Jeuna
16-10-2007, 03:35
The Shandian (Traditional Chinese: 閃電, pinyin: Shǎndiàn; meaning 'lightning flash') is a main battle tank which was designed in Jeuna and is expected to enter service in 2015. A development of the Type 97, it is the first Jeunese tank to be integrated with an artificial intelligence copilot.
Picture hopefully coming soon.
Background
The Shandian was first contracted when combat trials against Skyian M160A1 Phoenix tanks showed the Type 97 to be an outdated design, and work began to address several points of concern; in particular: armour, main gun effectiveness and speed.
The project commenced in 2009, when Jeunese engineers began testing different systems for their combat efficacy. Over the course of four years, development continued in fits and starts, as the Jeunese struggled to produce the combat vehicle they were looking for. Finally, in 2013, engineers completed the design of the Shandian (then the XT-99), and submitted the design to the government. The Jeunese government, however, rejected the project, given that it was several million dollars over what their initial price demand had been, and Hsaio Motor Corp turned to the international market to offer its state-of-the-art product.
Specifications
Length: 7.2 m
Width: 4.3 m
Height: 2.5 m
Ground clearance: 48.25 cm
Weight: 76 tonnes
Turret height: 1.8 m
Maximum gun elevation: -12/+19.5 deg
Traverse rate: 18 deg/sec
Trench crossing: 7.2 m
Vertical obstacle: 3.3 m
Ford, unprepared: 2.5 m
Ford, prepared: 8.45 m
Unit cost: $5,150,000
Domestic production rights: $15,750,000 and a signed guarantee never to use them against Jeuna or her allies
Powerplant, suspension and transmission
The Shandian is powered by a 2,300 hp Hsiao Motor Corp. HM DX 1220 Yo-11 12-cylinder turbocharged diesel/multifuel engine. The tank also comes equipped with a 65 kW auxiliary lithium-ion battery complex, upgraded from the 2 kW battery attached to the Type 97, largely considered inferior by tank crews that ran out of fuel while on a road march. The engine can be used to charge the batteries, using a series of disconnects along the suspension system.
The drive train is a hydrostatic transmission system, regulating hydraulic fluid flow through the use of electric pumps, smoothing the ride of the Shandian compared to other tanks considerably. The Shandian utilises five gears—three forward and two reverse—through the use of a torque converter, allowing the Shandian to turn on the spot, if needed. The gears shift automatically within a pre-set range, defined by the driver.
Road speed: 85 km/h
Cross-country speed: 70 km/h
Swim speed: 20 km/h
Power/weight: 30.25 hp/ton
Operational range: 800 km
Armament
The Shandian is armed with two Cui Armaments (a subsidiary of Hsaio Motors) 130 mm L/55 Type I Electro-thermal Chemical tank cannons. This makes the main armament thirty-six centimetres longer than the Type 97's main gun, providing an increased muzzle velocity. The power output of the gun has thus increased as much as three-fold from the older armament fitted to the Type 97. Chrome plating has also dramatically increased the barrel life of the main gun to 70 rounds.
The auto-loader of the Type 97, an older carousel model, was replaced by a more compact and speedy dual-revolver-type auto-loader, which can quickly switch automatically between ammunition types via electronic tags. It can also remove a round from the main gun once inserted, an advantage over other auto-loader designs which could not. A high-speed quad-core Xidadizi processor and upgraded hydraulics give the Type I an average loading time of four and a half seconds. The autoloader is capable of carrying 28 rounds, with a further 24 rounds in an armoured compartment below the crew area.
The dual-gun arrangement allows the Shandian to engage multiple targets simultaneously, as both are independent of one another, or provide extra penetrating power to defeat heavily-armoured tanks. The guns can also fire the FTK-7 ATGM.
In addition to the two main guns, there are also two coaxial 6.5 mm rotary machine guns, also independent of the main guns, as well as a single remote universal mount on top of the turret, capable of mounting any weapon that has been designed to work with its control mechanism (currently only the Cui Armaments 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, which is considered standard, and the XJG-15, which is still in the testing phase). The Shandian, designed to work with infantry in urban environments, is also equipped with a 40 mm grenade machine gun on the turret and a 120 mm mortar launcher in the rear. The tank is also comes with two side-mounted FTK-7 launchers, easily swapped with the HJ 66 rocket launcher.
Main gun ammunition types:
* APFSDS
* HEAT
* MPAT
* canister
* HE-FS
* FAE-T
* MB/C
* nuclear
Defensive armaments
Modern tanks face not only threats from other enemy tanks, but also from anti-tank guided missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery shells and other projectiles. To combat these implements, the Jeunese have developed a revolutionary active protection system, called Nu (Traditional Chinese: 弩, pinyin: nǔ; 'crossbow'), which incorporates at 360-degree millimetre-band radar screen to monitor incoming projectiles, a lidar array for ranging and targetting and ten launchers (two on the rear, one on the front, two on each side and three on the roof). The launchers, traversing at a rate of 32 degrees per second, fire 18-centimetre tungsten rods at the incoming projectile, effectively neutralising it by either totally defeating it or causing the projectile to tumble and miss. As a further defensive measure, the universal mount can also be fitted with an experimental solid-state laser, to defeat high-altitude threats before they come into terminal range of the Shandian.
The Shandian also comes equipped with an advanced EOCMDAS suite, able to defeat incoming electro-optical-guided rounds.
Armour
The Shandian is protected by a system known in Jeuna as Shoupai (Traditional Chinese: 手牌, pinyin: shǒupái; 'shield'--more accurately 'hand shield', but the usage is idiomatic). This system consists of a primary layer of reinforced steel backed by a framework of angled titanium honeycombing. Beneath this is a layer of boronated polyethylene, to provide protection from radiological weapons. Below this is a layer of interlocked blended metal plates with ceramic inserts. The secondary layer is composed of boron carbide, reinforced with tungsten and depleted uranium rods. The tertiary layer is composed of an anti-spalling layer composed of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic and stainless steel. The turret and glacis plate, taking, a cue from the Abrams, has been reinforced with depleted uranium. Appliqué electrically-charged armour or explosive reactive armour, along with slat armour on the rear, may also be added, for extra protection.
Primary Layer:
Front turret: 360mm actual thickness; 1,350mm RHAe vs KE; 1621mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 155mm actual thickness: 581mm RHAe vs KE; 698mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 100mm actual thickness; 375mm RHAe vs KE; 450mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 305mm actual thickness; 1,144mm RHAe vs KE; 1373mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 200mm actual thickness: 750mm RHAe vs KE; 900mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 110mm actual thickness; 413mm RHAe vs KE; 495mm RHAe vs CE
Secondary layer:
Front turret: 160mm actual thickness; 672mm RHAe vs KE; 800mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 80mm actual thickness: 336mm RHA vs KE; 400mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 55mm actual thickness; 230mm RHAe vs KE; 275mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 160mm actual thickness; 672mm RHAe vs KE; 800mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 90mm actual thickness: 378mm RHA vs KE; 450mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 50mm actual thickness; 210mm RHAe vs KE; 250mm RHAe vs CE
Tertiary layer:
All around: 20mm actual thickness; 20mm RHAe vs KE; 60mm RHAe vs CE
Total:
Front turret: 540mm actual thickness; 2042mm RHAe vs KE; 2481mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 255mm actual thickness; 937mm RHAe vs KE; 1158mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 175mm actual thickness; 625mm RHAe vs KE; 785mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 485mm actual thickness; 1836mm RHAe vs KE; 2233mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 310mm actual thickness; 1148mm RHAe vs KE; 1410mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 180mm actual thickness; 643mm RHAe vs KE; 805mm RHAe vs CE
Crew and crew protection
The Shandian does not utilise a loader, bringing the total crew number down to three. The gunner is responsible for both main guns, while the commander can control both from the override, and also controls the universal remote mount on the turret roof.
There are 24 rounds in an armoured box below the crew compartment, separated by a ten-centimetre armoured firewall and equipped with blow-off panels to vent the force of a possible explosion away from the tank itself.
Electronics and equipment
At the heart of the Shandian's command and control suite is the Xidadizi Shishi quad-core processor, each core operating at 6.5 GHz. The CPU is equipped with 14 gigabytes of RAM, upgradeable to 26 gigabytes. This allows for vastly improved computing times and smoothness. The radar screen that provides passive data for the Nu APS also provides remote sensing for the driver, gunner and commander, using the data gathered to form a real-time three-dimensional map for each. Allied transponder codes from other tanks are used to produce green icons, showing friendly units, while possible contacts that do not have the proper transponder code are shown as red icons, indicating their location and orientation, deduced from previously-gathered data. There is an amount of 'guess-work' involved, so that if the radar loses contact, then regains contact, the orientation and travel history of the contact is not recalculated from scratch.
The Shandian comes equipped with a gun-stabilisation system, a fire-control computer, a laser range-finder (range: 10,000 m), a wind sensor, a general-purpose telescope and panorama periscope (both protected by armoured deflectors), tower sight and computer-controlled testing board. The Shandian also comes standard with an armoured NBC/CBR air circulation system and tungsten-titanium alloy towing cables The gunner is equipped with night-vision and thermal-imaging scopes, as well as a daytime viewer, both mounted on the roof of the turret, and a completely digitised fire-control system.
The Shandian is designed to have maximum flexibility in combat situations, and so comes with both a bulldozer and mine-roller attachment, in addition to a modular self-dig-in blade. The tank is equipped with a radio-telephone transceiver, for communicating with nearby infantry squads.
Of special note is the Xidadizi Confucius artificial intelligence, capable of operating all defensive and offensive systems in the event of a catastrophic event, and, utilising the millimetre-band radar's terrain-mapping capability, can navigate back to a predetermined base of operations to report for repairs. The system is highly experimental, but tests have so far been promising.
Camouflage
The Shandian comes in nine types of camouflage: desert, jungle, tropical, grassland/prairie, Arctic, woodland (variants 1 and 2, in order of increasing darkness) and urban. Not all are in use by the Jeunese, but Hsaio provides the options for foreign militaries that may operate in those terrains.
In addition to the basic camouflage colour scheme, the Shandian comes equipped with a rear-mounted camouflage net and stakes, for hiding when dug in to a firing position. The net is engineered with the specific concern of minimal catching, and thus can be rolled up easily, and very quickly.
[ Yeah, I know I don't have any cash in my defence budget. I prefer to set federal expenditure limits in Excel. As well, all of has been combed through on #d (in great length), to eliminate any mistakes. Thanks guys, for all your help. :3 ]
Picture hopefully coming soon.
Background
The Shandian was first contracted when combat trials against Skyian M160A1 Phoenix tanks showed the Type 97 to be an outdated design, and work began to address several points of concern; in particular: armour, main gun effectiveness and speed.
The project commenced in 2009, when Jeunese engineers began testing different systems for their combat efficacy. Over the course of four years, development continued in fits and starts, as the Jeunese struggled to produce the combat vehicle they were looking for. Finally, in 2013, engineers completed the design of the Shandian (then the XT-99), and submitted the design to the government. The Jeunese government, however, rejected the project, given that it was several million dollars over what their initial price demand had been, and Hsaio Motor Corp turned to the international market to offer its state-of-the-art product.
Specifications
Length: 7.2 m
Width: 4.3 m
Height: 2.5 m
Ground clearance: 48.25 cm
Weight: 76 tonnes
Turret height: 1.8 m
Maximum gun elevation: -12/+19.5 deg
Traverse rate: 18 deg/sec
Trench crossing: 7.2 m
Vertical obstacle: 3.3 m
Ford, unprepared: 2.5 m
Ford, prepared: 8.45 m
Unit cost: $5,150,000
Domestic production rights: $15,750,000 and a signed guarantee never to use them against Jeuna or her allies
Powerplant, suspension and transmission
The Shandian is powered by a 2,300 hp Hsiao Motor Corp. HM DX 1220 Yo-11 12-cylinder turbocharged diesel/multifuel engine. The tank also comes equipped with a 65 kW auxiliary lithium-ion battery complex, upgraded from the 2 kW battery attached to the Type 97, largely considered inferior by tank crews that ran out of fuel while on a road march. The engine can be used to charge the batteries, using a series of disconnects along the suspension system.
The drive train is a hydrostatic transmission system, regulating hydraulic fluid flow through the use of electric pumps, smoothing the ride of the Shandian compared to other tanks considerably. The Shandian utilises five gears—three forward and two reverse—through the use of a torque converter, allowing the Shandian to turn on the spot, if needed. The gears shift automatically within a pre-set range, defined by the driver.
Road speed: 85 km/h
Cross-country speed: 70 km/h
Swim speed: 20 km/h
Power/weight: 30.25 hp/ton
Operational range: 800 km
Armament
The Shandian is armed with two Cui Armaments (a subsidiary of Hsaio Motors) 130 mm L/55 Type I Electro-thermal Chemical tank cannons. This makes the main armament thirty-six centimetres longer than the Type 97's main gun, providing an increased muzzle velocity. The power output of the gun has thus increased as much as three-fold from the older armament fitted to the Type 97. Chrome plating has also dramatically increased the barrel life of the main gun to 70 rounds.
The auto-loader of the Type 97, an older carousel model, was replaced by a more compact and speedy dual-revolver-type auto-loader, which can quickly switch automatically between ammunition types via electronic tags. It can also remove a round from the main gun once inserted, an advantage over other auto-loader designs which could not. A high-speed quad-core Xidadizi processor and upgraded hydraulics give the Type I an average loading time of four and a half seconds. The autoloader is capable of carrying 28 rounds, with a further 24 rounds in an armoured compartment below the crew area.
The dual-gun arrangement allows the Shandian to engage multiple targets simultaneously, as both are independent of one another, or provide extra penetrating power to defeat heavily-armoured tanks. The guns can also fire the FTK-7 ATGM.
In addition to the two main guns, there are also two coaxial 6.5 mm rotary machine guns, also independent of the main guns, as well as a single remote universal mount on top of the turret, capable of mounting any weapon that has been designed to work with its control mechanism (currently only the Cui Armaments 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, which is considered standard, and the XJG-15, which is still in the testing phase). The Shandian, designed to work with infantry in urban environments, is also equipped with a 40 mm grenade machine gun on the turret and a 120 mm mortar launcher in the rear. The tank is also comes with two side-mounted FTK-7 launchers, easily swapped with the HJ 66 rocket launcher.
Main gun ammunition types:
* APFSDS
* HEAT
* MPAT
* canister
* HE-FS
* FAE-T
* MB/C
* nuclear
Defensive armaments
Modern tanks face not only threats from other enemy tanks, but also from anti-tank guided missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery shells and other projectiles. To combat these implements, the Jeunese have developed a revolutionary active protection system, called Nu (Traditional Chinese: 弩, pinyin: nǔ; 'crossbow'), which incorporates at 360-degree millimetre-band radar screen to monitor incoming projectiles, a lidar array for ranging and targetting and ten launchers (two on the rear, one on the front, two on each side and three on the roof). The launchers, traversing at a rate of 32 degrees per second, fire 18-centimetre tungsten rods at the incoming projectile, effectively neutralising it by either totally defeating it or causing the projectile to tumble and miss. As a further defensive measure, the universal mount can also be fitted with an experimental solid-state laser, to defeat high-altitude threats before they come into terminal range of the Shandian.
The Shandian also comes equipped with an advanced EOCMDAS suite, able to defeat incoming electro-optical-guided rounds.
Armour
The Shandian is protected by a system known in Jeuna as Shoupai (Traditional Chinese: 手牌, pinyin: shǒupái; 'shield'--more accurately 'hand shield', but the usage is idiomatic). This system consists of a primary layer of reinforced steel backed by a framework of angled titanium honeycombing. Beneath this is a layer of boronated polyethylene, to provide protection from radiological weapons. Below this is a layer of interlocked blended metal plates with ceramic inserts. The secondary layer is composed of boron carbide, reinforced with tungsten and depleted uranium rods. The tertiary layer is composed of an anti-spalling layer composed of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic and stainless steel. The turret and glacis plate, taking, a cue from the Abrams, has been reinforced with depleted uranium. Appliqué electrically-charged armour or explosive reactive armour, along with slat armour on the rear, may also be added, for extra protection.
Primary Layer:
Front turret: 360mm actual thickness; 1,350mm RHAe vs KE; 1621mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 155mm actual thickness: 581mm RHAe vs KE; 698mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 100mm actual thickness; 375mm RHAe vs KE; 450mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 305mm actual thickness; 1,144mm RHAe vs KE; 1373mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 200mm actual thickness: 750mm RHAe vs KE; 900mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 110mm actual thickness; 413mm RHAe vs KE; 495mm RHAe vs CE
Secondary layer:
Front turret: 160mm actual thickness; 672mm RHAe vs KE; 800mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 80mm actual thickness: 336mm RHA vs KE; 400mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 55mm actual thickness; 230mm RHAe vs KE; 275mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 160mm actual thickness; 672mm RHAe vs KE; 800mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 90mm actual thickness: 378mm RHA vs KE; 450mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 50mm actual thickness; 210mm RHAe vs KE; 250mm RHAe vs CE
Tertiary layer:
All around: 20mm actual thickness; 20mm RHAe vs KE; 60mm RHAe vs CE
Total:
Front turret: 540mm actual thickness; 2042mm RHAe vs KE; 2481mm RHAe vs CE
Side turret: 255mm actual thickness; 937mm RHAe vs KE; 1158mm RHAe vs CE
Rear turret: 175mm actual thickness; 625mm RHAe vs KE; 785mm RHAe vs CE
Glacis: 485mm actual thickness; 1836mm RHAe vs KE; 2233mm RHAe vs CE
Side body: 310mm actual thickness; 1148mm RHAe vs KE; 1410mm RHAe vs CE
Rear body: 180mm actual thickness; 643mm RHAe vs KE; 805mm RHAe vs CE
Crew and crew protection
The Shandian does not utilise a loader, bringing the total crew number down to three. The gunner is responsible for both main guns, while the commander can control both from the override, and also controls the universal remote mount on the turret roof.
There are 24 rounds in an armoured box below the crew compartment, separated by a ten-centimetre armoured firewall and equipped with blow-off panels to vent the force of a possible explosion away from the tank itself.
Electronics and equipment
At the heart of the Shandian's command and control suite is the Xidadizi Shishi quad-core processor, each core operating at 6.5 GHz. The CPU is equipped with 14 gigabytes of RAM, upgradeable to 26 gigabytes. This allows for vastly improved computing times and smoothness. The radar screen that provides passive data for the Nu APS also provides remote sensing for the driver, gunner and commander, using the data gathered to form a real-time three-dimensional map for each. Allied transponder codes from other tanks are used to produce green icons, showing friendly units, while possible contacts that do not have the proper transponder code are shown as red icons, indicating their location and orientation, deduced from previously-gathered data. There is an amount of 'guess-work' involved, so that if the radar loses contact, then regains contact, the orientation and travel history of the contact is not recalculated from scratch.
The Shandian comes equipped with a gun-stabilisation system, a fire-control computer, a laser range-finder (range: 10,000 m), a wind sensor, a general-purpose telescope and panorama periscope (both protected by armoured deflectors), tower sight and computer-controlled testing board. The Shandian also comes standard with an armoured NBC/CBR air circulation system and tungsten-titanium alloy towing cables The gunner is equipped with night-vision and thermal-imaging scopes, as well as a daytime viewer, both mounted on the roof of the turret, and a completely digitised fire-control system.
The Shandian is designed to have maximum flexibility in combat situations, and so comes with both a bulldozer and mine-roller attachment, in addition to a modular self-dig-in blade. The tank is equipped with a radio-telephone transceiver, for communicating with nearby infantry squads.
Of special note is the Xidadizi Confucius artificial intelligence, capable of operating all defensive and offensive systems in the event of a catastrophic event, and, utilising the millimetre-band radar's terrain-mapping capability, can navigate back to a predetermined base of operations to report for repairs. The system is highly experimental, but tests have so far been promising.
Camouflage
The Shandian comes in nine types of camouflage: desert, jungle, tropical, grassland/prairie, Arctic, woodland (variants 1 and 2, in order of increasing darkness) and urban. Not all are in use by the Jeunese, but Hsaio provides the options for foreign militaries that may operate in those terrains.
In addition to the basic camouflage colour scheme, the Shandian comes equipped with a rear-mounted camouflage net and stakes, for hiding when dug in to a firing position. The net is engineered with the specific concern of minimal catching, and thus can be rolled up easily, and very quickly.
[ Yeah, I know I don't have any cash in my defence budget. I prefer to set federal expenditure limits in Excel. As well, all of has been combed through on #d (in great length), to eliminate any mistakes. Thanks guys, for all your help. :3 ]