection, this becomes untrue when taking into consideration that the flat turret used on the Arca. IV also allows for the inclusion of light explosive reactive armor that is ablative to roof tops. Furthermore, ballistic protection of the crew is enhanced nonetheless through the use of the spall liner described in the armor section of this article. Finally, the advantages offered through crew comfort and the adoption of easier access and newer passive reconnaissance and viewing technologies negates the disadvantages which would otherwise be true with a turret style like the one debuting on the Arca. IV. Nonetheless, it has been argued that such a turret design is more susceptible to better and enhanced tandem HEAT warhead designs on top-attack fire and forget anti-tank guided missiles. Arguably, this threat is true for all turret types and is not something that is solely reserved for the Arca. IV. Furthermore, the Empire and its national vehicle projects has always pioneered enhanced crew comfort and relaxation, and this is certainly a ‘lead ahead’ in that respect, without sacrificing other important aspects in crew survivability.

[b]Electronics: Looking down on the turret, right of the 120mm cannon a miniscule circular platform denotes the presence of an advance targeting (AT) forward looking infra-red (FLIR) rangefinder. The Arca. IV project, under the auspices of the Ejermacht’s top researchers, looked to replace the first variant’s mediocre sensors with newer technologies, and the crux of this project manifested itself as the 4th Generation FLIR featured on the newer Cougar variant. The new FLIR is wholly conformal and integrated with the hull, meaning the only visible part of the new system is the circular transceiver. The new package includes a fire support sensor system (FS³), featuring a modular laser designator which allows for much more accurate engagements. The FLIR ‘box’ is designed as a canister with a rotating ball, carrying the transceivers, which is stabilized on three axis and has an azimuth as wide as the turret of the tank allows it to seek (near 120 to 135 degrees), as well as +30 and -120 elevation. In detection this 4th generation FLIR is capable of three times the abilities of 1st generation FLIR, while in classification it has over four times the capabilities. One of the major breakthroughs which attributes to this increase effectiveness was established during at least two years of testing by individual companies in Arras. This was a dual band quantum well (QWILP) device which splits the MWIR (3-5µm) into two subsections of colors, which yields better renders, meaning better classification at longer ranges. Further research on the subject was conducted when the project was transferred from the team in Arras to a secondary project team in Fedala who had become the most celebrated research group on heterodyne techniques and laser rangefinders. A secondary and smaller transceiver was added into the cylindrical apparatus that made up the Arca. IV’s miniature rangefinder. This fielded a CO2 laser rangefinder using chirp pulse compression and working in the 10µm spectrum, which gave the advantage of eliminating eye hazards and increased transmission efficiency through mists and hazes, including the aerosol launched by many active protection systems. With an aperture diameter of 2.3 centimeters the transceiver gained reliable returns from a range of ~11 kilometers. The two separate rangefinders are fitted, as said before, into the same FLIR apparatus and both work cooperatively and feed cooperatively into the fire and control computer systems, meaning the new FLIR has a much easier time finding, reading, recognizing and returning targets than comparable systems used in other countries. The small dome around the two transceivers of the FLIR is built out of high energy cooled sapphire for its high hardness and resistance against thermal shock. The new FLIR rangefinder has a maximum targeting range of ~13 kilometers and a classification range of ~8 kilometers. The new technology increases the operator’s mobility in rain, snow or fog, both in day and night, and can see better through battlefield obscurants, including dust, sand and smoke. The new FLIR is designed to maximize survivability most of all, and with the given classification ranges theoretically the Cougar would be able to strike first, completing one of the prerequisites for surviving on the modern battlefield.

The Ejermacht has also grown a particular affinity towards laser radar, fielding their first generation LADAR transmitter and receiver on Kriegzimmer’s BredtSvert (Broad Sword) main battle tank, released to be mass produced in the year 1984, giving the Macabee Royal Army a special edge in armored combat. Since 1984 there have been leaps and bounds made in coherent laser Pulse-Doppler radars. This particular laser radar mechanism features a heterodyne transmitter using a carbon dioxide laser. Prior testing with the same technology found that a relatively high power carbon dioxide-nitrogen-helium laser had a linewidth of less than 700 Hz. However, with three axis stabilization this received a marked improvement, observed in the 100 kHz/sec range. At optical and infrared frequencies, the heterodyne detector acts, in effect, as both an antenna and a receiver, and requires careful alignment between the signal beams in order to maintain a constant phase over the surface of the photodetector. In fact, through a series of experiments in Arras, it was found that heterodyne techniques, which have been used extensively in the radiowave and microwave regions, were equally as or more valuable in the infrared region. Coherent CO2 laser radars have also been proven to be superior to millimeter radars when defining their potential over radar cross sections. However, the definition of a radar cross section when dealing with laser radar differs drastically from that when dealing with standard radar. The most common definition would be that the “radar cross section of an optical target is that area of a lossless diffuse flat plate which yields the same scattered intensity as does the target in question when both are illuminated by the same irradiance” (Wyman, Paul W., Applied Optics, Volume 7(I), p.207 (January 1968)). However, when comparing radar against improvements in low observable radar cross sections, the advances of LADAR against its own breed have been markedly superior, starting with vast improvements since the 1940s during the Great Civil War. That said, coherent laser radars continue to offer new technical options for a variety of target detection and imaging scenarios and the Arca. IV has taken full advantage of these. However, because even this laser radar is meant primarily for resolved targets it’s built just above the new FLIR mount, working in conjunction with it and using it to increase accurate target classification at longer ranges. Nevertheless, even this has achieved impressive results.

Something that has been used time and time again, and to great effect, has been millimeter radar. This time it has been used in conjunction with an all new active protective system on the Arca. IV explained above in this document. However, the development of radar on armored vehicles in the Empire deserves its own small vignette, especially considering the important part they have played in armored technology and how they are slowly being replaced by better infra-red laser rangefinders and laser radar applications. It’s a rather unfortunate phenomenon, especially given radar’s beautiful addition to the wellbeing of the tank, but it’s slowly being supplanted by newer applications. Nevertheless, on the Cougar the new radar plays a series of very important roles. As explained before it serves as one of the primary threat detectors for the active protection system, but it also serves as a third application for range finding, target detection and target classification; and not just incoming warheads, but incoming armored vehicles as well. Indeed, the radar system on the Cougar is the only sensor capable of three hundred and sixty degree surveillance, except when the roof hatches are opened. The new design offers a compact millimeter wave radar emitter and receiver, originally designed to be mounted on a small unmanned aerial vehicle. It’s infused with the roof of the armor and protected by four segments of steel flaps, offering limited armor against threats of roof armor appliqués exploding and harming it with either an explosive or with fragments formed after the explosive reaction. Four miniscule transmitters are implanted in a bulbous formation which rotates actively within a reinforced sapphire dome. The actual dome only protrudes a few millimeters from the top of the vehicle; primarily to avoid drawing small arms fire, as well as early warning sightings of the Arca. IV. All four emitters have a single receiver at the top of the sapphire bulb. This new solution offers a versatile, small, yet powerful option for the Arca. IV, and provides it with much more powerful radar than the two older variants of the vehicle, and past tanks produced by Kriegzimmer and other companies during the Great Civil War. The MMW also acts as a foliage penetrating radar [FOPEN], offering it advantages in areas of high brush work, while millimeter wave radar has always had the advantage of being able to penetrate nonmetallic material, and the bigger advantage of having a broadband in the millimeter wave spectrum which would allow for several short waves that give strong reflections of plastic and metallic weapons at closer range, making it as a much better warning sensor for enemy infantry that are close by.

The fire and control relies on an upgraded Cornerstone computer. The first generation cornerstone was included in the Arca. I Cougar Main Battle Tank, which within itself was a generation above the Brass fire and control system which one can still see today in various international designs which had purchased the computer system from Kriegzimmer. The new Cornerstone features various aspects of the old Cornerstone. Although the entire process takes only milliseconds worth of time, it can be broken up into several distinct levels of operation. First, the FCS systems gather all low resolution imagery, infra-red imagery, high resolution imagery and infra-red imagery, radar information and sensor information. Using all of this the FCS system can detect vehicle position, orientation and range, as well as provide accurate ballistic solutions, and perform threat solutions with fast countermeasure expenditure. This information is displayed to the crew, communicated with tanks in the same information network, and translated into the tank armament, providing the Arca. IV with one of the best fire and control systems currently do date. The improvement on the system is mainly based around the inclusion of a conduct of fire calculator, which networks another fifteen computers which detect wind speed and direction, temperature, atmospheric pressure, apparent target motion, range data and the ballistic characteristics of the round. The new Cornerstone is also intertwined with enhanced position location reporting system [EPLRS], the BCIS [note crew section] and a sensor management system (SMS) which includes thermal, electromagnetic and acoustic management. Cornerstone is stabilized on two axes and provides with targeting data of up to eighteen targets at a time, prioritizing with what it is designed to think as the most dangerous target at the time. The inclusion of so much processing power and so many individual computers taking so many precautions allows the Arca. IV more accuracy when firing on the move. The entire Cornerstone system centralizes around a digibus central processing unit [CPU] which works on a military specific operating system [OS] – Sajer. As a cooperating process to the fire control system, the battle management system is a multi-sensor-aided supplement to increase the accuracy and computing velocity of Cornerstone – that said, it should really be considered as an integral part of cornerstone. The BMS also helps further cooperation between battlefield control aircraft, such as the GLI-44 Blackjester IRBC, and tanks on the ground.

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Communication wise, as explained above, each crewman has a helmet mounted digital intra-crew communication system, composed of a fiber optic net within the tank. This should provide advantages over conventional communication systems, as well as protect against jamming equipment and such. For inter-tank communication the Arca. IV has a high encryption very high frequency [VHF] radio, as well as a satellite datalink for beyond tactical communications. The Empire has always been huge on ample communication between the crew, tanks on a tactical level, and command in a strategic sense. In fact, the Empire has always taken the opportunity to adapt its tank’s communication systems with newer, faster and much more reliable technology. The satellite datalink also offers an inter-tank communication system, as satellites can be programmed to exclude and include different units within the same network. What one would consider something rather extraneous is considered absolutely necessary in the Arca. IV, as a simple jammer fired into the vicinity of a working tank battalion can block inter-tank communications. One of the lessons always referred to was the Battle of Niet-Laár in 1942, fought between the Macabee Kingdom and the Dukedom of Soborguntia. Imperial tanks, with excellent radio communications between crew members and tanks in the tactical sense utterly defeated Soborguntian armor in the area. Upon further inspection of captured tanks and historical interviews with captured soldiers it was found that Soborguntian armor lacked proper communication systems between their tanks, meaning cooperation required the tank commander to literally stand up into an overhead hatch and give visual orders. Obviously, that concluded in a lack of speed in reaction and cooperation. It was no surprise Soborguntia had suffered such a nasty debacle at the hands of Macabee forces. Other minor expands precede Niet-Laár, and even defeats later, despite the fact that the other contingents during the Great Civil War refitted their tanks rather quickly post-battle. To save on space, however, the communication system, save the satellite datalink, is installed into the seats and is shock protected.

[b]Other: One of the principle considerations of the Arca. IV Nakíl was weight. Given the high amount of what some would term ‘leap ahead’ technologies, such as the dynamic suspension, and known that some of these newer systems will produce greater weight, especially armor wise, dropping weight would have to be focused on other parts of the vehicle. The easiest areas to drop it that first came to mind were the tracks and road wheels. Another consideration for the project was money and how much it was going to cost per unit, knowing that it was simply not acceptable to go beyond the twelve million mark, and if possible keep it below. Unfortunately, sometimes the best methods to achieve something are not necessarily cheap, and this is becoming truer in armor design. Simply said, the days in which a tank could be mass produced cheaply, for five million or less, have been erased as nations with greater budgets are able to manufacture ridiculous amounts of more advance technologies, despite greater logistical efforts required when they are deployed in armies around the world. The Nakíl has attempted to reduce the amount of logistics necessary to support each tank, but this has not come cheaply. Greater technologies in barrel design, chassis design, and other sectors of the tank come through greater expenditure of money, and given that newer alloys need newer manufacturing techniques that may not come as fast as the technologies go expense is sometimes a side effect of a more logical vehicle. This doesn’t imply that twenty million dollar tanks are better, and more likely than not, they aren’t – instead they are loaded to the hilt with unnecessary technologies and ridiculous, bordering on stupid, principles, produced by companies that are used to administrations that care little about reliability or logic and more on the impression the tank gives – working with brand names. In fact, many of the tanks that patrol the nations of our world are hardly based on extensive testing and knowledge, meaning they normally offer greater than plausible results on their advertisements, but sell nonetheless – in the marketing world one would call this false advertisement. But because these are normally distributed by larger nations one would assume that he is right and you are wrong, when that is surely not the real case. But in any case, at some point increased costs come as an inevitable side effect from the constant battle between the team of gun and penetrator and the vehicle survivability. It was with this in mind that the tracks of the Nakíl were first designed, and in the end it was decided upon a lightweight titanium-aluminum [TiAl] alloy with low concentrations of carbon to increase the general strength of the tracks. An interesting byproduct is that the tracks and the road wheels can sustain small arms fire and light explosives, coming from the fact that titanium would offer about 90% the resistance to penetration as RHA, and aluminum around 60%. What do these numbers mean? Not much. Generally, the increase in strength would allow for the decrease in the needed mass for the needed track, and this was the path that the Nakíl engineering team took, as opposed to greater weight for greater, but unnecessary, protection. Both the sprocket and tensioner, which are going to withstand greater stresses, are constructed out of high grade, high strength steel. Specifically, the tracks used high stress yield rubber pads, and have a double pin connector, similar to those used on the Challenger 2, Leclerc and Leopard 2. These were chosen over the method of track design used on the M1A2 SEP Abrams due to extensive and continuous complaints about frequent break down and small inconsistencies after operations. The tracks used on the Arca. IV should prove to be lightweight, strong and reliable, if not completely cheap. Nevertheless, the increased cost at purchase should also mean a decreased cost over the long run.

Maintenance wise the Nakíl is plagued by the same problem all heavy weight main battle tanks are followed by, a long stream of logistics. The wide array of electronics and expensive machinery will no doubt make logistics worse, but when compared to other tanks of the same caliber, designed during the same time, the Nakíl offers the same power for a lesser cost per mile. That said, the dynamic suspension still requires periodic changes to the fluids, and the new electronics will require period changes as well, while the diesel turbine will still feed heavily off the fuel tanks, and compared to an Abrams or to a T-90 this will cost several hundred more per mile for a battalion. However, increased electronics also bring the advantage of better regulation, meaning all those costs can be taken care of before the tank leaves for an operation; in other words, break down and further requirements during operational time are less likely. So while the logistics train in the entire picture does not necessarily decrease, that which needs to follow a unit of tanks into battle does. A tank battalion of around 150 vehicles will require around 750 dollars per mile of operation on average, which is effectively three hundred dollars more than the Abrams, and probably at least four hundred more than any other tank. How does it pay off? Increased survivability, increased firepower and the ability to be on par or superior to any other tank in the world offers itself as the counterweight to more expensive mechanics. In the end, technological advances will most likely require more money to be spent on what it was used on and this is a reality that we all have to live with. The advances of our enemies will require us to produce a counter which will most likely also extend in expense. Of course, one could always counter a better tank with a better missile, but a missile does not offer the mechanization, speed and multi-purpose use that a main battle tank does. More accurately, it should be all assets which are equally advanced since war has always, and will always, work best with combined armaments. The Nakíl is one of those advances. Then again, the choice and the perspective is up to the beholder and the future client, not to the seller.

The turret and chassis are fully sealed and airtight, although air filtration is conducted anyways through an overpressure internal oxygen electrolysis production method in small amounts. This comes to an advantage during the use of nuclear, biological or chemical [NBC] products, allowing the tank to be fully protected against said ordnance and still be able to operate for a limited amount of time – enough to get out of the area if need be, or even hold the area if quick decontamination is possible. This is coupled with a radiological warning system and chemical agent detector. The entire system is located in one of the turret bustles. Each tank crew’s uniform is designed to be as lightweight as possible, but to protect against such threats as well, and each crew member has access to individual gas masks in case of accidental filtration of radiation or chemical/biological agents. The threat of NBC use has always been cast aside as secondary given the history of the Empire’s war as ‘NBC free’. However, with the recent use of nuclear tipped anti-shipping missiles at the Raid at Feathermore’s Trench in 2016, which was the only battle between Malatosian and Macabee shipping before internal rebellion threatened Malatosian stability, forcing their Emperor to retract his claims to the Golden Throne, the threat of NBC has become a much greater reality and thus during the engineering of the Arca. IV NBC protection became a much greater priority.

Future Possibilities: Gun wise, future variants of the Nakíl may exchange the current gun with an electrothermal-chemical cannon, depending on how well electrothermal-chemical technology matures. Despite the fact that the current gun not only matches, but exceeds, the promised muzzle velocities of the ETC, future technologies incorporating better propellants and even liquid propellants into the ETC may require a change. However, the current system adopted should provide superiority, or at least parity, with all adversaries for the next three to five decades. Given that jump in time it may not be a rarity to see electromagnetic acceleration on tank guns! Another disadvantage to currently mounting the ETC would be the increase in power needed and given that the compulsator is only at its beginning stages it would be much more acceptable and much more logical to use a solid propellant gun, even with the added complexity of a booster liquid propellant. Despite the fact that the Empire’s engineers do not see the electro-thermal chemical cannon as a contemporary solution that would offer an advantage over what is currently on the Nakíl, the electro-thermal chemical gun is progressing at impressive rates – tests are conducted at interval rates in both Arras and Mandalay, and the ETC, given maturation, shows promising results. In other words, it’s certainly something that will not be left out of future discussions for future variants of the tank. In fact, a ballistic research test which will span about two months will be done in Mandalay in the next year testing progressing in electro-thermal chemical technologies, and similar applications has already been introduced into manufacturing plants to produce metal oxide nanoparticles through electrothermal-chemical synthesis. It’s with such images of aging in mind that the electro-thermal chemical concept is taken with such open arms for future variants, and to a lesser degree, so is electromagnetic technology. Finally, the 120mm L/48 electrothermal-chemical cannon is available for current export to replace the current cannon on the Nakíl for foreign armies that prefer the ETC over the dual-caliber high pressure breech system. Tank gun technology will include better recoil management systems. Decrease in armor weight and future armor designs (discussed below) have been coupled with greater gun muzzle velocities and at first sight this marriage would be and should be rather unhealthy. Taking this into consideration requires newer recoil management devices, including better muzzle breaks or even smaller muzzle breaks and more supplemental systems. It’s well known that muzzle breaks also cause acoustical disturbances, and if enough muzzle velocity exists and enough of the gasses dissipate this can prove to be deafening to the crew, something which is not acceptable. This complex problem is just one of the other considerations when researching and even speaking about future cannon technologies and speculative muzzle velocities, but unfortunately not many current designers are taking such considerations, and too many purchasers simply don’t know or don’t care about the problems they are importing.

Armor wise, the future may hold concepts that were once thought science fiction. This includes electromagnetic armor which would mount two electrically charged plates parallel to one another with a short space between the two. If and when the HEAT jet penetrates, an electrical discharge would result in a magnetic field around the jet, causing magnetohydrodynamic disturbances and instabilities, disrupting penetration. This is now being tested against kinetic energy penetrators as well, having the electrical charge cause fluctuation and instability on the penetrator, leading to increased yaw which would thus increase the chances of ricochet earlier. Also being looked at is electrothermal armor which has insofar been cast aside as improbable in the foreseeable future due to the fact that it would require at least 5MJ of energy which would have to be stored in an area ~5m³, which is simply unacceptable in a turret of current size. With advances in compulsator technology this may become more of an option, but it’s not something that is being seriously considered at this point. More probably than both of these concepts is advances in technology in pre-pressing the ceramics and better ceramics, as well as better metalloids, including improvement over both IRHA and titanium – which at this point only renders around .9 of the effectiveness of RHA. Better reactive armors that don’t require huge amounts of electricity is also a possibility being researched, including continued research on the effects of two bulging plates, as opposed to one. Furthermore, with the incorporation of better segmented rods, although not the wonder child once thought to be, may lead to the development of interesting armors which would negate the advantage of segmented penetrators (FYI, segmented penetrators have a problem of both segments hitting the same part of the armor, thereby negating the advantage they would have theoretically).

Concerning active protection systems methods are being researched and developed to aid current hard-kill and soft-kill systems against better anti-tank guided missiles [ATGMs] – given the considerable advances since the debut of the Shtora active protection system and the Arena defensive aid suite, it wouldn’t be totally out of proportion to assume greater advances in the next ten to twenty years. One of the most noteworthy and interesting speculations is a kinetic energy penetrator hard-kill system. However, even optimist have labeled such a system impossible for penetrators arriving from a distance of less than 750m from a conventional solid propellant smoothbore, and have increased this range to over 2000m when taking into consideration more modern, higher velocity, cannons and better and smarter rounds. In fact, some of the most conservative engineers in the Nakíl project have attempted to stow away these ‘fantasies’, as they refer to them, and instead focus on more profitable projects for future variants of the tank. One of the things being looked at for future variants of the Nakíl is a small, low-cost interceptor device, which will see a debut on the Arica. II set to be released by 2021 or 2022, allowing the Arica. I a relative life in the service of the Empire before it’s phased out due to its external gun mount and the fact that Kriegzimmer much rather use the chassis of a Nakíl and not of a foreign tank. This SLID system will be used to replace the heavy grenade systems, although it will focus on anti-tank guided missile threats and not kinetic energy threats. In the end, although impressive, current APS still have a long way to go before they are sophisticated enough even to deal with all anti-tank guided missiles, let alone kinetic energy penetrators and multiple bursts from medium caliber cannons.

All in all, the Arca. IV Nakíl proves to have multiple options for the future, and given its versatility it will be continuously upgraded to meet new requires for at least the next sixty years, unless something revolutionary requires a total recall. Then again, ironically, the same thing was said about the Arca. I Cougar! Nevertheless, the Nakíl promises to be one of the most successful, if not the most successful, tank sold by Kriegzimmer and is the conglomeration of one of the largest research efforts in the world. It’s 100% indigenous qualities is also a source of great pride in the Empire of the Golden Throne. With said adaptability and future upgrades the Nakíl will continue to be a great tank design for quite a while.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 3
Weight: 64,230.75kg
Weight Distribution [Approximate]:
Hull: 18334.75kg
Suspension: 11,501.8kg
Power Plant: 5,032kg
Auxiliary Auto: 1,867kg
Weapon Station: 20,777.4kg
Fire and Control: 1,341.8kg
Ammunition: 1,695kg
OVE: 1,500kg
Fuel: 1,800kg
Crew: 381kg
Power to Weight Ratio: 23.5 hp/t
Length: 9.1m
Length of Gun: 6.96m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 2.6m
Ground Clearance: .4m
Engine: 1690 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 66km/h
Range: 510km
Range With External Tanks: 800km
Trench: 5.6m
Step: 5.6m
Vertical Obstacle: 1.4m
Ford Unprepared: 1.8m
Ford Prepared: 6m
Climbing Gradient: 40x
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
120mm Light Weight High Breech Pressure
1x 5.66mm Co-Axial
1x 5.66mm GPMG
1x Four Barrel Grenade Launcher
Ammunition:
48 Rounds
1,200 Rounds
1,000 Rounds Each
400 Grenades
Main Gun Depression: -7/+38 degrees
Armor [Actual Thickness without ERA]:
Lower Hull: 300mm
Glacis: 400mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 100mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 280mm
Upper Front Turret: 380mm
Rear Turret: 137mm
Rear Hull: 124mm
Side Hull: 375mm
Mantlet: 400mm
Weakened Zone: 415mm
Front Turret Corners: 430mm
Side Turret: 120mm
Roof: 60mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 900mm
Glacis: 1,480mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 225mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 756mm
Upper Front Turret: 646mm
Rear Turret: 516mm
Rear Hull: 487.5mm
Side Hull: 787.5mm
Mantlet: 2,375mm
Weakened Zone: 2,450mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,500mm
Side Turret: 450mm
Roof: 105mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 1,100mm
Glacis: 1,980mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 425mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 1,040mm
Upper Front Turret: 890mm
Rear Turret: 740mm
Rear Hull: 698.5mm
Side Hull: 1,098.5mm
Mantlet: 2,875mm
Weakened Zone: 2,950mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,975mm
Side Turret: 880mm
Roof: 235mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. CE]:
Lower Hull: 1,400mm
Glacis: 2,580mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 850mm
Front Side Turret/Side Turret: 1,590mm
Upper Front Turret: 1,445mm
Rear Turret: 1,198mm
Rear Hull: 1,187mm
Side Hull: 1,700mm
Mantlet: 3,540mm
Weakened Zone: 3,675mm
Front Turret Corners: 3,750mm
Side Turret: 1,030mm
Roof: 415mm
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
3rd Generation LADAR @ ~10km classification range
Millimeter Wave [MMW] RADAR @ 11km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 9 Million

Bibliography

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Bao, Yiwant et al., Prestressed Ceramics and Improvement of Impact Resistance. Materials Letters: December 2002.
Bierson, G, and Lucy, R.F., Requirements of a Coherent Laser Pulse-Doppler Radar. Proceedings of the IEEE: 1963.
Brown, Ronald E., Majerus, Mark E., Lewis, J. Scott, Building Charateristics Into a Shaped Charge to Achieve Unique Preformance Requirements. International Journal on Impact Engineering: 1995.
Cullis, I.G. and Lynch, N.J., Performance of Model Scale Long Rod Projectiles Against Complex Targets Over the Velocity Range 1700-2200 M/S. International Journal of Impact Engineering: 1995.
Dionisio, F., and Stockenström, A., Aerodynamic Wind-Tunnel Test of a Ramjet Projectile. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Easly, M.K. nd Smyth, J.R., Ceramic Gas Turbine Technology Developement. Superalloys: 1996.
Faur-Csukat, G., Developement of Fiber-Reinforced Ballistic Composites. Bay Zoltán Institute for Materials Science and Technology; Budapest, Hungary: September 2005.
Flint, Graham W., Analysis and Optomization of Laser Ranging Techniques. IEEE Transactions on Military Electronics: 1964.
Goldstein, B.S., Radar Range Equations for Narrow-Band Optical Sources. MIT Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report: 1963.
Gonzales, A., and Shimm, H., Spheroidal Propellant Stabilizer Studies. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Headquarters, Department of the Army, The Soviet Army: Troops, Organization and Equipment. June 1990.
Hilmes, Rolf, Arming Future MBTs - Some Considerations. Military Technology: December 2004. Aberdeen Proving Grounds: 2001.
Hohler, V, et al. Hypervelocity Penetration of Titanium Sinter-Alloy Rods into Aluminum. International Journal of Impact Engineering: 1995.
Holzwarth, A and Weimann, K, Combination of Inert and Energetic Materials in Reactive Armor Against Shaped Charge Jets. 19th International Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Horst, A et al., Insensitive High Energy Propellants for Advance Gun Concepts. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Jaramaz, S. et al., Interior Ballistic Principle of High/Low Pressure Chambers in Automatic Grenade Launchers. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Jeck-Prosch, U. and Ryf, K., High Preformance Propulsion Design for Future Kinetic Energy Ammunition. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Kachelmyer, A.L., Range-Doppler Imaging with a Laser Radar. Lincoln Laboratory Journal: 1990.
König, P.J. and and Mostert, F.J., The Design and Preformance of Non-Initiating Shaped Charges with Granular Jets Against ERA. 20th International Symposium on Ballistics: September 2002.
Lanz, W., and Ondermatt, W., Penetration Limits of Conventional Large Caliber Anti-Tank Guns/Kinetic Energy Projectiles. 13th International Symposium on Ballistics: June 1992.
Leavy, R. Brian, Improved Rolled Homogenous Armor. Army Research Laboratory: March 1996.
McCall, Peter L., Measurements of Gun Tube Motion and Muzzle Pointing Error of Main Battle Tanks.
Ogerkre[can't make it out], M.R.M, Future Tank Guns Part I: Solid and Liquid Propellants. International Defense Review: December 1990.
Oosthuizen, R., du Buisson, J.J., and Botha, G.F., Solid Fuel Ramjet Propulsion for Artillery Projectile Applications - Concept Developement Overview. 19th Symposium of Ballistics: May 2001.
Pengelley, Rupert, A New Era in Tank Main Armament. International Defense Review: November 1989.
Reaugh, J.E. et al., Impact Studies of Five Ceramic Materials and Pyrex. International Journal of Impact Engineering: 1999.
Reynolds III, Albert H., CO2 Ladar Modulation Trade-Off Studies. Coherent Infrared Radar Systems and Applications II: 1983.
Sauerwein, Brigitte, Reinmetall's NPzK: Conventional Technology for Countering Future MBTs. International Defense Review: February 1990.
Schooling, J.M., and Reed, P.A.S., The Application of Neural Computing Methods to the Modeling of Fatigue in Ni-Base Superalloys. Superalloys: 1996.
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Units Sold To Date:
17,562 Beltway, The [Nakíl 1US]
2,952 Lost Hills [Nakíl 1LH]
25,000 Lame Bums [Nakíl 1A1]
29,750 Mauvasia [Nakíl M]
400 The Phalange [Nakíl 1A1]
2,112 Galashiels [Nakíl 1UMX]
36,440 Animarnia [Nakíl 1A1]
98,304 Mer des Ennuis [Nakíl 1MDE]
50,000 Molynia [Nakíl 1A1]
10,000 1010102 [Nakíl 1A1]
50,000 Omni-Sense [Nakíl 1A1]
400 Northern Colonies [Nakíl 1A1]
100,000 Velkya [Nakíl 1A1]
2 Imperial Isa [Testing]
4 Aquatio [Testing]
190,000 Hotdogs2 [Nakíl 1A1]
70,000 Illior [Nakíl 1A1]
50,000 Franberry [Nakíl 1A1]
6,000 Spizania [Nakíl 1ASZ]
4 Northford [Nakíl 1A1]
450 Tolven [Nakíl 1A1]
60,000 Zukariaa [Nakíl 1A1]
126,720 Otagia [Nakíl 1A1]
250,000 Angelonisia [Nakíl 1A1]
720,000 Uldarious [Nakíl 1A1UL]
400 Hataria [Nakíl 1A1]
600,000 Allanea [Nakíl 1A1] <-- ~100,000 were later 'sold' to Whyatica; a larger number were also sold to Hataria. 300,000 were redistributed upon procurement.
100,000 Hamilay [Nakíl 1A1]
500,000 Sovereign California [Nakíl 1A1]
250,000 Hailandkill [Nakíl 1A1HK]
100 Kovolkia [Nakíl 1A1]
51,000 Gataway [Nakíl 1A1]
150,000 The PeoplesFreedom [Nakíl 1A1]
15,000 Granate [Nakíl 1A1]
50,000 Errikland [Nakíl 1A1]
30,000 Avisron [Nakíl 1A1]
1,000 Kahanistan [Nakíl 1A1]
75,000 Granate [Nakíl 1A1]
135,000 Azaha [Nakíl 1A1; 100,000 were sold to Questers.]
33,000 New Manth [Nakíl 1A1]
2,100 Free Angola [Nakíl 1A1]
33,000 Questers [Nakíl 1A1; 100,000 were acquired from Azaha.]
65,000 Jaredcohenia [Nakíl 1A1]
400,000 Dostanuot Loj [Nakíl 1AS]
11,000 Greal [Nakíl 1A1]
10 Medieval Peasants [Nakíl 1A1]
50,000 Shakal [Nakíl 1A1]
1,000 Terre Nationale [Nakíl 1A1]
400 Minucciano [Nakíl 1A1MI]
15,000 Alversia [Nakíl 1A1]
100,500 Dephire [Nakíl 1A1]
60,000 Malatose [Nakíl 1A1]
200,000 Vetalia [Nakíl 1A1]
12,000 Rosdivan [Nakíl 1A1+]
500 Cazelia [Nakíl 1A1]
______
Total:4,777,110

825,000 Allanea [Nakíl 1A2]
241,152 Mer des Ennuis [Nakíl 1A2]
30,000 Willink [Nakíl 1A2]
240,000 The Silver Sky [Nakíl 1A2MC]
60,000 No Endorse [Nakíl 1A2]
50,000 Space Union [Nakíl 1A2]
50,000 Mekugi [Nakíl 1A2MC]
300,000 Hailandkill [Nakíl 1A2MC]
______
Total: 1,796,152

Total: 6,572,262

Monkey Model Production:
5,000 Questers [Type 65s (Nakíl 1A1)]

______

Total: 5,000

Variants

RIT.76 Regisnár Tactical Surface to Surface Rocket Launcher

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/RIT.png

Vehicle: The RIT.76 uses the chassis of the Nakíl mounted with something that resembles an external turret, although fixed. The block holds four surface to surface missile launchers on a rack, while each tube is ~14m long and close to a meter wide, firing the SNAR.1 series of missiles, including the most favoured - the SNAR.1.A (described below). Using an electrical elevation mechanism the rack can elevate to near 48.7 degrees, offering the possibilities for extreme ranges depending on the SNAR.1 variant in use. Depending on future surface to surface missiles the tubes may change, however, the RIT.76 will turn into the principle TSSRL of the Ejermacht. The RIT.76 draws its inspiration from the SA-11 GADFLY launching vehicle, as well as the SA-12a GLADIATOR and SA-12b GIANT launching vehicles, although all three serve completely different purposes - air defense, which is left to the Praetorian II/A and Praetorian II/B vehicles in the Fuermak. The one obvious and largest contributor to the project was the MAR 290 AARL vehicle, although that seemingly also served a different purpose. In any case, the RIT.76 is designed to project long range support and bombardment abilities, including to strike long range strategic targets. Notably, however, the RIT.76 vehicle keeps the short non-appliqué track skirt, although none have been deployed with the appliqué track skirt available for the main battle tank (Nakíl), and sticks with the front tensioner and rear placed sprocket. In fact, it was designed to have the mininum cost implications possible, and it certainly excelled in that respect. Similar systems not used as influences include the SS-21/SCARAB, SS-1 SCUD, SS-12 SCALEBOARD and even the FROG-7 [Free Rocket Over Ground]. The RIT.76 is truly the first vehicle of its kind to enter service with the Fuermak

For reduced weight and cost, the Regisnár uses an aluminum armor to replace both the explosive reactive armor and the ceramic armor. For a non-frontline vehicle such as the RIT.76 aluminum is a lucrative replacements, having 1/3 of the mass of rolled homogenous armor and offering ~.6 thickness effectiveness. In other words, the 300mm of aluminum armor offered on the Regisnár would offer ~180mm RHAe, but at the weight equivalent of 100mm RHA. The use of the AL-7 series should offer better ballistic resistance, sacrificing corrosion and stress cracks. In any case, it offers more than enough resistance against small arms fire, and rudimentary resistance against man portable and shoulder fired anti-tank rounds, although it is suceptible to newer man portable technologies, including anything that is similar to the RPG-7 or better, and top attack ordnance. But as said before, the RIT.76 Regisnár is not expected to be a frontline vehicle, and is used as a long range tactical missile support armament.

Missiles:
SCAR.1.A: The SCAR.1.A is a conventional high explosive surface to surface missile, used as the simplest form of the SCAR.1 generation. Using a controlled liquid propellant it is capable of engaging at ranges of over 780 kilometers, with a CEP of less than forty meters. It is able to do the latter through the use of state of the art GPS and inertial guidance.
SCAR.1.B/1.C: Similar to the 1.A. only it drops the high explosive and exchanged it with tightly packed anti-vehicle submunitions. The 1.C variant is the same, except with anti-personnel submunitions. Despite the same range this rocket is much more 'tactical' in the sense that it's fired at shorter ranges most of the time.
SCAR.1.D: Nuclear variant. The warhead size is approx. 40 kilotons and the missile has a range of ~450 kilometers. About two hundred are destined to be stocked at any one time within the Fuermak, although this number may grow should necessity arise.
SCAR.1.E: With a range of 720 kilometers the 1.E. can carry a biological or chemical warhead to extremely far ends of the battlefield. That said, the 1.E is currently not in production, stock or use within the Fuermak, and is not planned to enter. The 1.E is just a possible escort variant.

Weight: 25 tons
Armament: Four tube piece missile launcher for SCAR.1 class tactical missiles
Range: ~600 kilometers
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 900hp gas turbine
Cost: 3.7 Million
Production Rights: 370 Million

SRE.14 Fernántes [TLB] Tank- Launched Bridge

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/SRE.png

The SRE.14 is the first major Macabee designed and produced tank-launched, single-span, assault bridge, and is due to be employed as the standard equipment for the Fuermak to establish bridgeheads to prepare for heavier bridging. In other words, it's single purpose is to allow for tactical strikes across rivers to provide a defense for the future construction of a better bridge. It uses a modified chassis of the Arca. IV Nakíl. The treadways are made up of a box-type aluminum girder with a folding ramp attached to both ends, saving space when in travelling position. The bridge folded has a length of ~15 meters, but fully deployed expands to a span of ~23 meters. Launched by a cantilever, the ramps are lowered and fully extended before the treadways. The span moved foward over the cantilever launching girder until it reaches the far bank. Following this, the crew lowers the near end nto the near bank, allowing the bridgelayer a low silhouette. The SRE.14 can launch in five minutes, and can retrieve the bridge in no more than eight minutes. The bridge itself can hold the weight of twos Nakíls at a time, and normally multiple bridges are layed out along a single span, allowing for a faster crossing. The SRE.14 will remain standard in the Fuermak and especially the Ejermacht for a long time to come.

Length [Chassis]: 9.1m
Length : 15m
Length [Bridge Full Span]: 20m
Weight: 23 tons
Engine: 900hp
Velocity [On-Road]: 80km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 60km/h
Range: ~600kms
Procurement Cost: 2.6 million
Production Rights: 260 million


[b]SRE.24 Asnit Multiple Rocket Launcher
http://modernwarstudies.net/Lineart/SRE.24.png

The SRE.24 Asnit is a tank hull mounted short range multiple rocket launcher which fires short 200mm rocket mortars. The armament is composed of a single twenty tube launcher designed to fire the XR series of missiles, including the XR1 [high explosive], XR2 [Anti-tank submunitions] and XR3 [Anti-Personnel submunitions], all to make available a cheap rocket mortar designed to saturate areas with high concentration of adversaries with generally cheap munitions. All twenty rockets should be able to be expended within eight seconds and using their small ducted ramjet engines can include 'mercy mission' targetting, which would signify that all twenty rockets would land at the same time. The entire system can be rearmed within two minutes and ready to fire again, making it fast. The SRE.24 is designed to replace the Panzerwerfer, which is also being replaced by the much larger future MRLS soon to be released by Kriegzimmer. The tubes are also easily and cheaply replaced, and the entire system is rather reliable and simple, making it perfect for logistics.

The vehicle is armored by 200 millimeters worth of aluminum on the upper glacis and vehicle front corners, and around 120mm on the sides and a bit less in the rear, offerng a maximum rolled homogenous equivalent rating of ~120mm. The vehicle can also have slat mounted on the chassis for further protection against rocket propelled grenades.

Weight: 18 tons
Armament: Twenty tubed short range 200mm rocket launcher
Range: ~30 kilometers
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 700hp gas turbine
Velocity [On-Road]: 80km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 60km/h
Crew: 2
Resupply Crew: 4
Cost: 2.9 Million
Production Rights: 290 Million


TXI.76 'André' 240mm Recoilless Howitzer
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The André is a beast, based off the North Korean 175mm howitzer on the Type 59 chassis, only much larger and this time recoilless! The 240mm howitzer is designed as a siege howitzer and a heavy hitter; a compliment to the 155mms to enter service around the same time as the Nakíl main battle tank. In any case, the howitzer uses a standard solid propellant to avoid overpowering the round, and most rounds it fires use some sort of ramjet assist to allow the 70+ kilometer ranges. Indeed, there have been rumours of ranges exceeding 100 kilometers! The large barrel can also fire smaller missiles for ranges exceeding 50 kilometers, making it quite a versatile cannon. She's lined with heavy amounts of chrome to avoid extensive barrel wear, and the most protected area of all are the rear tubes which expel the hot gasses, allowing the howitzer to be recoilless. The back end of the chassis is also protected by blast plates to avoid high erosion levels. The obvious advantage to the recoilless piece is just that, it's recoilless, while it makes the system much lighter. The disadvantages are somewhat solved. Since there is a relatively huge blackbast after firing there is a wedge-shaped dangerzone behind the vehicles that should be memorised by the crew, nevertheless, given that this is a self-propelled piece with no standing crew (they should be within the chassis) this isn't truly a problem. Considerable problems come with camoflauging the piece, but given the size of it this really isn't an issue regardless since it's most likely not going to be camoflauged, and older recoilless pieces had a strong appetite for propellant - ultra-modern propellants, such as the one used for the Nakíl, should appease this somewhat, and that's where the magnum charge comes into play!

The gun is reloaded through an external RALS system fed through a midsection autoloader. The entire device is rather complicated, but it means that a loader doesn't need to run the risk of being burnt to a crisp by the backblast of the gun during firing, and it inevitably makes it much faster, as well. Furthermore, despite the length of the RALS system the autoloader is not necessarilly unreliable either, although one would suspect a lower life than a similar autoloader in a tank. Nevertheless, for such a large howitzer, and for a recoilless piece at that, it would only make sense.

Although the gun is not protected and is in an extended and open mount on top of the chassis, using the area where the turret ring would be, the upper glacis is heavily protected to offer protection to the crew. Meaning top attack munitions will have a very hard time killing the crew. In other words, the vehicle is designed to protect the men that serve it, even if it doesn't protect the gun due to other considerations. Nevertheless, even without a protected gun this is truly an artillery piece to fear and is one of the more powerful Nakíl variants. It's a worthwhile system to have in your forces.

Weight: 48 tons
Armament: 240mm Recoilless Howitzer
Range: ~70+ kilometers
Length: 9.1m
Length of Barrel: ~12-15m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 1,200hp gas turbine
Velocity [On-Road]: 70km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 50km/h
Crew: 2
Armor:
~690mm RHAe @ Upper Glacis
~630mm RHAe @ Lower Hull
~350mm RHAe @ Side Hull
~310mm RHAe @ Rear Hull
Resupply Crew: 3
Cost: 3.6 Million
Production Rights: 360 Million

TXI.14 'Carposis' Anti-Air Howitzer [AAH]
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/TXI14.png

The TXI.14 is nothing more than an upgraded Catapult AAH which was itself built upon the chassis of the British Vickers Mk. I. The TXI.14 Carposis instead mounts a larger 88mm gun, with a longer barrel, and is based off the chassis of the Nakíl Main Battle Tank. It's designed as a low altitude, mid velocity range self-propelled artillery gun. Similar 155mm guns are designed to combat in altitudes of around twelve thousand meters or more, and smaller units like the SPAA-1 are designed to hit low flying aircraft at under eight thousand meters. The Carposis is a cheap, effective, midweight anti-air gun firing the standard Imperial CAPMES [enCAPsulated MEtalStorm]. Its task, as said over and over again, is to provide effective anti-air coverage over the battlefield. It fires cheap and deadly rounds and is not so expensive to produce itself. It uses a standard solid propellant to avoid high velocities, and has a chrome plated barrel to withstand higher barrel pressures and give the barrel a longer life.

It's armored similarly as the TXI.76 André, only with a heavier turret to withstand submunitions and thus protecting the crew. The breech of the gun is also protected by an appliqué tank roof which mounts the same light explosive reactive armor as the Nakíl, providing ~200mm worth of rolled homogenous armor equivalent against kinetic energy weapons [KEW] and ~500-750mm versus chemical energy weapons [CE]. In other words, the breech of the howitzer is more or less protected against most threats, including older top-attack high explosive anti-tank guided missiles. Nevertheless, the entire vehicles is very well protected and mounts a heavy turbine engine to make sure it can still move at fairly high velocities.

This self-propelled vehicle is going to replace all fixed 88mm sites by the year 2018, providing self-propelled high altitude anti-aircraft defense that doesn't constitute hundred thousand dollar surface to air missiles. It will also probably make itself comfortable in armies of various nations abroad. It will be add further mechanisation after the recent [2016] release of the SPAA-1 anti-aircraft artillery vehicle; a welcome addition, at that.

Weight: 41 tons
Armament: 88mm Howitzer
Maximum Range: ~20+ kilometers
MaximumAltitude: ~8,000 meters
Length: 9.1m
Length of Barrel: ~5.08m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 1,200hp gas turbine
Velocity [On-Road]: 85km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 60km/h
Crew: 2
Armor [all versus KE]:
~730mm RHAe @ Front Turret
~690mm RHAe @ Upper Glacis
~630mm RHAe @ Lower Hull
~350mm RHAe @ Side Hull
~310mm RHAe @ Rear Hull
~250mm RHAe @ Appliqué Roof
~200mm RHAe @ Turret Roof
Resupply Crew: 3
Cost: 2.8 Million
Production Rights: 280 Million



'Síeren' Tank Destroyer
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Sieren.png

Purpose: The Síeren was designed as a general purpose tank destroyer, taking advantage of the weight saved from lacking a turret and then making it up with a larger, much more powerful main armament and thicker armor. The tank destroyer has long been forgotten and is a relic of the past, however, they have seen a recent resurgence in armies around the world, and it would only be proper that the Nakíl release an option for its own tank destroyer. For years generals have argued that the tank destroyer is obsolete, pointing out the fact that in an open enviroment a tank destroyer's turretless design is outmatched, and a greater gun does not necessarilly mean a better kill probability. However, the War of Golden Succession opened the eyes of various generals and officials that work with the design and procurement agencies that work with Kriegzimmer. The larger chance of urban warfare had spawned the need for a vehicle that could be heavily armored and provide anti-tank support in the city. In recent years the tank has taken the job of allowing direct support, especially with the advent of better anti-personnel rounds, and of an anti-tank vehicle. It is time to alot the jobs to two different contestants and thus throw in another variable. The Síeren should be an ample design to work in the city, or in defensive operations as a very powerful tank destroyer. The cheaper design also makes it much easier to afford, allowing an anti-tank vehicle that doesn't tax on the budget too much. The Síeren, in other words, picks up where older tank destroyers leave off.

Armament: The Síeren's armament is composed principally of a 140mm electrothermal-chemical smoothbore. Firing the same XG.784 Atmos armour piercing fin stabalised discarding sabot, with RAMjet assist, the gun achieves a muzzle velocity of near 2,800 meters per second, and the round can accelerate to around 3,100 meters per second for up to around five hundred meters. In other words, the round leaves the 140mm with a muzzle energy of 37.4MJ! From a standard L/55 smoothbore a tungsten round would leave at around 12MJ. That's over a threefold increase in muzzle energy! The electrothermal-chemical gun is a relatively simple concept, using an electrical switch to ignite a plasma cartridge located behind the breech. The plasma is used to allow the solid propellant to expand much more methodically and uniformly, meaning a much better expansion. This gives the gas a full chance to expand and thus brings out a greater energy behind the round. The electrothermal-chemical gun saw prior use on both the Broad Sword main battle tank and the Cougar 1A main battle tank, before the Cougar was turned into the Cougar 1A3 heavy battle tank. The electrothermal-chemical cannon is also used widely abroad in most modern main battle tanks.

The gun is autoloaded from the rear by a robotic autoloading system [RALS] which feeds from an armoured canister of rounds mounted on the bustle to the rear of the vehicle. The mountings have four blast pressure safeguards covering it, allowing any explosion to be vented upwards, as opposed to towards the rest of the crew. The mounting holds twenty-five rounds and has an electrical arm to feed the round into a carousel belt which is in essence the arm of the RALS. It uses a ram to slam the round into the breech. This entire system is protected by internal armored panels and seperated from the rest of the crew.

Crew: The commander is near the rear of the vehicle, to his right, and the driver is just infront of him and a bit below him with easy access to the optronics of the tank. The driver is on the opposite site buried deeper in the hull. All three crew members are protected by the thick frontal armor and a frontally mounted 1,500 horsepower turbine.

Armour: For protection the Síerat offers a frontal glacis of anywhere from 500mm to 560mm of actual thickness Cermin Armech Modulien [CAM] armor, a home design that is featured on the Nakíl [along with a more in depth coverage of the armour]. This offers anywhere from 2700mm to 3,248mm rolled homogenous armor equivalent [RHAe]. The Síerat doesn't mount explosive reactive armor given the urban enviroment, and the fact that there will be a lot of infantry running around. Nevertheless, this is effectively higher than most main battle tanks. For further protection against chemical energy weapons the entire tank destroyer can be protected by a fence of appliqué slat armor which is basically a more modern, cheaper spaced armour configuration, designed to preemptively blow the chemical energy warhead. If it's hit by an APFSDS it may also cause yaw, although nothing major.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 3
Weight: 40,823.3kg
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 2m
Ground Clearance: .3m
Engine: 1500 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 75km/h
Range: 350km
Range With External Tanks: 500km
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
140mm Electrothermal-chemical cannon
1x 7.56mm Co-Axial
Ammunition:
25 Rounds
1,200 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -5/+34 degrees
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 4 Million
Production Rights: 400 Million



Dejíard Urban Assault Unit
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Dejiard.png[/center]

The Dejíard mounts a 155mm howitzer as its main armament, coupled with a really low profile, which is lower than both the Nakíl's and the Síeren! With a front mounted engine, and a two man crew buried deep into the hull, it also carries an assault force of four infantrymen, with slots for their weapons. The howitzer is low pressure, designed to deliver high explosive warheads or sub-munitions against fortressed installations in an urban enviroment. Everything of the vehicle is tailored to operate as a city dweller, delivering artillery support deep inside areas that a standard, poorly armored, self-propelled howitzer could not operate. For that very reason it's turretless, designed to carry a larger gun with much more armor, operating in an area infested by rocket propelled grenades and other infantry carried, or truck mounted, anti-tank weapons. The Dejíard, paired with the Síeren, can make the tank obsolete in cities, and for a much cheaper cost! Using a solid propellant, as it's not designed for range, it can deliver a grand variety of 155mm munitions in the city, and the low length of the gun also allows it to quickly manuever through streets. Limitations include an overtaxed transmission, result of a small engine, but it's designed to give as much space as necessary for assault infantry in the rear.

The engine is a 900 horsepower gas turbine, meaning the vehicle is not drastically underpowered, but does result in the necessity for greater maintenance after a shorter time. However, the desiners assume that the role will be the same as the role it will play in the Ejermacht - to operate in cities, where range is not of necessity. Behind the engine sit side by side the tank commander and the driver. The tank commander acts as the gunner and commander, also making use of a co-axial flame thrower. The flame thrower is ignited by a rotary incidiery gatling, using two armored storate tanks behind the breech of the gun. The flame can lick targets at up to two hundred and fifty meters. Behind the crew is the ammunition nstorage area which is designed to take the least space as possible. Both the ammunition and flame storate tanks are designed so that if hit and ready to blow the blast is directed upwards, minimising risk to the crew and to passengers. The ammunition is autoloaded by a robotic autoloading system, and stored in armored boxes. Behind this there is a blast wall and then space for four heavily armed infantry men. The infantry men serve the purpose of putting men on the ground quickly after the assault gun clears the trouble.

The armor is designed for urban enviroments and for the role of the vehicle. There is a thick principle back plate of armored steel intermixed with depleted uranium nuggets. This is seperated by an empty volume from a thinner frontal wall of armored steel. In other words, the Dejíard relies fully on spaced armor. Why? When the HEAT projectile is ignited on the first plate it will ignite before the proper standoff range to penetrate the thicker armor, meaning the armour is designed with the threat of anti-tank missiles and grenades in mind. With that same design philosophy it's also possible to mount Slat appliqué. This is a city rat, built to survive.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 2
Passenger Capacity: 4
Weight: 43,493.3kg
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 1.8m
Ground Clearance: .3m
Engine: 900 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 39km/h
Range: 175km
Range With External Tanks: 400km
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
150mm Low Velocity Howitzer
1x Flamethrower Co-axial
Ammunition:
20 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -5/+38 degrees
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 3.8 Million
Production Rights: 380 Million

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

International Variants

Nakíl 1LH
The LH variant belongs to Lost Hills, being completed by Kriegzimmer and the Fuermak a few months after the official release of the Nakíl 1A. The following differences are unique to the Nakíl 1LH:

The hull integrated HERA [Heavy ERA] is not included.
CAM thickness is increased to the following RHAe ratings:
Lower Hull: 1,100mm
Glacis: 1,680mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 315mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 856mm
Upper Front Turret: 796mm
Rear Turret: 609mm
Rear Hull: 590mm
Side Hull: 887.5mm
Mantlet: 2,543mm
Weakened Zone: 2,850mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,900mm
Side Turret: 650mm
Roof: 310mm


Between 2016-2032 [Imperial Calendar] 2,952 Nakíls are expected to enter service with Lost Hill's military, including 492 in the next two to three months. The entire order is expected to cost approximately $36,870,480,000, meaning circa $12,490,000 a piece.

Nakíl 1US
The 1US was designed for The Beltway and is more than anything a Nakíl 1A taken down to the bare essentials. The following changes were made:

Co-axial replaced with a 20mm cannons.
Two .221 MGs replaced with two 5.61mm MGs.
Diesel Turbine Exchanged with Diesel Piston Engine
No integrated HERA.
Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System Exchanged with Torsion Bar.
Secondary LADAR dropped.
New RHAe ratings:
Lower Hull: 850mm
Glacis: 1,180mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 200mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 856mm
Upper Front Turret: 600mm
Rear Turret: 480mm
Rear Hull: 417.5mm
Side Hull: 687.5mm
Mantlet: 2,175mm
Weakened Zone: 2,250mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,300mm
Side Turret: 450mm
Roof: 105mm


The Beltway was awarded the ability to automatically procure necessary replacement parts, as well as the ability to order more than four thousand units. A complete price is not yet available.

Nakíl 1M
The Nakíl 1M [for Mauvasia] was designed purposely with the following changes:

Mauvasian electronics.
Slightly larger profile.
Change of top machinegun [?]


Mauvasia was awared production rights for 29,750 tanks.

OOC: Ah! Brain overload!!!!!!! :p

I must say, Mac you have done great on this tank. A real master piece, I would buy it but I already have an awesome tank (Isselmere's IMW Lion). But nonetheless, one of NS's best tanks. :)

[Not for sale Export version: Nakíl 1A1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=478771)

Arca. IV Nakíl Ausva. B / Nakíl 1A2 ‘Battleaxe’

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil1A2newrevised3.png

The Original Nakíl
The Nakíl 1A1s purpose was to provide a powerful, state-of-the-art main battle tank to replace Imperial Broadswords (a civil war relic – although they were upgraded around the same time production of the Nakíl 1A1 began) and the faulty Cougar (later to be re-named a heavy tank). Between September 2016 and April 2017 exactly 11,000 Nakíl 1A1s were produced for the Ejermacht, although only 600 were produced in September and 800 in October, before the full production quota of 1,200 per month was fulfilled. The Nakíl 1A1 proved to be completely superior to everything the enemy could muster, whether it was Stevidian, Havenic or imported from abroad. When compare to other Imperial tanks, such as the Broadsword and the Cougar, the Nakíl far surpassed them in capabilities in all sectors of the spectrum! Between July and October 2016 the Empire would also import 2,400 UT-1s and over 10,000 tanks of various models that were being replaced in Juumanistra by more advanced designs. The Nakíl proved superior to these, as well, both in actual live combat and in field testing. In fact, the Battle of Ishme-Dagan, hailed as the largest mechanized battle in the history of man, the Nakíl made itself a household name within the domains of all of the Empire’s enemies and allies. The success of the tank lied on its dominant characteristics, including firepower, mobility and protection. Moreover, the Nakíl included much of the small details that the Cougar didn’t, making it much more effective – crew communications was enhanced not only inside the tank, but outside, allowing tanks to communicate with each other much more efficiently. A definite advantage over enemy tanks was the inclusion of a battlefield management system, which allowed Nakíl crews to defeat numerically superior enemies due to the fact that tactical and strategic cooperation was made infinitely easier.

The tank’s success on the open market is testament to its capabilities. On February 2017, in order to make revenue to pay for some of the war costs, the Empire green lighted the sale of the tank by Kriegzimmer. Between February 2017 and May 2025 1,830,360 Nakíl 1A1s were sold to twenty-eight separate customers, making it the most widely sold and produced tank in history – all within the span of a single model. This number does not include the amount of tank surrogates produced from independently manufactured Nakíl tank chassis. Many of these tanks were resold, and the tank continues to be proliferated after 2025. The required production numbers were easily handled by huge Kriegzimmer complexes, and by factories built thereafter to accommodate new orders. Furthermore, of great importance, many Nakíl 1A1s were produced at home by the client after a memorandum of understanding between the parties concerned. Although Kriegzimmer unfortunately closed and sold its factories by May 2017 production would continue unabated and despite the many companies that purchased and broke-up the economic empire which was once Kriegzimmer orders were still taken. The final order was placed by Hamilay in May 2017, for 100,000 tanks. The largest clients included Allanea, with 300,000 tanks procured – and 100,000 later given away to Whyatica, and an unknown number to Hataria -, Uldarious with 280,000, Angelonisia with 250,000, Otagia with 126,720, Hamilay with the aforementioned number and finally, Mer des Ennuis with a total of 98,304 procured. This said, the amount of procuring was unprecedented, and remains unprecedented, as well as the amount of production undertaken.

However, the tank’s universal success proved to undermine its importance within the Ejermacht. It’s wide proliferation also made specific information on the tank widely known, despite efforts by the various designers to keep important information under wraps by limiting production of certain spare parts to Imperial factories – it should be noted that many exported tanks had several things changed in order to ease their logistics, and to avoid relying on Kriegzimmer for spare parts (this was fundamental taking into consideration the fall of Kriegzimmer – spare parts were not delivered for two to three months, although fortunately enough not many tanks had been exported the month of the fall). Nevertheless, the tank’s weaknesses were widely advertised and it was obvious that there would have to be some serious modernization efforts and modifications in order to keep ahead of the Empire’s enemies – namely tank producers such as Stevid (also a client of Clan Smoke Jaguar). As early as October 2017, during the battle of Ishme-Dagan, Fuermak General Staff asked several growing defense companies in the Empire to congregate once again, under the leadership of Kriegzimmer, to design a tank based on the Nakíl, but completely superior to it. This was easier than some think. The Nakíl 1A1’s design had been done in haste, as a replacement was urgently needed for the Cougar. Although much of the 1A1’s characteristics were based on research done during the Cougar design period, many things had to be rushed. Because of this, many things were omitted. Furthermore, Ishme-Dagan and operations thereafter gave the Empire much insight on improvements on the Nakíl design.

Experience from the battlefield reported, for example, that the gun tube lasted much less than 800 fired rounds. In actuality, it was found that gun barrels would have to be replaced as quickly as every 400 rounds, although this would fluctuate, most of the time for the better. Although even 400 rounds before replacement is considerably superior to the barrel wear rate of many other tanks this simply was not acceptable for a nation which had to cut corners logistics wise. The light-weight suspension and road wheels, although effective for what they were originally designed for, were also ordered to be replaced by more durable suspension pieces – although their break down rate was good, it was found that it could be made better at the expense of weight. There were also technological breakthroughs which would allow the next version to be clearly superior to its early-born sister. The design team was ordered to decrease weight, but to increase protection and efficiency – a seemingly impossible task. Despite the daunting work ahead of it, the team finally unveiled its product in early January 2017 and passed with flying-colors – another reason export of the 1A1 was finally allowed in February 2017. Between late January and April 2017 it would undergo significant field testing, and production began in May 2017.

Nakíl 1A2 – Significant Historical Milestones
Although the tank will be explained in much greater detail below, this section details a history of the pre-production era of the Nakíl 1A2. As said above, the Nakíl 1A2 project began on 11 October, 2016, when Emperor Fedor I dispatched his approval of a new tank project to Fuermak headquarters in Gar’tonsk – some 70 kilometers outside of Fedala. It was only the next day when orders, signed by the chief of general staff, were sent to the Ejermacht which detailed a procedure to congregate the best engineers from the most relevant defense industries in the Empire. By 17 October this team had been put together and a memorandum of understanding signed between the companies which agreed to take part in the project. The changes which were to be made to the original chassis were clear, and by and by the chassis would remain the same. Changes to the chassis were completed by 4 December of that year and after revision were finalized on 3 January, 2017. The most complicated part would be the design of a brand new turret which would be finalized only by 11 January. A prototype was hastily constructed on 15 January and introduced to the Ejermacht for testing the next day (PT-1). A second test would require a second prototype by 19 January (PT-2). However, despite the Nakíl 1A2s success during these tests the Ejermacht refused to make a decision on definite procurement and ordered Kriegzimmer to produce four well made prototypes by 2 March (PT-3 through PT-6), to be tested between 5-11 March. Kriegzimmer complied and the tests were more successful than those done in January. On 24 March 2017 it was decided to procure a total of 340,000 tanks – 46,800 of these would form 150 new armored divisions, with 312 tanks a piece. These divisions would be deployed specifically to SafeHaven2 in an effort to bring overwhelming force to an army which was on the brink of defeat (especially after Ishme-Dagan). A further 150 divisions would be created to be deployed to other fronts. The rest of the tanks would sit in storage to provide replacements, and many tanks would have to replace tanks lost before the new batch was ready (this is war, after all).

Despite the fact that the Ejermacht would later attempt to revise the number of tanks procured it was eventually disallowed from lowering the number on account of the producers not wanting to risk a fall in total production post-war – given that such massive production would no longer be necessary. Therefore, many tanks produced would be superfluous and this would be made more obvious post-war when an army size reduction program would come in effect. Even prior to the war’s end there were plans to distribute existing tanks amongst occupied areas of enemy nations to arm local militias and occupation armies. In occupied territories in Zarbia and SafeHaven2, for example, local citizens would be recruited to form ‘auxiliary divisions’ and were deployed abroad. Despite the illegality of this program in Zarbia it was never blocked (Zarbia was never legally occupied, in the first place – there was never an official paper which signed over occupied territory; it remains disputed).

In any case, in May four new prototypes (PT-7 through PT-10) were constructed and sent to the Ejermacht for testing against existing Nakíl 1A1 tanks. The Nakíl 1A2 prototypes were superior in accuracy, mobility, firepower, protection, crew comfort, efficiency, et cetera. This sealed the grave for the Nakíl 1A1, at least within the Imperial army (the Nakíl 1A1 would continue to serve abroad for at least a decade or more).

Exports
Although the Nakíl 1A2 was designed specifically for use of the Ejermacht in mind some exports were in fact cleared. Despite Allanea’s purchase of 300,000 Nakíl 1A1s – an order which was fulfilled between February 2017 and August 2019 – Allanea immediately placed an order for 275,000 replacements for $2,631,029,500,000. These were produced between January 2019 and July 2020. Mer des Ennuis procured replacements for existing 1A1s, and then some more, and this order was completed between August 2018 and March 2021 – a total of 241,152 were ultimately produced in exchange for $2,600,906,793,984. Between January 2019 and January 2020 30,000 tanks were produced for Willink ($407,036,700,000), and 20,000 tanks for No Endorse ($271,357,800,000), with the option to procure more at a later date. At the same time, 240,000 tanks were delivered to The Silver Sky for $3,328,192,000,000. Every nation the tank was exported to was given the right to build locally and all were given limited production rights to the tanks and unlimited production rights to the parts. With the same deal, 50,000 tanks were produced for Space Union between January 2019 and July 2020 for the price of $539,172,800,000. Velkya purchased limited production rights, totaling $1.23 trillion, for 100,000 Nakíl 1A2s, which began delivery in March 2019 and finalized in January 2022. All in all, 956,142 Nakíl 1A2 main battle tanks would be produced in 7 separate nations as exports for a total of $10.1 trillion.

Does a new turret a new tank make? – Armada International, 3/2004
The wide proliferation of the Nakíl 1A1 forced national defense companies to not just increase armor protection of the vehicle, but make it more difficult for the weaker areas of the vehicle to be hit. The main consideration remained the fact that the Ejermacht was not interested in a heavier vehicle – the experiences of the Arca. I Cougar was still vibrant. Furthermore, the requirements stated a general weight reduction! A turret change had been a consideration for quite a while, however, originally the modifications were going to be completely appliqué (similar to the addition of wedge armor to German Leopard 2A6s, or the turret modifications made to the Israeli Merkava in the several variants released to date). However, this would only increase the weight of the vehicle due to sheer bulk. As a consequence it was decided that any turret upgrade would have to be made with a brand new turret design. Weight wasn’t the only advantage of taking this route, but because of the fact that the armor would not simply be more bolt-on steel and would be more integral (to a degree, since the tank’s armor is almost completely modular) this would increase the strength of the armor to resist impact.

The new turret is a ‘narrow mantlet’ turret and is an extension of the turret unveiled during the release of the Broadsword-Tizona, a general sale upgrade of the older Broadsword main battle tank. The idea is to decrease the visible surface area of the mantlet to make it harder for the enemy to accurately engage – the shape of the turret also suggests a stealthier design. That said, it’s obvious that the primary concern of the Nakíl 1A2 ‘Battleaxe’ is to guarantee a first strike on an enemy tank, although the Battleaxe keeps a good chance of surviving a hit along its frontal arc. During the design it was considered that given the new turret it was a chance that the upper glacis would become the most lucrative target for an enemy tank, and therefore the glacis was up-armored – although this is for a later section to define.

The turret mantlet and turret corners remain armored by indigenously designed and produced ‘special armor’. However, the tank does not retain the original CAM, but uses an upgraded version designated CAM II. CAM II replaces the rear steel encasement with titanium due to superior mass efficiency. The front plate, however, is not replaced because IRHA retains a slight superiority in thickness superiority as compared to the titanium current in use (only a very slight difference). However, weight savings are largely negated by the fact that the titanium di-boride has been replaced by titanium carbide which has been found to be largely superior to common ceramics currently in use in armor around the world, although it has almost twice the density as steel. The ceramics have been further strengthened by means of embedding them in an elastomeric matrix attached to composite fibers and a metal base. In testing this has proven to allow the ceramics to better resist shattering on impact, thus giving them a better chance to defend against multiple shots. The depleted uranium rods used to reinforce the armor and give additional protection versus kinetic energy threats was replaced with depleted uranium rods jacketed in thin layers of titanium – the end result being an increase in theoretical protection. Armor Solutions International began testing with IF nanospheres in early 2010, but they were only applied to armor after the release of the Nakíl 1A1. The Nakíl 1A2 represents the first usage of IF nanospheres in any tank’s ‘special armor’. During testing IF nanospheres “[withstood] severe shocks generated by firing shots at it with impact velocities of up to 1.5km per second.” This material has been rated at five times the strength of steel and at least twice as impact-resistant, and it has reinforced much of the steel in use with the Nakíl 1A2 for experimental purposes. It is very likely that future versions of the tank will see a greater use of the material.

The new Nakíl turret is a very special case. The actual mantlet, which doesn’t extend much beyond the width of the gun breech and the co-axial and internal mortar, boasts of an actual thickness of around 340mm. However, this new turret exposes a larger amount of the front of the top – however, this turret top is sloped to a point where the forward area of the turret has almost the same protection despite the fact that actual thickness is little beyond 45mm. The rest of the turret roof has relatively minor protection. The turret corners retain a similar thickness to that of the mantlet, although slight sloping allows the reduction of the actual thickness to less than 300mm. The turret rear retains a low amount of steel for protection, and uses the basket which wraps around the rear of the turret to provide stand-off protection versus chemical energy threats, but also places high priority on the use of a new composite material which is also used on the rear of the chassis. Despite costs of adding another special armor to the tank it was thought imperative to provide increased protection against chemical energy threats to the rear of the tank. This special armor consists of a trio of S-2 glass (rated superior to E-Glass, K-49 Aramid and AS4 Carbon) bonded to a Phenolic resin, along with the third addition of add-on aluminum plates. The exchange of several layers of steel to this special armor has contributed to the loss of weight, as well.

This new turret is also the host to the new improved Giod Mk. II active protection system. The Giod Mk. I provided with 360 degree protection versus chemical energy threats with a superior chance of interception than must existing active protection systems. The Mk. II takes his to the next level by introducing a new layer oriented defense system. The original turret mounted grenade launchers were replaced by two large packs of three grenades each on the side of the turret, offering 360 degree protection. These ‘packs’ can move rapidly to meet the threat and offer a higher rate of interception than the previous design. Furthermore, the turret’s profile offers a glimpse at the next level of defense – a small missile launcher designed to engage the threat at longer ranges than the grenade launchers. The third level, or element, remains the same as on the original tank – light explosive reactive armor along the turret’s roof. Explosive reactive armor is not used anywhere else along the turret. One of the best things about the Giod Mk. II is the relatively low cost of around $560,000 per system on the first production models and then a quick-paced decline as more are produced.

Changes in the chassis
Although the chassis remains relatively the same, 1A2 production model chassis have a few changes. The exhaust duct is removed from the rear and instead a new exhaust duct put into the side of the tank, to the rear. The rear is armored by the same special armor used by the turret’s rear sections, but also incorporates a stronger steel backplate/structure and places one of three fuel tanks in a spaced container between this backplate and the special armor. The fuel should provide a small increase in protection, decreasing the amount of necessary steel and thus making the tank much lighter (in conjunction with the use of said special armor). Another fuel tank is positioned near the front of the tank, while the third fuel tank rests on the side of the tank opposite that of the exhaust duct. These are all also spaced to add increased protection, although the front fuel tank offers almost no protection against kinetic energy threats (except the spacing itself).

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As said above, the glacis plate is protected by CAM II. The side of the hull is protected only by steel, and is generally useful for up to against 20-25mm ammunition. However, the forward areas of the sides are protected by the application of a new heavy explosive reactive armor named ‘Asteriox’. Asteriox remains one of the most advanced heavy explosive armors in use around the world and is a general improvement over the prior heavy ERA used on the Nakíl 1A1. Despite the fact that Asteriox is a much more bulky system, the use of titanium negates much of the weight increase expected due to volume increase. The idea of heavy ERA is expanded to the point where it no longer relies on just a number of flying plates. The first level of defense used by this new HERA is a series of segmented steel plates set up behind a thin initiator plate (to avoid reactions against small threats) – these segmented steel plates hit incoming kinetic energy penetrators in a successive action, many times ‘slicing and dicing’ the penetrator and rendering it less effective. However, like the older HERA used on the 1A1 it still relies on three forward flying steel plates and a bulkier titanium rear-moving backplate. However, this new ERA offers much more protection than earlier versions and makes it even superior against kinetic energy threats. Although this heavy explosive armor is not used on the turret, it is used on the glacis, covering roughly 96% of the surface area.

Foreseeing a sharp change in the Havenic defense after the Empire first began to encroach into the borders of Safe haven, added protection against mines has been included. The general shape of the chassis, to the front of the tank, has been changed from a more rectangular layout to a triangular layout. One of the most important additions has been the installment of several titanium bottom plates, slightly spaced, which not only protect against mine blasts of up to 10kgs, but avoid fracturing of the floor boards due to the shockwaves of the explosion. The bottom plates also work to deflect the blast, minimizing damage done to the vehicle. This also includes protection against the latest mines based on explosively formed projectile charges.

Armament
The original solid propellant gun, with liquid propellant assist, has been exchanged by a full liquid propellant electrothermal-chemical cannon. The advantages are many: there is no longer a need for the base plate, there is no need to logistically prepare for two different propellant types, and volume necessary for storage is decreased since there is no longer a need for the solid propellant. In turn, the liquid propellant only occupied around 70-80% of the volume required for the same amount of solid propellant. There, however, was very little change in actual muzzle energy and velocity. The technology remains relatively simple and turns out to be less complex than it was before. The liquid propellant is no longer laser ignited after being pumped into the combustion chamber of the breech. Instead, it’s ignited by the plasma itself and thereupon regulated. The required electricity is in turn provided by a new generation lithium-ion under-armor auxiliary power unit which is also shared by the tank’s gas turbine.

The true killing power of the 1A2 relies solely on the new XG.457 armor piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot. The new round is truly the next-generation penetrator and can penetrate the armor of most tanks in the world. The XG.457 is a tube-rod penetrator, having a diameter of 47.9mm and an initial length of 980mm. In flight, the drag on the fins and on the bulkier tube will cause the tube to move back while the rod extends outwards, allowing the round to extend to an average of 1580mm, during flight. This is assuming a limited extension, leaving an average of 200mm non-extended. During actual application standard deviation is averaged at 6%. The rod does not have an arrowhead conical section, but instead uses a superior cruciform cross-section. All the while, both the rod and the tube consist of a depleted uranium core, which also has a minute amount of osmium bonded to increase penetrator density. This core is jacketed by a dense amorphous metal matrix composite. Finally, muzzle velocity is kept standard through flight by the use of a small ramjet. The object is not to increase range, but to keep the penetrator at an optimal velocity for penetration across flight – the ramjet begins to fail at 8kms, where a sharp decrease in velocity is experienced. Although this highly complex round is also very expensive the penetration is well worth the cost and hardships of manufacture. On average, the XG.457 has been found to penetrate 2,300mm of steel equivalent.

The turret keeps the two 'Fastdraw' autoloaders in the rear turret bustle area. Another fifteen rounds are stowed in fix containers in the rear area of the hull, where space was made available through the reduction of volume of the new engine. This ammunition can be accessed by the crew when replenishment of the magazines is necessary - however, the turret must be in a certain position so that the crew can access this stowage area through the turret basket.

The tank’s gunner also controls a S12LP/S13 .221 co-axial machine gun, heavily based on the Mekugian S12, although manufactured in the Empire. The major difference is the use of a liquid propellant, as opposed to a solid propellant, given that Imperial .221 Orchomenos ammunition is a liquid propellant design. This means that a large part of the internal work of the rifle is tampered with. However, the operation system is identical to that of the Mekugian S12, as is the majority of the rest of machine gun. The tank commander retains his remotely controlled heavy machine gun, although the original design is replaced with the Mekugian S30 which remains identical (Mekugian ammunition in use). The tank’s turret also hosts a 60mm internal mortar.

Electronics and the crew

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A new model of crew suspended seats has been included in order to provide further protection against mine damage against the crew. The commander was provided with an independent commander’s thermal viewer, identical to that of the gunner’s. Target acquisition has been improved by 65%, and target hand-off by 40%. Communications between tank commanders has been further improved by the inclusion of a peer to peer secured instant message network. The keyboard is bolted down and there are a series of before-hand coded messages to allow for quicker communications. Finally, all of the optical and digital sights used by the tank have been made safe-eye to protect against enemy blinders.

Mobility
The original 1690hp gas turbine has been replaced by a brand new 1700hp (actual output is much higher) gas turbine named the GRS-100. This new turbine featured a volume reduction of 15%, for a similar horsepower output, a reduced parts count of 43% and improved reliability by at least 400%. With the same fuel capacity as on the 1A1 this new engine can allow a further 140 kilometers of travel distance. Heat output has also been reduced by a superior cooling system. The best of all is that this engine is not more expensive than the prior engine and includes all of the advantages and computerization of the prior gas turbine! The gas turbine remains much more quiet, while the gas expenditure disadvantage is almost no longer existent. This new engine is coupled with a brand new transmission which sends around 83% of the engine’s horsepower output to the sprocket, or 1,411hp – this is unprecedented. The tank’s suspension remains largely the same, although instead have been replaced with all-titanium parts. This has not only reduced weight, but it has allowed for much greater performance and much less maintenance work. Not only this, but the all titanium parts in conjunction with the allowance of a much larger vertical rebound for the roadwheels allows the Nakíl 1A2 to have a much greater off-road velocity than other competitors.

Brand new tracks have also been introduced with this brand new tank model. The object is to keep the same service time, but reduce weight. For that reason, the sprocket’s teeth no longer interact with the end-connectors of the tracks, but instead with the track pad itself – removing pressure on the connecting bolt. Because of this, the volume of the end-connector can be decreased as the only job it has is to connect the tracks. This also means only lighter tools are necessary for the crew to maintain tracks on the field, while only the track pad itself and the rubber bad are now worn down by the tank’s movement – maintenance is cheaper. It has been found that this new track reduces the weight of the tracks by half a tonne!

Conclusions
The Nakíl 1A2 will probably remain in service well after the end of the War of Golden Succession, although nothing can be said for sure. According to released government reports there is already a successor vehicle being designed, and it’s rumored that the 1A2 will be the last ‘conventional’ tank of the series. This successor vehicle is being called the ‘Nakíl 2’. However, pragmatist have argued that the 1A2 will continue to be in use for at least a decade to come, and new technologies will be applied to the 1A2, as opposed to released with the Nakíl 2. Furthermore, there is information released on two upcoming upgrades for the 1A1. One will be the 1A1U, which is an upgrade destined only for specific nations. This upgrade will bring the 1A1 close to 1A2 standards. The majority of future upgrades for the 1A1 will be of the 1A1GU form, and this will be sold to anyone willing to pay. This will not only be offered as an upgrade, but new 1A1GUs will be produced for export. The Nakíl is likely to remain the most exported tank in history for quite a while, and this is a tribute to the excellence of the series.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Imperial Land-Systems
Crew: 3
Weight: 61,830.28kg
Power to Weight Ratio: 27.5 hp/t
Length: 7.97m
Length of Gun: 6.96m
Width: 3.8m
Height: 2.6m
Ground Clearance: .4m
Engine: 1700 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 74km/h
Range: 640km
Range With External Tanks: 1,130km
Trench: 5.6m
Step: 5.6m
Vertical Obstacle: 1.4m
Ford Unprepared: 1.8m
Ford Prepared: 6m
Climbing Gradient: 40x
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
120mm Light Weight High Breech Pressure Liquid Propellant ETC
1x .221mm Co-Axial
1x S30 HMG
1x 60mm mortar
Ammunition:
48 Rounds in turret/ 48 rounds in chassis
1,200 Rounds
700 Rounds
30 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -10/+30 degrees
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 1,100mm
Glacis: 2,730mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 925mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 1,070mm
Upper Front Turret: 890mm
Rear Turret: 440mm
Rear Hull: 598.5mm
Side Hull: 1,198.5mm
Mantlet: 2,975mm
Weakened Zone: 3,150mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,975mm
Side Turret: 880mm
Roof: 235mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. CE]:
Lower Hull: 1,800mm
Glacis: 3,380mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 1,350mm
Front Side Turret/Side Turret: 1,590mm
Upper Front Turret: 2,345mm
Rear Turret: 1,798mm
Rear Hull: 1,787mm
Side Hull: 1,700mm
Mantlet: 3,940mm
Weakened Zone: 3,975mm
Front Turret Corners: 3,750mm
Side Turret: 1,030mm
Roof: 415mm
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System of all Ti parts
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
3rd Generation LADAR @ ~10km classification range
3rd Generation CITV
Mast Millimeter Wave [MMW] RADAR @ 11km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.

OOC: That is definately the most work I've seen done on a single combat system. I can certainly appreciate the amount of work (and at some times, love) goes into projects. Kudos to you, Mac, job well done.

OOC: That is definately the most work I've seen done on a single combat system. I can certainly appreciate the amount of work (and at some times, love) goes into projects. Kudos to you, Mac, job well done.

I agree. Stunning job Mac.

OOC: Mac, you've outdone yourself. Very nice work.

[OOC: Holy shit...]

Considering I can buy M1A2 Abrams tanks for 2 mil a piece, or 1 mil a piece by the half dozen, why should i pay 13mil for a tank that offers the same real benifits of the Abrams, which is already a dominator tank?

What garentee can you promise after the tank takes its first hit from an enemy large bore gun? Or caught in a large artillery barage. How will all these electronics stand up? Most vehicles lose all electronic functionality from the sheer shock from the impact from a large gun. How does this machine hold up to the SABOT or HEAT or IMPACT rounds? Can the electrical equipment hold its own?

Considering I can buy M1A2 Abrams tanks for 2 mil a piece, or 1 mil a piece by the half dozen, why should i pay 13mil for a tank that offers the same real benifits of the Abrams, which is already a dominator tank?

The Abrams should cost ~6 million a piece, not 2 million or less. The upgrade on the Challenger II cost 2.5 million a piece, so prices below that are false data. This would be roughly twice the cost of that. However, this offers at the weakened zones and manlet over three times the amount of rolled homogenous armor equivalent protection [~950mm as compared to close to ~3000mm]. The gun offers over twice the amount of kinetic energy for the penetrator, superior to even the electrothermal-chemical cannon [although admittedly, perhaps a bit more complex, as well]; the Abrams offers 9MJ for the penetrator, approx. [a little less], and this gun offers 28MJ... so, sorry I was wrong... over three times the penetration capability. This offers much better electronics and sensor equipment, an active protection suite, which the Abrams doesn't. In fact, the APS is superior to both the only hard-kill systems currently employed in the real world (Arena and TROPHY, which are Russian and Israeli respectively). This should be better than the U.S. APS beind designs as well... although I wouldn't really be able to tell since the United States has released much information on their future APS.

The Nakíl is based off the conceptions for the future main battle tank, which is designed to be less than twenty tons, but with a heavier vehicle due to the heavy amounts of armor - so that it can stand a chance against NS main battle tanks. It's also based off several ideas that were designed for the M1A1 upgrade which were never instituted, and off at least ninety different sources that I could put up in a bibliography if necessary.

In other words, the Abrams is not a dominator tank. On NationStates it's heavily outclassed.


What garentee can you promise after the tank takes its first hit from an enemy large bore gun? Or caught in a large artillery barage. How will all these electronics stand up? Most vehicles lose all electronic functionality from the sheer shock from the impact from a large gun. How does this machine hold up to the SABOT or HEAT or IMPACT rounds? Can the electrical equipment hold its own?


To tell you the truth, a NS MBT will penetrate this on the rear, and possibly the sides. The roof armor offers some sort of advantage against newer top attack rounds, like the ones employed by this tank. An artillery barrage would hurt...but no more than against any other tank... and I guess that's why they are developing shortstop, which I deploy with command variants or supporting jeeps...as opposed to on each tank, with is rather superfluous. The electronic are insulated, even against EMP - they should do pretty damn well. A HEAT round would have trouble penetrating this, and given that, not to be cocky though, I employ probably the best HEAT round... or one of the best, not knowing if anybody else has designed one... it would be hard to penetrate anything other than rear armor. APFSDS [sabot] would most likely penetrate the rear, and perhaps the side - it'd have trouble penetrating the front, which is where most impacts are [which is why most armor was moved to the front during tank developement in the 60s].

And, never heard of an IMPACT round.

Considering I can buy M1A2 Abrams tanks for 2 mil a piece, or 1 mil a piece by the half dozen, why should i pay 13mil for a tank that offers the same real benifits of the Abrams, which is already a dominator tank.

What Mac said. ^

The IMPACT round is a low-key round not talked about much by the military press. Unless you know Army or Marine Corps (or Royal Army or Royal Marines for you brits out there) tankers, you wont hear about it. Its multi-use round that can take out medium armor, and can also serve as a primary anti-infantry round. I'm concerned that a buckshot from one of these shells could cause damage to external communications or laser range finder equipment, etc.
Whatcha think?

btw, when i said $2 mil for an abrams, thats production cost, not what the actual company sells them for;)

This tank can outgun, outfight, outmanuever, and outrange the Abrams and most of it's NS contemporaries completely, that's why it's 13 million instead of 2/6 million.

That's strange, I've talked to a wide cadre of tankers, including Spanish, American and English [although, admittedly, not that wide], and never heard of the round. It certainly sounds interesting. Well, should the round burst right near the external rangefinder equipment it would damage it. This would be more so true for tanks that style their rangefinders after Soviet type designs which had massive rangefinders. The same piece of equipment for the Nakíl is much smaller, despite the addition of a LADAR piece in the same rod. Nevertheless, should one of the balls touch it, it would damage it no doubt. The question is whether or not a tank would fire that round. Should it fire it it has a good chance of drawing a round from the tank it fired at, and unlike it's own round, it will most likely be facing an APFSDS - something considerably more deadly. In other words, I don't think a tank would face that round since there are better choices available to the tanker.

He made it up, most likely, I've just done a quick google search and have been unable to locate any online sources for such a round.

He made it up, most likely, I've just done a quick google search and have been unable to locate any online sources for such a round.

It might be something related to the HE/FRAG round that Rheinmetall is designing [hey, hey, look where I got my inspiration] or the new rounds being designed by the United States [APAM for the most part] - although APAM uses submunitions, as opposed to small fragmentary balls.

so many words, i wil print it out and read it later on the toilet :P

It might be something related to the HE/FRAG round that Rheinmetall is designing [hey, hey, look where I got my inspiration] or the new rounds being designed by the United States [APAM for the most part] - although APAM uses submunitions, as opposed to small fragmentary balls.

I see. But name-wise, IMPACT hits only impact housing projects and the impact of the HIV virus on google.

Mac, have you got a couple of shot traps on the turret ring, it certainly looks like it from here

From what he is saying this IMPACT round does sound a bit like a 120mm version of AHEAD, ie a smart fuzed submuntion/shotgun round, Oerlikon claim that the 35mm version will pentrate a BMP3 in post impact release and that 2 rounds of 35mm using standard muntion release will score a reliable mission kill on a T-80 (by putting holes in just about any bit of exposded glass, external electronics and thin bits of armour.
I would imagine a 120mm version would be very nasty, using AT mode to likely kill T-80s and frag mode to basically take out entire squads in one go.

Mac, have you got a couple of shot traps on the turret ring, it certainly looks like it from here

Not big enough; it would either hit the upper glacis, weakened zone or turret corners. It would have to be a very good shot. Although then again... just consider it because of my lack of drawing ability.

Finished part of the bibliography... I will have to finish it later.

[Pic: The newer picture is up. You might have to refresh.]

Yay! The first variant done!

The RIT.76 has been completed!

Military News International
During a press release in Fedala, which reopened after the successful end of the Battle of the River Nestor, the Fuermak's high officials have released some interesting information on soon to come projects for the Nakíl, including more variants and upgrades. The next variant has been released as the NACMIL.80, a short range multiple rocket launcher designed to replace the Panzerwerfer in the Ejermacht. Gathering from multiple sources it seems as if it will simply be a rocket mortar system designed to close range saturation of infantry emplacements, meaning the vehicle will most likely be designed to support infantry, not their fellow armor. This is simultanuously released with a second replacement to the Panzerwerfer, yet unamed, designed to be a very long range multiple rocket launcher system [MRLS] with ranges surpassing 100 kilometers. It's all part of the general revamping program that begun with the beginning of the War of Golden Succession and continues as the war continues to teach the Fuermak important lessons. The Nakíl is destined to enter production in February 2017 as an early replacement for the lumbering Arca. I Cougar which will be redistributed into heavy batallions within the newer Arca divisions. The Cougar is expected to see remodelling as the Ausfva. C, replacing most of its armour and redesigning the suspension to match that of the Nakíl. It will also see its weight added up to over a hundred tons, making a true heavy battle tank.

Despite the fact that the Nakíl will just go into production in a short while [OOC: I assume this article was released ~December 2016... currently in the war its August 2016] the military has already begun to replace certain components of the tank, although it will not see a new variant. This includes an all new armor piercing fin stabalized discarding sabot [APFSDS] which will be "all new" and "mesmerizing". In fact, Kriegzimmer since the release of the Nakíl has suddenly been elevated to one of the most respected and best armor designers in the world and it is certainly looking foward to keep its position as such by constantly updating the Nakíl. Indeed, that was what it was designed for - to be updated without spending too much money on new tanks. This should allow, argues Kriegzimmer, that the Nakíl always stay on top of the game.

The tank is already planning export to two nations. Lost Hills has received a contract for 2,952 Nakíl 1LHs within the next sixteen years, while the United States of the Beltway has purchased production rights for the downgraded Nakíl 1US. They will not receive future upgrades unless purchased and ordered independently. The new round is expected to finish design by March and will probably see production by April 2017. The military has not issued any other releases for future upgrades. Nevertheless, we can say safely that the world is waiting.

Being as the Confederate Army is in the throes of replacing the M455 ETC Cannon on its T108A2 Main Battle Tanks with a Liquid Propellant Gun with Cyclohexanol/Nitrous Oxide Bipropellants in leiu of the combat deployment of the new A3 variant of the design; And that Confederate Armored Elements are currently disembarking in Macebea in preperation for ground operation inwhich losses are inevitable, whether it would be possible for losses to be replaced for the duration of the campaign with Arca IV Nakils rearmed with the aforementioned Mark I Liquid Propelled Cannons?

[OOC: Since the Nakíl will not be entering production until February 2017, any combat losses during Ishme-Dagan can't be replaced. My own combat losses will have to be replaced with Arca. I Cougars, not Nakíls.]

OOC - Technically, you should just call us "The Beltway." The whole US thing is more of The Beltway considering itself to be a successor to America; the rest of the world tends to call us The Beltway.
Production rights will be for 17,562 tanks over several years. Price on that?

[OOC: Well, originally I thought you meant production rights as in to produce in your nation unlimited amounts, as in replacements or even when you decided to increase numbers if you did. If not, then the price for the production rights of 17,562 tanks of the Nakíl 1US would be approx. 163.2 billion USD - multiplying that number by 9.3 million per tank. You'd save ~400,000 per tank on shipping. For unlimited production rights it would probably be nearer to 465 billion.]

OOC - How about the cost to reserve production rights for 40,000 Nakíl 1US tanks (a bit over twice as many tanks as I need, so that I can have enough for replacements/expansion)? If it's the same cost-per-unit, then we're looking at $372 billion US...

[OOC: $372 billion looks like as good as a price as any.]

It might be something related to the HE/FRAG round that Rheinmetall is designing [hey, hey, look where I got my inspiration] or the new rounds being designed by the United States [APAM for the most part] - although APAM uses submunitions, as opposed to small fragmentary balls.

Is it possible he's confusing it with the MPAT (Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank) round?

[OOC: So Mac, do the posts above kind of say that the Nakil is in production for small amounts now? Or is it still coming out after the battle of Ishme-Dagan?

Either way you can count on my nation getting the maximum amount of production rights availible for each part production rights are availible for. I also plan to employ them heavily in my elite Mechanized Infantry division. In a roundabout way, I am asking when I can start placing orders.]

[OOC: So Mac, do the posts above kind of say that the Nakil is in production for small amounts now? Or is it still coming out after the battle of Ishme-Dagan?

Either way you can count on my nation getting the maximum amount of production rights availible for each part production rights are availible for. I also plan to employ them heavily in my elite Mechanized Infantry division. In a roundabout way, I am asking when I can start placing orders.]


[OOC: Those production rights are for lesser variants of the tank that you can see in the variant section, not for the Nakíl 1A. The Nakíl, RP wise, will not be released until February 2017, more than four times after Ishme-Dagan. After that it's going to experience some updates..maybe around April or May 2017, including an all new APFSDS. You can start placing orders now if you want, but just don't use them RP wise until February.]


Is it possible he's confusing it with the MPAT (Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank) round?


Apparently, the IMPACT round does exist [see Strathdonia's post].

[OOC: Oh, ok. I think I will wait for the full tank rather than settle with a lesser variant. Also, when you do create the upgrades, will it have to be incorporated in a new tank, or can existing tanks be fitted with them?

One last thing as well. For the production rights that won't be availible (you know what they are) can we buy your selected armor and weapons schemes, or do we have to use our own preferences?]

[OOC: Guest list members have production rights to spare parts, meaning you don't have to pay me to supply you with spare parts. I don't even know what the Ausva. B is going to have, and it's going to be a while. The next major change is going to be the new 'state-of-the-art' APFSDS, and within itself won't warrant a new variant and the round will only be used by Juumanistra and I [since Juum is helping fund the project]. I'm thinking about changing to a diesel engine, and I would subcontract to DPUO for that. Other than that, it all depends on the research I do... oh yes, I have to change the ejection system for the base plate of the round too... ugh.]

OOC: What does Nakil mean in English when translated from Dienstad? And BTW, you need to answer a coil-gun question posed by Kahanistan on his Changes thread....

OOC: What does Nakil mean in English when translated from Dienstad? And BTW, you need to answer a coil-gun question posed by Kahanistan on his Changes thread....

[OOC: It's part of the introduction I still need to finish (waiting for A Passion Play to progress). It's the name of a general that fought as one of the armored leaders during the Great Civil War in the 40s and 50s.]

[OOC: Got it. Thanks for dealing with me Mac, I know my questions can sometimes be bothersome.

Last round, maybe. You are saying that a nation can custom tailor the tank to its needs. If I wanted my own personal variant now, are all the systems, armor schemes, and weapons availible for purchase? I was thinking of a few minor changes for personal need, but alot of the tank would stay the same.]

[OOC: Got it. Thanks for dealing with me Mac, I know my questions can sometimes be bothersome.

Last round, maybe. You are saying that a nation can custom tailor the tank to its needs. If I wanted my own personal variant now, are all the systems, armor schemes, and weapons availible for purchase? I was thinking of a few minor changes for personal need, but alot of the tank would stay the same.]

[OOC: Well, you still wouldn't get it now RPwise. All variants are technically designed post-release of the original Nakíl variant. But yes, you can make your own personal variant if you'd like.]

[OOC: Well, you still wouldn't get it now RPwise. All variants are technically designed post-release of the original Nakíl variant. But yes, you can make your own personal variant if you'd like.]

[OOC: Ohhhh. I thought because they were custom designed, they were coming out earlier. If that is not the case, screw it I will field the decked out models for full price. Although, I may beef up any firepower that I can. Maybe the cannon and side armaments. You can write, if you like, that HailandKill will be fielding decent amount of numbers of this tank.]

[OOC: Yay!]

OOC: What about a mine clearence version with reinforced Belly armour and a cool flail, maybe with a smaller gun.

OOC: What about a mine clearence version with reinforced Belly armour and a cool flail, maybe with a smaller gun.

[OOC: I don't build all new variants for that. I just attach a 'scorpion' to the front of the tank, or a huge shovel. Cheaper.]

[OOC: How much would it cost to acquire, say, 25,000 of these tanks, alongside unlimited production rights to the spare parts and such (read: easier to maintain and supply)?]

[OOC: 325 Billion for the tanks, and I generally would only give production rights to spareparts to those on the guest list, but what the hell, I'll sell those too, although for an unnaturally high price... I'd say a total of ~600 billion since over the years that will be quite a bit of money (for the spare parts sale), and guaranteed replacement immediately for tanks lost - although, you'd still have to pay the tanks lost, you just wouldn't have to come back here and ask.]

[OOC: I'll take it then.]

IC: We would like to acquire 25,000 of the Nakil tanks, along with the unlimited production rights to spare parts and accessories. We are willing to pay the sum of six hundred billion USD's, in two installments of three hundred billion a piece, for this.

Communiqué to the Bumsian Procurement Organisation
The order has been confirmed, and we will deliver all information necessary for the limited production of spare parts. Production of the order will begin will begin immediately with seven hundred and fifty [750] tanks managed each month. In other words, the entire order should be completed within thirty-three or thirty-four [33-34] months; just under three years. All production variants will be the Nakíl 1A, not any other type of variant including the possibilities of a future Nakíl 1B. The payment method has been confirmed as well, and we'd expect the two installments to be a year apart from one another. More accurately, that's what we assume. Please inform us if it's not this way and we are sure that we will agree with it just the same. Nevertheless, thank you for your business. It is truly appreciated by Kriegzimmer and all subcompanies.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/Mauvasia/coat_of_arms.jpg
Official Communiqué, Department of Defence
Procurement Division
To: Kriegzimmer Board
Encryption: Green

Greetings! On looking over the extensive drafts for the Arca. IV Nakíl, we were quite impressed with both the quality of the planned design and Kriegzimmer's willingness to tailor the designs to each customer's needs. Truly, in terms of customer service among defence industries, Kriegzimmer has no equal.

Bearing that in mind, we wish to make the Nakíl the mainstay of Mauvasia's main battle tank force, and thus we would like to purchase a total of 28,750 such tanks. We would also like to enquire what the cost per tank would be of replacing the electronical systems with more standardised Mauvasian systems, to ease the logistical strain upon the sadly underfunded and overstaffed Mauvasian logistical crews.

[signed]Louis D'Hiver
Chairman, Department of Defence

[OOC: Great work as ever, Mac.]

[OOC: Thanks!]

Communiqué to Louis D'Hiver, Department of Defense
Thank you for your kind words and for your interest in the Nakíl. Before we go on to confirm the order we would like to take the time to discuss with you possible upgrades, especially those that you mentioned. With that said [OOC: You'll note the heavy influence from the German-Spanish Leopard 2E deal, especially since I plan to command my very own soon :) ] we can offer the limited production rights to the vehicle, which would mean that you would be able to produce in your country's factories a pre-ordained number of vehicles. In this case, 28,750. The vehicle would be cheaper per unit and you would be able to make the necessary changes in optronics and anything else you'd want to change. This would also warrant your own variant denomination [Nakíl 1M?]. In any case, again, thank you for the interest. We would be more than happy to continue talks about a possible variant and home production of the Nakíl.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Official Responce, Department of Defence
Procurement Division
To: Kriegzimmer Board
Encryption: Green

The option of limited production rights sounds as though it would be the most acceptable for all parties involved; for the Procurement Division due to the ease of nearby production, for the arms manufacturing industry a significant economic boost, and for Kriegzimmer less strain placed upon its various plants, which doubtless are producing dozens of orders per year. We would therefore like to enquire as to the cost of purchasing production rights for a maximum of 28,750 Nakíl 1Ms.

As to the possible additional changes, we would like to know what effect increasing the overall height of the Nakíl would have upon its performance. While it would increase crew comfort and allow for greater electronics control, we do not know whether this will affect the armour ratings or overall ability of the vehicle.

We are also considering replacing the co-axial with a D/P gun but, once again, do not know how this will affect the overall performance. If either of these changes is plausible, please inform us so we can consider the possibilities.

[signed]Louis D'Hiver
Chairman, Department of Defence

OOC: Mac, TG response wanted.

[OOC: Didn't get a TG. :confused: ]

Communiqué to Louis D'Hiver, Department of Defense
Increasing the height of the tank will increase the weight of the tank by a fraction of a ton, nothing too drastic. However, it will increase the chance of an enemy tank seeing you before you see them, due to the higher profile. It really depends how much you increase the height of the turret. Apart from that, what do you mean by d/p?

In any case, the limited production rights should amount to 316.25 billion United States Dollars, or about eleven million a tank. The entire signed confirmation will be sent through satellite databursts to your department of defense. We would like to personally thank you for your interest and we would like to make known that we are open to answer any questions you may have now and in the future. In fact, we would like to iron out your two previous questions before sending this into full effect.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Official Responce, Department of Defence
Procurement Division
To: Kriegzimmer Board
Encryption: Green

We are not planning to increase the height too much, just enough to increase the comfort of the tank crew while maintaining as low a profile as possible, and allow more space for replacing faulty wires or other electronical failures. As to the D/P guns, those refer to dual-purpose rapid-firing guns (usually 20mm or 25mm) utilised both as an anti-aircraft and anti-ground artillery in the Mauvasian Imperial Republican Army and Navy.

If we have any further questions, we will be sure to contact you again. Thank you for your service, and upon full confirmation the appropriate funds will be automatically wired.

[signed]Louis D'Hiver
Chairman, Department of Defence

Communiqué to Louis D'Hiver, Department of Defense
Increasing the height would be fine then. However, we would suggest replacing the top gun, which is now either electronically controlled or remotely controlled, with a larger machinegun which could act as a dual purpose weapon - that is, 12.7mm. This should be able to knock out low flying helicopters and is a perfect anti-personnel weapon. The problem with changing the co-axial is that the gun will have a hard time elevating itself, since it is parallel to the maingun and facinng wherever the turret is facing. The top gun can move unrestricted. The problem with mounting something heavier is just that, it's heavy - but 14mm or 15mm wouldn't be too much. We hoped we have helped you at least a bit.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

News: SRE.24 variant completed.

With the Space Union Army in need of a lighter tank for more mobile operations than the UDEC Lion, and with the increase of support coming for the Nakil with the organization, Space Union has decided it will be buying an order for these fabulous machines. At the present, we wish to equip our entire Light Armored Theater with these, so we wish to aquire 7,128 of the standard variant, but without the engine or gun. We will be replacing the engine with the same one on the UDEC along with shaping the gun to fit Woodstock Pact standard ammo. After consulting your experts, the unit cost for the tank will be $11.9 million. The total package, therefore, will come out to $848.232 billion.

Thank You for such great machines and we hope to conduct business in the future.

Signed,
Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur

The Spizanian Government would like to purchase the rights to maintain a force of 8000 SRE.24 Variants with the following modifications:-

12.7mm Machine Gun Mount on Drivers Hatch
203mm Confederate Arms Compatible Tubes fitted in place of 200mm Weapons
Augmentative Battlefield Cooperative Targeting Package (ABCTP) fitted

To: Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur, Space Union
We're glad that the administration has taken a liking with the Nakíl, and we feel that the UDEC Lion and the Nakíl 1A should make a fearsome team. The order has been confirmed for 7,128 tanks at $848.232 billion, without the engine or gun, although the breech of the guns will be sold and set in different packages so that they can be welded with the tube at a later date by your own engineers and mechanics. The tanks will be delivered at a rate of one hundred and fifty a month, meaning the entire order should be completed within forty-eight months, or four years exactly. Thank you for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~

To: Spizania
Welcome back. The order, of course, has been confirmed at $24.8 billion and all the needed changes can be made, including the slight enlargement of the rocket mechanism, the addition of space for installation of your own systems and a 12.7mm machinegun. The 'ABTCP' can be installed by your own technicians post-sale. The cost of each individual vehicle has been augmented by another two hundred million for the cost of changing the rocket mechanism and the addition of a machinegun. Thank you for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Tag

[OOC: Didn't get a TG. :confused: ]
OOC: Gah, I've resent it.

Official Responce, Department of Defence
Procurement Division
To: Kriegzimmer Board
Encryption: Green

You have indeed been of great assistance to us; on behalf of the Department of Defence I personally wish to thank you for going to such lengths. After consulting with our arms manufacturing factories, we have determined that the best choice will be to mount a 14.3mm D/P gun in place of the top machine-gun. We have calculated the increase in mass to some 64,824.25 kgs counting other modifications.

With that said, the appropriate funds of three hundred and sixteen billion, two hundred and fifty million Universal Standard Dollars will be wired automatically upon confirmation through a secure satellite burst into Kriegzimmer accounts.

[signed]Louis D'Hiver
Chairman, Department of Defence

[OOC: Sorry to nitpick Mauvasia, but it's Universal Standard Dollars, not NationStates Standard Dollars. :p]

[OOC: Sorry to nitpick Mauvasia, but it's Universal Standard Dollars, not NationStates Standard Dollars. :p]
[OOC: Edited. Although I've seen both, but I'll trust you know more than I do on these matters.]

[OOC: Actually, either one of them can do. It's a matter of preference, from what I've seen and IMHO. One Universal Standard Dollar/NationStates Standard Dollar is roughly equal to one RL United States Dollar.]

"We would like to purchase 400 of these vehicles for $5,200,000,000. Should this order be confirmed, we will wire the funds at once."

To: Kriegzimmer Board
From: Galashiels Military HQ - Defense Aquisition Department

The nation of Galashiels is very much itnerested in procuring some Nakil Main Battle Tanks, and have studied it's abilities and specifications carefully. However, our experts have noticed some things we would need to adress before ordering the hardware.

Issue 1 - Ammunition

You clearly state that the selling of the hardware does not include production rights for, among other things, the tank gun ammunition. It has been noticed that the ammunition fired and the technique used in the firing of the ammunition is critical to the tank guns performace. We ask if, upon buying the tank, we could produce our own indigenous liquid proppelent charge? This would be based upon the liquid proppelent method of firing, but would not take influence from any of your rounds.

We suppose that to be more exact, we are wishing to create our own liquid proppelent charge based loosely on yours. It is not the actual penetrator, warhead, fins, rockets or any of the assembly of the round we are interested in - only the charge.

Issue 2 - Spare Parts

The running of any hardware for several years involves the heavy use of parts, which of course need replacing. We are interested in your views on spare parts - what do you recommend we do to procure spare parts from you over the long term, in the most efficient possible way?

Issue 3 - Side Arnaments

You publicise the use of your liquid proppelent charged 5.51mm machine guns. We wish to replace all of your Machine Guns with 7.62mm arnaments of our own, that fire standard powdered proppelent rounds. Could our order be made capable of this?

Also, we require the tank to have the ability to carry bulldozer blades on the front, for urban and mine removal tasks. Would this also be possible?

Issue 4 - Running Costs

You mention in your procurement rules at the start of your article that "If you purchase the Nakíl as it is you are also pledging to pay (automatic transfer) ~750 per ~150 tanks every mile".

We are wondering what is meant by this. You then go on to state "Nevertheless, a national variant may bring better results for your army’s needs and may prove cheaper."

We also enquire what this means.

End Issues

It is only before all these queries are answered will we place an order.

OOC:

(You should make a mine removal version using the same tank chassis. I'd be willing to purchase many more of these. Also, is there any way to purchase the production and modification rights to the aluminium (bridge carrier version) chassis, but not the tank? That way I can make my own versions that dont have any of your precious technologies, but is still the same chassis i.e. for SPAAG, SPAAG/SAM and SPG use, among other things)

[OOC: No production rights for the variants either right?]

Procurement Agency, The Phalange
Thank you for expressing interest within the Nakíl 1A. Your order has been confirmed and the four hundred vehicles will be delivered over a time span of eight months, or fifty Nakíls per month. This should provide a rather quick transfer of units to you, while allowing us to fulfill other orders at the same time by reducing overall production priorities. Of course, production should increase by the end of the eight months as most factories should have been turned over to the Nakíl, but such a supply pattern, we believe, should fit your nation's time schedule nicely. Should you have any questions feel free to ask us. We will answer to the best of our abilities.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~

Galashiels Military HQ - Defense Aquisition Department
As we did with the last client, we wish to thank you for displaying curiousity with the Nakíl. We're glad that experts within your country have taken the time to look through the tank and we will discuss the certain aspects for as much as you please. Now, onto your questions.

As for the penetrator. The XG.784, the current APFSDS for the Nakíl, can be sold with production rights for the round. The round should still prove to be superior to all other rounds in current production around the world, however, we've found a way to up the ante and in a couple of months will release the XG.457. It's to say, the XG.784 will not be as good as the XG.457, but the round will be superior to everything else. Frankly, we don't suspect other arms producers to be attempting to supercede the round anytime soon - frankly, we think they're all out of ideas and any attempts can either be disproved, or perhaps will be superior to the XG.784. Despite this, our cockyness gets the best of us, and we can only foresee a round that has similar capabilities, not superior capabilities. In any case, the short message is that we can sell production rights to the XG.784, although if you don't want to buy the liquid propellant then you'd have to design your own. The liquid propellant would of course be stored within the tank, behind the breech.

On the issue of spare parts we simply suggest purchasing them from us for the monthly fee [assumed monthly fee, you don't really need to come back and ask for them]. Kriegzimmer ensures base sale, meaning we charge you exactly the same amount we charge ourselves. Given we might increase the cost by a few cents of a Reichmark, but nothing horrendous. Any profit we make would only come due to the fact that we have dozens of other clients buying the same thing. Production of spare parts on your own would require either production rights of the spare parts, which we don't sell for the more unique things or replacement with what would be second rate parts. Because Kriegzimmer is so large we can also produce for cheaper, meaning even if we augment the cost the chances are that it would be cheaper to buy off our factories than it would be to buy off your own factories.

Thirdly, the tank should already be able to mount a plow, or what we use - a scorpion. It serves as an appliqué mine sweeper, simply blowing mines in front of it. As for the machineguns, we can simply send them without the guns and larger mounts so that you can add them once they arrive with the guns of your choice. The propellant would be up to you since it is your machinegun - but a solid propellant machinegun should be perfectly possible. We'll just make the ports larger for the mounting of the larger gun. The cost should remain more or less the same.

Finally, by running costs we also include spare parts. Meaning, for each 150 tanks that run a mile you pay 750 dollars for spare parts and anything else Kriegzimmer might need to send for maintenance. Some people choose to replace certain things to make this cheaper, for example exchange the active hydropneumatic suspension system with their own torsion bar suspension system or what have you. Should you want to replace more things to do this we would be happy to talk over it with you and to tell you exactly what each thing you might want to replace does, so that you can make a clearer decision on the matter.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


[OOC:
Galashiels: For anti-mine work I simply add the scorpion. There will, however, be a mine layer version - once I get the will to draw it. I guess I could also make a dedicated mine remover vehicle. In any case, ugh I forgot to put anything up there - production rights for variants are given. Well, I guess I didn't forget it - I just decided to do it right now.

Hailandkill: There is now!]

"We thank the Kriegzimmer storefront for its exceptional service and even more exceptional product. As promised, the money has been wired. Please check your account to validate that you have received the appropriate amount. We look forward to testing these tanks in battle, and will most certainly turn to Kriegzimmer for our future military hardware needs!"

[OOC: Er... confirmation? Please? ;)

-- Mauvasia, the ghost of NS. Always there, but invisible.]

[OOC: I apologise!]

Louis D'Hiver, Chairman of the Mauvasian Department of Defence
So it's all settled! Again, any further questions come straight to us! Everything that needs to be sent for the limited production rights will be sent either by hand or, if short enough, by encrypted satellite databurst. We guarantee you that the Nakíl 1M will serve your armed forces exceptionally well, and the change in weight isn't drastic, which is a good thing. The new dual purpose cannon was a good choice, as well. Thank you for your business, Mr. D'Hiver and we pass this on to the entirety of the Mauvasian nation.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

[OOC: That's ok. I'm growing used to it by now. I once entered a roleplay, posted several times -- long posts, too -- and was ignored as though I never existed. *shrug* Although it is understandable, considering that the information on my nation is nowhere near complete and I have very little practical RP experience.]


Official Responce, Department of Defence
Procurement Division
To: Kriegzimmer Board
Encryption: Green

On behalf of the Mauvasian people and military we wish to thank you as well for this opportunity. The funds have been wired, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future. We are also pleased to learn that our technicians do actually have the physics degrees they claim to have and the necessary practical experience to make such decisions. Never before has purchasing machines for the purpose of causing destruction been so easy or pleasant.

[signed]Louis D'Hiver
Chairman, Department of Defence

To: Kriegzimmer Board
From: Galashiels Military HQ

We believe these issues have been dealt with properly, thankyou for your response. However, as a final modification, we wish to have the tanks delivered short of engines, which we will fit ourselves in our own specification. We are hoping this kind of modification is allowed.

On top of this, we wish for the aforementioned modifications, and ask for a team of your engineers to help us fit our JTIDS command system in with the tanks electronics and targeting system. Also, the production rights for the XG.784 round would be high on our list.

What is the price for these engineless units, your engineers and the production rights of the shells? We hope this can lead to a better relationship between our two nations.

Galashiels Military HQ - Defense Aquisition Department
Great! All this can be done, including the chassis without an engine so that you can fit your own and the larger gun ports. Without the engine the tank should cost an average of twelve million a piece if mass produced [as an export price], which is slightly over a million dollars cheaper. The engineers will be sent free of charge to discuss with your engineers the intigration of your JTIDS. Depending on the size of the order of tanks we'll simply tack on production rights free of charge - either that, or roughly twenty million or so for the round's unlimited production rights. We hope that clears it all up, although we will be happy to continue answering questions!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

[OOC: I'll reply to Kriegzimmer in a bit, assume it confirmed.]

Thankyou very much for your patience with our somewhat cynical stance on imports! Our order is:

2112 Arca. IV Nakíl tanks with agreed specifications

Production Rights for the SRE.14 Fernántes [TLB] Tank- Launched Bridge

Production Rights for the aforementioned XG.784 ammunition type

Production Rights the XG.398 ammunition type

Out initial estimates suggest that the cost of this order will be:

25,344,000,000 USD
+ 260,000,000 USD

= 25,604,000,000 USD. Please confirm this, as the ammunition rights may increase the price.

Our variants of your hardware will be designated the Arca. IV Nakíl 1UMX and the SRE.14 Fernántes 1UMB respectively, after modification.

Galashiels Military HQ - Defense Aquisition Department
The order has been confirmed! The 2,112 Nakíl 1UMXs will be delivered in batches of 264 tanks per month, meaning it will be completed in eight months. The production rights to all three things considered [SRE.14, XG.784 & XG.398] will be delivered through a series of satellite databursts, or things that cannot be done through those means will be done by hand. Regardless of the method of transfer it will be done directly with your procurement offices or with your general staff. In any case, it is us that must thank you, not only for your business and your kind interaction, but for taking the time to stamp out a national variant - frankly, we respect the customers who take the time to do that. You are most certainly a respectable customer. With that said and done we must leave you, but we guarantee that your new tanks will be the utmost quality!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

[ OOC: OO;; *orgasms* Nice! ]

We would like to Purchase 10,300 of these Wonderful beasts for our Tank force, to replace/Supliment our Existing, M1A1 Abrams and T-90 Battle Tanks still used largely in our Ground forces, This Tank will Supliment our Patriot and Mammoth Tanks (Not C&C) Wonderfully

That should come to 133.9 Billion us$, We would also like to (if posable) purchase limited production rights for replacment parts so we can maintain these tanks in house, if this is not avalable then we would like to hire a team of your engineers to maintain the tanks for us.

Payment has been aproved and will be transfered by our bank the moment you comfirm our order.

Have a Pleasent day

[OOC: Animarnia, did you get my TG?]

Communication to Kriegzimmer Industries

Greetings Kriegzimmer!

After looking closely at the Nakil we have decided to definatly purchase some of these vehicles to replace the Arca A. Cougar in our Mechanized Infantry. Before we place an order we, the joint chiefs, would like to know what firepower upgrades can be integrated into the secondary armaments. To be frank, we want a killing machine for a tank to compliment our Mechanized Infantry. Another issue we possibly have concerns the top speed of the Nakil. Our MI is a unit designed to be fast and lethal, and again we want a tank to compliment our forces and their battle charter. We can assure you that once these problems are settled, HailandKill will field these tanks in great numbers to fight alongside our allies and The Golden Throne.

As we wait for those issues to be solved, we ask for the production rights to the SRE.24 Asnit Multiple Rocket Launcher. This variant will provide a sound replacement to the MLS-2000 panzerwerfer currently in use by our Artillery Divisions. The money, as always has been automatically wired.

Thank you, and get back to us.

[Signed]

Communiqué to the Procurement Agency of Animarnia
I see you find some pleasure with the Nakíl! The order has been confirmed for 10,300 Nakíl 1As, and they will be delivered in groups of five hundred per month, meaning the entire order should be completed within twenty-one months, or just under two years. Unfortunately we don't grant production rights to spare parts, but it turns out this may be beneficial to the client as we produce and sell for much cheaper since we mass produce the spare parts. Meaning oftly times enough it would actually be cheaper to pay Kriegzimmer a few cents more per spare part than it would be to produce it off your own factories [since you nonetheless have to repurchase it from the factories]. Hopefully that doesn't change your mind to purchase the vehicle. The decision comes due to the fact that by selling spare parts we are giving blueprints to some of the more secretive systems of the tanks, and that is exactly what we want to avoid for the time being - the less information our foes have, the less ability they have to copy. The spare parts cost comes as the ~$750 dollars per 150 tanks every mile which is transacted immediately and the spare parts sent immediately and without hesitation or back-ups. In any case, thank you for showing interest.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~

[OOC: I thought you still used the Broad Sword? Remember, actualy use of this can't come any time soon in A Passion Play. In other words, I'd wait in that thread until I start using it. It's not even going to be available for Ishme-Dagan.]

Telegram to the Killian Procurement Agency/Office
Well, in firepower upgrades there isn't much. There have been several to upgrade the .221 machineguns to 7.62mm machineguns, but we wanted to go as small as possible while keeping it lethal - it's the same doctrine the designers of the Hali-42 took. The .221, with the speeds we're talking about, should be just as lethal as the 7.62mm, while being easier to control, smaller, cheaper and faster. So, in terms of lethality, the secondary armaments are probably as good as it gets. We're not sure what other upgrades you'd want to take, although we would be happy to discuss them with you. In other words, we're content with the secondary armaments so it would take some change in design priority to get us to change them. That, or the will of the client. In any case, velocity should actually be fine, although you can always upgrade the engine [OOC: I think the 1A2 will have an engine upgrade to ~1800hp, but will be ten tons lighter!] to whatever you wish. We've found that tanks will most likely not hit past 40 miles per hour, and this tank is capable of 41, meaning it's right on the money. Nevertheless, an engine upgrade to a larger sized engine should be quite possible. [OOC: OOCly, old 1A versions can be upgraded to the 1A2 when that is released in some months. I'll discuss it with you either on MSN or IRC.] Regardless, we're glad that you return to Kriegzimmer for your main armor need.

Apart from that, production rights for the SRE.24 Asnit have been granted for $290 million. Everything to do with that will be delivered either by personal hand or through satellite databurst. Thank you for your business, and we're hoping to hear from you on the topic of the Nakíl!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

New variant completed!

~~~~~~~

TXI.76 'André' 240mm Recoilless Howitzer
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/TXI.png

The André is a beast, based off the North Korean 175mm howitzer on the Type 59 chassis, only much larger and this time recoilless! The 240mm howitzer is designed as a siege howitzer and a heavy hitter; a compliment to the 155mms to enter service around the same time as the Nakíl main battle tank. In any case, the howitzer uses a standard solid propellant to avoid overpowering the round, and most rounds it fires use some sort of ramjet assist to allow the 70+ kilometer ranges. Indeed, there have been rumours of ranges exceeding 100 kilometers! The large barrel can also fire smaller missiles for ranges exceeding 50 kilometers, making it quite a versatile cannon. She's lined with heavy amounts of chrome to avoid extensive barrel wear, and the most protected area of all are the rear tubes which expel the hot gasses, allowing the howitzer to be recoilless. The back end of the chassis is also protected by blast plates to avoid high erosion levels. The obvious advantage to the recoilless piece is just that, it's recoilless, while it makes the system much lighter. The disadvantages are somewhat solved. Since there is a relatively huge blackbast after firing there is a wedge-shaped dangerzone behind the vehicles that should be memorised by the crew, nevertheless, given that this is a self-propelled piece with no standing crew (they should be within the chassis) this isn't truly a problem. Considerable problems come with camoflauging the piece, but given the size of it this really isn't an issue regardless since it's most likely not going to be camoflauged, and older recoilless pieces had a strong appetite for propellant - ultra-modern propellants, such as the one used for the Nakíl, should appease this somewhat, and that's where the magnum charge comes into play!

Although the gun is not protected and is in an extended and open mount on top of the chassis, using the area where the turret ring would be, the upper glacis is heavily protected to offer protection to the crew. Meaning top attack munitions will have a very hard time killing the crew. In other words, the vehicle is designed to protect the men that serve it, even if it doesn't protect the gun due to other considerations. Nevertheless, even without a protected gun this is truly an artillery piece to fear and is one of the more powerful Nakíl variants. It's a worthwhile system to have in your forces.

Weight: 48 tons
Armament: 240mm Recoilless Howitzer
Range: ~70+ kilometers
Length: 9.1m
Length of Barrel: ~12-15m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 1,200hp gas turbine
Velocity [On-Road]: 70km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 50km/h
Crew: 2
Armor:
~690mm RHAe @ Upper Glacis
~630mm RHAe @ Lower Hull
~350mm RHAe @ Side Hull
~310mm RHAe @ Rear Hull
Resupply Crew: 3
Cost: 3.6 Million
Production Rights: 360 Million

The Confederate States of Spizania wishes to purchase Domestic Production Rights for the TXI.76 'André' 240mm Recoilless Howitzer. The required 360million Universal Standard Dollars has been wired

Communiqué to Spizanian Procurement Offices
Thank you for returning. We see you like the TXI.76, and yes it is something that is worth liking. The production rights have been granted for the price stated. All information dealing with said production rights will be sent through either satellite databurst or by means of personal courier - no chances will be taken with them. Congratulations are your new artillery piece! We're sure it will serve you quite... pleasurably...especially when you get to hear huge booms. Thank you, once again, for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Communiqué to the Procurement Agency of Animarnia
I see you find some pleasure with the Nakíl! The order has been confirmed for 10,300 Nakíl 1As, and they will be delivered in groups of five hundred per month, meaning the entire order should be completed within twenty-one months, or just under two years. Unfortunately we don't grant production rights to spare parts, but it turns out this may be beneficial to the client as we produce and sell for much cheaper since we mass produce the spare parts. Meaning oftly times enough it would actually be cheaper to pay Kriegzimmer a few cents more per spare part than it would be to produce it off your own factories [since you nonetheless have to repurchase it from the factories]. Hopefully that doesn't change your mind to purchase the vehicle. The decision comes due to the fact that by selling spare parts we are giving blueprints to some of the more secretive systems of the tanks, and that is exactly what we want to avoid for the time being - the less information our foes have, the less ability they have to copy. The spare parts cost comes as the ~$750 dollars per 150 tanks every mile which is transacted immediately and the spare parts sent immediately and without hesitation or back-ups. In any case, thank you for showing interest.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

We Agree to your terms, as long as parts are amply avalable; we were concerned that with the specific nature of several of the technologys these may be hard to maintain but with your guarantee; this is acceptable.

[OOC: Like I said to you in IRC, I want the production rights. It is 1256 over here in NY, so no IC post, but we can assume the usual transactions.]

[OOC: Da, that's fine. Production rights are yours.]

TXI.14 'Carposis' Anti-Air Howitzer [AAH]
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/TXI14.png

The TXI.14 is nothing more than an upgraded Catapult AAH which was itself built upon the chassis of the British Vickers Mk. I. The TXI.14 Carposis instead mounts a larger 88mm gun, with a longer barrel, and is based off the chassis of the Nakíl Main Battle Tank. It's designed as a low altitude, mid velocity range self-propelled artillery gun. Similar 155mm guns are designed to combat in altitudes of around twelve thousand meters or more, and smaller units like the SPAA-1 are designed to hit low flying aircraft at under eight thousand meters. The Carposis is a cheap, effective, midweight anti-air gun firing the standard Imperial CAPMES [enCAPsulated MEtalStorm]. Its task, as said over and over again, is to provide effective anti-air coverage over the battlefield. It fires cheap and deadly rounds and is not so expensive to produce itself. It uses a standard solid propellant to avoid high velocities, and has a chrome plated barrel to withstand higher barrel pressures and give the barrel a longer life.

It's armored similarly as the TXI.76 André, only with a heavier turret to withstand submunitions and thus protecting the crew. The breech of the gun is also protected by an appliqué tank roof which mounts the same light explosive reactive armor as the Nakíl, providing ~200mm worth of rolled homogenous armor equivalent against kinetic energy weapons [KEW] and ~500-750mm versus chemical energy weapons [CE]. In other words, the breech of the howitzer is more or less protected against most threats, including older top-attack high explosive anti-tank guided missiles. Nevertheless, the entire vehicles is very well protected and mounts a heavy turbine engine to make sure it can still move at fairly high velocities.

This self-propelled vehicle is going to replace all fixed 88mm sites by the year 2018, providing self-propelled high altitude anti-aircraft defense that doesn't constitute hundred thousand dollar surface to air missiles. It will also probably make itself comfortable in armies of various nations abroad. It will be add further mechanisation after the recent [2016] release of the SPAA-1 anti-aircraft artillery vehicle; a welcome addition, at that.

Weight: 41 tons
Armament: 88mm Howitzer
Maximum Range: ~20+ kilometers
MaximumAltitude: ~8,000 meters
Length: 9.1m
Length of Barrel: ~5.08m
Width: 3.563m
Engine: 1,200hp gas turbine
Velocity [On-Road]: 85km/h
Velocity [Off-Road]: 60km/h
Crew: 2
Armor [all versus KE]:
~730mm RHAe @ Front Turret
~690mm RHAe @ Upper Glacis
~630mm RHAe @ Lower Hull
~350mm RHAe @ Side Hull
~310mm RHAe @ Rear Hull
~250mm RHAe @ Appliqué Roof
~200mm RHAe @ Turret Roof
Resupply Crew: 3
Cost: 2.8 Million
Production Rights: 280 Million

We Agree to your terms, as long as parts are amply avalable; we were concerned that with the specific nature of several of the technologys these may be hard to maintain but with your guarantee; this is acceptable.

[As a more out of character affirmation, Kriegzimmer owns thousands upon thousands of square kilometers worth of foreign territory on which it produces Kriegzimmer products at immense rates. In fact, tanks are mass produced in numbers beyond those of the T-34 and Sherman, despite the fact they are more complex, and even given that we are in war there will be enough foreign factories to supply enough spare parts for Nakíls in foreign service many thousands of times over. So you'll never have to worry about that. :) ]

And What of the Cougar?
The 'wonder weapon' of the Empire that had been sent to crush the fields of Havenic and rebel tanks suddenly finds itself with few options left.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Cougar.png
An artist's impression of the Arca. I Cougar Ausva. C, or Cougar 1A3.

Even after an illustrious career post-debut at the banks of the River Nestor in July 2016, and through the hardships of Mons Dei, Viusbi, Mosnoi Bor and Ishme Dagan, among other magnificent battles, the Arca. I Cougar Ausva. A finds itself close to being set aside and replaced fully by the Arca. IV Ausva. B [OOC: Not yet fully designed or released] Nakíl Main Battle Tank, or as it's known outside the Fuermak, the Nakíl 1B. This is a rather unfitting conclusion for a tank that had begun production as the new revolution in tank technology, and to be truthful the Fuermak's public decision to replace it with the then future Nakíl 1A had come as a suprise to most tank enthusiastist. Nevertheless, by December 2016 it had seemed that the Cougar's abilities were still not up to par to become the best tank in the War of Golden Succession. Furthermore, its lumbering size make it unfit for a career as a main battle tank. When the first prototypes to the Nakíl were shown to the public it was obvious that the Cougar's days were numbered. So the question which remains is what is to happen to the Cougar? Is it to dissapear as a relic of quick and unreliably thought out engineering? Testament to folly? Apparently not, Kriegzimmer has suddenly released vague papers on the future heavy main battle tank and it seems to be the Cougar Ausva. C, or the Cougar 1A3 as it is to be known internationally. Much like the Nakíl this is a sudden suprise.

However, of what we've seen of the Cougar 1A3 it looks like quite the upgrade. The turret has been totally redesigned with a much larger and longer turret bustle. The reason why has not been released but it can be speculated that it will be fitting either a larger autoloader, perhaps even the same that made its debut with the Nakíl, or perhaps a larger compulsator bank. Whatever it is it forced the rear of the hull down into a flat plane to allow the much longer turret to traverse three hundred and sixty degrees. The gun is obviously much larger, as well, meaning it's beyond 140mm. Civilian tank experts report a 155mm maingun, although whether this will take the route of electromagnetic/electrothermal-chemical ignition and propulsion is unknown. Kriegzimmer has only said that it will not more complicated than absolutely necessary. Some think that this seems to rule out the two previous propulsion methods mentioned. Whatever it is, it certainly does seem to very large. The turret itself is based off the turret design of the Chinese Type-99 Main Battle Tank and the similarities are quite obvious.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Tanks/Type98.png

The chassis looks remarkably like that of the IS-4 Heavy Tank, a failed Soviet heavy during the late 1940s. Despite the bad news of the IS-4, which was cast to a life of second use on the Chinese border as the Soviets declined to deploy it in the West because of the series of horrible problems encountered by the tank, it does also seem to have a blend of the T-10M, the more successful Soviet heavy tank until production was cancelled in 1966. Hopefully it doesn't have the same overbearing problems as Soviet post-war heavy tanks, or even Soviet post-war medium tanks, but that will have to be left to be tested on the battlefields of this war and future wars. However, it does seem to have heavy Zhosif Kotin.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Tanks/T10M.png

The final apparent influence is none other than the Black Eagle, despite Kriegzimmer's very public distaste for Soviet and Russian armored vehicles, including the Black Eagle [OOC: This isn't so true for the T-72, T-64 and T-80]. But it's safe to say that the only thing that influenced the Cougar 1A3 was the reputed 152mm howitzer mounted on the Black Eage [OOC: On the picture below you see a 125mm smoothbore, not the 152mm howitzer], and nothing else. Nevertheless, that is a fairly important influence! But apart from that it's hard to believe that the Black Eagle would have anything other influence, especially since the Russians themselves allude to the IS-4 when they speak of the Black Eagle - which is not something to be proud of, to say the least.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Tanks/2ad77173.png

Three influences aside, the Cougar will be an interesting tank when its new look is finally released. We're sure that various international armies are looking foward to either replacing the 1As, or modifying their 1As to 1A3s. We know the Fuermak will!

The Confederate States of Spizania wishes to purchase the production rights for the TXI.14 'Carposis' Anti-Air Howitzer, the required 280 million Universal Standard Dollars have been wired

Confirm Message to Spizanian Procurement Offices
The order has been confirmed for production rights to the TXI.14 Carposis, and we expect the 280 million USD to make it to our accounts safely and immediately. In any case, you can expect all the papers and important documents and further information dealing with production rights to arrive either by hand or through encrypted databursts. You know the drill fairly well, being an active client of Kriegzimmer and all. As you should also know, we thank you for your continued interest and for your business - it is truly an honor to serve your country.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

[OOC: Here (http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=1651) is the new Cougar 1A3 seeing frutition. I'm slowly completing the short write-up. Yes, it will be shorter than this. :P ]

OOC: Are you still taking suggestions for different variants?

Shoot.

OOC:
- An massively powerful self-propelled anti tank gun, you know, as powerful as you can possible mount.
- A Scout Variant so you dont have to support extra logistics for your armoured units
- A General Purpose Howitzer for above reason
- A variant with a gatling gun to shoot up infantry and smash down enemy chopper
- Maybe even a Troop Carrier/ Universal Mover Variant.
- An MGS Variant for nations that cant afford large amounts of the Full MBT or are looking for a lighter alternative for air-mobile forces.

Those are some ideas that are probably too bad for words

[OOC: Since we are throwing in ideas, I was thinking a lightly armored, dual purpose tank killer and artillery piece. Like the german Wespe.]

[OOC: The self-propelled howitzer is the Gertantel, which was sold as a seperate piece. But it uses the Nakíl chassis. You can find it in Kriegzimmer's catalogue. I was going to make a new heavy APC at first, but decided it was far too early to replace the Arica. I. For the rest, I'll begin to think about it on Monday.]

[OOC: Although the Ejermacht will not be incorporating this Nebíard Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier, I guess I will design one for people that don't use the Arica. I, but use the Nakíl. This will effectively be the Arica. II, meant for export. I'm either thinking about a dual caliber railgun, or a lightweight 120mm L/44... the picture can take either one.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nebiard.png

]

[OOC: The following variants will be ready by tomorrow: the Nebíard, a mobile gun system which will be the Nakíl with an external 120mm lightweight smoothbore, and perhaps the anti-tank vehicle, which will be a turretless configuration with a 140mm high velocity gun.]

[OOC: Do something like the Wespe/Marder II/III damnit!!]

[OOC: The Marder II and Marder III were your basic tank destroyers with the former having a 76mm L/51 and the latter having a 75mm L/46. The Wespe is a self-propelled artillery piece. The Wespe was a self-propelled artillery piece. IIRC, the only reason assault guns, like the SU-122 and Sturmpanzer IV and such, were used as anti-tank pieces is because they normally mounted rather large guns. Personally, I would rather go with a dedicated anti-tank gun and a dedicated self-propelled artillery piece in the modern age.]

[OOC: The Marder II and Marder III were your basic tank destroyers with the former having a 76mm L/51 and the latter having a 75mm L/46. The Wespe is a self-propelled artillery piece. The Wespe was a self-propelled artillery piece. IIRC, the only reason assault guns, like the SU-122 and Sturmpanzer IV and such, were used as anti-tank pieces is because they normally mounted rather large guns. Personally, I would rather go with a dedicated anti-tank gun and a dedicated self-propelled artillery piece in the modern age.]

[OOC: Aww. I have been embarassed....

Well in either case, I would want to design a heavy tank destroyer much like the Jagdpanzer VI SP AT, or Jagdpanther SP AT. Something like that could provide long distance armor killing, as well as emegency artillery providing their are HE shells loaded.

Also, I am interested in designing an assault gun style armor piece (much like the Stug series) for infantry support. The assault guns would be much like the tank destroyers, except they would be slightly more advantageous than light tanks because of thicker frontal armor.

Let me know what you think.]

[OOC: What I could do is have a turretless 120mm L/55 electrothermal-chemical tank destroyer which carries ~twenty-eight rounds in a FASTDRAW type autoloader [the same type seen on the Nakil] and then carry four or so anti-tank guided missiles in the turret bustle. I could probably fit a lot more, but I'll have to think about that when I get back home. Since it's turretless I can fit an insane amount of frontal armor on it to make up for the weight. As for an assault gun... I guess I could mount something like a 155mm howitzer with limited depression onto the same tank destroyer chassis, except armor it different and do other things to make it slightly more unique, and you'd use that in cities to level buildings and such. :)

Oh yes, and on Friday [i]I think is the official day I enlist into the Spanish armor!]

Thats good, what about a variant for fighting in jungles or other low intensity enviroments with a flame thrower and a pair of twin 17.78 (.70 cal) MGs on a pair of pintle mounts. (You could use 12.7mm is you really wanted)

And pray there arent any more budget cuts until Saturday :D

[OOC: What I could do is have a turretless 120mm L/55 electrothermal-chemical tank destroyer which carries ~twenty-eight rounds in a FASTDRAW type autoloader [the same type seen on the Nakil] and then carry four or so anti-tank guided missiles in the turret bustle. I could probably fit a lot more, but I'll have to think about that when I get back home. Since it's turretless I can fit an insane amount of frontal armor on it to make up for the weight. As for an assault gun... I guess I could mount something like a 155mm howitzer with limited depression onto the same tank destroyer chassis, except armor it different and do other things to make it slightly more unique, and you'd use that in cities to level buildings and such. :)

Oh yes, and on Friday [i]I think is the official day I enlist into the Spanish armor!]

[OOC: I am definitly digging the turretless 120mm idea, but my only concern is this: what would the penetrating power be on a 120mm? I thought the point of a tank destroyer like the afore mentioned is to have a large frontal weapon and thick frontal armor. If the 120mm does the job of a larger caliber gun then leave it be, and lets get to designing! Like my MI, I want this to be a highly efficient killing machine.

Onto the assault gun. It has been my experience after fighting Haven at Aurillac that it is hard for light tanks to fight without outside suppression. The assault gun IMO should be a quicker, maybe less powerful tank killer. In that sense it would certainly be able to keep up with the manueverability of light tanks, while providing a strong suppression rate while the LBTs flank in the sides of the enemy armor.

Overall I still want the tank destroyer for my Mechanized Divisions, but the assault gun is questionable at this stage. The way I see it now, is that I should just phase out a LBT in my regular infantry and maybe use the newer Cougar as the standard MBT. This would give firepower without worry of immediate death, and still be a step down from the Nakil wielding Mech Divisions.

Oh, congratulations on making it into the Spanish Armor!]

[OOC: At first I was thinking about a liquid propellant, but I'm using a liquid propellant on the Cougar 1A3. I might actually make it a LP gun, and I bought another article yesterday night on the matter. I'll have to read it when I get home. Why do you want 17mm MGs? Oh yes Spiz, I was thinking about a MGS and I'm beginning to think that's not the very best of ideas... in any case, I need to think of a way to autoload it, and I think I have the answer. Nevertheless.... the gun is exposed.]

OOC: I just thought it was a cool calibre for a sort of even heavier machine gun, to complement my 12.7mm and 6.7mm weapons

[OOC: I think we should scrap the assault gun idea. In reality, an assault gun is just a smaller, quicker tank destroyer, no? I was thinking that I am just going to use regular MBTs instead of LBTs in my infantry, and the upgrade will give more overall armor power while still limiting capabilities that tanks like the Nakil can do. Essentially it means that the infantry based MBT will still require the assistance of mechanized infantry. However, I am curious to know your opinion of this change.]

OOC: I want one, keep up the good work Mac

OOC: After I finish the write-up for the Cougar 1A3 I plan to do a write-up for a Arca. II Ashurbanipal Ausva. B, or the Ashurbanipal 1A2. I'm going to mount a 120mm lightweight gun on the same turret with a larger recoil mechanism to bring down recoil closer to 24 tons. So the light tank will have upgraded firepower soon enough - it will enter service around the same time as the Cougar 1A3 which would be March or April 2017. The assault gun should have a similar weight to the tank destroyer, especially with the think armor needed for urban combat, and the only major difference will be the howitzer, as opposed to smoothbore gun.]

*bump!*

OOC: After I finish the write-up for the Cougar 1A3 I plan to do a write-up for a Arca. II Ashurbanipal Ausva. B, or the Ashurbanipal 1A2. I'm going to mount a 120mm lightweight gun on the same turret with a larger recoil mechanism to bring down recoil closer to 24 tons. So the light tank will have upgraded firepower soon enough - it will enter service around the same time as the Cougar 1A3 which would be March or April 2017. The assault gun should have a similar weight to the tank destroyer, especially with the think armor needed for urban combat, and the only major difference will be the howitzer, as opposed to smoothbore gun.]

[OOC: Ok then, scrap my above post. If the light tanks aren't going to be as puny then I will leave everything in my ORBAT as is. So the tank destroyer is going to have a huge smoothbore gun, as compared to the assault gun with the howitzer?]

[OOC: Well there is a point of having an assault gun, now that I think about it, although in much smaller numbers. It would do good as a self-propelled artillery piece in urban warfare. The Gertantel is too poorly armored and the gun to easy to knock out by a well placed RPG. I think that using a similar chassis to the tank destroyer and instead mounting a 155mm howitzer would be a good idea. Of course, it wouldn't have the range, but it wouldn't really need it. It would follow troops inside the city and be used as direct fire support by a huge howitzer. It would have similar depresion and elevation to the tank, but again, you don't need range.

I could technically mount the Nakíl's gun on the light tank:




Recoil is handled through a variety of methods, including a quiet muzzle break, although quiet is a relative term. The muzzle break is similar to the ‘pepperpot’ muzzle break on the 120mm/L45 conceptual gun designed by the Italian company Melara. With an extended recoil length of 620mm the recoil energy has been pumped down to under twenty-five tons, which is a considerable achievement and better than the twenty-five ton recoil energy encountered by Melara’s gun – due to the larger recoil length. Recoil is further toned done by the mass attenuation thermal shroud on the gun, explained above. The final estimate for recoil energy has been tested with a mean value of near twenty-three tons, which is considerable. In other words, this gun would be able to be mounted on a larger than twenty-three ton vehicle, and the vehicle would be able to withstand the recoil.




But I think that might be a bit of overkill, and plus I think I overestimated the effect of the longer recoil mechanism. I didn't take into consideration that I'm using a better propellant and a liquid propellant booster stage. :eek: Oh well, it'll be our little secret. In any case, I'll just mount a standard 120mm L/55 smoothbore.]

OOC: This is NS, overkill is the name of the game

OOC: This is NS, overkill is the name of the game

[OOC: Yea, but like I said before, the number I gave is off anyways, so I would have to mount it on a larger vehicle. Recoil would probably be closer to 33-35 tons.]

[OOC:here (http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=1674) is a thread of mine on explosive reactive armor schematics and examples of these systems on tanks.]

[OOC: Ask and ye shall receive!]

'Síeren' Tank Destroyer
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Sieren.png

Purpose: The Síeren was designed as a general purpose tank destroyer, taking advantage of the weight saved from lacking a turret and then making it up with a larger, much more powerful main armament and thicker armor. The tank destroyer has long been forgotten and is a relic of the past, however, they have seen a recent resurgence in armies around the world, and it would only be proper that the Nakíl release an option for its own tank destroyer. For years generals have argued that the tank destroyer is obsolete, pointing out the fact that in an open enviroment a tank destroyer's turretless design is outmatched, and a greater gun does not necessarilly mean a better kill probability. However, the War of Golden Succession opened the eyes of various generals and officials that work with the design and procurement agencies that work with Kriegzimmer. The larger chance of urban warfare had spawned the need for a vehicle that could be heavily armored and provide anti-tank support in the city. In recent years the tank has taken the job of allowing direct support, especially with the advent of better anti-personnel rounds, and of an anti-tank vehicle. It is time to alot the jobs to two different contestants and thus throw in another variable. The Síeren should be an ample design to work in the city, or in defensive operations as a very powerful tank destroyer. The cheaper design also makes it much easier to afford, allowing an anti-tank vehicle that doesn't tax on the budget too much. The Síeren, in other words, picks up where older tank destroyers leave off.

Armament: The Síeren's armament is composed principally of a 140mm electrothermal-chemical smoothbore. Firing the same XG.784 Atmos armour piercing fin stabalised discarding sabot, with RAMjet assist, the gun achieves a muzzle velocity of near 2,800 meters per second, and the round can accelerate to around 3,100 meters per second for up to around five hundred meters. In other words, the round leaves the 140mm with a muzzle energy of 37.4MJ! From a standard L/55 smoothbore a tungsten round would leave at around 12MJ. That's over a threefold increase in muzzle energy! The electrothermal-chemical gun is a relatively simple concept, using an electrical switch to ignite a plasma cartridge located behind the breech. The plasma is used to allow the solid propellant to expand much more methodically and uniformly, meaning a much better expansion. This gives the gas a full chance to expand and thus brings out a greater energy behind the round. The electrothermal-chemical gun saw prior use on both the Broad Sword main battle tank and the Cougar 1A main battle tank, before the Cougar was turned into the Cougar 1A3 heavy battle tank. The electrothermal-chemical cannon is also used widely abroad in most modern main battle tanks.

The gun is autoloaded from the rear by a robotic autoloading system [RALS] which feeds from an armoured canister of rounds mounted on the bustle to the rear of the vehicle. The mountings have four blast pressure safeguards covering it, allowing any explosion to be vented upwards, as opposed to towards the rest of the crew. The mounting holds twenty-five rounds and has an electrical arm to feed the round into a carousel belt which is in essence the arm of the RALS. It uses a ram to slam the round into the breech. This entire system is protected by internal armored panels and seperated from the rest of the crew.

Crew: The commander is near the rear of the vehicle, to his right, and the driver is just infront of him and a bit below him with easy access to the optronics of the tank. The driver is on the opposite site buried deeper in the hull. All three crew members are protected by the thick frontal armor and a frontally mounted 1,500 horsepower turbine.

Armour: For protection the Síerat offers a frontal glacis of anywhere from 500mm to 560mm of actual thickness Cermin Armech Modulien [CAM] armor, a home design that is featured on the Nakíl [along with a more in depth coverage of the armour]. This offers anywhere from 2700mm to 3,248mm rolled homogenous armor equivalent [RHAe]. The Síerat doesn't mount explosive reactive armor given the urban enviroment, and the fact that there will be a lot of infantry running around. Nevertheless, this is effectively higher than most main battle tanks. For further protection against chemical energy weapons the entire tank destroyer can be protected by a fence of appliqué slat armor which is basically a more modern, cheaper spaced armour configuration, designed to preemptively blow the chemical energy warhead. If it's hit by an APFSDS it may also cause yaw, although nothing major.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 3
Weight: 40,823.3kg
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 2m
Ground Clearance: .3m
Engine: 1500 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 75km/h
Range: 350km
Range With External Tanks: 500km
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
140mm Electrothermal-chemical cannon
1x 7.56mm Co-Axial
Ammunition:
25 Rounds
1,200 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -5/+34 degrees
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 4 Million
Production Rights: 400 Million

*bump*

The Confederate States of Spizania wishes to purchase the production rights to the 'Síeren' Tank Destroyer, the required sum of four hundred million universal standard dollars has been wired

Communiqué to Spizanian Procurement Agency
The order has once again been confirmed for production rights of the Síeren Tank Destroyer. All documents will either be sent through encrypted satellite databursts, or by hand. We thank you for your continued loyalty to the Nakíl and her variants and we await your next order! We also thank you for this specific business deal.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


[OOC: Well, might as well finish the assault gun.]

Dejíard Urban Assault Unit
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Dejiard.png[/center]

The Dejíard mounts a 155mm howitzer as its main armament, coupled with a really low profile, which is lower than both the Nakíl's and the Síeren! With a front mounted engine, and a two man crew buried deep into the hull, it also carries an assault force of four infantrymen, with slots for their weapons. The howitzer is low pressure, designed to deliver high explosive warheads or sub-munitions against fortressed installations in an urban enviroment. Everything of the vehicle is tailored to operate as a city dweller, delivering artillery support deep inside areas that a standard, poorly armored, self-propelled howitzer could not operate. For that very reason it's turretless, designed to carry a larger gun with much more armor, operating in an area infested by rocket propelled grenades and other infantry carried, or truck mounted, anti-tank weapons. The Dejíard, paired with the Síeren, can make the tank obsolete in cities, and for a much cheaper cost! Using a solid propellant, as it's not designed for range, it can deliver a grand variety of 155mm munitions in the city, and the low length of the gun also allows it to quickly manuever through streets. Limitations include an overtaxed transmission, result of a small engine, but it's designed to give as much space as necessary for assault infantry in the rear.

The engine is a 900 horsepower gas turbine, meaning the vehicle is not drastically underpowered, but does result in the necessity for greater maintenance after a shorter time. However, the desiners assume that the role will be the same as the role it will play in the Ejermacht - to operate in cities, where range is not of necessity. Behind the engine sit side by side the tank commander and the driver. The tank commander acts as the gunner and commander, also making use of a co-axial flame thrower. The flame thrower is ignited by a rotary incidiery gatling, using two armored storate tanks behind the breech of the gun. The flame can lick targets at up to two hundred and fifty meters. Behind the crew is the ammunition nstorage area which is designed to take the least space as possible. Both the ammunition and flame storate tanks are designed so that if hit and ready to blow the blast is directed upwards, minimising risk to the crew and to passengers. The ammunition is autoloaded by a robotic autoloading system, and stored in armored boxes. Behind this there is a blast wall and then space for four heavily armed infantry men. The infantry men serve the purpose of putting men on the ground quickly after the assault gun clears the trouble.

The armor is designed for urban enviroments and for the role of the vehicle. There is a thick principle back plate of armored steel intermixed with depleted uranium nuggets. This is seperated by an empty volume from a thinner frontal wall of armored steel. In other words, the Dejíard relies fully on spaced armor. Why? When the HEAT projectile is ignited on the first plate it will ignite before the proper standoff range to penetrate the thicker armor, meaning the armour is designed with the threat of anti-tank missiles and grenades in mind. With that same design philosophy it's also possible to mount Slat appliqué. This is a city rat, built to survive.

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 2
Passenger Capacity: 4
Weight: 43,493.3kg
Length: 9.1m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 1.8m
Ground Clearance: .3m
Engine: 900 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 39km/h
Range: 175km
Range With External Tanks: 400km
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
155mm Low Velocity Howitzer
1x Flamethrower Co-axial
Ammunition:
20 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -5/+38 degrees
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 3.8 Million
Production Rights: 380 Million

The Confederate States of Spizania Armoured Force Procument Board wishes to purchase the production rights for the Dejíard Urban Assault Unit, it will serve as an excellent vehicle for our seige divisions, for whoom this vehicle is the perfect choice.

Communiqué to Spizanian Procurement Agency
Welcome back! You know the drill; the order has been confirmed and information pertaining to production rights will be send through an encrypted databurst or by hand. Security is of utmost importance. Regardless, good luck with your newest and baddest toys!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

OOC: lets see
Variants you dont have yet:-
- Lightweight MGS
- Sturmtiger type thing (Massive Rocket Mortar)
- One with a turret gatling gun to nail APCs by the thousand
- Specialist Engineering Vehicle

What do you think of those ideas?

[OOC: I think I'll actually go for the mobile gun system. You can fire rocket mortars out of the assault gun and the howitzers, so that should be good enough. :P The future APC will have a large gatling, and an engineering vehicle sounds good. I also need a tank repair vehicle.]

Communication to Kriegzimmer from Killian Joint Chief's of Staff

Our study into the Nakil has proven it is most definatly the best battle tank on the market. The Nakil will serve brilliantly amongst our elite Mechanized Infantry divisions, and will replace the Cougar. You will recieve a large order from the Killian military, but first we would like to ask for a few modifications.

First, the Killian military would want a larger secondary armament to replace a machine gun on the tank itself. We are curious if a larger grenade launcher can be mounted. We would like one on each side of the turret itself for maximum firepower.

All Kriegzimmers suggestions will be taken into consideration on the matter seeing how they are so tied to the Killian military.

Telegram to the Procurement Agency of HailandKill
We're glad that you found the Nakíl to be what you were looking for, and thank you for your kind words on our, and the Ejermacht's, newest tank. Production of the Nakíl has actually been pushed foward to October, although production [for even allies] for export won't begin until February, as planned originally. The Nakíl was released early to make up losses during the war, as you well know, and since the early release was done earlier than expected several of the qualities of the Nakíl are not installed Nevertheless, by Febuary it should all be ready for export. For the co-axial we'd suggest a larger machinegun, if anything, although the curret one is fine for doing what a coaxial is meant to do - kill infantry. The grenade launcher should be installed on the turret, which is large enough to fit many more things than what already exist on it. You can fit four to eight launching cylinders on either side of the turret, for more grenade launchers. We'll be happy to continue discussing further upgrades to the Nakíl for Hailandkill. The variant should be aptly named Nakíl 1H, if you'd like.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

We regret to inform you that our military needs have eclipsed our previous order. We will be increasing our previous order of 41,200 by 7,052 to a grand total of 49,152. We will be wiring $70,520,000,000 upon confirmation.

Enclosed and Encrypted Telegram to Molynia
[OOC: Tell me anything you want me to change.

Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 3
Weight: 64,230.75kg
Weight Distribution [Approximate]:
Hull: 18334.75kg
Suspension: 11,501.8kg
Power Plant: 5,032kg
Auxiliary Auto: 1,867kg
Weapon Station: 20,777.4kg
Fire and Control: 1,341.8kg
Ammunition: 1,695kg
OVE: 1,500kg
Fuel: 1,800kg
Crew: 381kg
Power to Weight Ratio: 23.5 hp/t
Length: 9.1m
Length Gun Forward: 13.5m
Length of Gun: 6.96m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 2.6m
Ground Clearance: .4m
Engine: 1690 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 66km/h
Range: 510km
Range With External Tanks: 800km
Trench: 5.6m
Step: 5.6m
Vertical Obstacle: 1.4m
Ford Unprepared: 1.8m
Ford Prepared: 6m
Climbing Gradient: 40x
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
120mm Light Weight High Breech Pressure
1x 20mm Co-Axial
2x. 5.56mm GPMG
1x Four Barrel Modular Grenade Launcher
1x 80mm Mortar
1x Dual tube turret mounted ATGM launcher
Ammunition:
48 Rounds
1,200 Rounds
1,000 Rounds Each
400 Grenades
30 Rounds
2 Pilum Anti-Tank Guided Missiles
Main Gun Depression: -7/+38 degrees
Armor [Actual Thickness without ERA]:
Lower Hull: 300mm
Glacis: 400mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 100mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 280mm
Upper Front Turret: 380mm
Rear Turret: 137mm
Rear Hull: 124mm
Side Hull: 375mm
Mantlet: 400mm
Weakened Zone: 415mm
Front Turret Corners: 430mm
Side Turret: 120mm
Roof: 60mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 900mm
Glacis: 1,480mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 225mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 756mm
Upper Front Turret: 646mm
Rear Turret: 516mm
Rear Hull: 487.5mm
Side Hull: 787.5mm
Mantlet: 2,375mm
Weakened Zone: 2,450mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,500mm
Side Turret: 450mm
Roof: 105mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 1,100mm
Glacis: 1,980mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 425mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 1,040mm
Upper Front Turret: 890mm
Rear Turret: 740mm
Rear Hull: 698.5mm
Side Hull: 1,098.5mm
Mantlet: 2,875mm
Weakened Zone: 2,950mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,975mm
Side Turret: 880mm
Roof: 235mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. CE]:
Lower Hull: 1,400mm
Glacis: 2,580mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 850mm
Front Side Turret/Side Turret: 1,590mm
Upper Front Turret: 1,445mm
Rear Turret: 1,198mm
Rear Hull: 1,187mm
Side Hull: 1,700mm
Mantlet: 3,540mm
Weakened Zone: 3,675mm
Front Turret Corners: 3,750mm
Side Turret: 1,030mm
Roof: 415mm
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
3rd Generation LADAR @ ~10km classification range
Millimeter Wave [MMW] RADAR @ 11km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 13 Million


~~~~~~

Communiqué to Mer des Ennuis
You regret to inform us? There are never too little Nakíls! That said, the increase in the amount of armour has been noted. The original order will continue as scheduled, including supply time. That said, the new 7,052 tanks will be shipped at a rate of five hundred per month, or about fifteen months worth of time. This would probably put the order at about three to four years. Unfortunately, the exact time for the last order is not available to us at this time. Nevertheless, again, thank you for your business!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Just two things: can you change the calibers of the GPMGs to pure 5.56, and the coaxial to 20mm?

When this is done, Molynia would like to place an order for 50,000 tanks. If it is possible, would like to have rights to produce the Nakíl ourselves, to speed production and ease transport.

Communiqué to Molynia
Limited production rights for fifty thousand Nakíls can be sold. Under normal production that would come to $650 billion, but production rights should run through another $200 billion, increasing price to $850 billion. Nevertheless, it would most likely be easier and faster to deploy, perhaps making the price worthwhile. It would also allow your industries to change anything they want to change on the tanks before production, making that ultimately cheaper as well. Not to mention the rise in employment. In the end, it's your choice, but we see the extra price as something worth it. Nevertheless, the production rights would be limited to fifth thousand [50,000] Nakíl 1As with the subtle changes of the co-axial and the two general purpose machineguns. For futher production Molynia will have to contact Kriegzimmer again - this present contract does not limit the amount of tanks designed to replace lost armour in battle or in peace.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

This arrangement is acceptable for Molynia. $850 billion will be wired to you.

ARMOR Magazine

Even only a few months after the Nakíl made it´s debut during the War of Golden Succession during the battle of Ishme-Dagan there are already rumours of impending upgrades to the tank and the release of a new variant, the Nakíl 1A2. Repordetly this version is to remain indegenous while the Nakíl 1A will be fully available for export. The Imperial Army has said nothing on the new tank but other unofficial sources claim that the 1A2 will be ready by February 2017, which is only a few months after export of the Nakíl 1A1 officially begins. Tank enthusiasists have sparked and good and bad rumours have already circulated around the globe. Unfortunately, all official information still remains classified and some government sources still behemently deny the new variant. The Nakíl has already come as a shock, especially to the nations involved in the War of Golden Succession - most of all Safehaven and her allies. From what we could gather the next generation Nakíl can include additions to the autoloader, already branded as one of the fastest in any tank throughout the world, and can see upgrades to the maingun and the ammunition.

The most interesting is that the brand new explosive reactive blocks which were introduced along with the new tank are going to be replaced by new blocks, of which we have already seen models to. Further changes to the armour might occur, but no knowledge exists on this yet. Whatever changes occur it´s obvious that the Nakíl 1A2 will be a new, improved beast, and what was possibly the best tank of all of armour present in the War of Golden Succession will become in the leader for many months to come. In fact, one of the beauties of the original Nakíl was the ability to change so many things to aid it to remain one of the best tanks in existance - in other words its modularity. If the rumors of the Nakíl 1A2 are true then we will see this manifested soon enough. For national armies that have already purchased the Nakíl 1A2 the future is uncertain. In other words, it´s not clear if upgrade packages will be available, or if the Nakíl 1A2 will remain the sole export version as of yet. Minor rumours exist about a Nakíl 1A3, or a new, improved, export version of the tank; just as well, the same idea has been called the Nakíl 1A1M. In other words, just another shadow preceeding the release of the new hunk of armour.

[OOC: Glorified bump. Unfortunately, Ishme-Dagan hasn´t even begun yet, although it should begin a few weeks after I come back from Spain. Happenings post battle should go a little after since I have no major battles planned, but I´m not really sure. Nevertheless, I think the design is finished on paper. I have to start writing it after August 20th.]

[OOC: I've said it before, but I'll say it again: good job Mac. You've outdone yourself. However, something tells me that (note this is still Secret IC) CSJMI's main battle tanks shall be worthy opponents....]

Thanks. And now, some cool pictures of some of the upgrades.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Asteriox.png

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Gunnercontrolfinalfinal.png

We of the United States of Allanea would wish to have production rights for each and every one of the Nakil variants for 2 billion USD total.

We also would like to know the production rights costs on the main Arca IV Nakil.

Telegram to Allanea
Although the production rights to all variants of the Nakíl have been accepted and will be delivered in a timely manner, we regret to inform your procurement agency, or defense department, that the Nakíl Ausf. A, or Nakíl 1A1, is not for sale due to the fact that the Empire wants to keep the most integral parts of the design specific to the Empire. Despite this, as you are on the guest list of Kriegzimmer you are allowed to produce all parts of the tank at home to replace broken or missing parts. Nonetheless, the only production rights we offer for the tank exist in limited production rights. In other words, you buy the tank, but instead of us delivering it to you, you produce yourself. This is normally chosen when certain parts of the tank want to be changed by the purchasing nation to make a more indegenous version of the design. The Arca. IV Nakíl Ausf. A will only be offered for unlimited production rights when the Arca. IV Nakíl Ausf. C is released, otherwise known as the Nakíl 1A3. During that time, however, there will be a general upgrade program for foreign purchasers of the Ausf. A allowing them to upgrade fully to near the Ausf. B version, and at some point a full upgrade will be released to bring it up to the standards of the Ausf. B. However, these upgrade programs will be sold in individual units, and only the original Ausf. A will be available for production rights. But that is within a year and a half, or up to two years.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

The Armed Republic would like to express interested in the following variants of the Nakil:
Dedicated Mine Breaching Vehicle
Dedicated Combat Engineer Vehicle (complete with large, 170mm + or - demolition gun)
Dedicated Recovery Vehicle

Please let us know when these variants, or ones like them, will be completed. Furthermore, we would like to pre-emptivley purchase production rights for these vehicles.

TO: Kriegzimmer
FROM: Department of Defence, Northern Colonies.
RE: Arca IV Nakíl/Nakíl (1) Main Battle Tank

We first of all wish to congratuate you on a well designed tank.

We wish to be able to purchase 400 of your tanks, as a emergency purchase, keeping in mind of the limitations of this tank. We are willing to make use of ANY available tank that you have.

Yours Sincerely,
Arnold Torres
Minister for Defence
Northern Colonies

To Kriegzimmer

This is fine. We will then purchase limited production rights for 40,000, to be manufactured to fire the Allanean 140mm round instead of the 120mm and redesignated George W. Bush Mark III in this configuration.

OOC whats the bigest gun you can have in it

Telegram to Allanea
Because the current gun is a dual calibre [120/140mm] then the configuration of the gun doesn't have to be changed; you simply fire the larger round with the larger propellant casing! The original idea was to fire 120mm rounds using a 140mm conventional solid propellant, with the aiding liquid propellant, allowing us the massive penetrative power of this gun, and insofar it works. It also allows us to use the Cougar's 140mm ammunition if we run out of 120mm ammunition. So no change in configuration needed! Nevertheless, the order has been confirmed and limited production rights have been sold for fourty thousand models and the replacements of said models [without having to come back here to order more]. Thank you for your business!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

~~~~

Communiqué to Northern Colonies
Thank you for those kind words, we're glad that your defense ministry has taken an interest in our latest tank. Although we are immersed in a war currently, and so armour is tight for us as well, we think we can arrange the immediate delivery of four hundred of our Nakíl main battle tanks, especially since the Nakíl 1A2 is due out at any moment [OOC: Not really; this is from the viewpoint of the future, since technically the tank has not been released yet in the RP. Regardless, the 1A2 is just for me anyways], and so with the news of the new tank the Empire might be willing to give up some of its newer models. With that said, consider the order established and we guarantee that we will get these tanks to you. Thank you for your order, we hope that you are happy with your newest four hundred models!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~~

Encryption to Mer des Ennuis
Those are future variants that will designed within the next one or two months [OOC: Read that whenever I install Office, and whenever I get a copy of photoshop], and we are willing to sell pre-emptive production rights, although we're not really sure how much they would cost. Nevertheless, when the design blueprints are out you will get them first and we can discuss a price thereafter [OOC: I guess, assume it paid off or whatever]. We hope that this is a valid response to your inquiry!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~~

[OOC: Imperial isa, on the current turret, maybe a full fledge 150mm gun, but there would be no reason to have such a large gun.]

The Aequatian Republic Army is interested in the cost of procuring four (4) Arca IV Nakíl/Nakíl (1) Main Battle Tank vehicles for preliminary trials in the developemt in our New Main Battle Tank (NMBT) Programme.

We await your reply.

To Macabees
imperial isa would like to order one of your tanks with a 150mm for testing
the money will be wired when the tank is sent to us
from
imperial isa
ministry of defence procurements

Communiqué to the Aequatian Republic Army
Before we accept the order we're extremely wary about sending military equipment for testing in foreign territory, especially when it's made open that the idea is to test it against new military armour hardware of your own. We'd need to have very frequent updates on news of our tanks in these trials, and information beforehand on what exactly our Nakíl is going to be doing in these engineering tests and tribulations. We are extremely protective on the technology used on the Nakíl. However, if more information is given we are ready to approve the order with pleasure. Please stay in touch.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

~~~~


Telegram to Imperial Isa
Well, we'd like to inform you on the consequences of such a change. Although technically a 150mm gun can be fitted, a conventional 150mm gun will actually be inferior to what is currently on the tank, while a 150mm with similar technology will possibly have too strong of a recoil for the tank to take. Regardless, it will also possibly force the turret to begin to wave around if the breech is too large for the turret ring to handle. What reasons do you have for changing the size of the maingun? Perhaps we can come to a compromise and help you inform you for the ultimate decision on the tank gun. Thank you for your interest, nonetheless, and we hope to hear from you soon.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Official Statement From The Allied Union Defense Force Foreign Requisition Board

Greetings, friends!

With the stagnation of the Allied Union Defense Force's armored warfare program (spearheaded by the Soviet Block Mehkev II MBT), which, compared to other nations is both logistically intensive and small in number, both things which substantially effect it's battlefield staying power and effectiveness. It is with this in mind that the Allied Union Foreign Requisition Board, going with long time experience and research into the subject, has selected Kriegzimmer's newest craft, the Arca IV Nakil Main Battle Tank, as it's next generation main battle tank.

In addition to this massive order, the AUADFFRB has also selected the Arica. I 'Shalmaneser' Heavy Armoured Personnel Carrier to act as it's armored personnel carrier for the forseeable future, as current Velkyan divisions lack such a vehicle.

Finally, the Allied Union Naval Defense Force Foreign Requisition Board has made known it's intentions to buy production rights to the Conhort Conhort Mk. II Close-In Weapon System to upgrade and compliment existing CIWS and RAM systems on board AUNDF vessels.

With that, our final purchase comes to:

100,000x Arca IV Nakíl Main Battle Tanks (normal configuration)
20,000x Arica. I 'Shalmaneser' Heavy Armoured Personnel Carrier, plus production rights
40,000x Conhort Mk. II Close In Weapons Systems, plus production rights

We hope you reply to our order with utmost speed, and the payment, in the order of:

2.5 trillion Universal Standard Dollars ($), or 1.38 trillion Velkyan Zonars ($V), plus additional funds for production rights.

Thank you, and let liberty shine her light upon you!

To Macabees

we have read your Telegram we now like you to send two tanks with both guns so we can test it they can place a hole in a helghan tank
as i said before money will be wried when they are sent
form
imperial isa
ministry of defence procurements

OOC please dont telegram saying they can
and not a bad tank you got

Communiqué to the Aequatian Republic Army
Before we accept the order we're extremely wary about sending military equipment for testing in foreign territory, especially when it's made open that the idea is to test it against new military armour hardware of your own. We'd need to have very frequent updates on news of our tanks in these trials, and information beforehand on what exactly our Nakíl is going to be doing in these engineering tests and tribulations. We are extremely protective on the technology used on the Nakíl. However, if more information is given we are ready to approve the order with pleasure. Please stay in touch.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

We understand the security your company would place on such an advanced vehicle and the trials would take place in a number of terrain types. Two of the vehicles would perform their trials in Aequatius Prime, in the Western Desert at our research facility at Dark Basin and in the Northern Plains for subarctic/tundra trials around the city of Attica. The third vehicle would perform its trials in the Jungle and MOUT training facility at Camp Fowler near Espandor, Aequatius Secundus. The fourth would undergo analysis of the vehicle's systems, with the authorization of your engineers, to study them in order to examine whether Aequatian manufacturing capabilities can produce the vehicle domestically.

Communiqué to thehe Allied Union Defense Force Foreign Requisition Board
You have an extremely long name. Irregardless, the order has been confirmed. We're glad that you have chosen the Nakíl 1A1 to replace Soviet Bloc's Mekhev II, and we reassure you that our tanks is superior both in quality and in price. Furthermore, within due time there will also be upgrades to the tank that will be exported abroad to bring it up to future status of other indegenous upgrades of the Nakíl [OOC: Sometime after the Nakíl 1A2 is released there will be an upgrade called the Nakíl 1A1U, which will bring it close to 1A2 standards. Then a Nakíl 1A1V which will bring it totally up to Nakíl 1A2 status, and perhaps even more. But that's all in the future]. But, nevertheless, as we said before your order has been confirmed. The 100,000 Nakíl 1As will have to be delivered in batches of 1,000 tanks, meaning the entire order will be completed in eight years and four months. We normally export in batches of 500 per month, but this large order will take some more effort. Nevertheless, we can do it quite easily. With factories the size of ours [and in multiple locations at that!] we can easily pump out dozens of thousands of tanks per month. However, the 20,000 Aricas will be delivered in batches of 500 a month, meaning it will be completed in fourty months, or just over three years. The 40,000 Conhort IIs can be delivered in around two to three years. Production rights for the Arica will probably go for around fifty billion, given your large order, and the Conhort for perhaps five billion [OOC: I just pulled these out of my ass].

We hope that this is agreeable for you. Thank you for your business, we certainly appreciate it!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~


Telegram to Imperial Isa
Very well! Two versions of the tank will be sent. The first will keep the original 120/140mm light weight high pressure gun, and the second will mount a conventional 150mm cannon. We're sure that at least the former will make quick work of the Helghan tank, although we'll leave it to you to decide from the results. We hope to receive more information from you shortly!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~

Communiqué to the Aequatian Republic Army
Good enough! The four vehicles will be sent immediately without further adue, and we hope to hear good news from the seperate vehicle trials! If you, or your organization, have any emerging questions keep in mind that we would be estatic to answer them. Until later then!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

To Kriegzimmer Board
the money is wired to you
from
imperial isa
ministry of defence procurements

Atmos is proud to present the newest upgrade to an older tank, the Broadsword R.95. This upgrade brings the Broadsword to most current technology, able to compete with any tank currently on the foreign market, for a much lower price! We suggest the Broadsword-Tizonia for any nation that has any sort of budget restraints, or wants absolutely huge armies of armor to roam their lands!

Broadsword-Tizona R.95U

[OOC: Hopefully picture to come soon. :( ]


Units Sold to Date:
6,140 - Relative Liberty

Sudden Obsolesence
After the battle of Mosnoi Bor the Empire found itself suddenly out of armour, given the intensive combat between late May and the middle of August. It especially found itself short of armour that could match and surpass the quality of foreign designs. The tank that was at first envisioned to become one of the best in the war proved to be a complete debacle, and its interim successor, the Nakíl, had not been produced in large enough numbers, with only around 700 planned for construction by October, which was the scheduled beginning of operations around the city of Ishme-Dagan. Nonetheless, the Empire found its hands full with divisions of older Broadsword main battle tanks, and thus found it opportune to embark on a limited improvement program on the tank which would span all of September until the Nakíl was built in sufficient numbers to totally replace all front line armoured units. To satisfy the request of the Ejermact six companies, two of them foreign, introduced their own upgrade program. Ultimately the Tizonia program, designed and introduced by Atmos, was chosen by the Ejermacht, and Atmos promised the upgrade of up to one thousand full tanks by the beginnings of September, and some 2000 other partial completions. In fact, the Broadsword-Tizonia would become the most numerous tank on the battlefield by the end of December, and even continued production much after the Nakíl had made its debut [October 2016], and it would become the inspiration of several simultanuous upgrade programs, such as the Wolverine-Colada, and the KAF-90GU. The Cougar 1A2, officially introduced in February 2017, also based itself on the new ideas of the Tizona upgrade program, and it would ultimately have its influences on even the vaunted Nakíl 1A3 which showed its face in April of 2018.

The Tizona program is designed to fix several of the problems on the Broadsword, including the rediculous amount of extraneous and almost useless electronic applications that made their debut with the tank in the early 90s. Most importantly the Tizona reintroduces the narrow gun mantle turret, and gives a predecessor for all future armour programs of the Empire. Nonetheless, it does not cut on firepower, mobility and space, although ultimately it also cuts on mass by literally cutting corners. Furthermore, it decreases gun calibre, something of which is not normally done in today's world of armament design, and it decreases the amount of armour manifested throughout the perimeter of the tank. Ultimately, the shedding of superfluous electronics and the loss of pounds expressed through steel save massive amounts of Reichmarks and offered a powerful tank for an all new weight class - around fifty-one metric tons. Nevertheless, it is still comercialised as one of the best tanks in the modern market and offers serious competition against the armour of belligerent nations, include Safehaven2, New Empire and Stevid. In the end the Tizona turret would also find its way on the 2,400 UT-1 main battle tanks imported between July and October to provide commonality and decreas the amount of gun calibres on main battle tanks to simply two - the 105mm and the 120mm. The Colada upgrade package on the Wolverine Light Tank, which upgraded it to the status of a lightweight main battle tank, was, in fact, almost entirely based on the Tizona, except designed to occupy a smaller turret ring, given the smaller dimensions of the tank.

The name Tizona is based on El Canto del Mío Cid, a Spanish medieval epic written in the 11th century and based on one of the most famous Spanish generals of La Reconquista, the Tizona being one of two of his swords, now present in the Spanish Museum of the Army. It illustrates the purpose of the upgrade program - to complete a saga of powerful, but yet completely reliable main battle tanks, and offers somewhat of a comparing link between the reconquest of Ruska and the War of Golden Succession and La Reconquista. The name actually has a more interesting history behind it itself, starting with the fact that the Fuermak had originally only authorised names for future main battle tank programs that were the names of older generals to inspire patriotism. Furthermore, Spanish was one of the largest languages existant in Zarbia and SafeHaven2, the two principle belligerent neighbors of the Golden Throne. Ultimately Tizona was admitted but the naming dispute cost almost as much as the design of the upgrade program took! Necessity overtook idiocy in the end, but not after a few days lost, affecting the upgrade of over five hundred other tanks that could have been fully completed.

Turret
The turret's mantlet is formed by a trapezoid which ends in the mid-section of the turret itself, which then leads to a turret bustle in the rear. The trapezoid is flanked to the rear of the shape by two smaller trapezoids at either side to allow flat panels for the co-axial machinegun and a laser rangefinder. The turret mantlet is wide enough to allow for a thermal cover for the breech, and tall enough to give up to twenty-nine degrees of depreciation, and as low as seven degrees. The idea of reducing the size of the turret mantlet is to decrease the surface area of target to enemy rounds, knowing that statistically most rounds engage any given tank in the mantlet, weakened zones or upper glacis. In fact, the idea is entirely based on an upgrade program designed for the Panther medium battle tank that never made its debut, due to the end of the war in May and the capture of the plant in April. The Soviet Union also came to the same conclusion in a post-war analysis, but instead of reducing the size of the mantlet they attempted to increase the size of the armoured plate by overlapping the same rolled steel piece, which led to cracking and frequent maintenance - in the end, the design version of the T-54 featured a newer turret with a smaller mantlet, only enlarged with the introduction of BDD Brow appliqué armour. With the same spirit the Broadsword-Tizona turret achieves the same results. Originally the mantlet also offered a new barbette, but it was found too complex to mass produce fast enough and so the electronics were added on one the flanking 'wings' of the mantlet, near the turret corners. This trapezoid also features an upward sloping belly to reduce weight, despite the obvious shell trap - this risk was thought to be small due to the small size of the target, at any rate.

The mantlet armour is composed of a structural ceramic composition based on the Nakíl's Cermic Armech Modulíen. This version of the same composition is simply considered Cermic Armech, given that it is not modular. However, it is virtually the same thing; the three different ceramics, titanium di-boride, alumina zirconia and sintered silicon carbide are all tightly confined within walls of thick improved rolled homogenous armour. The greatest difference is that it exists in a much thinner package, and being unmodular it's also much cheaper and lighter. Totally upgrade Broadswords also boast appliqué steel plates along the open sides of the gun mantlet, although not all Tizona upgrades can be seen with the appliqué given the limited time available to upgrade before Ishme-Dagan. Nevertheless, by December all Broadswords are virtually the same. The two flanking trapezoidal wings were non-existant at the beginning of the upgrade program but were added to increase armour in these areas and to offer two flat panels for sensors and the co-axial, which didn't fit in the mantlet. The expansion is provided by bolt-on perforated titanium packages with no frontal sloping, serving only as what they are designed to do - add space for the sensors. Nevertheless, the rear is sloped negatively to allow sloping of the actual turret armour, therefore creating a sense of atmospheres. In other words, even though the penetrator does not begin to penetrate a sloping armour it, in the end, will once it hits the structural armour behind the titanium boxes, which are sloped. It therefore creates an external aura of the Leopard 2A4, but with the sloping of any other modern main battle tank.

The turret then widens in the center and finally gives way to a mid-sized barbette which holds the majority of the ammunition for the 105mm gun. The barbette also has a negative incline showing a yet larger shell trap to the rear, but again is used to save weight. The shell trap is covered by strings of ball and chains which are appliqué steel chains, literally composed of balls and chains, designed to prematurely detonate incoming rocket propelled grenades or anyother sort of hand held anti-tank weapon with a high explosive anti-tank warhead, or chemical energy warhead in general. For the doubters, the design has been proven to work in Lebanon during the 1980s and 90s, introduced with the Merkava Mk. II. The barbette itself is large enough to hold 55 105mm rounds, although another 25 rounds are stored within the turret ring, available only to the autoloader and cased in armoured boxes to reduce the threat of explosions which could literally pick up the turret. This makes the Broadsword-Tizona one of the most heavily armed main battle tanks of the current age, despite the smaller gun calibre suddenly introduced. The turret ring also stores four Pilum anti-tank missiles, based on the larger Pilum used by the Nakíl but shrunk to be fired from the 105mm gun based on the new Broadsword. The turret roof is pocketed by the same light explosive reactive armour that is used on the Nakíl, although the rest of the turret does not offer any sort of protection from explosive reactive armour. Furthermore, this armour is often times not included due to the nature of the tank commander's hatch and the fact that he often times rides unbuttoned, under control of the heavy machinegun, despite the fact it can be remote controlled and the machinegun is also often times left out due to the nature of the mission. The rest of the turret uses the same armour as the mantlet.

Armour Protection
Despite the inclusion of titanium in the turret's armour as some sort of appliqué display the chassis' armour is relatively cheap and simple, being neither made up of expensive materials nor being composite. Furthermore, it's uniform throughout the entire chassis and although at different thicknesses throughout the perimeter always non-modular and structural. It's simply composed of three layers of steel and two layers of rubber as spacing. Throughout the tank the ratio of thickness is the same, being specifically 2:1:6. These numbers pertain to the two thin layers of steel [2], the layers of rubber [1] and the back plate of steel [6]. For example, the upper glacis has a thickness of 360mm. The two thin plates are 60mm a piece, with 30mm sections of rubbers spacing between the two thin plates and the rear thin plate and the thick back plate. The back plate is 180mm thick. All three pieces of steel are perforated to enhance the preformance of the steel by forcing the penetrator to meet areas of no resistance and thus inducing yaw and forcing parts of the penetrator, especially the tip, to tear off, thus reducing the ability to penetrate. The two front plates work a role to decrease the preformance of the penetrator or HEAT warhead before it reaches the backplate which should do most of the work. Furthermore, this armour was chosen due to the fact that it is reusable with guarantee, as opposed to other armours, although newer ceramic and composite armours are also reusable - and thus, the excuse of the cost of the tank. The glacis, sloped at up to 76 degrees provides a rolled homogenous armour equivalent [ratio] of 3.4, giving the tank somewhat over 1000mm of equivalent protection, which is rather high for its weight classification and purpose.

Because the Tizona upgrade prepared the Broadsword for anti-tank warfare, as opposed to general purpose combat, the majority of the armour's weight is shifted to the frontal arc, leaving the rear thin. Nevertheless, subsequent upgrade programs will probably introduce newer appliqué armours that can be added to the Broadsword depending on the situation during this war and any future wars that may come across the path of the Empire. One of the appliqué armours withheld was a heavy explosive reactive armour which may be introduced by 2017, and a new type of brow armour to apply between the mantlet and the upper glacis - in other words, a cross between gill armour and BDD brow armour, but with newer materials and armour application. Nonetheless, these should all be regarded as future expansion programs. One of the goals of the Tizona upgrade was to reduce cost of the Broadsword, not increase it for reasons of mass production and the ability to produce and purchase much more than all enemies combined. In fact, one of the post Ishme-Dagan objectives was to establish the largest armoured force in the region, and possibly the world, but specifically all allies and belligerents of the Empire. Ishme-Dagan, and even events such as Mosnoi Bor, certainly pin pointed prestige on the Empire's armoured corp and Fedala decides to upkeep that tradition. There are rumours that the upgraded Broadswords will continue to serve even beyond tanks such as the Nakíl 1A3, or at least alongside of them.

Armament and Ammunition
The main gun is a 105mm high velocity cannon designed with similar technological applications as the 120mm gun on the Nakíl. The propellant is provided by the same hydroxyl ammonium nitrate [HAN] liquid propellant, and is provided into the combustion chamber by four moving injection pistons that are protected against the limited growth during the initial ignition of the propellant. Ultimately, this helps to reduce the space necessary to store the ammunition since the rounds are no longer two or three piece [the Challenger II uses three piece ammunition], but instead a single piece, reducing the amount of time it takes the loader to prepare the next round. In fact, the Broadsword matches the Nakíl in the time it takes to load, even though the Nakíl has one of the fastest ways of loading its two piece ammunition. Without moving, and with a snapshot round in the block, it can fire six rounds in twenty-three seconds. The Broadsword is also one of the few tanks without an autoloader [a/l] in the Ejermacht's inventory. Muzzle energy of the penetrator is rated at 26 megajoules, which means that the depleted uranium [dU] penetrator weighs 13.29 kilograms, while moving at around 1,900m/sec. Penetration achieves far surpasses one thousand millimeters of enemy armour, on average. The new gun, called 'Octavia', does not use a standard barrel, but instead is built in sections and unified by stabalisers ever meter. The rear tube is covered by a thermal insulator, called a quasi-barbette, and the breech is hidden by the mantlet and the center of the turret. The 105mm gun boasts 65 calibre lengths, making it one of the longest 105mm guns on the market and giving it the possibility to surpass the muzzle energy of equal technology 120mm guns, given that it's just as long but has a smaller diameter, thus allowing the same amount of propellant to put more pressure behind the round, regardless of the fact that it's the same velocity.

The co-axial is a mechnically fed 5.56mm machinegun, which ends inside the turret with a special type of rear feed mechanism which is provided to by a constant magazine of rounds. It has the capability of firing up to four thousand rounds per minute, although this exaggerated velocity is rarely reached in reality. The co-axial gun is sometimes matched by a 12.7mm heavy machinegun situated behind the slide hatch of the tank commander, who lacks a cupola in order to reduce the profile of the vehicle. The 12.7mm gun is designed to be fitted when there is threat of low flying close air support aircraft, or more importantly, helicopters. For the most part the gun is not included for the same purpose the cupola is not included. The co-axial can count on four thousand ready rounds, while the 12.7mm gun can be fed by two indentical internal bins of seven hundred rounds each. On the gun mantlet, to the rear, where it widens to create the 'base' of the trapezoid there is also a 60mm internal mortar which replaces a historic grenade launcher, evident on previous designs and on the Nakíl. The mortar has thirty ready to go rounds, with more stored in armoured cases in the chassis. The mortar has an average range of four thousand meters, with more or less depending on the round. It's main usage is for illumination, or anti-infantry support in the dead zone of the tank's maingun.

As said in the turret section the main gun can count on 55 rounds stored in individually armoured cases on the left side of the turret bustle. Another 15 are available in the hull, within the confines of the turret ring, while a final 20 are available to the loader once he retracts himself into the front portion of the hull, near the driver. Ammunition is an extremely important charactiristic of the design given that the tank is designed to fight in a target rich enviroment. For example, rough numbers at Ishme-Dagan, even before the battle, illustrated that there would be at the very least over one hundred thousand tanks operating in such a tight battlefield. With this piece of information, obviously the tank is also meant to survive, while the majority of armour designed to operate in such unfriendly enviroments are meant to maximise potential during a short period of time, believing that they will be knocked out in that same short period of time. Understandably, the Empire couldn't afford such heavy losses in the battle, especially given the massive import and expansion programs between May 2016 and October of that same year. Therefore, the Broadsword-Tizona is extremely round heavy.

Electronics
The Tizona upgrade introduces a simple foward looking infra-red range finger [FLIR], conformal to the armour, allowing the only public display to be the transceiver that juts about a millimeter out of the armour appliqué boxes on the wings of the turret. Using similar technologies that can be found on the 4th Generation FLIR on the Nakíl Ausf. A [1A1] the Tizona can target and classify at up to eleven kilometers, giving it the potential to engage before the enemy tank has even seen it! Coupled with a stronger gun this makes the new Broadsword-Tizona a very dangerous opponent; it's age, almost twenty-three, apparently irrelevent. The power to strike first has always been something sought in any tank design, and the newest in the Empire's collection of laser rangefinders gives her tanks the advantage on any battlefield. In fact, the Nakíl's killing power perhaps has more to do with the fact that it can successfully knock out an opponent at over eight thousand meters because of its rangefinder, as opposed to its highly advance gun system. This becomes obvious because the Broadsword can achieve a similar level of destructive ability with a smaller, less advance gun!

Likewise, the Broadsword-Tizona uses the Cornerstone fire and control system. The entire process takes only milliseconds worth of time, it can be broken up into several distinct levels of operation. First, the FCS systems gather all low resolution imagery, infra-red imagery, high resolution imagery and infra-red imagery, radar information and sensor information. Using all of this the FCS system can detect vehicle position, orientation and range, as well as provide accurate ballistic solutions, and perform threat solutions with fast countermeasure expenditure. This information is displayed to the crew, communicated with tanks in the same information network, and translated into the tank armament, providing the Broadsword with one of the best fire and control systems currently do date. The improvement on the system is mainly based around the inclusion of a conduct of fire calculator, which networks another fifteen computers which detect wind speed and direction, temperature, atmospheric pressure, apparent target motion, range data and the ballistic characteristics of the round. The new Cornerstone is also intertwined with enhanced position location reporting system [EPLRS], the BCIS [note crew section] and a sensor management system (SMS) which includes thermal, electromagnetic and acoustic management. Cornerstone is stabilized on two axes and provides with targeting data of up to eighteen targets at a time, prioritizing with what it is designed to think as the most dangerous target at the time. The inclusion of so much processing power and so many individual computers taking so many precautions allows the Tizona upgrade more accuracy when firing on the move. The entire Cornerstone system centralizes around a digibus central processing unit [CPU] which works on a military specific operating system [OS] – Sajer. As a cooperating process to the fire control system, the battle management system is a multi-sensor-aided supplement to increase the accuracy and computing velocity of Cornerstone – that said, it should really be considered as an integral part of cornerstone. The BMS also helps further cooperation between battlefield control aircraft, such as the GLI-44 Blackjester IRBC, and tanks on the ground.

For crew communication within the tank the original fibre-optic communication system, which was translated into the Nakíl and then expanded upon, has been kept due to the security of the system and the fact that it's adequate enough for the purposes of the Broadsword-Tizona. Intra-tank communications is now completed through highly encrypted very high frequency [VHF] radio communications. Given the threat of enemy signals intelligence, including jamming, the radio has the ability to change frequencies infinitely and all tanks in platoon to battalion level will be tuned in. Nevertheless, even in a secondary design such as the Broadsword-Tizona communications are considered a principle part of the tank, and are considered of utmost necessity for victory. Command tanks are linked to battlefield controls, including ground based battlefield control brigades [BCB], allowing integrated control of the battle from a third location.


[b]Statblock:
Manufacturer: Atmos
Crew: 4
Weight: 51709.5kg
Power to Weight Ratio: 26.3 hp/t
Length: 7.2m
Width: 3.35m
Height: 2.3m
Ground Clearance: .4m
Engine: 1500 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 78km/h
Range: 570km
Range With External Tanks: 930km
Trench: 5.6m
Step: 5.6m
Vertical Obstacle: 1.4m
Ford Unprepared: 1.2m
Ford Prepared: 6m
Climbing Gradient: 40x
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
105mm Liquid Propellant Gun
1x 5.66mm Co-Axial
1x 12.7mm GPMG
1x 60mm Mortar
Ammunition:
80 Rounds
4,000 Rounds
1,400 Rounds
20 Rounds
Main Gun Depression: -7/+38 degrees
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 840mm
Glacis: 1,224mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 212mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 836mm
Upper Front Turret: 600mm
Rear Turret: 500-550mm
Rear Hull: 480mm-210mm
Side Hull: 800mmmm
Mantlet: 1,340mm
Weakened Zone: 1,400mm
Front Turret Corners: 1,400mm
Side Turret: 410mm
Roof: 140mm
Suspension: Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 3.7 Million

OOC: OoH! Looks like a Nice Light tank...

OOC: How much does the upgrade itself cost for existing broadswords? that procurement cost seems to be for brand new vehicles

[OOC: Mac, out of curiousity, is the Broadsword upgrade of yours an early design that you made, or another design that somebody else made that you took the liberty of upgrading to? Do you have the link to the original Broadsword?]

OOC: Mac- Is there still a limit on the tanks production? and when will the A2 version be out because im wondering wether it'l be worth waiting for it atm...

BTW- Best tank on NS for MT atm i think, :D, as suggested by questers of anyone :P

IC: Hotdogs2 would like to put in a small order for 10 Arca IV Nakíl MBT's for testing and evaluation purposes. A total of $130million USD will be wired upon confirmation of the order.

[OOC:
Spizania: I would say that upgrading alone would cost around .7 million [700,000 USD]. It shouldn't be too expensive, although upgrades in history have had a way to cost more than the tank costs. But that's avoidable for the Broadsword, since the original tank cost around 9 million!

Southeast Asia: I designed the Broadsword sometime in 2004. [ur=http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8595675&postcount=4]BredtSvert[/url].

Hotdogs: The limit there is a veil for people I don't really want to sell to. Technically, since you are allied with Questers ICly I don't really want to sell to you, but it's more for people who are newer and I don't really trust - so you don't fall into that category apparently! The Nakíl 1A2 will be designed ICly around February 2017, which is technically when sales of Nakíls start ICly; but for that, I have to wait for SafeHaven2 to post, so I just went ahead and used fluid time to start selling the tank. :) ]

Telegram to HotDogs2's Ministry of Defense
We're glad that someone directed you to our tanks, good sirs! The order for ten Nakíl's has been confirmed without a problem and they will be sent almost immediately. We hope that the tank passes the evaluation without problems, as we expect. If it turns out to be too expensive to purchase in number then perhaps we could direct you to the R.95U Broadsword-Tizona, which may not be as heavy in armour protection, but is faster and has a fairly powerful gun - if the Nakíl is ahead of the game, the Broadsword is at least with the game. And it goes for about four times less, which is always an advantage. Regardless, we leave the ultimate decision for you! We hope to see good results in these evaluations. Thank you for your interest.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Communiqué to the Aequatian Republic Army
Good enough! The four vehicles will be sent immediately without further adue, and we hope to hear good news from the seperate vehicle trials! If you, or your organization, have any emerging questions keep in mind that we would be estatic to answer them. Until later then!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

We thank the Kriegzimmer Board for their support of these trials, we shall keep your group informed as to the progress of the trials. Also, we would like permission to modify the vehicles to Aequatian standards with domestically-produced electronics and weapons. We would like to modify two of the vehicles after completing environment trials.

Modification of our tanks is actually suggested; we understand that different nations have different priorities when it comes to design. These priorities can range between differences in geography, or difference in the amount of money one could spend to produce the tank [although we do not give unlimited production rights, we do give production rights for a limited amount of tanks and their replacements; normally, people who change them - and they are sold for cheaper per tank, depending on what isn't included]. So, we understand and attempt to persuade people to design their own variants, specific to their own situation. We normally give that version a different ending, as well, for example something like Nakíl 1AQ, or something - either the client can choose, or we choose something random for them.

[OOC: Good news. :) Soon the Wolverine-Colada will be finished, and the once light tank will be a new medium battle tank; lighter than the Broadsword-Tizona, but no less powerful!]

Modification of our tanks is actually suggested; we understand that different nations have different priorities when it comes to design. These priorities can range between differences in geography, or difference in the amount of money one could spend to produce the tank [although we do not give unlimited production rights, we do give production rights for a limited amount of tanks and their replacements; normally, people who change them - and they are sold for cheaper per tank, depending on what isn't included]. So, we understand and attempt to persuade people to design their own variants, specific to their own situation. We normally give that version a different ending, as well, for example something like Nakíl 1AQ, or something - either the client can choose, or we choose something random for them.

The first modification would be the replacement of the main gun with the AMI 125mm K1 gun so that it could accomidate the BGM-210 Spike ATGM. With a limited domestic production run, we would more than likely equip our Aggressor Armoured Cavalry Regiments for training purposes.

Southeast Asia: I designed the Broadsword sometime in 2004. [ur=http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8595675&postcount=4]BredtSvert[/url].
[OOC: Ah, I see. I didn't realize that BredtSvert was Dienstadi for Broadsword. Nifty upgrade, and a good NS grade alternative for budget racked nation-states. Is it also designed to be a main battle tank, like it's older variant, or does the Kriegzimmer redesign of the BredtSvert turn it into something else?]

[OOC: BredtSvert is actually Norwegian; I designed it before I 'wrote' Dienstadi. I used to call all my tanks Panzerkampfwagen too; until I came out with Armerch carríer [Arca.]. At Ishme-Dagan most of my tanks will be Broadswords and Cougars, so I thought it would be best to ugprade them during September 2016, in which there is a small lull in the fighting planned. I'm also going to upgrade the Wolverine light tank into a main battle tank, and I'm going to upgrade around 300 KAF-90 that I've captured over the battlefields, which is New Imperial, as well as the UT-1, which is DPUO's new tank, and around 10,000 various Juumanistran models.]

SNIP

OOC: Lol, dw i won't be joining in, although seeing as safeheaven is kinda dead i believe (i checked the thread as currently im sorting out a seperate conflict between Stevid/IH and kanami and a couple more nations. I thought it was funny when questers sent me in your direction when you were warring with him, you must have been doing well with it :D.

IC:

Hotdogs2, has completed its rapid research program succesfully, which pitted it against several other tanks in mock-up battles and also by testing armour penetration etc. We found that the Arca IV Nakíl Main Battle Tank from Kriegzimmer is the most suitable tank available for the Army and Marines. We are however concerned as to the fact that not all variants required are as yet available, so to this effect we shall begin looking to construct systems of the following versions for the Nakil:

Mine-clearance Module.
Heavy Recovery Module.
Combat Breacher/Engineer Module, ordered with no turret.
Command and Control & Similar Electronic Fighting system system, again with no turret but with all armour elsewhere.
Anti-Air defence system, again with no turret(TXI.14 with no howitzer)
155mm SPG, again with no turret.

For this reason we wish to ask Kriegzimmer for porduction rights to the basic design(without weapon and electronic equipement or turret) so we can change the chasis length etc as neccessary(details shall be passed on to Kriegzimmer of course), for an as of yet undisclosed number of the basic vehicle in above stated form. The normal MBT and variants that Kriegzimmer sells shall be purchased from Kriegzimmer and we shall not be looking for production rights.

To that effect we would like to put in an initial order for 12,000 tanks at a cost of $156billion NSD, which will cover the basic needs of 6million troops. Along with these tanks we would like to order 800 SRE.24 Asnit Multiple Rocket Launcher at $2.32billion USD, 480 SRE.14 Fernántes [TLB] Tank- Launched Bridge at $1.248billion USD, 480 TXI.76 'André' 240mm Recoilless Howitzer at $1.728billion USD, 960 'Síeren' Tank Destroyer $3.84billion and also 480 RIT.76 Regisnár Tactical Surface to Surface Rocket Launcher at $1.184billion USD.

Total for the order is $166.32Billion USD, and we expect we shall have a final order for 4 times as many MBT's if not more.

Seeing as You never Really Responded in my contracts thread, I'll repost the order here.

70,000 Nakils@ 13 Million a pop,
Prodcution Rights to
RIT-76 Regisnar- 370 Million
SRE-14 Fernantes-260 Million
SRE-24 Asnit-290 Million
TXi-76 Andre-360 Million
TXI-14 Carposis-280 Million
Sieren Tank Destroyer-400 Million
And if possible, the production rights to the Missiles and rounds.

Total without the Prod Rights for the Rounds: 911.96 Billion USD, to be wired over the duration of the construction of the Nakils (The Money for the Designs will be wired on confirmation)

OOC: Mac, I figured it'd be good to play it out a little.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=497998

The Department of Defense of the Republic of Blackwood would like to place an initial order 480 SOV.17 Ejírad infantry fighting vehicles, and 240 Broadsword Tizona R.95U main battle tanks. Further orders will be placed whenthe vehicles have undergone and passed field trials.

We would also want to know if it is possible to purchase domestic production rights, limited or otherwise, as well as rights to make indigenous modifications and upgrades to the above systems.
Further, we would like to know if it would be possible to fit the Nakíl RIT.76 Regisnár upgrade to the hull of an R.95U tank.

Signed
Minister of National Armed Forces Jack Crawford

[OOC: Aequatio, responded.]

Telegram to HotDogs2's Ministry of Defense
Although there will soon will be a dedicated mine clearing vehicle, which will be the combat engineering vehicle with modular attachments, the Nakíl tank actually has four attachment lugs, two on each side of the glacis plate, to attach a mine clearing system - the Ejermacht uses either a scorpion type system [flails], or a roller device. Irregardless, it allows for quick mine clearing when you don't have a CEV handy. The future CEV will also mount a large crain for battlefield recovery, and the combat breacher can be achieved with the CEV by swapping the modular mine rollers with a heavy plow. [The command variant is sorta assumed when you buy the tank. It's the same thing, but instead, all the antennas actually work; they all have the same numbers of atennas to avoid highlighting the command vehicle.] Nevertheless, Kriegzimmer is happy to give you the right to extend the chassis and replace the modular armour with lighter armour for indegenous surrogates.

The entire order has been confirmed. The 12,000 Nakíl 1A1s will be delivered at a rate of 500 per month, meaning the order will complete in two years. Everything else will take between two to five months to fully prepare and unload at your home ports. We're glad you plan to expand the order of main battle tanks at a later date; we surely are waiting for it. If you have any questions regarding any of these systems do not hesitate to ask. We enjoy replying!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~


Communiqué to iIllior
[OOC: Sorry, I didn't watch the thread when I was in Spain.]

The order has been confirmed! The Nakíls will be delivered at 1000 per month, or a total of 70 months, or a little bit under 6 years. All the production rights can be delivered within one or two days - there should be no problem with that. Before we bid you good luck we wish to thank you for choosing the Nakíl as your main battle tank, or at least as one of your main battle tanks. We guarantee that you will not be let down. Thank you for your business!

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~


Communiqué to Relative Liberty
We're happy that you have chosen the Ejíard and the Broadsword-Tizona as two vehicles that will be in government trials for possibly procurement at a later date. We happily confirm the order and both orders will be completed by the end of the month. We know that both vehicles will do very well in the trials, but will leave the final decision to you - we are sure that their abilities will be highlighted during the trials. Limited production rights are available for both, and we promote the engineering of indegenous versions, understanding the necessity to change parts in order to satisfy certain enviroments that are individual to your nation. Furthermore, the Regísnar's gun can be easily transferrable to the R.95U, given that chassis size is more or less similar.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

[OOC: Wow, it went through. o.O]

OOC: Yeah, I know... it's rather scary...

Gentlemen,

The Department of War of the heroes nation of -Scaevola- is interested in a trial program involving two of your AFVs. Here is our proposal:

1) Purchase of 100 Sieren (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10983882&postcount=122) Tank Destroyer, at a cost of 400 million. Spares will be included and an initial running cost of 2.5 million for one year paid in advance.

2) Purchase of 100 GBX.40 Dejiard (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10988175&postcount=125) Urban Assault Unit, at a cost of 380 million. Spares will be included and an initial running cost of 2.5 million for one year paid in advance.

If after the trial period they prove satisfactory, we would be interested in procuring production rights and rights to modify the design and internal systems as we see fit. The spares and running contract would remain in place for as long as practicable due to domestic modifications (if any).

So, the total initial order total cost: 785 million for 200 units, spares and running costs for 5 thousand miles per unit.

Are these figures and terms acceptable?

Money has been wired.

[OOC: Oops, sorry, I didn't even notice there were more posts here.]

Communiqué to Scaevola
We're glad that you have chosen two of our variants to run trials in your nation for possible procurement. We always support vehicle trials, and so the order has been confirmed. Both batches of 100 vehicles will be sent by the end of the month, along with enough spare parts to upkeep the vehicle, in heavy training, for the extent of the trials. We are large proponents of indegenous modification of vehicles, knowing that each nation has its own priorities, so by all means please modify them if you wish to procure their production liscences after the trials! Irregardless of the outcome, we would like to be informed post-trials of how our vehicles did. Thank you for your kindness and for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

IC:

Having received our 12,00 MBT's and variations we have found they are an excellent MBT for our nation, and so have decided to purchase a further number of these tanks and variants, going by the same numbers as previously stated, making our one type of package as such:


12,000 tanks at a cost of $156billion USD
Along with these tanks we would like to order 800 SRE.24 Asnit Multiple Rocket Launcher at $2.32billion USD
480 SRE.14 Fernántes [TLB] Tank- Launched Bridge at $1.248billion USD
480 TXI.76 'André' 240mm Recoilless Howitzer at $1.728billion USD
960 'Síeren' Tank Destroyer $3.84billion
480 RIT.76 Regisnár Tactical Surface to Surface Rocket Launcher at $1.184billion USD.

Total for the order is $166.32Billion USD, however we wish to purchase a further six of these packages at a total cost of $997.92 Billion USD for the 72,000 MBT's plus variants.

We shall soon look into purchasing production rights to construct our own vairants as previously stated and also at purchasing APC's from your company, if you could list any APC's and Artilery pieces you sell it would be great appreciated making our job much easier, something we never object to at the Hotdogs2 Government!

We have received the vehicles we ordered, and we most impressed with how they have performed. I have therefore the great pleasure and honour to place a further order of 2400 Broadsword-Tizonas and 4800 Ejírad IFVs. Also, we would like to order five hundred Regísnar gun systems, for use installation on our Broadsword-Tizonas. Furthermore, we would like to buy production rights limited to an initial 3500 Broadsword-Tizonas and 7000 Ejírads, with the ability to renew the contract in fifteen years.
Forty per cent of the total cost will be paid upon confirmation, with the rest to be delivered every fifth month after the production has commenced.

Signed
Minister of National Armed Forces, Jack Crawford

Telegram to Hotdogs2
We're glad that you've found that the Nakíl is the correct main battle tank for your nation, and we're even more glad that you have decided to procure more of them. Consequently, your order has been approved. The price was recently dropped from $13m to $9m due to the high amount of production. Therefore, the total price for the 12,000 new Nakíls would come out to $108b, as opposed to $156b. These Nakíls can be delivered in two years, in batches of five hundred per month. The rest can be delivered in two to four months. We're glad that you have returned, and we hope to see you again in the near future. Taking into consideration the further six packages you can expect the entire order to be completed in six to eight years for the MBTs, as we slowly increase production related to your order to 1,000 per month, and perhaps three years for the other variants.

Now, for a list of artillery pieces and APCs that Kriegzimmer sells. Our newest IFV can carry eight passangers, not including the 2 crew members, and it's the Ejíard (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11013051&postcount=1508). We also sell a joint project that was conducted between the Empire and Mekugi and that is the Arica. I Shalmaneser (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10254597&postcount=1037), a heavy armoured personnel carrier that carries 12 passangers and 3 crew members. Our newest self-propelled howitzer [SPH] is the Gurtantel (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10877801&postcount=1448), and we also sell a self-propelled artillery [SPA] piece called the Corbulo (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9582285&postcount=428). Kriegzimmer currently also offers two different self-propelled mortars, the G6 120mm (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10471544&postcount=1250) and the G17 254mm mortar (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10469006&postcount=1246). If in need of a lighter mortar there is a self-propelled mortar variant of the G11 tracked series called the G11/B. You can find the G11 series here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10476388&postcount=1255).

Thank you for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Communiqué to Relative Liberty
Kriegzimmer is happy to hear about the success of the Broadsword, and it's even happier to confirm the order for a further 2,400 Broadsword-Tizonias and 4,800 Ejiard IFVs. These specific vehicles will finish their export run in relevance to this order within eight months, while the Regísnars can be finished in one month. Production costs for 3,500 Tizonas and 7,000 Ejiards has also been given, along with the ability to renew in fifteen years.

Thank you for your kindness, and for your business,

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

IC:

Hotdogs2 will look into the equipment you named, in particular the larger APC, although if you have any with a higher capacity we would be interested in such a vehicle(due to our usage of the AAAC7 21Man APC we would need to restructure our battalions slightly).

We shall soon return i am sure, and would like to quickly ask what the production rights to the nakil MBT and variants(due to our nations varying needs) are.

[OOC: I've pretty much worked out how the whole of my frontline army is going to be kitted out, so once i have the correct vehicles i've listed(e.g. APC and IFV etc) i'll have a nice order ;). Then onto troop armament and ordering the aircraft(not too hard)...

PS- Do you have a light fighting vehicle at all? Something wheeled maybe with some good firepower but nothing too big like the LAV's the USA use?

[OOC: Production rights to the Nakíl are only offered in limited production rights, however, I'd be willing to give away production rights to the chassis without the armour, meaning you can build the chassis to design variants for yourself based on it. I think that would go for something like 100 or 200 million. I don't think it would be that expensive. I actually have no wheeled designs at all.]

[OOC: Mac, you still need to respond to Kahan's reform threads, just for the record, and not to be pushy....]

IC:

Hotdogs2 would like to ask for the production rights to the chassis of the vehicles so we can modify the current designs to our specifications and designs. We are very pleased with the current design as it has served well in all our excercises and are doing well in our current Observational/Peace Keeping engagements.

If we could have a price for it you can take it as paid for immediatly as long as the designs are on their way. We will of course keep them under lock and key and will be under our stringent security measures.

Regards, Hotdogs2 Military High Command

[OOC: Hotdogs2, just assume that the correct price was paid. :P And consider this a confirmation, as well. Southeast Asia, I responded, by the way! Well... I just did this morning.]

To: Kriegzimmer Board, The Macabees
From: Aequatian Republic Army (ARA) Training and Doctrine Command (ARA-TRADOCCOM)

It is with great regret that we must refuse to adopt the Arca IV Nakil main battle tank for service within the Aequatian Republic Army. While an impressive design, with the limitations on the numbers that are available to produce, we cannot accept it as we would require widespread production to equip our armoured formations fully. The four vehicles purchased for vehicle trials will be returned to your nation along with the technical advisors sent.

We thank you for the opportunity and wish you all the best.

General Steven Clancy (ARA),
Commanding Officer of ARA-TRADOCCOM

OOC:Aequatio, i believe you can buy them in whatever numbers you need now...

Mac, if you don't want to design an APC like i need thats fine, but if i design one could you check stats etc and possibly add a bit and use your weapons?

IC:

Hotdogs2 finds itself in need of a further 106,000 IV Nakíl Main Battle Tank's to completely replace our current tank force consisting of outdated designs.

The total cost is $954,000 Million USD, or $954 Billion USD. This will complete our current tank necessities although we shall look into investing in the tank for the Marine force should our tests with amphibious assaults be successful.

A further order for the tank variants will follow shortly and we also expect to order our APC's from your nation soon as well as any other vehicles we feel a necesity for although currently we can only order the tanks as we look over our current batallions and access their needs.

We would like to ask you if you have any plans on building a larger personell carrier as we use our APC's very much like trucks due to the high danger of anti-vehicle weapons which a truck could not withstand and which gives greater protection to our troops. If this is not possible we would be interested in offering your company a contract to aid us with advice on the design of such a vehicle to create something in line with the best vehicles currently available.

Regards, Defence Minister J. Alders

[OOC: Aequatio, Hotdogs2 is correct - that maximum is outdated. I just deleted it. I never enforced it. Regardless, in the end I would expect that you would produce your own tank, in any case. Aequatio has an extensive history of producing indegenous main battle tanks, does it not?

Hotdogs2, I'm too lazy to make an IC post after this OOC post, so consider the order confirmed. I do actually sell a large armoured personnel carrier - what I call a heavy APC - called the Shalmaneser (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10254597&postcount=1037). I consider this one of the best designs of a HAPC on NationStates. If that doesn't suit your needs I'm sure Kriegzimmer or Atmos can design one for you.]

OOC: I had considered adopting it fuly, however, now that my new programme has picked up with the development on the Draftroom, I think I'll stick to keeping with it. Although I may arm my Aggressor Cavalry Regiments with this MBT.

I do have a history of producing tanks, but they have never been on par with contemporary tanks such as the Nakil, the Phalanx or the M160A2. (I'm hopeful about this current design though.)

IC:

Although very much impressed by the Arica. I 'Shalmaneser' HAPC we believe we could do with an amphibious capable vehicle to be used by our marine forces in their amphibious assaults if ever needed. We currently use the outdated AAAV, which, although at the time was an excellent asset to our military, is now needing a completely new type to replace it.

If Kriegzimmer feels it has the capabilities and the need to create an Amphibious APC with a carrying capacity of around 18 troops which can also be used as a transport if so needed. Tracked of course and with a heavy armament of a 30mm Cannon or better and also at least one machine gun and two missile launchers.

The vehicle would be prefered in two variants, a fully amphibious, marine version, and a normal army land based version. If this is possible it would be add a great new edge to our forces, and when used with IFV's and MBT's would give us the capacity to quickly transport troops to the frontline, and if nedeed give some support before making a safe retreat from any enemy vehicles.

The reason for wanting such a high troop capacity is because we believe in using our APC's as often as possible in troop transport so as to provide a safer mode of transport as compared to trucks or lightly armed vehicles which so often can come to the prety of smaller arms fire such as heavy caliber machine guns.

If you feel it worth your while then we would be glad to support you in your building of such a vehicle and are sure that if our requests were meet they would be readily purchased by our forces.

[OOC: I need to finish Blackhelm's main battle tank and Hailandkill's Nakíl variant, which I will do simultanuously. Then I will work on the amphibious APC and a new ATGM simultanuously, as well.]

[OOC: I need to finish Blackhelm's main battle tank and Hailandkill's Nakíl variant, which I will do simultanuously. Then I will work on the amphibious APC and a new ATGM simultanuously, as well.]

[OOC: Sweet, your doing it. Thanks alot, btw! You do remember what I was asking for right?]

[OOC: Yea, maximize it's killing potential. I have it done on paper; I just need to do the write-up on here and it will be done.]

[OOC: Yea, maximize it's killing potential. I have it done on paper; I just need to do the write-up on here and it will be done.]

[OOC: Yes, well that and not have to be replaced for a while, like with the stuff you said you were doing. I thought this was an IC secret thing between me and you?]

OOC: When you can get around to it mac, mind digging up those old plans for that ATGM that you and I had in the works earlier in the summer?

[OOC: My harddrive crashed, so I have nothing, although we can start from the beginning again. Hailandkill, IC secret? Well, I can't technically bring you up to 1A2 status until the 1A2 is released. :P It will just be a better version than the 1A1; well, better in respect to being designed to be simply superior to it in tank killing potential.]

[OOC: Hailandkill, make comments [ulr=http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=2871&st=0&#last]here[/url].]

Sneak peak to the Nakíl 1A2:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakilfinal.png

Remember, the faster A Passion Play progresses the faster the Nakíl 1A1U will be released. ;)

Looking good, Mac, although the hull looks a little short on the front for my taste.

Ahh, the balls and chains from the Mark II Merkava, "the poor man's reactive armour."

[OOC: Mac, do you have a link to articles detailing weapon tests of liquid propellants used in MBT's or no? Just curious.]

Everything I have is on paper; I have one in PDF form, but I bought that one.

Second try. I can't draw the top of the turret for shizzle.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakilfinalflat.png

Mac, is the picture attached the Giod Mk.2? Seems interesting but some arrows pointing things out would be even better ;).

Like the new turret, adds more realism. The A2 is definatly a very different Variant, it seems beefed up somehow, the canon in fact looks like a larger calibre from a quick comparison with A1 and A2...

I await the final results with great anitcipation, although have the Nakils actually gone into service yet? and if so as A1's or A2's?

The way it's RPd is that the A1s will slowly be brought into service for field testing and on emergency beginning September 2016. Export will begin in Febraury, which is when the A2 is released for the Ejermacht. In June 2017 the upgrade version of the A1 [the A1U] will be released for everyone else.

Message from the Office of the Commander in Chief of the People's Ground Forces of the Socialist Sultanate Dutchydom of Franberry

The Socialist Sultanate Dutchydom of Franberry would like to request a large order. The Ground Forces feel that the Nakíl 1A MBT is a wonderful piece of equipment, and that it meets the rquirements set by the PGFSSDF.

We would like to order 10,000 (ten thousand) of these great machines. However, we would most apreciate it if the 5.61mm GPMGs and the 5.66mm Co-axial could be replaced with 7.62mm GPMGs.

We eagerly await your reply,

Commander in Chief of the Ground Forces, Supreme Grand Field Marshall of the Republic, Leader of the Armies of the Sultanate, Commander of the Imperial Holy Army of the Dutchydom, Grand Knight of the First Class, Distinguished Order for Combat, Valour, Honor and Comradeship, Keeper of the Cristal Sword,

Giancarlo Finishalle

Ahh excellent.

However, once the A2 is released if i was to say get some info on it from an intelligence source(which i could RP) on the battlefields of the war or even find a knocked out Nakil A2 and from that make our own updates if necessary for some of our tanks? A Modular system could be useful if the A2 or the AU will have something useful to us...

Communiqué to Giancarlo Finishalle, Commander in Chief of the People's Ground Forces of the Socialist Sultanate Dutchydom of Franberry

We're glad that the Nakíl 1A1 has been suggested to meet the needs of your armed forces, and we're glad that you agreed. Although we do not produce tanks with those guns, given that our factories are not designed to put out massive amounts of rifles of those calibres, we can sell the tanks without the two machine guns, and these can be added by your armed forces after without much needed to alter it. You only need to fit the guns inside - the tanks will be designed with two large enough mounts to mount a gun of that calibre. The ten thousand Nakíls will be sent in minor batches of 200 per month, meaning the entire order should be completely within four years.

Thank you for your business,

Kriegzimmer

[[b]OOC: Hotdogs2, maybe, although you can bet that the Ejermacht is going to try its best not to leave a tank behind. The biggest possibility for getting one is if Safehaven2 somehow regains the initiative to launch a counterattack and gain lost ground. Otherwise, we'll be occupying territory where we've lost tanks.]

[OOC: Looks somewhat better now, though I think you need to make it look a little more sleek for aesthetic effect. And Mac, what is the tank's primary tank inspirations from the real world?]

[OOC: What do you mean by more sleek? And don't hold back; the more you tell me the better. A friend of a friend that lives in Argentina just sent me three pictures of three WWII vehicle drawings he did, and it inspired me. He even drew the discoloration and rust. In any case, the turret is a mix between the Merkava Mk. III, Challenger 2E and M1A2 Abrams. I have a lot of time to draw it. I think I might start over again, and this time try to color. I have to read a new book that I bought over the net before I start to design the Nakíl, so I have plenty of time. ;) ]

[OOC: What do you mean by more sleek? And don't hold back; the more you tell me the better. A friend of a friend that lives in Argentina just sent me three pictures of three WWII vehicle drawings he did, and it inspired me. He even drew the discoloration and rust. In any case, the turret is a mix between the Merkava Mk. III, Challenger 2E and M1A2 Abrams. I have a lot of time to draw it. I think I might start over again, and this time try to color. I have to read a new book that I bought over the net before I start to design the Nakíl, so I have plenty of time. ;) ]
[OOC: Well, more streamlined and stylish, if you will. The Leopard-esque turret of the N1 was better than when it was during the works and sleeker than this. And is the photo the Arca IV Mark 1A1 or 1A2?]

[OOC: The new one is the 1A2.]

[OOC: Hee... this is the book I bought that's going to be my bible for the Nakíl 1A2.]

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Books/TankWarfareSimpkin.jpg

That book looks suprisingly large Mac.

Does the book go into detail about tank tactics or is it more how both NATO and Soviet tanks were constructed and how they were produced to defeat their opposite counter parts?

Of course you can't beat an A-10 though if you have air supperiorety ;).

That book looks suprisingly large Mac.

Does the book go into detail about tank tactics or is it more how both NATO and Soviet tanks were constructed and how they were produced to defeat their opposite counter parts?

Of course you can't beat an A-10 though if you have air supperiorety ;).

[OOC: It goes into tactics, tanks and really specific information on tank design.

EDIT: By the time the Nakíl is done you can say that it will be extremely difficult for an RPG to penetrate the rear, and I'm not going to increase armour thickness. ;) ]

[OOC: It goes into tactics, tanks and really specific information on tank design.

EDIT: By the time the Nakíl is done you can say that it will be extremely difficult for an RPG to penetrate the rear, and I'm not going to increase armour thickness. ;) ]

Mac, your expertise and never ending effort you put into these designs never fails to amaze me. You should sell your ideas to the military of some country or another, steal the blue-prints for chobham armour and set up your own RL tank business :-P.

[OOC: For Hailandkill.]

Nakíl 1A1HK Main Battle Tank

Statblock:
Manufacturer: Kriegzimmer Conglomerate
Crew: 3
Weight: 58,930.15kg
Power to Weight Ratio: 28.6 hp/t
Length: 9.1m
Length of Gun: 6.96m
Width: 3.563m
Height: 2.6m
Ground Clearance: .4m
Engine: 1690 hp Gas Turbine
Maximum Velocity: 85km/h
Range: 600km
Range With External Tanks: 900km
Trench: 5.6m
Step: 5.6m
Vertical Obstacle: 1.4m
Ford Unprepared: 1.8m
Ford Prepared: 6m
Climbing Gradient: 40x
Fire and Control Computer: Cornerstone
Armament:
120mm Light Weight High Breech Pressure
1x 5.66mm Co-Axial
2x. 5.61mm GPMG
1x Four Barrel Grenade Launcher
Ammunition:
36 Rounds
1,200 Rounds
1,000 Rounds Each
400 Grenades
Main Gun Depression: -7/+38 degrees
Armor [Actual Thickness without ERA]:
Lower Hull: 300mm
Glacis: 400mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 100mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 280mm
Upper Front Turret: 380mm
Rear Turret: 137mm
Rear Hull: 124mm
Side Hull: 375mm
Mantlet: 380mm
Weakened Zone: 400mm
Front Turret Corners: 400mm
Side Turret: 120mm
Roof: 60mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent vs. KE]:
Lower Hull: 900mm
Glacis: 1,480mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 225mm
Front Side Turret/ Side Turret: 756mm
Upper Front Turret: 646mm
Rear Turret: 516mm
Rear Hull: 487.5mm
Side Hull: 787.5mm
Mantlet: 2,256.25
Weakened Zone: 2,361.4mm
Front Turret Corners: 2,325.58mm
Side Turret: 450mm
Roof: 105mm
Armor [Rolled Homogenous Equivalent with ERA vs. CE]:
Lower Hull: 1,400mm
Glacis: 2,580mm
Front 1/3 Side Hull: 850mm
Front Side Turret/Side Turret: 1,590mm
Upper Front Turret: 1,445mm
Rear Turret: 1,198mm
Rear Hull: 1,187mm
Side Hull: 1,700mm
Mantlet: 3,540mm
Weakened Zone: 3,675mm
Front Turret Corners: 3,750mm
Side Turret: 1,030mm
Roof: 415mm
Suspension: Active and Dynamic Hydropneumatic Suspension System
Sensors & Range:
4th Generation FLIR @ 13km targeting range; 8km classification range
3rd Generation LADAR @ ~10km classification range
Millimeter Wave [MMW] RADAR @ 11km classification range
Night Vision: Integrated with sensors.
NBC Protection: Air-tight chassis and turret, air filtration and overpressure air conditioning system, masks and uniforms.
Procurement Cost: 10.7 Million

Armour Warfare in the First Period of War [War of Golden Succession]: The Killian Perspective
Hailandkill's troop deployments to area began prior to the War of Golden Succession, under the administration of Jonach I. Indeed, Killian troops made up the only foreign contingent in the Empire until the War of Golden Succession. Like the Ejermacht of the period the Killian armed forces also deployed the elderly Broadsword, which had not seen a single upgrade since its inception into the armed forces and still remained one of the better tanks of the region. With the Broadsword Hailandkill entered the war in May, 2016, with a violent counterattack at Mons Dei which saw much of the original armour deployed to the area destroyed, along with a major portion of the rebel armour. The Broadsword, nonetheless, continued in service in lieu of the newer Cougar for the Second Battle of Mons Dei in July of that year, while the first replacements began to arrive from Killian and Imperial factories in the latter days of that month, and during August, meaning many Cougars saw action at Aurillac. Nevertheless, the Broadsword remained the main battle tank of the Killian Army.

Although there were plans to switch production over to the newer Cougar news of the release of the Nakíl halted Killian transfer to the heavier tank and simply planned to procure production rights to the Nakíl. Nevertheless, Cougar production began for at least three months and at least one thousand Cougars would see action under the Killian banner. Despite this, by late September the first Nakíl 1A1HKs began to arrive at the front. By October at least two thousand Nakíl 1A1s would be under the flag of the Empire, while another five hundred 1A1Hks would fight with Hailandkill. Both tanks would act as test beds to work out the kinks to make the 1A1 perfect for export starting in February, 2017, and to allow for a further upgrade of the 1A1, the 1A2 and the 1A1HK2.

Regardless, the procurement program began in August, 2016, and actual production began September, 2016. The Killian's requested more or less a totally unique design for their own purposes, which included optimizing it for tank on tank warfare, as opposed to the 1A1's doctrine of having a lot of everything for every situation. The 1A1HK was completed between the time period of July and August [the Nakíl was completed between the same time, but the Nakíl was completely based off research beginning since the late 1980s, and the only rushed part was the design of the turret and chassis]. Both the 1A1HK and the 1A1 would suffer from similar problems to those suffered by German Tigers and Panthers at Kursk in July, 1943. Nevertheless, by export these would be fixed, and the two tanks would have already seen updates for the indegenous markets of the Empire and of Hailandkill.

The Nakíl 1A1HK would see more combat in Jagada than it would see in Ruska. In fact, the majority of the newly produced tanks would be rushed to that front, as opposed to Ishme-Dagan, where Killian Cougars and Broadswords already had a pronounced advantage over Havenic armoured vehicles. It can probably be said that the future of Greater Dienstand will be shaped by the Nakíl, more so than any other weapon in existance.

Upgrades
The Nakíl 1A1HK offers the same technology as the Nakíl 1A1 in terms of gunnery, however, it includes a larger propellant cell for the insertion of a larger amount of liquid propellant for ignition. The aim is to increase total muzzle energy from ~28MJ to ~31MJ, which can fire a larger penetrator - around 17.2kg worth of mass at 1,900m/sec! Unfortunately, barrel life has been reduced to ~500 shots, although since the tank is designed to fight other tanks, and not as a mobile artillery piece it should be fine. The ammunition used is completely indegenous in the absence of a 17.2kg round and in lieu of the expected release of the Macabee XG.453 armour piercing fin stabalized discarding sabot, which will have an expected penetration of over 1,500mm! The indegenous round is actually designed within the Empire, by Atmos, although production is completely indegenous to Hailandkill - the round is simply the XG.274, a 31.2 L/d ratio titanium rod [just less of 900mm length, that is]. This new round should penetrate ~1,350mm+ of armour, which means that it has the capability of knocking out any enemy tank present at the War of Golden Succession at ranges of 3,000m+, and should knock out the armour at ranges of <2,000m when dealing with the frontal arc - at least against the KAF-90s and older Stevidian armour.

Armour wise the heavy explosive reactive armour [HERA] has been excluded from the package to reduce weight [around 4mtn]. Although this ultimately reduces armour protection by over 600mm versus kinetic energy threats the fact of the matter is that there are no rounds in existance that can penetrate the armour without it, regardless [still, over 2,000mm+] and ultimately the drop in weight will give the Nakíl 1A1HK faster mobility, better manueverability, and a better overall preformance giving it a marked advantage over enemy main battle tanks. The actual ceramic armour modules have also been made smaller along the mantlet, weakened zones and turret corners, reducing weight where traditionally there has been the most armour on the tank. Ultimately, the Nakíl 1A1HK has sheded ~6mtn of weight! This would have a profound impact on future upgrade packages for the Nakíl 1A1, especially the Nakíl 1A2.

Furthermore, the Nakíl 1A1HK, since it is indegenously produced within Hailandkill [with limited production rights; the country has to go through Kriegzimmer to begin production of a new batch] has a different turret, as well. Simply said, it's smaller. Instead of two FASTDRAW autoloaders the Nakíl uses a single FASTDRAW autoloader in the turret and has another autoloader ready in the foward areas of the chassis, much like the Leclerc main battle tank. This ultimately saves much weight as well, with the reduction of surface area to armour. However, that means that the 1A1HK looses twelve rounds in the turret, as although the single FASTDRAW autoloader has been augmented to hold 36 rounds, the original dual pack boasted 48. Nevertheless, that does mean that the tank has a total of seventy-two rounds, half in the turret and half in the chassis. This autoloader is available through the turret ring and can be lifted and can exchange the older autoloader within the fire walls.

Apart from these three changes the Nakíl 1A1 and the 1A1HK are almost identical. Ultimately, crew training will make the difference, meaning that the Nakíl 1A1 in the hands of the Empire might be superior to te 1A1HK of Hailandkill, but surely the Killian 1A1HK will be superior to the majority of the 1A1s which will begin export in February, 2017; not to mention, by then the 1A1HK2 will have already been released!

Future Upgrade Possibilities
The Nakíl 1A1HK2 already has a lot of clouding around it, considering how it will look compared to the original program. It can be said that the HK2 will mirror the 1A2, although nothing can be said for certain. There will definetely be programs to achieve a higher barrel life for the Killian 120mm/140mm dual-breech system, with the stronger liquid propellant, which includes the advancement of liquid propellant technology to simply make the expansion smoother, and as well as advancements in barrel plating technology will make the barrel much more durable. Already the Nakíl has been fitted with chrome plating which has allowed the original gun to keep a barrel life of over one thousand rounds, which is an achievement unto itself. For example, the barrel of the original T-72 had only a barrel life of ~100 rounds before it had a marked reduction in accuracy. This means that the Nakíl can remain longer on the field without having to go through major maintenance efforts. There certainly would be an attempt to translate this into the HK2. Other gun upgrades can possibly be an electrothermal-chemical system, although that is less likely.

Armour upgrades will most likely have to come through an indegenous source. There's no evidence suggesting that the 1A2 will go through major armour upgrades, and those that it will go through will probably not be sold abroad - not even to the Empire's closest allies. Armour upgrades include the addition of some sort of non-explosive reactive armour [NERA] for some sort of urban armour package, like the American TUSK. Upgrades of the light explosive reactive armour on the roof will also most likely have to be indegenous, as there is absolutely nothing going for an upgrade of that ERA for the Nakíl 1A2, and the same goes for the modular ceramic armour.

However, weight reductions on the Nakíl 1A2 will most likely be translated onto the Nakíl 1A1HK2, even if at a lesser degree. This includes newer roadwheels, better track technologies, et cetera. Unfortunately, not much has been circulated about possible upgrades given that the tank world is now focused on what is called the 'Macabee FMBT' which can simply be a third upgrade to the Nakíl series, or the Nakíl 1A3 - however, there is relatively nothing known about this project. As of now it's still a rumour.

OOC: Having seen this previously on the draftrooms i must state my congratulations here. The HK1 is, in my opinion, and excellent tank, and despite the lower armour i believe it doesn't make a particular difference as it can still stop almost any other tank round...

having read through would it be possible to adapt the weapon on the A1's to imrpove the power? Reason i ask is because of course the barrel would often have to be changed but the extra 32mj could well be something i would like if we should come up against a formidable opponent so if its possible to chance the breech mechanism it would be good to know (preferably not having to change the turret would be good :P)

[OOC:

Blackhelm Confederacy: If you want to keep track of your tank look here (http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=2985).

Hotdogs2: Yes, you can increase the size of the propellant inserted in the 1A1, as well, although it would result it loss of barrel life. Hailandkill requested a tank designed simply to kill other tanks, so the tank is designed to do that. On the other hand, the 1A1, and later the 1A2, are designed to do everything a main battle tank may have to do, including protecting dismounts.]

[size=1][OOC:

Blackhelm Confederacy: If you want to keep track of your tank look here (http://z13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=2985).



Ohh.. I like it. Thanks alot. So how much will I owe ya?

W00t, came through the mail yesterday:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Books/MyTankisFight.jpg

Gentlemen,

In our previous communique (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11624736&postcount=175) we procured Dejiard and Sieren AFVs from you. Both have proven satisfactory and are ripe for modification to our needs (most esp the Sieren with a modified gearbox would prove very useful in our mountainous regions).

Toward the previously discussed possibilities, we would like to purchase domestic production rights for both vehicles. The total amount would seem to be $780 million for both. If this is correct, we will wire the money-plus an R&D saving bonus of $220 million, bringing the amount to $1 billion - and immediately gear up our factories.

We will also apprise you on our modifications and model runs.

Thank you.

Communiqué to Scaevola

We're glad that the designs you previously ordered proved to be satisfactory. The order has been confirmed, but do you want Kriegzimmer to conduct the modifications, or will your own industries do so? Either way, Kriegzimmer is fine with the idea. We await your response.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Gentlemen,

Our industry will be handling the modifications, however there is a point we wish to discuss.

The electo-thermal cannon on the Sieren has answered many of our R&D problems. The R&D bonus was in part due to this engineering bonus. We would like to compensate your design board properly and ensure no problems with return business in the future.

What would be a suitable recompense? Monetary, political or technical? We have several projects underway that may be of interest as well as a substantial amount of capital.

We await your response,

Communiqué to Scaevola

Kriegzimmer requires no monetary recompense for what it sells. The research and developement costs are justified already with the price, so buying our equipment is recompense enough. However, Kriegzimmer and other new companies popping up in the Empire due to the War of Golden Succession are deeply interested in projects being undertaken by your own design industries. For instance, we are extremely interested in new technologies which we may not be aware of, or design thinkings and processes we haven't covered yet.

Thank you for your generosity and concern,

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Secret IC:

Dear sir,

Does Kriegzimmer currently have any anti-air submarines? We ask this as a submarine would be highly stealthy and mobile and therefore a great anti-air defence system which could be used efectively to defend any nation with an accesable coast line from attack by air. Not only this but they would be hard to destroy or even be aware of them before an attack so it would be unlikely that they would be destroyed.

Regards Agent 2**32

OOC: Read your previous post :P. Just an idea, im personally going to carry it out using RSINs vessels which we currently use

Greetings,

The Commonwealth of Northford, through it's searching of reputable companies in the world, has deemed it fit to seek out the trade of Kreigzimmer in its efforts to improve its armed forces.

For some time now, the mainstream section of the Northfordian Armed Forces have been lacking a reputable Main Battle Tank, an ommision of Force that is unaccpetable given Northfords doctrinational beliefs.

To that end, we have decided to source the Nakil1 Main Battle Tank as the service of Northford, assuming it passes a rigourous number of tests we wish to carry out. To that end, the Commonwealth of Northford releases funds matching the sum of the purchase of 4 Nakil 1 MBT's, for Non Comparative Testing.

The Cost for this is Thirty Six (36) Universal Standard Dollars (USD), and will be wired upon confirmation of order.

Regards,

John Bruce,

Chief Quartermaster of Weapons, Army, Northford.

Communiqué to John Bruce, Northford
We're glad that Northford is interested in testing the Nakíl 1A1. The four Nakíl 1A1s will be sent to Northford immediately. We know that the Nakíl will do fine in your tests, but we will leave the ultimate decision to you. Whatever the results, we hope to hear from you again! Thank you for your time and for any potential business.

Kind regards,

[signed]Kriegzimmer

TO:Kriegzimmer d00dz
FROM:The Supreme General, Henry Corrol II

We would like to purchase 60,000 Nakil main battle tanks for the price of $540 billion USD. The purchase will be done in payments. Thank you, that is all for now.
Signed, The Supreme General

To the fine fellows of the Kreigzimmer Corporation,

The Otagian Regular Army is quite interested in acquiring a number of your Nakil 1A1 MBTs. Ideally, we would like to acquire a total of 75,000 of these magnificent vehicles, for a grand total of 675 billion USD. Our only concern is the 5.66mm machine gun's ability to defeat light vehicle armor. We would like to inquire as to the possibility of replacing the 5.66mm GPMGs with something more substantial, between 13mm and 20mm. We will understand completely if this is not possible.

Yours,
Jacob Daelin
Director of Defense

Communiqué to The Supreme General, Henry Corrol II
The order for 60,000 Nakíls has been confirmed. You may pay in installations if you wish. The Nakíls will be sent in annual shipments of 6,000 tanks, and so the entire order should be completed within ten years. Thank you for your business.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

~~~~


Message to Jacob Daelin, Director of Defense, Otagia
We can supply 75,000 Nakíl 1A1s within 10-11 years. The problem with fitting a larger gun as the co-axial is that the turret is designed to hold the breech of the much smaller 5.56mm co-axial. However, not all is lost. It's entirely possible to mount a larger gun on the commander's weapon's station. In other words, exchange the commander's 5.56mm gun with a much larger 12.7mm/14.5mm/20mm gun which can be remotely controlled from the inside and used to pierce light vehicles. Of course, technically, the smaller the better, but any of those calibers is entirely possible. We hope that this solves the issue.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Some hand drawn images of the Nakíl 1A2 are coming at some point. I have a huge paper due on Wenesday, though. :(

Shit drawing, FTW!

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Nakil1A2.png

Official Message from the Socialist Sultanate Duchydom of Franberry

Having been extremly pleased with the preformance of the 10,000 units we have previously adquired, we would like to make a further purchase.

We need 40,000 more units as we are retiering old designs in many divisions. The goverment is prepared to pay a further amount of money if these tanks can be delivered extremly quickly.

Signed,

Commander of the Ground Forces, Supreme Grand Field Marshall of the Republic, Leader of the Armies of the Sultanate, Commander of the Imperial Holy Army of the Dutchydom, Grand Knight of the First Class, Distinguished Order for Combat, Valour, Honor and Comradeship, Keeper of the Cristal Sword,

Giancarlo Finishalle

Communiqué to Giancarlo Finishalle, Franberry

The order has been confirmed. We are also glad to declare that you are purchaser of the one millionth Nakíl 1A1! Our Corzian factories will put priority production in relation to your order. You will receive 2,000 tanks per month, meaning the entire order will be completed within 20 months, or a year and eight months. No further money is required - we are pleased that we have sold over one million units. Now there is no doubt this is the most widely sold tank in the world! We thank you for your order and for your business,

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

Message from Alexander Kazansky, President of Allanea

Dear Sir!

I would like to purchase the actual 1,000,000th Nakil tank, from either you or Franberry. I would agree to pay, say, 270 million dollars for it - enough to fund three tank platoons of Nakils.

Official Response

Before confirming that the 1,000,000th Nakíl will be sold to Allanea, we prefer to talk it over with Franberry. We are sure an agreement can be reached after bilateral talks have concluded.

[signed]Kriegzimmer Board

The Nakíl 1A2 pic unveiled.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil1A2done.png

Updated picture.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil1A2newrevisedsprocketproject2.png

I've decided that the write-up for the Nakíl 1A2 won't go public. It will be stored in pdf form and given to those who have purchased the tank. There is no longer a maximum on Nakíl 1A2 tank users, but the process to get them is rigorous and unless you know me well I wouldn't count on being able to import them - at least for a while.

Can one have conversion kits or are the chassis completely incompatible?

You can technically mount the new turret on the old chassis. In terms of the turret ring size and the general shape and look of the chassis, they are the same. The new chassis, however, has a lot of things re-arranged - the exhaust was moved to the rear side of the tank, as the rear is going to be a large fuel tank for reasons which will be explained in the write-up. The sloping on the glacis plate is a little different, as well. So, there are obvious changes, but you can still mount a Nakíl 1A2 turret on a Nakíl 1A1 chassis and you will have the new firepower of the tank, as well as the new turret layout, but you won't have the 'perfect' chassis layout. You can also change the Nakíl 1A1 armor with the newer armor, and all that, although there will be a dedicated upgrade package for the Nakíl 1A1 sometime after the release of the Nakíl 1A2.

[OOC:When are these officially being exported?]

Whenever I finish the write-up.

Newest update:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil1A2newrevised3.png

Just to justify another bump. The tank now has 2 20mm anti-aircraft guns, like on the T-72M1 Moderna. <_<

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i291/Macabees/Armor/Nakil1A2newrevised4.png

Well, there's been a mix-up. Franberry won't get the 1,000,000th exported Nakíl, because Allanea's order did was not for the 1A1, but for the 1A2. Therefore, the 1,000,000th produced Nakíl will be a 1A2 and it will be Allanea's.

In the Greater Prussian Bay, north of the Allanean continent, rests a small island. It is famous all over Greater Prussia – possibly the world – as the estate of President Kazansky. It is there he hosts his famous parties, attended by politicians, corporate bosses, celebrities and foreign leaders, good-looking groupies and escort professionals. As you would expect, the place is stocked with expensive wines, drugs and food, filled with mechanical servants, and other things for the entertainment of the guests.

But far more are the things stocked on the island for the pleasures of President Kazansky himself – a boathouse filled with everything from waterbikes to a small yacht, a personal airfield and two garages. Underground, Kazansky hosts the ‘Arsenal’ – a weaponry collection complete with Taraskovyan, Allanean, Edolian, Maccabean, Dersconi, Facehuggerian, Rejistanian and Menelmacari weapons. It has chainswords, rifles, anti-tank launchers, pistols, knives and brass knuckles.

But there are no armored vehicles and artillery. This is an omission, and it has to be rectified.

And as usually done by Kazansky, it is rectified with style.

Now, among the thousands of guns, hundreds of swords, millions of rounds of ammunition, rests a single, well-maintained, customized, mint-condition tank.

The pinnacle of Maccabean tank production.

The Nakil 1A2.

To: Kriegzimmer Board
From: Ulashar Totaim

Ah, Kriegzimmer, a name as close to the hearts and minds of many in our armies.
Soon to be a lot closer.
We would like to request the domestic production rights for this tank, of course this is not for sale but for our own personal use.
What we will produce will be as close to possible to the original Nakil design, except without the items that are not up for domestic production or procurement of ability to do so, which will instead be replaced by our own technology, but functionally it should be the same.
The current rate is seven and a half million universal standard dollars per tank domestically made and our aim is to produce some two-hundred and eighty thousand tanks.
Designate them as you wish.
The final payment should be equal to something around two-trillion one-hundred billion USD.(I think)
If there are any major adjustments that will need to be done please inform us soon.
Thank you for your service.
Ulashar Totaim, Uldarious.

snip
[OOC: Me thinks that the service list should've been updated by now.....]

The Imperial Republic of Hataria will buy 400 of your tanks

To the fine fellows of the Kreigzimmer Corporation,

It's that time of year again, and my department's had it's budget renewed yet again. Which basically means I get to go on my very own little shopping spree (pending approval of those tight-wads in Finance). With the recent expansion of the ORA, our Armor Legions are currently underequipped. Therefore, we would like to purchase an additional 51,720 Arca IV Nakil MBTs (1A2 if at all possible, but we aren't getting our hopes up), as well as production rights to all Nakil variants. If approved as is, the total should come to 467,820,000,000, and may be followed by an additional order for upgrades to our current stock of 1A1s.

Merry Christmas and Damn the Bureau of Political Correctness,
Jake Daelin
Director of Defense