Lyras
30-07-2008, 02:10
LY7/366 Lammasu Self-propelled Gun/Howitzer – Protectorate of Lyras
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LY7/366 'Lammasu' shown in Lyran woodland camouflage, with LY60 RWS.
Key Data
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Dimensions
Length (not including gun): 7.2m
Height: 3.1m
Width: 3.2m
Weight: 68 tonnes
Ground Clearance: Variable. Default at 50cm
Performance
Maximum (Governed) Speed: 80 kph (50mph)
Cross Country Speed: 64 kph (40mph)
Speed, 10% Slope: 33 kph
Speed, 60% slope: 17 kph
Acceleration: 0kph to 32 kph in 7.8 seconds
Range: 605 km (480 km at operational cruising speed)
Manoeuvrability
Vertical Obstacle Crossing: 104cm
Trench: 290cm
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Armament
Main Armament: LY366 155mm, 55 calibre smoothbore rapid firing gun-howitzer
Commander's Weapon: Modular, on powered remote rotary platform. Standard options include; KWF PAK2 25mm automatic cannon (550 rnds) OR 15mm AGH-32 HMG (700rnds) OR 14.7mm LY60 HMG (700rnds) OR 7.62mm LY64 (2,400rnds) OR 7.5mm Lagash MG (2,400rnds)
Additional: Laterally mounted 4 barrelled multi-purpose grenade launchers
Power
Propulsion: Modular – default powerplant 40L LY665 V10 multi-fuel propane-injected twin-turbo diesel 1600 HP at 2500RPM
Transmission: Hydropneumatic automatic transmission (5 fwd gears, 2 rvse)
Power-to-Weight Ratio: ~26hp/ton (weight and power variable depending on configuration)
APU: 2 (underarmour)
Armour and Protection
Armour: Highly modularised. Base includes IRHA, titanium-ceramic, 4th Generation Composite.
NBC Protection: SCFM, clean cooled air, LYMkII CBRN overpressure system.
Missile Countermeasures: Modular. Standard options include WATCHKEEPER, GOLIATH. Other APS also compatible.
Background
Shortly prior to the Mokan Civil War, the possibility of merging the LY366 155mm gun with the near ubiquitous LY219 Ironheart chassis was investigated. While it was rapidly ascertained that the weapon system was far too heavy for the chassis, the concept was not completely abandoned, although the project was put on indefinite hold.
During that conflict, the utility of mobile tube artillery was again demonstrated, when Mokan howitzers fired en-masse at the Battleaxe-class gun-cruiser Port Finch, crippling it, and forcing its withdrawal. Despite the destruction of that artillery unit by retaliatory strike using LY589 cruise missiles, the point had been made, and research into methods of mounting the LY366 in a land-based indirect-fire role were recommenced.
The initial difficulty was centred around the weapon's weight and volume. To date, only three land-based platforms had utilised it, and all were exceptionally heavy. The LY3 was over 80 tonnes, and the LY6 was over 98 tonnes. Only the first platform, the LY2A3-2 Bull Mastiff, had been anything like a reasonable weight for an artillery piece, and that was by virtue of having stripped the once-MBT's armour to enable the platform to accept the load. The result was no longer an MBT, but had become a tank destroyer... not the result intended at the time, but the experience was to serve the Protectorate well in the future.
With the only MBT in-service during the Mokan Civil War being the LY4, which lacked the reasonable means of mounting the LY366 in an indirect role, research once again slowed.
With the advent of the LY7, however, the situation had changed markedly.
The LY7's focus on modularity, and its lightweight base design, lent itself well to the adjustment to handle an LY366, so it was thought, and examination down that avenue commenced shortly after the first LY7 prototype was completed.
The LY7's turret design was initially problematic, with the LY7's small, low profile turret being grotesquely ill-equipped to handle large ordnance of the scale of the LY366. A complete turret redesign was required, and the Rottweiler medium tank's low-profile silhouette vanished, with the higher profile a requirement to allow the LY366 to fire at higher elevations. The turret shared many commonalities with turrets of the LY3 Warhound and LY6 Werewolf vehicles, which themselves field the LY366. On the Lammasu, however, the platform is designed primarily as an indirect fire platform, rather than with a mind towards a secondary indirect fire capability.
Initial results were mixed, with performance on the firing range very similar to existing Lyran platforms. It was only when the immensely easier logistics tail was considered, that further examination went ahead to make the project, then dubbed 'Lammasu', a reality.
As elements of the LY7's armour were stripped to bring the weight down further, the Lammasu began to enjoy further advantages, in acceleration and manoeuver in particular. In less than three years, the LY7/366 had been assessed as production-ready, and the first units were received by the 98th (Castlegate Heavy Horse) Armoured Division (Task Force Beta, 1st Order) and 235th Southbastion Cavalry (Task Force Gamma, 2nd Order) in August of that year.
The LY7/366 Lammasu currently serves with just under a thousand Lyran divisions, with that number expected to increase.
Main Armament
The LY7/366 Lammasu's primary armament is the LY366 155mm gun-launcher. The LY366 was first developed for the LY2A3-2 Bull Mastiff Tank Destroyer, also saw action as main armament of the LY3 Warhound series, and as an indirect-fire-optimised alternate main armament on the LY6 Werewolf. A navalised version, the LY366(N) has found use as a multirole naval gun, optimised for ship-to-shore operations, and serves as the primary gun system for the Hatchet-class modular frigate. The LY366, while optimised for long-range, OTH engagements, is more than capable of being used in a direct-fire role, and was initially designed for such, in its capacity as main armament to the LY2A3-2 and LY3.
The chromium-plated barrel is a fraction over 8.5m long and is fitted with a slotted muzzle brake which yields increased muzzle velocity whilst reducing the degree of muzzle flash. Further, and borrowing more from the LY7 chassis, the Lammasu's main armament comes with a 550mm recoil mechanism. The wedge-type breech block is integrated with an exchangeable primer magazine fitted with a standard conveyer assembly for automatic (but adjustable and controllable) primer transportation, loading and unloading.
The LY7 autoloader is integral to the turret, and constitutes a major component of the mechanics. With the turret of the Rottweiler, brought across to the Lammasu as it has been, being designed around the autoloader, many problems systemic to other tanks fielding autoloaders have been avoided. As with the LY4-series, the LY7's compact autoloader allows a rate of fire of 15 shots per minute and holds 40 rounds of ready ammunition; it can accommodate up to seven different types of ammunition at once, and unlike many autoloader systems it can change ammunition types after a round has been loaded into the breech.
The shell loading system is driven by brushless electric servo motors supplied by Lyran Arms' Highcairn Manufacturing Zone. The automatic shell loading system has air-forced ram and Cromwell-backed automatic digital control, ammunition supply management and autonomous target-assessed fuze setting.
The LY366 is rated to fire out to 35km with standard ammunition, and 55km with rocket-assisted munitions.
The LY366 features rounds compatible with most 155mm conventional weapons, such as the APFSDS LY29, developed specifically to address the threats posed by growing numbers of highly protected manoeuver forces, such as the Antigran MT-85 “Marauder” and Macabee/Sumerian “Tiglath Pileser”, and high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped-charge rounds such as the LY30 (the latest version of which (LY30A1) incorporates a sophisticated multi-function electronic sensory fuse and increased fragmentation, allowing it to be used effectively against armoured vehicles, personnel and low-flying aircraft) were developed for the LY3 series, and the LY366 weapon system specifically.
LY38 155 mm anti-personnel canister cartridge is another LY366 option, having now been in-service for a number of years within the Lyran arsenal. The LY38 contains 1,750 tungsten projectiles which spread from the muzzle to produce a shotgun-like blast-effect lethal out to 700 m. The tungsten balls can be used for an extremely wide variety of tasks at short-to-medium range, where conventional munitions may not suit the mission profile.
When used in the indirect role, the LY366 is compatible with an extremely wide range of guided long-range projectiles, such as Excalibur, which utilise satellite guidance datalink to ensure optimum target accuracy. Using guided projectiles, margin of error at maximum range changes from nearly 150m to within 10m, a distance that puts the target inside the blast crater.
Once the magazine is depleted, the entire magazine can be removed, and a fresh one inserted, a process not dissimilar to changing magazines on a rifle, only on a larger scale. This does require the presence of a dedicated service vehicle, but takes less than 4 minutes. Should such a vehicle be unavailable, the system can be reloaded manually/conventionally.
Additional armament
As with other primary elements of the LY7 series makeup, the additional armament (armament other than main gun, in this context) is highly modularised. Due to the size of the primary armament, the original two slots for coaxial weapons are no longer available, but the remote weapon station above the unmanned turret remains. The LY366 is significantly larger than the LY407 fitted to the LY7 in its role as a medium tank.
The turret-mounted station can field a wide variety of weapon options, including, but not limited to, light anti-aircraft missiles, automatic grenade launchers, BVR anti-tank missiles and HMGs.
Weapons options on Lyran vehicles on the turret mount (and thus available to nations seeking to purchase the LY7/366) include a quartet of SALY28 short-to-medium range AA missiles, LY60 14.7mm HMG, LY64 7.62mm MMG, Helios II BVRATGM and PAK2 25mm automatic cannon. Weapons of most types are compatible, though of course those produced by states other than those contributing to the Lammasu cannot be exported by or through Lyran Arms. Such weapons are easily integrated into the Lammasu after purchase, and include such well known systems as the Sumerian AGH-32 HMG and AGS-5 LMG, Yanitarian “Hag” HMG, Former Soviet KPV and RPK machine guns, AGL-19s and Koronet ATGMs, and such systems as the MG-3, M2 .50 cal HMG and Javelin ATGM.
Unlike the LY7 Rottweiler, which features modularity as the hallmark of the vehicle, the LY7/366 Lammasu is intended primarily as an indirect-fire platform, and as such less emphasis is given to the secondary armament within the LY7/366.
Propulsion and mobility
The Lammasu borrows from the base LY7 modularity, by its flexible position with regards to engines. Capable of accepting an extremely wide variety of engines, as long as they are able to generate electrical power, the LY7/366 follows the LY7-series' new benchmark in force sustainment and domestic integration of non-indigenous components.
The armoured engine bay is designed for easy access and expedient removal, which also flows on to notably easier maintenance, and the platform's flexibility enables any given battleforce to continue, if desired, its extant logistics practices with the aim of greatly enhanced battleforce sustainment.
The LY7-series, borrowing from features first demonstrated on the LY219 and later on the LY6, uses an electric transmission system, where the drive shafts have been replaced by cable and the power from the engines is transferred by cable throughput, which delivers a number of advantages, including volume efficiency, very high fuel efficiency (essential to make the engine viable, in this case), reduced lifecycle costs, and reduced environmental impacts.
The electric drive has also greatly improved low observability characteristics in terms of thermal and acoustic signatures as well as low visual and radar signatures.
Borrowing again from the LY219, and LY6 Werewolf, the LY7-series' suspension is mounted on the underframe and not on the side frames, so the suspension is separated from the hull. A result of using a decoupled suspension in conjunction with the spall liners is that the internal noise level is as low as 75dB which is well below civilian vehicle noise acceptability standards, and 4dB below the previously benchmark LY6, the difference due to the LY7-series chassis being 38 tonnes lighter.
The engine, whatever it may be, is further decoupled from the final drives allowing flexibility in the placing of systems in the vehicle and also easily allows two smaller engines to be installed instead of one, should smaller engines be preferred for export purposes. Batteries are integrated into the electric drive system, which when considered in combination with the suspension, allow the vehicle to be driven near-silently for several hours with the engines shut down, a factor very likely to increase psychological strain on forces fighting against it in close terrain or poor visibilty.
The final drives are connected by a cross-shaft which gives higher power efficiency in turning manoeuvres by transferring the power regenerated at the inner track during a turn to the outer track.
Any engine fitted will, like its predecessors (bar the LY663), be linked to the Cromwell system, which keeps track of the temperatures of each individual segment of the engine, and both monitors and records engine stresses. The system then notifies both the operators and higher command when replacement or repair is required for components, as well as when the engine or parts of it are coming due for routine maintenance. This contributes to greatly reduced attrition, and total combat readiness is markedly improved as a result, while lowering maintenance workloads. The Cromwell system is also responsible for monitoring the active cooling of the vehicle's exhaust, as a means of reducing the vehicle's already low thermal signature, further enhancing the vehicle's low observability characteristics.
The entire assembly is, as per existing Lyran and TPF-standards, also fitted with deployable sand filters for use in high-sand environments, such as deserts or certain parts of the littoral.
As is also the standard with Lyran armoured vehicles, and now has been for some time, the Lammasu is fitted with rear-vision cameras for manoeuvering in close country or urban environments, a factor which, in other vehicles, has prevented a tremendous number of accidents and eased the psychological load on personnel responsible for moving the vehicles in less-than-optimal conditions.
Tracks are shrouded as standard to increase resilience to battle damage, and have seven road wheels and two drive rollers, with only the forward roller on each side partially unshrouded.
Networking, integration, electronics and fire control
As with all Lyran designed vehicles, the Lammasu is designed to integrate seemlessly and easily into the most sophisticated of military forces. The vehicle is fitted with a highly extensive sensor suite so as to enable the transmission of as much information as possible into any extant battlenet, while possessing internal computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from it.
While designed to slot into any existing battlespace architecture, the Lammasu by default utilises the world-benchmark Cromwell II. Cromwell II is an integrated and adaptive battlespace network that maximises combat lethality, performance, and output and enables command and control on an unprecedented scale. Information is sourced not only from multiple sources on the individual platform, but from every Cromwell II equipped friendly vehicle within the battlespace, which provides constant informational updates across a broad spectrum of sources, both known to the operators, and operating below their awareness.
The Cromwell II system utilises this information to compute a firing solution for the gunner, based upon analysis of the target beneath the reticle. This is achieved in less time than it would take the gunner to depress the firing stud. The firing solution that Cromwell II generates ensures a near-perfect hit percent at standard ranges, across all conditions.
At the most basic level, the Cromwell II system aims to accelerate engagement cycles and increase operational tempo at all levels of the warfighting system. This acceleration is achieved by providing a mechanism to rapidly gather and distribute targeting information, and rapidly issue directives. Cromwell II's ultra-high speed networking permits error-free, high integrity transmission in a bare fraction of the time required for voice-based transmission, and permits transfer of a wide range of data formats, from a multitude of compatible sources.
Borrowing from fire control measures designed by the Koreans for the K2 Black Panther, Lyran Arms and the Varessan Commonwealth's VMRDB developed a built-in trigger-delay mechanism. Other contemporary tanks, up to and including the LY4A1, but not including the K2, can be found to, despite all other fire control methods, miss their target when they fire their gun and hit a slight bump at the same time, a problem exacerbated, as would be expected, by movement at high speeds and/or across uneven terrain. The designers of the K2 anticipated this situation, and generated a solution for it by installing a laser emitter-receiver assembly linked to the FCS, a concept that has been brought across for implementation in the main gun, whatever that main gun may be, on the LY7-series.
The emitter is fitted near the top of the gun barrel, with the receiver being placed at the barrel's base. The gun can only be fired when the laser receiver array is exactly aligned with the emitted laser. By means of example, if at the point of firing, when the gunner presses the trigger, linked as it is to the fire control system, the vehicle comes upon an irregularity in the terrain at the same moment, the laser will find itself pushed off the reciever by the sudden movement, and the FCS will delay the round's ignition until the beam reorients to the receiver again. As the barrel shakes up and down, the FCS will automatically fire off the gun when the laser finds its mark, and the barrel is judged to be on target. This system, combined with both an advanced stabiliser and powerful fire control system, dramatically improves the vehicle's capacity to engage targets while moving at speed, even when moving across broken terrain. Of course, this feature is only of relevance when the LY366 is being employed in a direct fire role. For indirect fire, the vehicle will (in the vast majority of cases) stop, fire, then keep moving, a process that takes less than 20 seconds.
In case of an emergency, the vehicle can be operated by only two, or even a single, member of its three crew. The FCS can autonomously locate and track visible targets, comparing them both to known hostiles (identified by datalink) or targets established by image recognition (again as available via information uplink), avoid blue-on-blue engagements and fire its main gun without needing any input from a human operator, although the absence of a human operator will adversely affect engagement tempo.
The LY7-series crew-stations, on Lyran and Lyran-allied vehicles only, utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than standard, by displaying sensor data from the vehicle's external sensors directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor. As the crewman turns his head, the view pans, and either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the crew commander may look left, with the weapon mounted on the commander's weapon station following his movement (if the function is activated). As required, the commander simply has to look at the target, and press the firing stud. Alternatively, he could look at a target, and designate it for engagement by the gunner by either voice command or toggle. Targets can be sequenced for engagement, and the gunner may target and fire in a similar manner using the vehicle's main gun, or either of the two co-axials. The gunner's station is identical to, and interchangeable with, the commander's, and either can take on additional roles if the situation requires. This feature is only available to LY7s in Lyran or allied service. When used in conjunction with Cromwell II, and the fast-traversing turret (less fast in the LY7/366, it must be stated), the engagement speeds of the LY7 are almost twice as fast as any previously designed Lyran vehicle – a crucial element to AFV survivability, and firesupport responsiveness.
A developed on the LY6 series, and subsequently retrofitted to all Lyran-operated AFVs, the electrics of the LY7-series, more specifically the circuitry, are composed of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), rendering the vehicle proof against electromagnetic interference or EMP-based attack, although the GaAs is itself a highly expensive addition. It was quickly reasoned, however, that when operating in an environment which may include anti-strategic platforms such as the LY4032 “Rampart”, the chances of the platform encountering high levels of electromagnetic interference goes up dramatically, and the dangers this presents far outweigh the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of GaAs components.
Armour
The Lammasu features an armour scheme based very heavily, as would be expected, on its LY7 predecessor. There are a significant number of differences, however, primarily focused around the downgrading of the armour scheme, due to the platform's intended role as an indirect fire-support unit, rather than an MBT. The armour is still proof against 30mm rounds, but is no longer intended to provide defence against hostile armoured units. The LY366 main gun is still perfectly capable of operating in a direct fire capacity, however, making the Lammasu far from helpless if engaged by enemy tank units.
As with the base LY7, the Lammasu is structurally steel, but the vast majority of the armour of the chassis is titanium, which in general terms offers considerably higher protection per unit of weight. Given the premium placed on weight within the LY7, and even more so on the LY7/366, titanium was exceptionally attractive. The LY7 production runs have already pushed the price of titanium per-unit down a considerable distance, and the use of the material on the Lammasu is expected to continue the trend.
The primary external armour is titanium-chobham, a form of composite armour composed of multiple layers of titanium and ceramic. The titanium plates hold the ceramic in position and the ceramic maintains its resistance to shock even when fragmented, as long as it remains held together. Explosive reactive armour is fitted as standard (though is often removed as superfluous) to the turret and major hull areas. Fireproof armoured bulkheads seperate the crew compartment from the engine bay, which itself forms part of the forward passive protection suite.
Fuel and ammunition are located within armoured sub-compartments with integral anti-spalling layers, and those self-same antispalling systems are also used to protect the internals of the crew compartment. The spall lining is also designed to provide a high degree of noise and thermal insulation, making the Lammasu, like its predecessors, extremely quiet for its operators, analagous (to the operators), to noise levels experienced while driving in a civilian vehicle.
Unlike the LY7, the LY7/366 is not expected to utilise the extensive modular armour capabilities afforded by the chassis. The function remains, however, and will thus be detailed.
Due to the LY7's emphasis on applique armour as a means of providing variable levels of protection, appropriate to threat level and weight restrictions, the LY7/366 retains the ability to field a whole host of after-armour packages. Extensive use of heavy explosive reactive armour on multiple surfaces, or non-explosive reactive armour if operating in close-proximity to infantry, and each of varying types, is entirely feasible. The vehicle's heavy use of titanium (especially on the sides and rear, where surfaces generally have the least slope) to keep weight to an absolute minimum while not sacrificing protection, and allowing for easy operator up-armouring is calculated as part of its standard operating circumstances. It is expected that, as new or more effective forms of modular armour are developed, users will be easily able to integrate the packages into the chassis with a bare minimum of effort.
Internal spalling layers are, by default, kevlar, a long-accepted international standard in the field. Should additional protection be sought, the kevlar can be removed and replaced with any number of materials, of which steltexolites of a variety of forms are popular choices. Steltexolites have been traditionally chosen by Lyras, due to its greater resilience to KE and HE based armour piercing AT weapons than kevlar.
Now, however, another option has become available for the anti-spalling layer, to those states eligible to acquire the North Point A1 armour upgrade to the LY7. Derived from research undertaken in conjunction with the 'Dauntless' body armour project, Lyran vehicles utilise anciniform spider silk as anti-spalling protection.
Once threads are manufactured, the silk is woven in the same manner as fibrous material anywhere. The fibres mesh well, and fibrous internal friction is low while elasticity and tensile strength both remain very high, allowing for exceptionally good resistance, particularly so when compared to other similar substances, such as aramids. The fibres, unusually, become proportionally stronger as they get thinner, and research and implementation quickly established what spiders established millions of years ago, that weaving 100 thin fibres into a silken strand is almost 60% stronger than an equivalent width single strand, while utilising (approximately) only 80% of the material mass. Also, critically, spider silk has a biphasic modulus – when initially subjected to force it is very stiff, like Kevlar, but just before the yield point it becomes very elastic. It also undergoes hysteresis, so if released from tension it comes back into shape.
In essence, while offering slightly improved protection-to-weight ratios than kevlar, anciniform spider silk is dramatically thinner, allowing notably more material to be packed into the same space. As a consequence, while the protection per unit weight may be similar to kevlar, the protection per unit volume is considerably higher, and it is this consideration that lead to its adoption as anti-spalling on most Lyran vehicles, at the cost of an additional 400kg of weight. Again, this option is modular, and some units do not utilise it.
Signature Reduction
A great number of active and passive signature reduction methods have been implemented in the LY7, making it the AFV with the lowest detection footprint of any yet produced by the Lyran Protectorate. The LY7/366 maintains these signature reduction techniques, which are employed to minimise detectability by radar, infra-red, direct line-of-sight visibility and acoustic means.
The first method by which the detection signature is reduced is through use of the Lyran-designed and manufactured 'Warshroud' advanced multi-spectral camouflage netting system. Based heavily on the Ukrainian 'Kontrast', 'Warshroud' dramatically reduces the detection ranges against known radar, infra-red and visible-band methods. The 'Kontrast' system was developed at the Institute of Automated Systems in late 2002, and was designed to address a notable and growing problem. High-potency modern weapons are able to engage ground vehicles at any angle, from great ranges, by day or by night, irrespective of weather, and with a potency that was becoming increasingly difficult to counter. The Institute's researchers faced a real challenge and, moreover, it was decided to develop a single solution, one that would take into account all noted factors and be implemented within the weight and size limitations.
In approaching this task specialists at the Institute of Automated Systems decided to proceed from the key idea behind the design of high precision weapons. High-precision, high-lethality systems universally require integration with means of detection, which of necessity requires the design of sensor sets and target locators, and the implementation of effective scanning capabilities across several adjacent or near-adjacent visible and invisible spectra, including visible light, close and long infra-red waves, and laser scans(in the infrared, millimeter and centimeter wave bands).
The developers of Kontrast took an ordinary camouflage net as the base and, utilising the latest technological innovations, turned it into a new generation signature-reduction product to combat the sophistication of modern radar systems and other contemporary military reconnaissance means. The result was the development of a surprisingly effective solution.
Developed countries traditionally have utilised a wide variety of signature reduction technologies, many of which include various after-manufacture coatings. The technical requirements of such coating are very high - their reflection capacity must be below 20 dB in a wide range of bands. This factor forced the Ukrainian – and later Lyran – research teams to examine new physical methods for reducing or amplifying reflection of radar waves to achieve effective electromagnetic concealment. With this goal in mind, the 'Kontrast' developers tried to find materials with absorptive and reflective characteristics for attenuating and amplifying electromagnetic waves. Experiments generated a series of composite materials with superb characteristics for greatly diminishing the wave reflection contrast between the protected object and its background.
'Kontrast' simultaneously employed both absorption and targetted reflection of electromagnetic waves. The array of material used within the netting the product, each of which featured at least one of the said qualities, allowed protection from a great range of known target location means. 'Kontrast' tests have repeatedly shown its superiority across a wide range of battlefield conditions to analogues from Sweden and Britain, whether the concealed unit is moving or stationary.
'Warshroud' built on 'Kontrast' by the integration of signature reduction techniques in the IR spectrum pioneered by the LDPCU multi-spectral camouflage. The resultant product takes nearly twice as long to produce, due to the difficulty in applying a coating (which had been done away with under 'Kontrast') to the camouflage netting. Attempts are being made to shorten the 'Warshroud' manufacturing process, but it is somewhat of a moot point. Production as it stands is more than capable of keeping up with the manufacture of the vehicles utilising 'Warshroud'. 'Warshroud''s visible suppression includes, as with most camouflage nets, terrain-appropriate textile strips, soaked in a dielectric polymer that can absorb and scatter electromagnetic waves. The textile pieces are made of non-reactive, radar transparent fabric.
In 2002, tests run using 'Kontrast' on a T-84 determined that the ability of hostile weapons to lock onto a vehicle dropped nine-fold compared to an unshrouded vehicle. It was further established that T-84 MBTs fielding 'Kontrast' dropped out of visibility range of viewing devices at distances over and including 500m.
'Warshroud' builds on this, with additional substantial reduction in detectability of targets in infra-red, radio-thermal and radio wave bands. Improvements in synthetic and parasynthetic textiles have also reduced the inherent radar return in the material which binds the net together, along all detection envelopes.
'Warshroud' has repeatedly demonstrated excellent resistance to various external factors while keeping its camouflaging characteristics intact – a factor very quickly determined to be a critical capability of the system. Tests had tanks equipped with a 'Warshroud' run at their tops speeds in off-road conditions, in woods and deserts, while similarly equipped IFVs conducted amphibious landings. In all cases, the signature reduction capabilities of the equipment were unreduced to any appreciable degree. All elements of 'Warshroud' are resistant to fuels, lubricants (gasoline, diesel fuel, lube oil) and detergents. Furthermore, spinning off from research conducted into the LDPCU once again, the shroud is made of self-extinguishing materials, ensuring that flames cease to burn free of subsequent glowing, once the fire source is removed.
'Warshroud' itself consists of a number of modular components that can be put together to create a masking surface of any size and shape, with colors matching any field environment in any season.
It is currently expected that existing AFV stocks will be retrospectively fitted with 'Warshroud', as a means of contributing to the ongoing attempts to reduce detection footprints across all relevant bands.
The second primary means of signature reduction is focused on the engine and drive systems of the vehicle. While already alluded to above in the analysis of the platform's propulsion and mobility, relevant points will be reiterated here for ease of reference.
The electric drive differs from conventional AFV drive system arrangements by utilising a hybrid powerplant. This essentially means that the engine generates electric power which in turn powers the batteries which propel the vehicle. The electric drive, has, importantly, implemented a suite of features designed to mitigate its detectability, both acoustically and thermally. Moreover, the presence of dual APUs and the primary and secondary battery banks allow the vehicle to be driven for several hours with the main engines off, which pushes the sound generated to below that of a conventional civilian motor vehicle.
As with a number of earlier marks of AFV, the Lammasu's decoupled suspension is seperated from the hull, and similarly seperated from the final section which turns the drive wheels, a factor which considerably lowers audibility in itself.
Acoustically, the vehicle is phenomenally quiet in most circumstaces, and preliminary manoeuvers conducted with early Lyran vehicles have demonstrated the potential that this low-observability can manifest, providing a tremendous advantage in low-visibility scenarios, by day or by night.
By utilising the Cromwell system to actively monitor the engine and propulsion systems, the crew are able to remain constantly aware of the amount of noise being generated, and also the amount of heat being radiated. Furthermore, as indicated in the propulsion and mobility section, the Lammasu, as with both its LY7 ancestor and the LY6 Werewolf, utilises active cooling of its own exhaust, a further means of suppressing thermal and infra-red signature. When this is taken in conjunction with 'Warshroud', the thermal and IR footprint of the LY7/366 is a bare fraction of what its weight and power would suggest.
Crew amenities
It has been a well-known fact in most militaries that well-rested and alert soldiers with a high morale and a high degree of confidence in themselves and their equipment will perform faster, more effectively and with fewer avoidable errors than those who fall short in any of the above categories. To that end, for a number of years Lyran vehicles have put a strong emphasis on designing and manufacturing hardware that can effectively cater for the comfort needs of personnel that fight from that hardware.
To that end, Lyran vehicles from the LY4 onwards featured crew amenities designed to optimise performance of personnel and maintain morale. This, in the Lammasu, manifests in a number of ways.
The Lammasu fields the commonplace hot and cold water drink point, which provides hot water, cold water, and with two further compartments that can be filled with hot or cold drinks of the crew or unit's choice. As well as being morale boosting, hot water in particular can be of direct military value, with it being used to brew tea or coffee, produce other hot beverages and, most importantly, it is used for dehydrated ration packs common to many armies and armed services.
Situated immediately below the drink point is a small bar fridge, which can either carry spare rations, 'jack' rations, or approximately two cases of soft-drinks or equivalent.
The NBC system follows Lyran standard, and features quite adequately as a climate control system, making for working temperatures easily adjustable to every national or personal need (operating temperature range -40C to 55C). The NBC system on the Lammasu, however, can be removed and/or replaced with alternate systems, should the operating entity so desire.
Seat warmers/coolers are also fitted, to ensure greater comfort and optimise combat endurance and deployability of both crew and personnel being transported. The seats can also be adjusted, manually or electronically, to ensure optimum comfort and control access for any shape or size.
The LY7-series pioneered the provision of a small toilet located to the rear, on the left of the main door. This addresses a major stressor identified to continuous closed-down armoured operations – the requirement to urinate. Personnel can be in combat situations or near-combat situations for days at a time, and while sleep is also in short supply, other body requirements, generally speaking, cannot be put off that long. Thus, given the LY7's emphasis on operational and strategic mobility, the vehicle was designed with a latrine in mind, and the Lammasu happily utilises this development. While limited in capacity, the system allows the vehicle, and thus its unit, to continuously manoeuver or remain under armour for far longer than would otherwise be expected.
LY7/366s, as with their predecessors employ, as standard, with integral high-speed wireless (satellite) broadband internet connections, allowing the crew to surf the internet, check their emails, or correspond with family. It is worth noting, however, that personnel surfing the net while on the move or on duty is to be strongly discouraged, and some tank commanders within LY4 and LY6 units have taken to locking the system, such that only they can allow access, an adjustment that has met with great success. The provision of insulated external connections allows accompanying or transported personnel to simply plug in to the side of the vehicle, and then they to can go online. Vehicles with this feature, at this point approximately 60% of the Lyran arsenal, are invariably popular with the units that field them, or are attached to them, as they not only ensure vastly improved fire support, but also mean that personnel are going to get, hot (or cold) drinks, snacks and a way to talk to home, all of which ensures dramatically higher morale and the notably higher performance that such morale generates.
Export
The LY7/366 Lammasu is Lyras' answer to the requirement for organic, high-precision, high-lethality firesupport. Designed to integrate effortlessly with the most modern of fighting forces, the Lammasu's capabilities are nevertheless formidable regardless of the effectiveness of supporting elements. Capable of precision indirect fire, and comfortably able to be utilised in direct fire roles, the Lammasu is welcome support to all combat arms, wherever it is found. Whatever the nature of the military force, the LY7/366 can slide seemlessly into it, adapting and responding to best meet the operator's requirements in responsive, accurate firepower.
Upon purchase of an LY7/366, the purchaser is entitled to the following, in addition;
DPR to the LY64 7.62mm MMG for use with that vehicle only
DPR to the LY60 14.7mm HMG for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to the PAK2 25mm automatic cannon, for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to the LY366 155mmL55 smoothbore gun, for use with that vehicle only
DPR to the SALY28 S/MR SAM, for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to stocks, spare parts, ammunition and resupply examples of the above, to maintain suitable reserves and hardware redundancy, for use with the LY7/366 Lammasu series only.
Each LY7/366 is available from
Lyran Arms (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=541320) at a total cost per unit of NS$8m.
To states so authorised, DPRs to the LY7/366 Lammasu are available at NS$70bn.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/2821090/LY7-366Lammasu2.png
LY7/366 'Lammasu' shown in Lyran woodland camouflage, with LY60 RWS.
Key Data
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Dimensions
Length (not including gun): 7.2m
Height: 3.1m
Width: 3.2m
Weight: 68 tonnes
Ground Clearance: Variable. Default at 50cm
Performance
Maximum (Governed) Speed: 80 kph (50mph)
Cross Country Speed: 64 kph (40mph)
Speed, 10% Slope: 33 kph
Speed, 60% slope: 17 kph
Acceleration: 0kph to 32 kph in 7.8 seconds
Range: 605 km (480 km at operational cruising speed)
Manoeuvrability
Vertical Obstacle Crossing: 104cm
Trench: 290cm
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Armament
Main Armament: LY366 155mm, 55 calibre smoothbore rapid firing gun-howitzer
Commander's Weapon: Modular, on powered remote rotary platform. Standard options include; KWF PAK2 25mm automatic cannon (550 rnds) OR 15mm AGH-32 HMG (700rnds) OR 14.7mm LY60 HMG (700rnds) OR 7.62mm LY64 (2,400rnds) OR 7.5mm Lagash MG (2,400rnds)
Additional: Laterally mounted 4 barrelled multi-purpose grenade launchers
Power
Propulsion: Modular – default powerplant 40L LY665 V10 multi-fuel propane-injected twin-turbo diesel 1600 HP at 2500RPM
Transmission: Hydropneumatic automatic transmission (5 fwd gears, 2 rvse)
Power-to-Weight Ratio: ~26hp/ton (weight and power variable depending on configuration)
APU: 2 (underarmour)
Armour and Protection
Armour: Highly modularised. Base includes IRHA, titanium-ceramic, 4th Generation Composite.
NBC Protection: SCFM, clean cooled air, LYMkII CBRN overpressure system.
Missile Countermeasures: Modular. Standard options include WATCHKEEPER, GOLIATH. Other APS also compatible.
Background
Shortly prior to the Mokan Civil War, the possibility of merging the LY366 155mm gun with the near ubiquitous LY219 Ironheart chassis was investigated. While it was rapidly ascertained that the weapon system was far too heavy for the chassis, the concept was not completely abandoned, although the project was put on indefinite hold.
During that conflict, the utility of mobile tube artillery was again demonstrated, when Mokan howitzers fired en-masse at the Battleaxe-class gun-cruiser Port Finch, crippling it, and forcing its withdrawal. Despite the destruction of that artillery unit by retaliatory strike using LY589 cruise missiles, the point had been made, and research into methods of mounting the LY366 in a land-based indirect-fire role were recommenced.
The initial difficulty was centred around the weapon's weight and volume. To date, only three land-based platforms had utilised it, and all were exceptionally heavy. The LY3 was over 80 tonnes, and the LY6 was over 98 tonnes. Only the first platform, the LY2A3-2 Bull Mastiff, had been anything like a reasonable weight for an artillery piece, and that was by virtue of having stripped the once-MBT's armour to enable the platform to accept the load. The result was no longer an MBT, but had become a tank destroyer... not the result intended at the time, but the experience was to serve the Protectorate well in the future.
With the only MBT in-service during the Mokan Civil War being the LY4, which lacked the reasonable means of mounting the LY366 in an indirect role, research once again slowed.
With the advent of the LY7, however, the situation had changed markedly.
The LY7's focus on modularity, and its lightweight base design, lent itself well to the adjustment to handle an LY366, so it was thought, and examination down that avenue commenced shortly after the first LY7 prototype was completed.
The LY7's turret design was initially problematic, with the LY7's small, low profile turret being grotesquely ill-equipped to handle large ordnance of the scale of the LY366. A complete turret redesign was required, and the Rottweiler medium tank's low-profile silhouette vanished, with the higher profile a requirement to allow the LY366 to fire at higher elevations. The turret shared many commonalities with turrets of the LY3 Warhound and LY6 Werewolf vehicles, which themselves field the LY366. On the Lammasu, however, the platform is designed primarily as an indirect fire platform, rather than with a mind towards a secondary indirect fire capability.
Initial results were mixed, with performance on the firing range very similar to existing Lyran platforms. It was only when the immensely easier logistics tail was considered, that further examination went ahead to make the project, then dubbed 'Lammasu', a reality.
As elements of the LY7's armour were stripped to bring the weight down further, the Lammasu began to enjoy further advantages, in acceleration and manoeuver in particular. In less than three years, the LY7/366 had been assessed as production-ready, and the first units were received by the 98th (Castlegate Heavy Horse) Armoured Division (Task Force Beta, 1st Order) and 235th Southbastion Cavalry (Task Force Gamma, 2nd Order) in August of that year.
The LY7/366 Lammasu currently serves with just under a thousand Lyran divisions, with that number expected to increase.
Main Armament
The LY7/366 Lammasu's primary armament is the LY366 155mm gun-launcher. The LY366 was first developed for the LY2A3-2 Bull Mastiff Tank Destroyer, also saw action as main armament of the LY3 Warhound series, and as an indirect-fire-optimised alternate main armament on the LY6 Werewolf. A navalised version, the LY366(N) has found use as a multirole naval gun, optimised for ship-to-shore operations, and serves as the primary gun system for the Hatchet-class modular frigate. The LY366, while optimised for long-range, OTH engagements, is more than capable of being used in a direct-fire role, and was initially designed for such, in its capacity as main armament to the LY2A3-2 and LY3.
The chromium-plated barrel is a fraction over 8.5m long and is fitted with a slotted muzzle brake which yields increased muzzle velocity whilst reducing the degree of muzzle flash. Further, and borrowing more from the LY7 chassis, the Lammasu's main armament comes with a 550mm recoil mechanism. The wedge-type breech block is integrated with an exchangeable primer magazine fitted with a standard conveyer assembly for automatic (but adjustable and controllable) primer transportation, loading and unloading.
The LY7 autoloader is integral to the turret, and constitutes a major component of the mechanics. With the turret of the Rottweiler, brought across to the Lammasu as it has been, being designed around the autoloader, many problems systemic to other tanks fielding autoloaders have been avoided. As with the LY4-series, the LY7's compact autoloader allows a rate of fire of 15 shots per minute and holds 40 rounds of ready ammunition; it can accommodate up to seven different types of ammunition at once, and unlike many autoloader systems it can change ammunition types after a round has been loaded into the breech.
The shell loading system is driven by brushless electric servo motors supplied by Lyran Arms' Highcairn Manufacturing Zone. The automatic shell loading system has air-forced ram and Cromwell-backed automatic digital control, ammunition supply management and autonomous target-assessed fuze setting.
The LY366 is rated to fire out to 35km with standard ammunition, and 55km with rocket-assisted munitions.
The LY366 features rounds compatible with most 155mm conventional weapons, such as the APFSDS LY29, developed specifically to address the threats posed by growing numbers of highly protected manoeuver forces, such as the Antigran MT-85 “Marauder” and Macabee/Sumerian “Tiglath Pileser”, and high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped-charge rounds such as the LY30 (the latest version of which (LY30A1) incorporates a sophisticated multi-function electronic sensory fuse and increased fragmentation, allowing it to be used effectively against armoured vehicles, personnel and low-flying aircraft) were developed for the LY3 series, and the LY366 weapon system specifically.
LY38 155 mm anti-personnel canister cartridge is another LY366 option, having now been in-service for a number of years within the Lyran arsenal. The LY38 contains 1,750 tungsten projectiles which spread from the muzzle to produce a shotgun-like blast-effect lethal out to 700 m. The tungsten balls can be used for an extremely wide variety of tasks at short-to-medium range, where conventional munitions may not suit the mission profile.
When used in the indirect role, the LY366 is compatible with an extremely wide range of guided long-range projectiles, such as Excalibur, which utilise satellite guidance datalink to ensure optimum target accuracy. Using guided projectiles, margin of error at maximum range changes from nearly 150m to within 10m, a distance that puts the target inside the blast crater.
Once the magazine is depleted, the entire magazine can be removed, and a fresh one inserted, a process not dissimilar to changing magazines on a rifle, only on a larger scale. This does require the presence of a dedicated service vehicle, but takes less than 4 minutes. Should such a vehicle be unavailable, the system can be reloaded manually/conventionally.
Additional armament
As with other primary elements of the LY7 series makeup, the additional armament (armament other than main gun, in this context) is highly modularised. Due to the size of the primary armament, the original two slots for coaxial weapons are no longer available, but the remote weapon station above the unmanned turret remains. The LY366 is significantly larger than the LY407 fitted to the LY7 in its role as a medium tank.
The turret-mounted station can field a wide variety of weapon options, including, but not limited to, light anti-aircraft missiles, automatic grenade launchers, BVR anti-tank missiles and HMGs.
Weapons options on Lyran vehicles on the turret mount (and thus available to nations seeking to purchase the LY7/366) include a quartet of SALY28 short-to-medium range AA missiles, LY60 14.7mm HMG, LY64 7.62mm MMG, Helios II BVRATGM and PAK2 25mm automatic cannon. Weapons of most types are compatible, though of course those produced by states other than those contributing to the Lammasu cannot be exported by or through Lyran Arms. Such weapons are easily integrated into the Lammasu after purchase, and include such well known systems as the Sumerian AGH-32 HMG and AGS-5 LMG, Yanitarian “Hag” HMG, Former Soviet KPV and RPK machine guns, AGL-19s and Koronet ATGMs, and such systems as the MG-3, M2 .50 cal HMG and Javelin ATGM.
Unlike the LY7 Rottweiler, which features modularity as the hallmark of the vehicle, the LY7/366 Lammasu is intended primarily as an indirect-fire platform, and as such less emphasis is given to the secondary armament within the LY7/366.
Propulsion and mobility
The Lammasu borrows from the base LY7 modularity, by its flexible position with regards to engines. Capable of accepting an extremely wide variety of engines, as long as they are able to generate electrical power, the LY7/366 follows the LY7-series' new benchmark in force sustainment and domestic integration of non-indigenous components.
The armoured engine bay is designed for easy access and expedient removal, which also flows on to notably easier maintenance, and the platform's flexibility enables any given battleforce to continue, if desired, its extant logistics practices with the aim of greatly enhanced battleforce sustainment.
The LY7-series, borrowing from features first demonstrated on the LY219 and later on the LY6, uses an electric transmission system, where the drive shafts have been replaced by cable and the power from the engines is transferred by cable throughput, which delivers a number of advantages, including volume efficiency, very high fuel efficiency (essential to make the engine viable, in this case), reduced lifecycle costs, and reduced environmental impacts.
The electric drive has also greatly improved low observability characteristics in terms of thermal and acoustic signatures as well as low visual and radar signatures.
Borrowing again from the LY219, and LY6 Werewolf, the LY7-series' suspension is mounted on the underframe and not on the side frames, so the suspension is separated from the hull. A result of using a decoupled suspension in conjunction with the spall liners is that the internal noise level is as low as 75dB which is well below civilian vehicle noise acceptability standards, and 4dB below the previously benchmark LY6, the difference due to the LY7-series chassis being 38 tonnes lighter.
The engine, whatever it may be, is further decoupled from the final drives allowing flexibility in the placing of systems in the vehicle and also easily allows two smaller engines to be installed instead of one, should smaller engines be preferred for export purposes. Batteries are integrated into the electric drive system, which when considered in combination with the suspension, allow the vehicle to be driven near-silently for several hours with the engines shut down, a factor very likely to increase psychological strain on forces fighting against it in close terrain or poor visibilty.
The final drives are connected by a cross-shaft which gives higher power efficiency in turning manoeuvres by transferring the power regenerated at the inner track during a turn to the outer track.
Any engine fitted will, like its predecessors (bar the LY663), be linked to the Cromwell system, which keeps track of the temperatures of each individual segment of the engine, and both monitors and records engine stresses. The system then notifies both the operators and higher command when replacement or repair is required for components, as well as when the engine or parts of it are coming due for routine maintenance. This contributes to greatly reduced attrition, and total combat readiness is markedly improved as a result, while lowering maintenance workloads. The Cromwell system is also responsible for monitoring the active cooling of the vehicle's exhaust, as a means of reducing the vehicle's already low thermal signature, further enhancing the vehicle's low observability characteristics.
The entire assembly is, as per existing Lyran and TPF-standards, also fitted with deployable sand filters for use in high-sand environments, such as deserts or certain parts of the littoral.
As is also the standard with Lyran armoured vehicles, and now has been for some time, the Lammasu is fitted with rear-vision cameras for manoeuvering in close country or urban environments, a factor which, in other vehicles, has prevented a tremendous number of accidents and eased the psychological load on personnel responsible for moving the vehicles in less-than-optimal conditions.
Tracks are shrouded as standard to increase resilience to battle damage, and have seven road wheels and two drive rollers, with only the forward roller on each side partially unshrouded.
Networking, integration, electronics and fire control
As with all Lyran designed vehicles, the Lammasu is designed to integrate seemlessly and easily into the most sophisticated of military forces. The vehicle is fitted with a highly extensive sensor suite so as to enable the transmission of as much information as possible into any extant battlenet, while possessing internal computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from it.
While designed to slot into any existing battlespace architecture, the Lammasu by default utilises the world-benchmark Cromwell II. Cromwell II is an integrated and adaptive battlespace network that maximises combat lethality, performance, and output and enables command and control on an unprecedented scale. Information is sourced not only from multiple sources on the individual platform, but from every Cromwell II equipped friendly vehicle within the battlespace, which provides constant informational updates across a broad spectrum of sources, both known to the operators, and operating below their awareness.
The Cromwell II system utilises this information to compute a firing solution for the gunner, based upon analysis of the target beneath the reticle. This is achieved in less time than it would take the gunner to depress the firing stud. The firing solution that Cromwell II generates ensures a near-perfect hit percent at standard ranges, across all conditions.
At the most basic level, the Cromwell II system aims to accelerate engagement cycles and increase operational tempo at all levels of the warfighting system. This acceleration is achieved by providing a mechanism to rapidly gather and distribute targeting information, and rapidly issue directives. Cromwell II's ultra-high speed networking permits error-free, high integrity transmission in a bare fraction of the time required for voice-based transmission, and permits transfer of a wide range of data formats, from a multitude of compatible sources.
Borrowing from fire control measures designed by the Koreans for the K2 Black Panther, Lyran Arms and the Varessan Commonwealth's VMRDB developed a built-in trigger-delay mechanism. Other contemporary tanks, up to and including the LY4A1, but not including the K2, can be found to, despite all other fire control methods, miss their target when they fire their gun and hit a slight bump at the same time, a problem exacerbated, as would be expected, by movement at high speeds and/or across uneven terrain. The designers of the K2 anticipated this situation, and generated a solution for it by installing a laser emitter-receiver assembly linked to the FCS, a concept that has been brought across for implementation in the main gun, whatever that main gun may be, on the LY7-series.
The emitter is fitted near the top of the gun barrel, with the receiver being placed at the barrel's base. The gun can only be fired when the laser receiver array is exactly aligned with the emitted laser. By means of example, if at the point of firing, when the gunner presses the trigger, linked as it is to the fire control system, the vehicle comes upon an irregularity in the terrain at the same moment, the laser will find itself pushed off the reciever by the sudden movement, and the FCS will delay the round's ignition until the beam reorients to the receiver again. As the barrel shakes up and down, the FCS will automatically fire off the gun when the laser finds its mark, and the barrel is judged to be on target. This system, combined with both an advanced stabiliser and powerful fire control system, dramatically improves the vehicle's capacity to engage targets while moving at speed, even when moving across broken terrain. Of course, this feature is only of relevance when the LY366 is being employed in a direct fire role. For indirect fire, the vehicle will (in the vast majority of cases) stop, fire, then keep moving, a process that takes less than 20 seconds.
In case of an emergency, the vehicle can be operated by only two, or even a single, member of its three crew. The FCS can autonomously locate and track visible targets, comparing them both to known hostiles (identified by datalink) or targets established by image recognition (again as available via information uplink), avoid blue-on-blue engagements and fire its main gun without needing any input from a human operator, although the absence of a human operator will adversely affect engagement tempo.
The LY7-series crew-stations, on Lyran and Lyran-allied vehicles only, utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than standard, by displaying sensor data from the vehicle's external sensors directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor. As the crewman turns his head, the view pans, and either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the crew commander may look left, with the weapon mounted on the commander's weapon station following his movement (if the function is activated). As required, the commander simply has to look at the target, and press the firing stud. Alternatively, he could look at a target, and designate it for engagement by the gunner by either voice command or toggle. Targets can be sequenced for engagement, and the gunner may target and fire in a similar manner using the vehicle's main gun, or either of the two co-axials. The gunner's station is identical to, and interchangeable with, the commander's, and either can take on additional roles if the situation requires. This feature is only available to LY7s in Lyran or allied service. When used in conjunction with Cromwell II, and the fast-traversing turret (less fast in the LY7/366, it must be stated), the engagement speeds of the LY7 are almost twice as fast as any previously designed Lyran vehicle – a crucial element to AFV survivability, and firesupport responsiveness.
A developed on the LY6 series, and subsequently retrofitted to all Lyran-operated AFVs, the electrics of the LY7-series, more specifically the circuitry, are composed of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), rendering the vehicle proof against electromagnetic interference or EMP-based attack, although the GaAs is itself a highly expensive addition. It was quickly reasoned, however, that when operating in an environment which may include anti-strategic platforms such as the LY4032 “Rampart”, the chances of the platform encountering high levels of electromagnetic interference goes up dramatically, and the dangers this presents far outweigh the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of GaAs components.
Armour
The Lammasu features an armour scheme based very heavily, as would be expected, on its LY7 predecessor. There are a significant number of differences, however, primarily focused around the downgrading of the armour scheme, due to the platform's intended role as an indirect fire-support unit, rather than an MBT. The armour is still proof against 30mm rounds, but is no longer intended to provide defence against hostile armoured units. The LY366 main gun is still perfectly capable of operating in a direct fire capacity, however, making the Lammasu far from helpless if engaged by enemy tank units.
As with the base LY7, the Lammasu is structurally steel, but the vast majority of the armour of the chassis is titanium, which in general terms offers considerably higher protection per unit of weight. Given the premium placed on weight within the LY7, and even more so on the LY7/366, titanium was exceptionally attractive. The LY7 production runs have already pushed the price of titanium per-unit down a considerable distance, and the use of the material on the Lammasu is expected to continue the trend.
The primary external armour is titanium-chobham, a form of composite armour composed of multiple layers of titanium and ceramic. The titanium plates hold the ceramic in position and the ceramic maintains its resistance to shock even when fragmented, as long as it remains held together. Explosive reactive armour is fitted as standard (though is often removed as superfluous) to the turret and major hull areas. Fireproof armoured bulkheads seperate the crew compartment from the engine bay, which itself forms part of the forward passive protection suite.
Fuel and ammunition are located within armoured sub-compartments with integral anti-spalling layers, and those self-same antispalling systems are also used to protect the internals of the crew compartment. The spall lining is also designed to provide a high degree of noise and thermal insulation, making the Lammasu, like its predecessors, extremely quiet for its operators, analagous (to the operators), to noise levels experienced while driving in a civilian vehicle.
Unlike the LY7, the LY7/366 is not expected to utilise the extensive modular armour capabilities afforded by the chassis. The function remains, however, and will thus be detailed.
Due to the LY7's emphasis on applique armour as a means of providing variable levels of protection, appropriate to threat level and weight restrictions, the LY7/366 retains the ability to field a whole host of after-armour packages. Extensive use of heavy explosive reactive armour on multiple surfaces, or non-explosive reactive armour if operating in close-proximity to infantry, and each of varying types, is entirely feasible. The vehicle's heavy use of titanium (especially on the sides and rear, where surfaces generally have the least slope) to keep weight to an absolute minimum while not sacrificing protection, and allowing for easy operator up-armouring is calculated as part of its standard operating circumstances. It is expected that, as new or more effective forms of modular armour are developed, users will be easily able to integrate the packages into the chassis with a bare minimum of effort.
Internal spalling layers are, by default, kevlar, a long-accepted international standard in the field. Should additional protection be sought, the kevlar can be removed and replaced with any number of materials, of which steltexolites of a variety of forms are popular choices. Steltexolites have been traditionally chosen by Lyras, due to its greater resilience to KE and HE based armour piercing AT weapons than kevlar.
Now, however, another option has become available for the anti-spalling layer, to those states eligible to acquire the North Point A1 armour upgrade to the LY7. Derived from research undertaken in conjunction with the 'Dauntless' body armour project, Lyran vehicles utilise anciniform spider silk as anti-spalling protection.
Once threads are manufactured, the silk is woven in the same manner as fibrous material anywhere. The fibres mesh well, and fibrous internal friction is low while elasticity and tensile strength both remain very high, allowing for exceptionally good resistance, particularly so when compared to other similar substances, such as aramids. The fibres, unusually, become proportionally stronger as they get thinner, and research and implementation quickly established what spiders established millions of years ago, that weaving 100 thin fibres into a silken strand is almost 60% stronger than an equivalent width single strand, while utilising (approximately) only 80% of the material mass. Also, critically, spider silk has a biphasic modulus – when initially subjected to force it is very stiff, like Kevlar, but just before the yield point it becomes very elastic. It also undergoes hysteresis, so if released from tension it comes back into shape.
In essence, while offering slightly improved protection-to-weight ratios than kevlar, anciniform spider silk is dramatically thinner, allowing notably more material to be packed into the same space. As a consequence, while the protection per unit weight may be similar to kevlar, the protection per unit volume is considerably higher, and it is this consideration that lead to its adoption as anti-spalling on most Lyran vehicles, at the cost of an additional 400kg of weight. Again, this option is modular, and some units do not utilise it.
Signature Reduction
A great number of active and passive signature reduction methods have been implemented in the LY7, making it the AFV with the lowest detection footprint of any yet produced by the Lyran Protectorate. The LY7/366 maintains these signature reduction techniques, which are employed to minimise detectability by radar, infra-red, direct line-of-sight visibility and acoustic means.
The first method by which the detection signature is reduced is through use of the Lyran-designed and manufactured 'Warshroud' advanced multi-spectral camouflage netting system. Based heavily on the Ukrainian 'Kontrast', 'Warshroud' dramatically reduces the detection ranges against known radar, infra-red and visible-band methods. The 'Kontrast' system was developed at the Institute of Automated Systems in late 2002, and was designed to address a notable and growing problem. High-potency modern weapons are able to engage ground vehicles at any angle, from great ranges, by day or by night, irrespective of weather, and with a potency that was becoming increasingly difficult to counter. The Institute's researchers faced a real challenge and, moreover, it was decided to develop a single solution, one that would take into account all noted factors and be implemented within the weight and size limitations.
In approaching this task specialists at the Institute of Automated Systems decided to proceed from the key idea behind the design of high precision weapons. High-precision, high-lethality systems universally require integration with means of detection, which of necessity requires the design of sensor sets and target locators, and the implementation of effective scanning capabilities across several adjacent or near-adjacent visible and invisible spectra, including visible light, close and long infra-red waves, and laser scans(in the infrared, millimeter and centimeter wave bands).
The developers of Kontrast took an ordinary camouflage net as the base and, utilising the latest technological innovations, turned it into a new generation signature-reduction product to combat the sophistication of modern radar systems and other contemporary military reconnaissance means. The result was the development of a surprisingly effective solution.
Developed countries traditionally have utilised a wide variety of signature reduction technologies, many of which include various after-manufacture coatings. The technical requirements of such coating are very high - their reflection capacity must be below 20 dB in a wide range of bands. This factor forced the Ukrainian – and later Lyran – research teams to examine new physical methods for reducing or amplifying reflection of radar waves to achieve effective electromagnetic concealment. With this goal in mind, the 'Kontrast' developers tried to find materials with absorptive and reflective characteristics for attenuating and amplifying electromagnetic waves. Experiments generated a series of composite materials with superb characteristics for greatly diminishing the wave reflection contrast between the protected object and its background.
'Kontrast' simultaneously employed both absorption and targetted reflection of electromagnetic waves. The array of material used within the netting the product, each of which featured at least one of the said qualities, allowed protection from a great range of known target location means. 'Kontrast' tests have repeatedly shown its superiority across a wide range of battlefield conditions to analogues from Sweden and Britain, whether the concealed unit is moving or stationary.
'Warshroud' built on 'Kontrast' by the integration of signature reduction techniques in the IR spectrum pioneered by the LDPCU multi-spectral camouflage. The resultant product takes nearly twice as long to produce, due to the difficulty in applying a coating (which had been done away with under 'Kontrast') to the camouflage netting. Attempts are being made to shorten the 'Warshroud' manufacturing process, but it is somewhat of a moot point. Production as it stands is more than capable of keeping up with the manufacture of the vehicles utilising 'Warshroud'. 'Warshroud''s visible suppression includes, as with most camouflage nets, terrain-appropriate textile strips, soaked in a dielectric polymer that can absorb and scatter electromagnetic waves. The textile pieces are made of non-reactive, radar transparent fabric.
In 2002, tests run using 'Kontrast' on a T-84 determined that the ability of hostile weapons to lock onto a vehicle dropped nine-fold compared to an unshrouded vehicle. It was further established that T-84 MBTs fielding 'Kontrast' dropped out of visibility range of viewing devices at distances over and including 500m.
'Warshroud' builds on this, with additional substantial reduction in detectability of targets in infra-red, radio-thermal and radio wave bands. Improvements in synthetic and parasynthetic textiles have also reduced the inherent radar return in the material which binds the net together, along all detection envelopes.
'Warshroud' has repeatedly demonstrated excellent resistance to various external factors while keeping its camouflaging characteristics intact – a factor very quickly determined to be a critical capability of the system. Tests had tanks equipped with a 'Warshroud' run at their tops speeds in off-road conditions, in woods and deserts, while similarly equipped IFVs conducted amphibious landings. In all cases, the signature reduction capabilities of the equipment were unreduced to any appreciable degree. All elements of 'Warshroud' are resistant to fuels, lubricants (gasoline, diesel fuel, lube oil) and detergents. Furthermore, spinning off from research conducted into the LDPCU once again, the shroud is made of self-extinguishing materials, ensuring that flames cease to burn free of subsequent glowing, once the fire source is removed.
'Warshroud' itself consists of a number of modular components that can be put together to create a masking surface of any size and shape, with colors matching any field environment in any season.
It is currently expected that existing AFV stocks will be retrospectively fitted with 'Warshroud', as a means of contributing to the ongoing attempts to reduce detection footprints across all relevant bands.
The second primary means of signature reduction is focused on the engine and drive systems of the vehicle. While already alluded to above in the analysis of the platform's propulsion and mobility, relevant points will be reiterated here for ease of reference.
The electric drive differs from conventional AFV drive system arrangements by utilising a hybrid powerplant. This essentially means that the engine generates electric power which in turn powers the batteries which propel the vehicle. The electric drive, has, importantly, implemented a suite of features designed to mitigate its detectability, both acoustically and thermally. Moreover, the presence of dual APUs and the primary and secondary battery banks allow the vehicle to be driven for several hours with the main engines off, which pushes the sound generated to below that of a conventional civilian motor vehicle.
As with a number of earlier marks of AFV, the Lammasu's decoupled suspension is seperated from the hull, and similarly seperated from the final section which turns the drive wheels, a factor which considerably lowers audibility in itself.
Acoustically, the vehicle is phenomenally quiet in most circumstaces, and preliminary manoeuvers conducted with early Lyran vehicles have demonstrated the potential that this low-observability can manifest, providing a tremendous advantage in low-visibility scenarios, by day or by night.
By utilising the Cromwell system to actively monitor the engine and propulsion systems, the crew are able to remain constantly aware of the amount of noise being generated, and also the amount of heat being radiated. Furthermore, as indicated in the propulsion and mobility section, the Lammasu, as with both its LY7 ancestor and the LY6 Werewolf, utilises active cooling of its own exhaust, a further means of suppressing thermal and infra-red signature. When this is taken in conjunction with 'Warshroud', the thermal and IR footprint of the LY7/366 is a bare fraction of what its weight and power would suggest.
Crew amenities
It has been a well-known fact in most militaries that well-rested and alert soldiers with a high morale and a high degree of confidence in themselves and their equipment will perform faster, more effectively and with fewer avoidable errors than those who fall short in any of the above categories. To that end, for a number of years Lyran vehicles have put a strong emphasis on designing and manufacturing hardware that can effectively cater for the comfort needs of personnel that fight from that hardware.
To that end, Lyran vehicles from the LY4 onwards featured crew amenities designed to optimise performance of personnel and maintain morale. This, in the Lammasu, manifests in a number of ways.
The Lammasu fields the commonplace hot and cold water drink point, which provides hot water, cold water, and with two further compartments that can be filled with hot or cold drinks of the crew or unit's choice. As well as being morale boosting, hot water in particular can be of direct military value, with it being used to brew tea or coffee, produce other hot beverages and, most importantly, it is used for dehydrated ration packs common to many armies and armed services.
Situated immediately below the drink point is a small bar fridge, which can either carry spare rations, 'jack' rations, or approximately two cases of soft-drinks or equivalent.
The NBC system follows Lyran standard, and features quite adequately as a climate control system, making for working temperatures easily adjustable to every national or personal need (operating temperature range -40C to 55C). The NBC system on the Lammasu, however, can be removed and/or replaced with alternate systems, should the operating entity so desire.
Seat warmers/coolers are also fitted, to ensure greater comfort and optimise combat endurance and deployability of both crew and personnel being transported. The seats can also be adjusted, manually or electronically, to ensure optimum comfort and control access for any shape or size.
The LY7-series pioneered the provision of a small toilet located to the rear, on the left of the main door. This addresses a major stressor identified to continuous closed-down armoured operations – the requirement to urinate. Personnel can be in combat situations or near-combat situations for days at a time, and while sleep is also in short supply, other body requirements, generally speaking, cannot be put off that long. Thus, given the LY7's emphasis on operational and strategic mobility, the vehicle was designed with a latrine in mind, and the Lammasu happily utilises this development. While limited in capacity, the system allows the vehicle, and thus its unit, to continuously manoeuver or remain under armour for far longer than would otherwise be expected.
LY7/366s, as with their predecessors employ, as standard, with integral high-speed wireless (satellite) broadband internet connections, allowing the crew to surf the internet, check their emails, or correspond with family. It is worth noting, however, that personnel surfing the net while on the move or on duty is to be strongly discouraged, and some tank commanders within LY4 and LY6 units have taken to locking the system, such that only they can allow access, an adjustment that has met with great success. The provision of insulated external connections allows accompanying or transported personnel to simply plug in to the side of the vehicle, and then they to can go online. Vehicles with this feature, at this point approximately 60% of the Lyran arsenal, are invariably popular with the units that field them, or are attached to them, as they not only ensure vastly improved fire support, but also mean that personnel are going to get, hot (or cold) drinks, snacks and a way to talk to home, all of which ensures dramatically higher morale and the notably higher performance that such morale generates.
Export
The LY7/366 Lammasu is Lyras' answer to the requirement for organic, high-precision, high-lethality firesupport. Designed to integrate effortlessly with the most modern of fighting forces, the Lammasu's capabilities are nevertheless formidable regardless of the effectiveness of supporting elements. Capable of precision indirect fire, and comfortably able to be utilised in direct fire roles, the Lammasu is welcome support to all combat arms, wherever it is found. Whatever the nature of the military force, the LY7/366 can slide seemlessly into it, adapting and responding to best meet the operator's requirements in responsive, accurate firepower.
Upon purchase of an LY7/366, the purchaser is entitled to the following, in addition;
DPR to the LY64 7.62mm MMG for use with that vehicle only
DPR to the LY60 14.7mm HMG for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to the PAK2 25mm automatic cannon, for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to the LY366 155mmL55 smoothbore gun, for use with that vehicle only
DPR to the SALY28 S/MR SAM, for use with that vehicle only.
DPR to stocks, spare parts, ammunition and resupply examples of the above, to maintain suitable reserves and hardware redundancy, for use with the LY7/366 Lammasu series only.
Each LY7/366 is available from
Lyran Arms (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=541320) at a total cost per unit of NS$8m.
To states so authorised, DPRs to the LY7/366 Lammasu are available at NS$70bn.