Lyras
23-02-2009, 14:13
LY6A1 Werewolf Assault Gun/Tank Destroyer, Protectorate of Lyras
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Key Data
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Dimensions
Length (With Gun Forward): 15.76m
Length: 11.3m
Height: 3.84m
Width: 5.6m
Weight : 98.7 tonnes
Ground Clearance: Variable. Default at 60cm
Performance
Maximum (Governed) Speed: 82 kph
Cross Country Speed: 58.3 kph
Speed, 10% Slope: 26 kph
Speed, 60% slope: 11.1 kph
Acceleration: 0kph to 32 kph in 7.5 seconds
Range: 400 km (360 km at operational cruising speed)
Manoeuvrability
Vertical Obstacle Crossing: 111 cm (43 in)
Trench: 260 cm (8 ft, 8 in)
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Fording: 3m unprepared, 5m prepared.
Armament
Main Armament: 180mm 52 calibre ETC smoothbore LY412 (24 rnds)
Coaxial Weapons: LY106 50mm compact automatic cannon (350rnds) LY60 14.7mm HMG (700 rnds)
Commander's Weapon: Powered remote rotary platform with 15mm AGH-32 HMG (700rnds) OR 14.7mm LY60 HMG (700rnds) OR 7.62mm LY64 GPMG (2,400rnds) OR 7.5mm Lagash MG (2,400rnds) OR MGJ-21 'Mary Jane' LMG (2,500rnds) OR 4 x SALY28 SAMs OR 2 x TPFMI MkII 'Helios II' BVR ATGM OR 2 x LAIX Arms LA-420 'Havik' BVR ATGM
Additional: 2 x lateral grenade launcher racks, 8 x TPFMI MkII 'Helios II BVR ATGM OR LA-420 'Havik' BVR ATGM.
Power
Propulsion: LY694 25L hybrid-electric opposing-piston multi-fuel hyperbar engine, generating 2,500 HP (1,875 kW) at 3000RPM.
Transmission: Hydropneumatic automatic transmission (5 fwd gears, 2 rvse)
Power-to-Weight Ratio: 25.36hp/t
APU: 3(under armour)
Batteries: 16 x high density Li+ polymer
Armour and Protection
Armour: Titanium-ceramic, HERA, North Point
Anti-spalling: Semi-synthetic anciniform spider silk
NBC Protection: SCFM, clean cooled air, LYMkII CBRN overpressure system.
Missile Countermeasures: GOLIATH Active Protection System.
Background/Conceptualisation
Subsequent to the decisive upgrade of the LY4-series, the Protectorate Research and Development Commission shifted its attention to implementing the paradigm-shifting technology to the award winning and highly successful LY6 Werewolf assault gun/tank destroyer.
The LY4-series has, since its development, become one of the world's most successfully exported main battle tanks, generating sales revenue of over three trillion. The widespread use of the LY4 by many nations has shown that Lyran equipment performs exceedingly well against foreign equivalents, but certain conditions and circumstances have repeatedly lowered the relative performance of armoured vehicles, broadly speaking.
Of specific interest and note was the increasing prevalence of conflict within extremely close environs, such as medium-dense vegetation, urban areas, or purpose-built fortifications. Anti-tank infantry would frequently establish enfilade positions, often elevated, and would employ short-range, visually guided (or even unguided) high-lethality anti-armour systems with great effect. No one has doubted the utility of the main battle tank, but the fact was that no tank has been designed to be able to adequately cope with such short range, fast moving and fluid conditions against an elusive, cunning and well-armed foe.
Conventional responses have included using massed artillery, often in the form of rocket strikes, or infantry moving in close proximity to armour units. This does however put infantry firmly back into the firing line, lessening the purpose of having AFVs in the area at all.
The Lyran solution to this issue was to design a new vehicle specifically for areas in which high firepower is likely to be directed towards it at close range. Where engagement ranges -and consequent lethality- are short, and protection is paramount for vehicle crews. To that end, Protectorate Research and Development designed the LY6 Werewolf assault gun.
Into these scenarios, where opposing force elements are operating within their optimum engagement ranges and lethality of munitions is directly proportional, protection is paramount for vehicle crews, both to avoid losses and to ensure success in the objective's achievement. It was for circumstances such as these that the Werewolf was designed.
The Werewolf is NOT a main battle tank. The Werewolf is an assault vehicle, designed expressly for the purpose of breaching heavily fortified positions, and engaging well-entrenched or extremely concentrated enemy forces in scenarios where manoeuverability is less important than protection and firepower. The Werewolf is the armoured vehicle that the Protectorate turns to at the point of decisive engagement, and, as such, the LY6 is the most heavily armoured combatant vehicle that Lyras has designed, and one of the heaviest and most heavily armoured platforms of its kind anywhere in the world. Every emphasis was placed on protection, and it features multiple layers of the strongest armour the Protectorate can devise.
Requests from a number of foreign powers for a platform combining the long-range hitting power and versatility of the LY366 155mm smoothbore with a more mobile and agile platform than the LY3 Warhound lead to a LY6 variant optimised for indirect fire, sacrificing the LY406 ETC main gun for a more conventional LY366. This role has diminished in relative importance a great deal with the design and deployment of the LY7/366 Lammasu, which combines the same LY366 with the lighter, more manoeuverable and longer ranged LY7 Rottweiler chassis. Protection of the LY7 is not as high as that of the LY6, but the LY7 base model is a good 38 tons lighter. Put another way, the Werewolf is nearly 60% heavier again than the Rottweiler, and, despite its high performance, does place a notable strain on logistics streams, relative to the lighter platform. This additional burden in armour was deemed to be unrequired for an indirect-optimised platform, and indirect-fire variants of the LY6 were converted back, with their LY366 guns swapped out and married up with LY7 chassis.
It was that development (the LY7), and the resultant groundbreaking -A2 upgrade of the LY4-series, that lead to a re-evaluation of the LY6. While the protection offered on the Werewolf was still the highest of any Lyran-built AFV, the relative levels of protection-efficiency had gone down significantly. The research into weight-saving measures, which had been implemented on the LY7 in order to maintain parity with heavier platforms, had generated a large number of options for armour redesign, granting greatly increased protection for the same unit weight and volume. Coupled with improvements in the functionality and performance of Cromwell II-backed crew-stations, and the dramatically higher reaction speeds made available through the dissemination of BALCOTH-spinoff technology to the man-machine interface, the decision was made to conduct a comprehensive upgrade of the LY6, to ensure the absolute maximum possible combat performance in the roles for which the platform is designed. Once this decision had been made, alterations to the primary and secondary armament also went ahead, bringing the LY6A1 into line with newer Lyran norms.
The result was a vehicle that has exceeded the expectations of its original designers by a considerable margin, and now stands as one of the most effective armoured vehicles on the contemporary battlefield.
Construction of the LY6A1, as with its baseline predecessors, is carried out primarily at Eastcudgel, with ongoing evaluations being carried out at the Lughenti Testing Area.
Main Armament
Since the adoption of the ETC 140mm LY410 on the LY4 series, and with the LY7 still fielding a dual-breech (120/140mm) ETC main gun, the ETC 155mm LY406, while still more powerful than the weapons fielded by its lighter cousins, was no longer looking as decisively and spectacularly so as it had prior to the LY4's -A2 upgrade. As such, in keeping with Lyran doctrine concerning full-spectrum overmatch, the decision was made (although not unanimously) to shift from 155mm to 180mm.
The new weapon, a conceptual successor to the LY410, was dubbed, somewhat unoriginally, the LY412, and was in many respects a larger clone of the LY410, featuring a number of systems that, while not compatible (due to the very different bore sizes and ensuing divergence in internal and external dimensions), are very obviously of a common lineage.
As a consequence of the adoption of the newer primary weapon system, the Werewolf's turret has been considerably redesigned, in no small part due to the necessity of installing an entirely new autoloader to handle the 180mm rounds. A frustrating reality of this fact is the reality that, despite this redesign, and measures which freed some additional stowage capacity, the larger rounds meant that a reduction in the ammunition load out (40 to 24) was inevitable. With the shift to the 180mm main gun, ammunition is no longer stored in one piece, but propellant and projectile are now stored seperately, with the former in the turret and the latter in the turret. This adds a considerable complexity to the autoloader, but allows the turret's profile to be lowered, and dramatically lowers likelihood of a fatal ammunition cook-off. Ninevah Ironworks, of the Dictatorial Republic of Sumer, were consulted on the new autoloader design, with their experience in the Type 998-X16C and Type 1000-X19A being of particular relevance, especially given the Lyran adoption of license-built variants of the An-1200 180x1000mm ammunition. The propellant charges are held within individual armoured containers. The entire system is completely electric, but there are manual backups if required. As would be expected, the entirety of the bustle system features blowout panels.
There is no longer the previously existing 45% commonality of turret systems with the LY4-series turret. While some systems remain common, they are primarily smaller, software or electronics related, or common across the Lyran battlespace spectrum.
The electro-thermal chemical propellant ignition system, using an adaptive plasma-based flashboard large area emitter (FLARE), was selected, forming the core of a weapon which would, at its conclusion, be quite different from that of its forebears, with the exception of the aforementioned LY410. As on the LY4A2, no effort was spared in the drive to ensure optimum lethality, with the additional point of note being that the Werewolf is a good 31% heavier again than the latest marks of the Wolfhound, and has a far lesser design emphasis on mobility. For the Werewolf, armour and firepower are very strongly predominant, with mobility very much a secondary concern, unlike the Wolfhound, where manoeuverability was, while not dominant, a major consideration.
The LY412 also follows on from the -410 in using dynamic gas assistance to increase the range and power of the weapon still further, as well as push down felt recoil, reduce component wear (and thus improve barrel life) and, both in concert with the above and also in a stand-alone sense, allow for higher rates of fire. On this vein, and with the intent to still further enhance platform lethality, the platform also employs a Successive Fire Projectile Assist system to push fire rates still higher. It is worth considering that maintaining high rates of fire can quickly wear out the barrel, so operator discretion is advised.
As with every Lyran main gun for the past twenty years, the LY412 is autofrettaged and stress-hardened to increase durability over extended periods of firing.
As a consequence of these measures, the LY6 can burst-fire five rounds in twenty seconds, with a sustained rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute thereafter. Both of those rate-of-fire figures place the Werewolf very firmly in the top tier for AFVs, and when this point is measured up against the 180mm projectile size of the LY412, the lethality of the platform becomes all the more apparent.
The recoil system has shifted from 600mm to 650mm, so as to handle the increased recoil forces from the shift from 155mm to 180mm, but the adjustment had been already factored into the design process for the autoloader, and this point does not affect the rate of fire adversely. It did require a number of modifications to the turret schematics, however, not that most end-users would have any great interest in this point.
The chromium-plated barrel is a little over 9m long and is fitted with a slotted muzzle brake which yields increased muzzle velocity whilst reducing the degree of muzzle flash. 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 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.
Redesigns of the magazine system have greatly improved combat-theatre turn-around times. In part designed to offset the somewhat smaller ammunition capacity, once the main gun magazine is depleted, the entire turret 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
The Werewolf mounts two lateral grenade launchers. Each launcher is electronically-fired, and consists of four barrels which can be intermixed with either smoke, fragmentation or chaff grenades. The smoke grenades are capable of shrouding the vehicle from visual or thermal detection, and the chaff grenades are utilised as a means of breaking up the vehicle's radar cross-section. Both of these measures work most effectively in conjunction with the 'Warshroud' (a feature new to the Werewolf-series) camouflage system to maximise operational performance.
As with the LY4A2 and LY224, the LY6A1 has moved away from the KWF PAK2 25mm autocannon. This is not a commentary on the capabilities of the PAK2, which remains a very reliable and highly effective autocannon, broadly speaking, but is more due to the increasing protection of medium and heavy IFVs, some of which boast armour schemes that made the use of a 25mm weapon in the anti-materiel role problematic.
On Lyran vehicles, the left co-axial station is thus given over to the still-new LY106 50mm compact medium autocannon. The LY106 fires the increasingly common (amongst Fedalan nations) 50 x 300mm caseless telescoping round, first seen in the primary weapon system of the Sumerian PIV-30 Armoured Infantry Combat Vehicle. The LY106 is a chain-operated, externally powered (by the same 4 HP motor that proved to be the most reliable element of the failed LY105 30mm cannon) weapon, which, as with the PAK2, uses a system of sprockets, grooves and clutches to not only feed, load and fire rounds, but also allows the operator to switch ammunition types, by selecting from which of the four ammunition drums to draw rounds from. Available ammunition types include APFSDS-T, HEI-T, HEDP-T, Illum and practice rounds.
Much of the weapon system is titanium, which, while expensive, is considerably lighter than its steel volume/strength equivalent, thus allowing for the weapon's mounting to be considerably lighter. Given that the total weapon is firmly secured to the MBT's turret while used in the coaxial role, the now-lighter elements of the receiver assembly do not adversely affect the weapon's recoil characteristics. A high-efficiency muzzle brake and long recoil mechanism (45mm) also lower the felt recoil signature, and provide for more efficient firing characteristics. As with all weapons on the platform, the LY106 is linked to the Cromwell FCS, and thus benefits from the attendant sensory and ballistic calculatory suite.
The barrel is 50 calibres long, putting it 2.25m from the end of the reciever, and is chrome-lined to improve durability, and allow for the provision of higher-pressure propellant charges.
Three rates of fire are able to be selected: semi-automatic, low-rate automatic and high-rate automatic, which allow single-shot, 50rpm (approx.) and 100 rpm (approx.) respectively.
The LY106 is designed to provide the utilising platform with effective, reliable and accurate firepower for the destruction of most medium-armoured threats, including helicopters, IFVs, APCs, and even many MBTs outside of the frontal arc. In this anti-armour role, the LY106 is considerably more potent than its PAK2 predecessor, despite the earlier weapon's distinguished service record.
The right coaxial station is designed to be able to fit weapons generally of up to 35mm. Conventional armament on Lyran vehicles for the right coaxial station is the LY60 14.7mm HMG. While the baseline LY6 used the 7.62mm LY64, the shift to the 14.7mm LY60 was carried out in recognition of the notably higher rates of appearance of high-grade personal body armour. As a consequence, it was determined that a higher-lethality system was required to ensure reliable first-hit threat neutralisation.
The LY60 heavy machine gun was one of the first weapons designed and produced by Lyras, appearing in both watercooled and aircooled versions. Combat experience demonstrated that the aircooled version was highly suitable for many applications, following a modest increase in the mass of the barrel, and it is in the aircooled version that the LY60 serves today. In AA roles, the LY60 is used on several Lyran AA platforms, and serves as the primary co-axial weapon of the LY2 Mastiff series, and as the secondary coaxial on the LY7. The weapon is a belt fed, short recoil operated, open bolt, fully automatic weapon. Metallic disinitegrating link belts can feed it from either the left or right of the reciever. The quick change barrel is removable with the barrel jacket as a unit. The bore is chromium plated to increase barrel life and durability. The weapon fires the the LY112 14.7 x 115mm cartridge. The LY60 has a maximum effective range of 1400m against air targets, and 2200m against ground targets. The standard firing controls consist of a push-type thumb trigger and sear release buttons located between the dual spade grips. Alternatively, an electric trigger can be installed for mounted vehicle applications. The gun is simple in design and rugged in construction, and considered one of the most reliable heavy machine guns in service anywhere in the world.
The LY60 entered mass production as an infantry support weapon, with a tripod mount designed at the Lughenti Test Range. Within three years, the heavy Lughenti Type-I mount was replaced by a lighter design, and it is the Type-II that continues to see service within Lyran infantry formations. Guns produced prior to the arrival of the Type II mount have been retrospectively upgraded.
The infantry version of the LY60, however, had a relatively short primacy within Lyras, being replaced in numerical majority by the version fielded as primary armament for several LY219 variants. It also finds use in several anti-aircraft roles, alongside the KWF PAK2 25mm cannon.
Very similar to the Soviet-designed KPV, the LY60 provides almost double the muzzle energy of a conventional 12.7mm (ie, .50 caliber) weapon. With muzzle velocities between 960 - 1030 meters per second and bullet weights near 60grams, the LY60 generates muzzle energy of about 32 kilojoules, and, again similarly to the KPV, penetrated over 30mm of steel armor at 500 meters range and approximately 20mm at 1000 meters.
Also warranting a special, independent mention, the LY6A1, unlike its predecessors, but borrowing from the LY4-series, utilises side-of-turret mounted, box-launched ATGMs, and again like the LY4 utilises the superb TPF-designed Helios II. The Werewolf, however, is a very large vehicle, and unlike the LY4A1, which carries two, or the LY4A2, which carries four, the LY6A1 packs eight, in two clusters of four.
Helios II was developed following a decision by Prussian High Command to design and implement a new high-performance anti-tank guided missile. The decision was based on the fact that the original ATGM designed for next-generation Prussian main battle tanks and armoured fighting vehicles had been a dismal failure and something of an embarrassment to the otherwise highly effective and professional TPF military. According to High Command and the Army Office of Weapons Systems, the new missile should have the capability to destroy any MBT on the market today, with the minimum of trouble, and with a fair degree of overmatch, to ensure continued lethality against future AFVs. In addition, High Command ordered that the missiles have Beyond Visual Range capability, to take advantage of the military's new high-tech information-orientated battlespace networking capabilities. In short, the intent was to field a system able to destroy hostile MBTs while they remained outside of visual and gun range. A number of corporations and teams began work, and in June of that year, Vickers Tank Factory won the contract.
The Helios was designed to be a high-speed, top attack, beyond-visual-range ATGM. Vickers incorporated a number of unique (or at least rare) design features to achieve this end. Helios utilises a tri-seeking warhead, which allows it to select one of a number of means to acquire and destroy designated targets. The primary seeker, which is most commonly used, is the missile's radar. Using millimetric radar, the Helios II is able to acquire, identify and track and engage enemy AFV's. This system can also switch to home-on-jamming, should EW render the primary detection method ineffective. The secondary seeker-head is a laser beam-rider. This was primarily designed to allow UAV's and special forces (and also regular infantry if equipped with laser designators), to target enemy AFV's and employ the anti-armour capabilities of an MBT from BVR. The third and final seeker is a fiber-optic guided seeker. This is perhaps the most jam-proof and secure way of guidance, but it is limited in range. In order to defeat and confuse active protection systems, which generally utilise radar for targeting, two independent counter-measures were integrated into the Helios II. The first was a high-power active radar-jamming device, designed mainly to jam the NS-standard millimeter wave length APS radar, thus allowing successful bypass of most APS systems. The second counter-measure is a conventional (albeit compact) chaff dispenser. This also allows for it to confuse the APS radar by presenting a number of false positive contacts.
Upon clearing the firing platform and reaching required velocity, the missile's ramjet fires, propelling the missile to mach 3.5. Helios then goes into top-attack mode, whereupon it identifies the target, adjusts and then dives at the target at engagement velocity.
Helios II's warhead is a tandem-charge HEAT system, with the first (EFP) charge designed to initiate any ERA while the second, a shallow cone shaped charge, provides the majority of the penetration/damage. The tandem charge also allows it to penetrate any roof-mounted reactive armor that may be present, a feature increasingly common on many vehicles.
Helios itself is designed to be gun-launched, propelled by the tanks main cannon, but can be box-launched when booster-assisted, as on the Werewolf, and as is also the case with all marks of the LY4. When box-launched, the firing platform is able to simultaneously engage multiple targets, a feature that Lyras considered to be well worthwhile. In one notable example, a North Stornian LY4 engaged three Fehnmari Leopard2A5s, and destroyed all three in less than the time it took the Leopards to bring their turrets to bear. With eight missiles carried by the Werewolf as standard, the effectiveness of this particular weapon system is further enhanced. In combat, infantry-detected contacts, relayed by the Cromwell system, have often been engaged by Helios missiles, prior to the Werewolves arriving on scene. In these situations, hostile armoured or mechanised formations have often taken heavy casualties before the Werewolves even come into line of sight, where their 180mm main guns come into play.
Seeker: Tri-Seeker, Radar, Laser, Fiber-Optic
Warhead: One Explosively Formed Penetrator, One Shallow Cone Shaped Charge
Propellant: Gun- or box-launched, ramjet assisted.
Range: 14km
Penetration: ~1,000 IRHA equivalent
Should an alternate BVR ATGM be desired, the LA-420 is also available upon purchase of the LY6A1. With the need for a tank launched ATGM becoming apparent to LAIX Arms; they set off to create one. It was decided to use the Joint Common Missile's body as the basis of the Havik; as it was called, due to the simple design of the missile. Where the original JCM was designed to be launched from helicopters and aircraft; the Havik would be launched from MBT's first, with later possible modification to allow it be launched from helicopters and aircraft.
Guidance for the Havik is provided by multiple means, making the missile harder to combat with ECM. The IR + 320×240 pixel dual waveband electro-optical imaging guidance method can be used either independently, or combined with the MMW for 95% accuracy. Additionally, the missile can use SALH guidance, in addition to WARRIOR II (or other BMS) data inputs given through a fiber optic guidance wire. Use of the fiber optic guidance limits the missile's range to 5 km, but can be useful when the other guidance methods are jammed, and can even be used to imprint initial targeting co-ordinates before missile launch.
The Havik also uses an INS/GPS system to compute where it is located in relation to the target. This enables the missile to know which direction to go in order to impact the target.
The Havik can be fired from MBT mounted missile box launchers, where it uses a booster rocket for launch, with the ramjet taking over once the booster is exhausted. This enables the Havik to attain sustained speeds of Mach 2, giving the enemy a vastly reduced warning time when the missile is launched. This is enhanced with chaff bomblets that can be released in order to confuse the radar or MMW systems of enemy APS systems, allowing for a greater hit probability.
The Havik can target and hit AFV's, MBT's, and Helicopters. A typical mission profile for the Havik is to be programmed with the initial target co-ordinates before launch (often done in less than a second), launch, travel to the target, a pop-up maneuver in order to relocate a mobile target, and a top-attack. The Havik can also reattack the same target in the event of a miss, provided that there is sufficient range left in the ramjet to enable it.
Krupp Industries in The Peoples Freedom has also contributed to the Havik project by selling a high-power active radar-jamming device. This is intended to jam the NS standard radar or MMW systems that are the primary detection systems for NS grade APS.
The Havik can penetrate approximately 900 mm of IRHAe with it's shaped charge after the EFP defeats any potential ERA.
The Havik is a fire and forget missile, allowing multiple simultaneous target engagement. When taken in combination, this makes the Havik one of the most deadly weapons in it's class; with approximately 4-6 box launchers with missiles able to fit on a single MBT, and 8 by default on the Werewolf.
Length: 2 m
Diameter: 0.178 m
Weight: 60 kg
Warhead: Tandem, EFP/Shaped Charge
Warhead Weight/composition: 15 kg, PBXN 103
Max Range: 18 km
Max Speed: Mach 2
Detonation Mechanism: RF Fuze
Engine: Solid Fuel, Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) ramjet; with launch booster
Wingspan: 0.325 m
Guidance: MMW, IR + 320×240 pixel dual waveband electro-optical imaging, SALH, Fiber optic (WARRIOR II/Cromwell II data inputs), INS/GPS
Targets: AFV's, MBT's, Helicopters
Weapons options on the turret mount include a quartet of SALY28 short-to-medium range AA missiles, a further LY60 14.7mm HMG, LY64 7.62mm MMG, MGJ-21 6.5mm LMG, or a pair of Helios II or Havik BVRATGMs. Weapons of most types are compatible, though of course those produced by states other than those contributing to the Werewolf program cannot be exported by or through Lyran Arms. Such weapons are easily integrated into the platform 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, Javelin and Stinger.
[b]Networking, Sensory and Fire Control System
The LY6A1 is a major advancement on the earlier mark in terms of its networking, sensory, fire-control and crew interfacing capabilities. 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 substantial internal (multiple-redundant) computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from that selfsame network.
While designed to slot into any existing battlespace architecture, the LY6A1 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. With the LY4A2 and LY224, the Cromwell II system began to mature as a force-multiplier, with effectiveness of the system increasingly and exponentially evident to all but the most entrenched detractors. Image and pattern recognition software constantly interfaces with sensory systems (even while the given input is not being examined by crew), and the results both relayed to friendly and superior force elements, and also displayed for action by the vehicle operators. For example, a gunner has the turret swivelled to the 2 o'clock position, trained on a suspicious-looking patch of vegetation, with the view in the HUD set to thermal imagery. While in that orientation, the vehicle's sensors at 11 o'clock register motion non-consistent with environmental movement, 2100m away, and the image is instantly cross-referenced to Cromwell's databanks. A pattern match is found – the front-right quadrant of a javelin MANPATGM. Performing a quick locstat recheck, Cromwell ensures that no corresponding friendly forces are in the given location. The identified target is then silhouetted (with any of a number of settings [such as colour-coding or numerical assignment] in place to illustrate level of threat, in both relative and absolute terms), and the image is displayed on the HUD. Cromwell, evaluating the javelin system as a distantly credible threat (relative to the lack of any other targets, and given that the javelin is beyond its maximum range... had the Werewolf been in the process of engaging a quartet of MBTs, on its own, at close range, the Cromwell would probably have marked it, but not highlighted it as a priority for engagement, given the relatively higher threat represented by the tanks), activates the audio notification system, and informs the vehicle's operators accordingly. The target identification and crew notification process has, to this point, taken less than a third of a second, barring the half second it has taken for the auditory warning to be processed by the crew's central nervous system and brain.
The Cromwell II system utilises this information to compute a firing solution for the gunner, based upon analysis of the target, as the turret swivels to follow the gunner's turning head, concluding as the target slides beneath the appropriate reticle. This firing solution is finalised at the moment the gunner depresses the firing stud, and is completed in less time than it takes the finger to depress all the way. While the gunner's view of the target may be steady, the barrel of the main gun is constantly moving, adjusting for changes in target speed, wind, ambient temperature, aspect and elevation. The platform does not adjust the gunner's targetting reticle to reflect the firing situation... it adjusts the main gun to hit whatever is being selected by that reticle, with corrections being made on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis. Utilising the enormous range of sensory inputs available to it, Cromwell II ensures a near-perfect hit percentage at standard ranges, across all conditions using any of the available weapons systems.
While this is going on, and prior to the gunner firing, BALCOTH-equipped friendly motor-recon assets detect a four-strong platoon of hostile Challenger 2 MBTs. Cromwell forwards this information to the fire-control systems and datalinks of the Werewolf, and, given the imminent contact, provides wire-frame highlights of their simulated positions... on the other side of a nearby ridgeline, while notifying the vehicle's commander via audio cue. The commander, using voice inputs, locks on four BVR missiles to the located targets, and forwards the fire-order to the gunner for action when appropriate.
At this stage, the Werewolf has still not revealed its position.
When the time is judged appropriate, the Werewolf will act, firing its LY60 14.7mm right-coaxial HMG (or LY106 50mm left-coaxial cannon) at the dismounted AT infantry, while simultaneously firing four 'Helios II' BVR ATGMs at the targets on the other side of the ridgeline. This will, perhaps, reveal the Werewolf's location. Or perhaps not. The AT infantry are unlikely to be in a position to report much. There will be no ground-surveillance radar with an accurate picture of the situation (due to 'Tiamat'), and the 14km range and non-ballistic trajectory of the 'Helios II' will not give more than a very vague idea of the existence of Helios-carrying platforms within a wide area. It is also entirely possible that the MBTs will never be aware of the fact that they were targetted.
The enemy, whoever they are, may well have just lost four MBTs and a dismounted AT detachment, to no gain, and with no idea what just happened. Only one Werewolf, in this scenario, has been utilised.
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 almost completely 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, and implemented in the LY7, LY4A2 and LY224, Lyran Arms and the Varessan Commonwealth's VMRDB developed a built-in trigger-delay mechanism. Most earlier platforms can be found to, despite all other fire control methods, miss their target when they fire their gun/s 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 was brought across for implementation in the main gun on the LY7, and is now commonplace on Lyran weapons.
The emitter is fitted near the top of the barrel, with the receiver being placed at the barrel's base. The weapon can only be fired when the laser receiver array is exactly aligned with the emitted laser. To illustrate, 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 gyro-stabiliser, static pendulum cant sensor and powerful fire control system, dramatically improves the vehicle's capacity to engage targets while moving at speed, even across broken terrain.
A caveat must be mentioned here. The main gun on the Werewolf is over 9m long. As a consequence of this length, muzzle movement is often considerable. While the trigger delay system will ensure that the barrel is straight at the moment of firing, in the time that the projectile takes to exit the barrel, the muzzle may have moved fractionally. As a consequence, firing on the move is not recommended, accuracy wise, over about 15km per hour. This doesn't mean that the platform can't sprint, then slow, then accelerate again (and this is actually good combat practice in any case), but it is worth noting this salient point reference long, high-velocity and large-bore weapons.
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 LY6A1's crew-stations again borrow extensively from the LY7 and LY4A2, and utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than that of earlier platforms. The new system integrates the data gathered by the vehicle's external sensors and projects it directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor, a feature not dissimilar to that utilised in the BALCOTH helmet. As the operator turns his head, the view pans, and the image displayed can be either a direct projection of the terrain and environs, as would be seen with the naked eye were the tank's hull not in the way, or various overlays, magnification and enhancements that can be applied or superimposed to highlight important elements (such as friendly forces), in a fashion not dissimilar to an aircraft's HUD. From this point, either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the vehicle commander may look left, with the weapon mounted on the commander's weapon station following his movement (if the function is activated). With Cromwell having identified hostile dismounted infantry, the vehicle's commander simply places the targetting reticle (located by default in the centre of his HUD) upon the desired target, and presses the firing stud. Alternatively, he could centre the reticle 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 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. When used in conjunction with Cromwell II, and the new fast-traversing shielded-electric turret, the engagement speeds of the LY6A1, like the LY4A2, are 80% as fast again as that of its legacy system, and nearing double that of most other armoured platforms. Traverse speed is such that the bore of the main gun will traverse at the same speed as the operator's head (even if startled, which lead to jokes about the effects of sneezing while in control of an LY4A2, although the novelty had worn off a little by the time the LY6 upgrade was concluded), allowing real-time orientation and lag-free look-shoot capability.
Continuing on a trend in Lyran hardware that was established by the original LY6, the platform's electrics, 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. Given the ever increasing utilisation of sophisticated electronic and sensory systems, shielding these systems is, now more than ever, deemed a centre of gravity for the platform's protective systems. It was quickly reasoned 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 presented by these and similar munitions far outweighs the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of GaAs components.
The immense potential of this as a feature of military system was demonstrated in spectacular fashion during the Stoklomolvi Civil War, when Lyran warships not only saved the lives of countless Stoklomolvi civilians by defending them from nuclear attack on two seperate instances, but also then, in both cases, were able to exploit the massive EMP side-effect the 'Rampart' generates in nuclear defence. The result was a carrier battle group destroyed, to no Lyran loss. While not a land-based example, the lesson has been learned, and gallium arsenide is set to stay as a standard feature of Lyran electrics for the some time to come.
The LY6A1 adds standard and integral short-to-medium range fire-finder radar to its repertoire, borrowing again from innovations of the LY4A2. This is designed for use in locating and engaging concealed hostile armour, and assisting in the overall battleforce's identification of (and locating of) opposing indirect fire support, be it intimate to tactical forces, or attached at manoeuver-group level. The radar is a license-built derivative of the Lamonian LA-135 Cutlass fire-finder radar, and also features a number of systems that had been first seen on the AN/SPD – 83 Observant fire-finder radar first fielded on the Battleaxe-class cruisers of the Lyran navy. As would be expected, of course, the system, being as it is considerably smaller than that fielded by the 22,000 ton cruiser, has a limited range, and very often will not actually be able to see the point at which the rounds were fired from. However, the generally predictable nature and regular form of the parabolic ballistic arc ensures that the system's projected estimation of the originating location of hostile indirect fire, matched with, and superimposed over, Cromwell-backed geographical data, is generally accurate to within 50 metres, for ranges between 5000m and 40,000m. At ranges shorter than that, the margin of error decreases considerably. As experience has grown, increasing success has been made apparent in radar-only return fire in a semi-indirect role.
The LY6A1 is the first Lyran-built AFV to feature organic EW equipment as standard. While obviously not possessing the very long visible horizon (and thus standoff capability) of airbourne platforms, the Werewolf, being a very significant and notable target in its own right, has been fitted with a ground-based variant of the Lyro-Varessan AN/ALQ-281 'Tiamat' (Babylonian mythology – 'Dragon of Chaos') electronic warfare system.
The 'Tiamat' recievers and transmitters are situated in pods atop the LY6A1's turret rear, distinguishable by the multitude of panels and aerials. The system, when engaged, is capable of intercepting, automatically processing and jamming received radio frequency signals. The LY6A1's electronic attack capabilities involve using radiated EM energy to degrade, neutralise or destroy hostile force- or force-support elements. Of particular note is the potency this represents in the operation of ground forces in contested or hostile airspace. Given the mobile, tactical and ground-based nature of the platform, it is quite likely that most hostile radars encountered will be airbourne, ground-surveillance radars. The LY6A1 is therefore perfectly equipped to wage electronic warfare, preventing a useful target lock on friendlies within the hostile aircraft's visible horizon.
'Tiamat' is one of the first EW platforms to use high-end solid-state emitters, coupled with dramatically elevated potential power throughput, and dynamic and pattern-probability frequency agile (PPFA) barrage and spot jamming to render all but the most potent radars impotent. Further, if the seeking radar is calculated to be capable of burning through the jamming, the system uses precisely timed and Cromwell-backed broad-spectrum DRFM (Repeater) jamming, to further maximise detection degradation.
This capability is second to none, and places the Werewolf at the very top of known NS-AFVs in the active electronic warfare role. The receivers can also be used to detect, identify and locate non-friendly signals, providing ELINT/SIGINT either automatically or manually. When emissions control (EMCON) is required, however, the 'Tiamat' transmitters can be turned off, which thus, as one would expect, cancels the EM broadcasting. Unlike the earlier AN/ALQ-99 series, the 'Tiamat' utilises power generated by the platform to function. Given the very high power output of the LY6A1's hybrid electric hyperbar engines, and the extensive Li+ polymer battery banks, this has not adversely affected performance in any appreciable manner.
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Key Data
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Dimensions
Length (With Gun Forward): 15.76m
Length: 11.3m
Height: 3.84m
Width: 5.6m
Weight : 98.7 tonnes
Ground Clearance: Variable. Default at 60cm
Performance
Maximum (Governed) Speed: 82 kph
Cross Country Speed: 58.3 kph
Speed, 10% Slope: 26 kph
Speed, 60% slope: 11.1 kph
Acceleration: 0kph to 32 kph in 7.5 seconds
Range: 400 km (360 km at operational cruising speed)
Manoeuvrability
Vertical Obstacle Crossing: 111 cm (43 in)
Trench: 260 cm (8 ft, 8 in)
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Fording: 3m unprepared, 5m prepared.
Armament
Main Armament: 180mm 52 calibre ETC smoothbore LY412 (24 rnds)
Coaxial Weapons: LY106 50mm compact automatic cannon (350rnds) LY60 14.7mm HMG (700 rnds)
Commander's Weapon: Powered remote rotary platform with 15mm AGH-32 HMG (700rnds) OR 14.7mm LY60 HMG (700rnds) OR 7.62mm LY64 GPMG (2,400rnds) OR 7.5mm Lagash MG (2,400rnds) OR MGJ-21 'Mary Jane' LMG (2,500rnds) OR 4 x SALY28 SAMs OR 2 x TPFMI MkII 'Helios II' BVR ATGM OR 2 x LAIX Arms LA-420 'Havik' BVR ATGM
Additional: 2 x lateral grenade launcher racks, 8 x TPFMI MkII 'Helios II BVR ATGM OR LA-420 'Havik' BVR ATGM.
Power
Propulsion: LY694 25L hybrid-electric opposing-piston multi-fuel hyperbar engine, generating 2,500 HP (1,875 kW) at 3000RPM.
Transmission: Hydropneumatic automatic transmission (5 fwd gears, 2 rvse)
Power-to-Weight Ratio: 25.36hp/t
APU: 3(under armour)
Batteries: 16 x high density Li+ polymer
Armour and Protection
Armour: Titanium-ceramic, HERA, North Point
Anti-spalling: Semi-synthetic anciniform spider silk
NBC Protection: SCFM, clean cooled air, LYMkII CBRN overpressure system.
Missile Countermeasures: GOLIATH Active Protection System.
Background/Conceptualisation
Subsequent to the decisive upgrade of the LY4-series, the Protectorate Research and Development Commission shifted its attention to implementing the paradigm-shifting technology to the award winning and highly successful LY6 Werewolf assault gun/tank destroyer.
The LY4-series has, since its development, become one of the world's most successfully exported main battle tanks, generating sales revenue of over three trillion. The widespread use of the LY4 by many nations has shown that Lyran equipment performs exceedingly well against foreign equivalents, but certain conditions and circumstances have repeatedly lowered the relative performance of armoured vehicles, broadly speaking.
Of specific interest and note was the increasing prevalence of conflict within extremely close environs, such as medium-dense vegetation, urban areas, or purpose-built fortifications. Anti-tank infantry would frequently establish enfilade positions, often elevated, and would employ short-range, visually guided (or even unguided) high-lethality anti-armour systems with great effect. No one has doubted the utility of the main battle tank, but the fact was that no tank has been designed to be able to adequately cope with such short range, fast moving and fluid conditions against an elusive, cunning and well-armed foe.
Conventional responses have included using massed artillery, often in the form of rocket strikes, or infantry moving in close proximity to armour units. This does however put infantry firmly back into the firing line, lessening the purpose of having AFVs in the area at all.
The Lyran solution to this issue was to design a new vehicle specifically for areas in which high firepower is likely to be directed towards it at close range. Where engagement ranges -and consequent lethality- are short, and protection is paramount for vehicle crews. To that end, Protectorate Research and Development designed the LY6 Werewolf assault gun.
Into these scenarios, where opposing force elements are operating within their optimum engagement ranges and lethality of munitions is directly proportional, protection is paramount for vehicle crews, both to avoid losses and to ensure success in the objective's achievement. It was for circumstances such as these that the Werewolf was designed.
The Werewolf is NOT a main battle tank. The Werewolf is an assault vehicle, designed expressly for the purpose of breaching heavily fortified positions, and engaging well-entrenched or extremely concentrated enemy forces in scenarios where manoeuverability is less important than protection and firepower. The Werewolf is the armoured vehicle that the Protectorate turns to at the point of decisive engagement, and, as such, the LY6 is the most heavily armoured combatant vehicle that Lyras has designed, and one of the heaviest and most heavily armoured platforms of its kind anywhere in the world. Every emphasis was placed on protection, and it features multiple layers of the strongest armour the Protectorate can devise.
Requests from a number of foreign powers for a platform combining the long-range hitting power and versatility of the LY366 155mm smoothbore with a more mobile and agile platform than the LY3 Warhound lead to a LY6 variant optimised for indirect fire, sacrificing the LY406 ETC main gun for a more conventional LY366. This role has diminished in relative importance a great deal with the design and deployment of the LY7/366 Lammasu, which combines the same LY366 with the lighter, more manoeuverable and longer ranged LY7 Rottweiler chassis. Protection of the LY7 is not as high as that of the LY6, but the LY7 base model is a good 38 tons lighter. Put another way, the Werewolf is nearly 60% heavier again than the Rottweiler, and, despite its high performance, does place a notable strain on logistics streams, relative to the lighter platform. This additional burden in armour was deemed to be unrequired for an indirect-optimised platform, and indirect-fire variants of the LY6 were converted back, with their LY366 guns swapped out and married up with LY7 chassis.
It was that development (the LY7), and the resultant groundbreaking -A2 upgrade of the LY4-series, that lead to a re-evaluation of the LY6. While the protection offered on the Werewolf was still the highest of any Lyran-built AFV, the relative levels of protection-efficiency had gone down significantly. The research into weight-saving measures, which had been implemented on the LY7 in order to maintain parity with heavier platforms, had generated a large number of options for armour redesign, granting greatly increased protection for the same unit weight and volume. Coupled with improvements in the functionality and performance of Cromwell II-backed crew-stations, and the dramatically higher reaction speeds made available through the dissemination of BALCOTH-spinoff technology to the man-machine interface, the decision was made to conduct a comprehensive upgrade of the LY6, to ensure the absolute maximum possible combat performance in the roles for which the platform is designed. Once this decision had been made, alterations to the primary and secondary armament also went ahead, bringing the LY6A1 into line with newer Lyran norms.
The result was a vehicle that has exceeded the expectations of its original designers by a considerable margin, and now stands as one of the most effective armoured vehicles on the contemporary battlefield.
Construction of the LY6A1, as with its baseline predecessors, is carried out primarily at Eastcudgel, with ongoing evaluations being carried out at the Lughenti Testing Area.
Main Armament
Since the adoption of the ETC 140mm LY410 on the LY4 series, and with the LY7 still fielding a dual-breech (120/140mm) ETC main gun, the ETC 155mm LY406, while still more powerful than the weapons fielded by its lighter cousins, was no longer looking as decisively and spectacularly so as it had prior to the LY4's -A2 upgrade. As such, in keeping with Lyran doctrine concerning full-spectrum overmatch, the decision was made (although not unanimously) to shift from 155mm to 180mm.
The new weapon, a conceptual successor to the LY410, was dubbed, somewhat unoriginally, the LY412, and was in many respects a larger clone of the LY410, featuring a number of systems that, while not compatible (due to the very different bore sizes and ensuing divergence in internal and external dimensions), are very obviously of a common lineage.
As a consequence of the adoption of the newer primary weapon system, the Werewolf's turret has been considerably redesigned, in no small part due to the necessity of installing an entirely new autoloader to handle the 180mm rounds. A frustrating reality of this fact is the reality that, despite this redesign, and measures which freed some additional stowage capacity, the larger rounds meant that a reduction in the ammunition load out (40 to 24) was inevitable. With the shift to the 180mm main gun, ammunition is no longer stored in one piece, but propellant and projectile are now stored seperately, with the former in the turret and the latter in the turret. This adds a considerable complexity to the autoloader, but allows the turret's profile to be lowered, and dramatically lowers likelihood of a fatal ammunition cook-off. Ninevah Ironworks, of the Dictatorial Republic of Sumer, were consulted on the new autoloader design, with their experience in the Type 998-X16C and Type 1000-X19A being of particular relevance, especially given the Lyran adoption of license-built variants of the An-1200 180x1000mm ammunition. The propellant charges are held within individual armoured containers. The entire system is completely electric, but there are manual backups if required. As would be expected, the entirety of the bustle system features blowout panels.
There is no longer the previously existing 45% commonality of turret systems with the LY4-series turret. While some systems remain common, they are primarily smaller, software or electronics related, or common across the Lyran battlespace spectrum.
The electro-thermal chemical propellant ignition system, using an adaptive plasma-based flashboard large area emitter (FLARE), was selected, forming the core of a weapon which would, at its conclusion, be quite different from that of its forebears, with the exception of the aforementioned LY410. As on the LY4A2, no effort was spared in the drive to ensure optimum lethality, with the additional point of note being that the Werewolf is a good 31% heavier again than the latest marks of the Wolfhound, and has a far lesser design emphasis on mobility. For the Werewolf, armour and firepower are very strongly predominant, with mobility very much a secondary concern, unlike the Wolfhound, where manoeuverability was, while not dominant, a major consideration.
The LY412 also follows on from the -410 in using dynamic gas assistance to increase the range and power of the weapon still further, as well as push down felt recoil, reduce component wear (and thus improve barrel life) and, both in concert with the above and also in a stand-alone sense, allow for higher rates of fire. On this vein, and with the intent to still further enhance platform lethality, the platform also employs a Successive Fire Projectile Assist system to push fire rates still higher. It is worth considering that maintaining high rates of fire can quickly wear out the barrel, so operator discretion is advised.
As with every Lyran main gun for the past twenty years, the LY412 is autofrettaged and stress-hardened to increase durability over extended periods of firing.
As a consequence of these measures, the LY6 can burst-fire five rounds in twenty seconds, with a sustained rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute thereafter. Both of those rate-of-fire figures place the Werewolf very firmly in the top tier for AFVs, and when this point is measured up against the 180mm projectile size of the LY412, the lethality of the platform becomes all the more apparent.
The recoil system has shifted from 600mm to 650mm, so as to handle the increased recoil forces from the shift from 155mm to 180mm, but the adjustment had been already factored into the design process for the autoloader, and this point does not affect the rate of fire adversely. It did require a number of modifications to the turret schematics, however, not that most end-users would have any great interest in this point.
The chromium-plated barrel is a little over 9m long and is fitted with a slotted muzzle brake which yields increased muzzle velocity whilst reducing the degree of muzzle flash. 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 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.
Redesigns of the magazine system have greatly improved combat-theatre turn-around times. In part designed to offset the somewhat smaller ammunition capacity, once the main gun magazine is depleted, the entire turret 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
The Werewolf mounts two lateral grenade launchers. Each launcher is electronically-fired, and consists of four barrels which can be intermixed with either smoke, fragmentation or chaff grenades. The smoke grenades are capable of shrouding the vehicle from visual or thermal detection, and the chaff grenades are utilised as a means of breaking up the vehicle's radar cross-section. Both of these measures work most effectively in conjunction with the 'Warshroud' (a feature new to the Werewolf-series) camouflage system to maximise operational performance.
As with the LY4A2 and LY224, the LY6A1 has moved away from the KWF PAK2 25mm autocannon. This is not a commentary on the capabilities of the PAK2, which remains a very reliable and highly effective autocannon, broadly speaking, but is more due to the increasing protection of medium and heavy IFVs, some of which boast armour schemes that made the use of a 25mm weapon in the anti-materiel role problematic.
On Lyran vehicles, the left co-axial station is thus given over to the still-new LY106 50mm compact medium autocannon. The LY106 fires the increasingly common (amongst Fedalan nations) 50 x 300mm caseless telescoping round, first seen in the primary weapon system of the Sumerian PIV-30 Armoured Infantry Combat Vehicle. The LY106 is a chain-operated, externally powered (by the same 4 HP motor that proved to be the most reliable element of the failed LY105 30mm cannon) weapon, which, as with the PAK2, uses a system of sprockets, grooves and clutches to not only feed, load and fire rounds, but also allows the operator to switch ammunition types, by selecting from which of the four ammunition drums to draw rounds from. Available ammunition types include APFSDS-T, HEI-T, HEDP-T, Illum and practice rounds.
Much of the weapon system is titanium, which, while expensive, is considerably lighter than its steel volume/strength equivalent, thus allowing for the weapon's mounting to be considerably lighter. Given that the total weapon is firmly secured to the MBT's turret while used in the coaxial role, the now-lighter elements of the receiver assembly do not adversely affect the weapon's recoil characteristics. A high-efficiency muzzle brake and long recoil mechanism (45mm) also lower the felt recoil signature, and provide for more efficient firing characteristics. As with all weapons on the platform, the LY106 is linked to the Cromwell FCS, and thus benefits from the attendant sensory and ballistic calculatory suite.
The barrel is 50 calibres long, putting it 2.25m from the end of the reciever, and is chrome-lined to improve durability, and allow for the provision of higher-pressure propellant charges.
Three rates of fire are able to be selected: semi-automatic, low-rate automatic and high-rate automatic, which allow single-shot, 50rpm (approx.) and 100 rpm (approx.) respectively.
The LY106 is designed to provide the utilising platform with effective, reliable and accurate firepower for the destruction of most medium-armoured threats, including helicopters, IFVs, APCs, and even many MBTs outside of the frontal arc. In this anti-armour role, the LY106 is considerably more potent than its PAK2 predecessor, despite the earlier weapon's distinguished service record.
The right coaxial station is designed to be able to fit weapons generally of up to 35mm. Conventional armament on Lyran vehicles for the right coaxial station is the LY60 14.7mm HMG. While the baseline LY6 used the 7.62mm LY64, the shift to the 14.7mm LY60 was carried out in recognition of the notably higher rates of appearance of high-grade personal body armour. As a consequence, it was determined that a higher-lethality system was required to ensure reliable first-hit threat neutralisation.
The LY60 heavy machine gun was one of the first weapons designed and produced by Lyras, appearing in both watercooled and aircooled versions. Combat experience demonstrated that the aircooled version was highly suitable for many applications, following a modest increase in the mass of the barrel, and it is in the aircooled version that the LY60 serves today. In AA roles, the LY60 is used on several Lyran AA platforms, and serves as the primary co-axial weapon of the LY2 Mastiff series, and as the secondary coaxial on the LY7. The weapon is a belt fed, short recoil operated, open bolt, fully automatic weapon. Metallic disinitegrating link belts can feed it from either the left or right of the reciever. The quick change barrel is removable with the barrel jacket as a unit. The bore is chromium plated to increase barrel life and durability. The weapon fires the the LY112 14.7 x 115mm cartridge. The LY60 has a maximum effective range of 1400m against air targets, and 2200m against ground targets. The standard firing controls consist of a push-type thumb trigger and sear release buttons located between the dual spade grips. Alternatively, an electric trigger can be installed for mounted vehicle applications. The gun is simple in design and rugged in construction, and considered one of the most reliable heavy machine guns in service anywhere in the world.
The LY60 entered mass production as an infantry support weapon, with a tripod mount designed at the Lughenti Test Range. Within three years, the heavy Lughenti Type-I mount was replaced by a lighter design, and it is the Type-II that continues to see service within Lyran infantry formations. Guns produced prior to the arrival of the Type II mount have been retrospectively upgraded.
The infantry version of the LY60, however, had a relatively short primacy within Lyras, being replaced in numerical majority by the version fielded as primary armament for several LY219 variants. It also finds use in several anti-aircraft roles, alongside the KWF PAK2 25mm cannon.
Very similar to the Soviet-designed KPV, the LY60 provides almost double the muzzle energy of a conventional 12.7mm (ie, .50 caliber) weapon. With muzzle velocities between 960 - 1030 meters per second and bullet weights near 60grams, the LY60 generates muzzle energy of about 32 kilojoules, and, again similarly to the KPV, penetrated over 30mm of steel armor at 500 meters range and approximately 20mm at 1000 meters.
Also warranting a special, independent mention, the LY6A1, unlike its predecessors, but borrowing from the LY4-series, utilises side-of-turret mounted, box-launched ATGMs, and again like the LY4 utilises the superb TPF-designed Helios II. The Werewolf, however, is a very large vehicle, and unlike the LY4A1, which carries two, or the LY4A2, which carries four, the LY6A1 packs eight, in two clusters of four.
Helios II was developed following a decision by Prussian High Command to design and implement a new high-performance anti-tank guided missile. The decision was based on the fact that the original ATGM designed for next-generation Prussian main battle tanks and armoured fighting vehicles had been a dismal failure and something of an embarrassment to the otherwise highly effective and professional TPF military. According to High Command and the Army Office of Weapons Systems, the new missile should have the capability to destroy any MBT on the market today, with the minimum of trouble, and with a fair degree of overmatch, to ensure continued lethality against future AFVs. In addition, High Command ordered that the missiles have Beyond Visual Range capability, to take advantage of the military's new high-tech information-orientated battlespace networking capabilities. In short, the intent was to field a system able to destroy hostile MBTs while they remained outside of visual and gun range. A number of corporations and teams began work, and in June of that year, Vickers Tank Factory won the contract.
The Helios was designed to be a high-speed, top attack, beyond-visual-range ATGM. Vickers incorporated a number of unique (or at least rare) design features to achieve this end. Helios utilises a tri-seeking warhead, which allows it to select one of a number of means to acquire and destroy designated targets. The primary seeker, which is most commonly used, is the missile's radar. Using millimetric radar, the Helios II is able to acquire, identify and track and engage enemy AFV's. This system can also switch to home-on-jamming, should EW render the primary detection method ineffective. The secondary seeker-head is a laser beam-rider. This was primarily designed to allow UAV's and special forces (and also regular infantry if equipped with laser designators), to target enemy AFV's and employ the anti-armour capabilities of an MBT from BVR. The third and final seeker is a fiber-optic guided seeker. This is perhaps the most jam-proof and secure way of guidance, but it is limited in range. In order to defeat and confuse active protection systems, which generally utilise radar for targeting, two independent counter-measures were integrated into the Helios II. The first was a high-power active radar-jamming device, designed mainly to jam the NS-standard millimeter wave length APS radar, thus allowing successful bypass of most APS systems. The second counter-measure is a conventional (albeit compact) chaff dispenser. This also allows for it to confuse the APS radar by presenting a number of false positive contacts.
Upon clearing the firing platform and reaching required velocity, the missile's ramjet fires, propelling the missile to mach 3.5. Helios then goes into top-attack mode, whereupon it identifies the target, adjusts and then dives at the target at engagement velocity.
Helios II's warhead is a tandem-charge HEAT system, with the first (EFP) charge designed to initiate any ERA while the second, a shallow cone shaped charge, provides the majority of the penetration/damage. The tandem charge also allows it to penetrate any roof-mounted reactive armor that may be present, a feature increasingly common on many vehicles.
Helios itself is designed to be gun-launched, propelled by the tanks main cannon, but can be box-launched when booster-assisted, as on the Werewolf, and as is also the case with all marks of the LY4. When box-launched, the firing platform is able to simultaneously engage multiple targets, a feature that Lyras considered to be well worthwhile. In one notable example, a North Stornian LY4 engaged three Fehnmari Leopard2A5s, and destroyed all three in less than the time it took the Leopards to bring their turrets to bear. With eight missiles carried by the Werewolf as standard, the effectiveness of this particular weapon system is further enhanced. In combat, infantry-detected contacts, relayed by the Cromwell system, have often been engaged by Helios missiles, prior to the Werewolves arriving on scene. In these situations, hostile armoured or mechanised formations have often taken heavy casualties before the Werewolves even come into line of sight, where their 180mm main guns come into play.
Seeker: Tri-Seeker, Radar, Laser, Fiber-Optic
Warhead: One Explosively Formed Penetrator, One Shallow Cone Shaped Charge
Propellant: Gun- or box-launched, ramjet assisted.
Range: 14km
Penetration: ~1,000 IRHA equivalent
Should an alternate BVR ATGM be desired, the LA-420 is also available upon purchase of the LY6A1. With the need for a tank launched ATGM becoming apparent to LAIX Arms; they set off to create one. It was decided to use the Joint Common Missile's body as the basis of the Havik; as it was called, due to the simple design of the missile. Where the original JCM was designed to be launched from helicopters and aircraft; the Havik would be launched from MBT's first, with later possible modification to allow it be launched from helicopters and aircraft.
Guidance for the Havik is provided by multiple means, making the missile harder to combat with ECM. The IR + 320×240 pixel dual waveband electro-optical imaging guidance method can be used either independently, or combined with the MMW for 95% accuracy. Additionally, the missile can use SALH guidance, in addition to WARRIOR II (or other BMS) data inputs given through a fiber optic guidance wire. Use of the fiber optic guidance limits the missile's range to 5 km, but can be useful when the other guidance methods are jammed, and can even be used to imprint initial targeting co-ordinates before missile launch.
The Havik also uses an INS/GPS system to compute where it is located in relation to the target. This enables the missile to know which direction to go in order to impact the target.
The Havik can be fired from MBT mounted missile box launchers, where it uses a booster rocket for launch, with the ramjet taking over once the booster is exhausted. This enables the Havik to attain sustained speeds of Mach 2, giving the enemy a vastly reduced warning time when the missile is launched. This is enhanced with chaff bomblets that can be released in order to confuse the radar or MMW systems of enemy APS systems, allowing for a greater hit probability.
The Havik can target and hit AFV's, MBT's, and Helicopters. A typical mission profile for the Havik is to be programmed with the initial target co-ordinates before launch (often done in less than a second), launch, travel to the target, a pop-up maneuver in order to relocate a mobile target, and a top-attack. The Havik can also reattack the same target in the event of a miss, provided that there is sufficient range left in the ramjet to enable it.
Krupp Industries in The Peoples Freedom has also contributed to the Havik project by selling a high-power active radar-jamming device. This is intended to jam the NS standard radar or MMW systems that are the primary detection systems for NS grade APS.
The Havik can penetrate approximately 900 mm of IRHAe with it's shaped charge after the EFP defeats any potential ERA.
The Havik is a fire and forget missile, allowing multiple simultaneous target engagement. When taken in combination, this makes the Havik one of the most deadly weapons in it's class; with approximately 4-6 box launchers with missiles able to fit on a single MBT, and 8 by default on the Werewolf.
Length: 2 m
Diameter: 0.178 m
Weight: 60 kg
Warhead: Tandem, EFP/Shaped Charge
Warhead Weight/composition: 15 kg, PBXN 103
Max Range: 18 km
Max Speed: Mach 2
Detonation Mechanism: RF Fuze
Engine: Solid Fuel, Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) ramjet; with launch booster
Wingspan: 0.325 m
Guidance: MMW, IR + 320×240 pixel dual waveband electro-optical imaging, SALH, Fiber optic (WARRIOR II/Cromwell II data inputs), INS/GPS
Targets: AFV's, MBT's, Helicopters
Weapons options on the turret mount include a quartet of SALY28 short-to-medium range AA missiles, a further LY60 14.7mm HMG, LY64 7.62mm MMG, MGJ-21 6.5mm LMG, or a pair of Helios II or Havik BVRATGMs. Weapons of most types are compatible, though of course those produced by states other than those contributing to the Werewolf program cannot be exported by or through Lyran Arms. Such weapons are easily integrated into the platform 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, Javelin and Stinger.
[b]Networking, Sensory and Fire Control System
The LY6A1 is a major advancement on the earlier mark in terms of its networking, sensory, fire-control and crew interfacing capabilities. 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 substantial internal (multiple-redundant) computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from that selfsame network.
While designed to slot into any existing battlespace architecture, the LY6A1 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. With the LY4A2 and LY224, the Cromwell II system began to mature as a force-multiplier, with effectiveness of the system increasingly and exponentially evident to all but the most entrenched detractors. Image and pattern recognition software constantly interfaces with sensory systems (even while the given input is not being examined by crew), and the results both relayed to friendly and superior force elements, and also displayed for action by the vehicle operators. For example, a gunner has the turret swivelled to the 2 o'clock position, trained on a suspicious-looking patch of vegetation, with the view in the HUD set to thermal imagery. While in that orientation, the vehicle's sensors at 11 o'clock register motion non-consistent with environmental movement, 2100m away, and the image is instantly cross-referenced to Cromwell's databanks. A pattern match is found – the front-right quadrant of a javelin MANPATGM. Performing a quick locstat recheck, Cromwell ensures that no corresponding friendly forces are in the given location. The identified target is then silhouetted (with any of a number of settings [such as colour-coding or numerical assignment] in place to illustrate level of threat, in both relative and absolute terms), and the image is displayed on the HUD. Cromwell, evaluating the javelin system as a distantly credible threat (relative to the lack of any other targets, and given that the javelin is beyond its maximum range... had the Werewolf been in the process of engaging a quartet of MBTs, on its own, at close range, the Cromwell would probably have marked it, but not highlighted it as a priority for engagement, given the relatively higher threat represented by the tanks), activates the audio notification system, and informs the vehicle's operators accordingly. The target identification and crew notification process has, to this point, taken less than a third of a second, barring the half second it has taken for the auditory warning to be processed by the crew's central nervous system and brain.
The Cromwell II system utilises this information to compute a firing solution for the gunner, based upon analysis of the target, as the turret swivels to follow the gunner's turning head, concluding as the target slides beneath the appropriate reticle. This firing solution is finalised at the moment the gunner depresses the firing stud, and is completed in less time than it takes the finger to depress all the way. While the gunner's view of the target may be steady, the barrel of the main gun is constantly moving, adjusting for changes in target speed, wind, ambient temperature, aspect and elevation. The platform does not adjust the gunner's targetting reticle to reflect the firing situation... it adjusts the main gun to hit whatever is being selected by that reticle, with corrections being made on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis. Utilising the enormous range of sensory inputs available to it, Cromwell II ensures a near-perfect hit percentage at standard ranges, across all conditions using any of the available weapons systems.
While this is going on, and prior to the gunner firing, BALCOTH-equipped friendly motor-recon assets detect a four-strong platoon of hostile Challenger 2 MBTs. Cromwell forwards this information to the fire-control systems and datalinks of the Werewolf, and, given the imminent contact, provides wire-frame highlights of their simulated positions... on the other side of a nearby ridgeline, while notifying the vehicle's commander via audio cue. The commander, using voice inputs, locks on four BVR missiles to the located targets, and forwards the fire-order to the gunner for action when appropriate.
At this stage, the Werewolf has still not revealed its position.
When the time is judged appropriate, the Werewolf will act, firing its LY60 14.7mm right-coaxial HMG (or LY106 50mm left-coaxial cannon) at the dismounted AT infantry, while simultaneously firing four 'Helios II' BVR ATGMs at the targets on the other side of the ridgeline. This will, perhaps, reveal the Werewolf's location. Or perhaps not. The AT infantry are unlikely to be in a position to report much. There will be no ground-surveillance radar with an accurate picture of the situation (due to 'Tiamat'), and the 14km range and non-ballistic trajectory of the 'Helios II' will not give more than a very vague idea of the existence of Helios-carrying platforms within a wide area. It is also entirely possible that the MBTs will never be aware of the fact that they were targetted.
The enemy, whoever they are, may well have just lost four MBTs and a dismounted AT detachment, to no gain, and with no idea what just happened. Only one Werewolf, in this scenario, has been utilised.
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 almost completely 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, and implemented in the LY7, LY4A2 and LY224, Lyran Arms and the Varessan Commonwealth's VMRDB developed a built-in trigger-delay mechanism. Most earlier platforms can be found to, despite all other fire control methods, miss their target when they fire their gun/s 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 was brought across for implementation in the main gun on the LY7, and is now commonplace on Lyran weapons.
The emitter is fitted near the top of the barrel, with the receiver being placed at the barrel's base. The weapon can only be fired when the laser receiver array is exactly aligned with the emitted laser. To illustrate, 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 gyro-stabiliser, static pendulum cant sensor and powerful fire control system, dramatically improves the vehicle's capacity to engage targets while moving at speed, even across broken terrain.
A caveat must be mentioned here. The main gun on the Werewolf is over 9m long. As a consequence of this length, muzzle movement is often considerable. While the trigger delay system will ensure that the barrel is straight at the moment of firing, in the time that the projectile takes to exit the barrel, the muzzle may have moved fractionally. As a consequence, firing on the move is not recommended, accuracy wise, over about 15km per hour. This doesn't mean that the platform can't sprint, then slow, then accelerate again (and this is actually good combat practice in any case), but it is worth noting this salient point reference long, high-velocity and large-bore weapons.
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 LY6A1's crew-stations again borrow extensively from the LY7 and LY4A2, and utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than that of earlier platforms. The new system integrates the data gathered by the vehicle's external sensors and projects it directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor, a feature not dissimilar to that utilised in the BALCOTH helmet. As the operator turns his head, the view pans, and the image displayed can be either a direct projection of the terrain and environs, as would be seen with the naked eye were the tank's hull not in the way, or various overlays, magnification and enhancements that can be applied or superimposed to highlight important elements (such as friendly forces), in a fashion not dissimilar to an aircraft's HUD. From this point, either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the vehicle commander may look left, with the weapon mounted on the commander's weapon station following his movement (if the function is activated). With Cromwell having identified hostile dismounted infantry, the vehicle's commander simply places the targetting reticle (located by default in the centre of his HUD) upon the desired target, and presses the firing stud. Alternatively, he could centre the reticle 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 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. When used in conjunction with Cromwell II, and the new fast-traversing shielded-electric turret, the engagement speeds of the LY6A1, like the LY4A2, are 80% as fast again as that of its legacy system, and nearing double that of most other armoured platforms. Traverse speed is such that the bore of the main gun will traverse at the same speed as the operator's head (even if startled, which lead to jokes about the effects of sneezing while in control of an LY4A2, although the novelty had worn off a little by the time the LY6 upgrade was concluded), allowing real-time orientation and lag-free look-shoot capability.
Continuing on a trend in Lyran hardware that was established by the original LY6, the platform's electrics, 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. Given the ever increasing utilisation of sophisticated electronic and sensory systems, shielding these systems is, now more than ever, deemed a centre of gravity for the platform's protective systems. It was quickly reasoned 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 presented by these and similar munitions far outweighs the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of GaAs components.
The immense potential of this as a feature of military system was demonstrated in spectacular fashion during the Stoklomolvi Civil War, when Lyran warships not only saved the lives of countless Stoklomolvi civilians by defending them from nuclear attack on two seperate instances, but also then, in both cases, were able to exploit the massive EMP side-effect the 'Rampart' generates in nuclear defence. The result was a carrier battle group destroyed, to no Lyran loss. While not a land-based example, the lesson has been learned, and gallium arsenide is set to stay as a standard feature of Lyran electrics for the some time to come.
The LY6A1 adds standard and integral short-to-medium range fire-finder radar to its repertoire, borrowing again from innovations of the LY4A2. This is designed for use in locating and engaging concealed hostile armour, and assisting in the overall battleforce's identification of (and locating of) opposing indirect fire support, be it intimate to tactical forces, or attached at manoeuver-group level. The radar is a license-built derivative of the Lamonian LA-135 Cutlass fire-finder radar, and also features a number of systems that had been first seen on the AN/SPD – 83 Observant fire-finder radar first fielded on the Battleaxe-class cruisers of the Lyran navy. As would be expected, of course, the system, being as it is considerably smaller than that fielded by the 22,000 ton cruiser, has a limited range, and very often will not actually be able to see the point at which the rounds were fired from. However, the generally predictable nature and regular form of the parabolic ballistic arc ensures that the system's projected estimation of the originating location of hostile indirect fire, matched with, and superimposed over, Cromwell-backed geographical data, is generally accurate to within 50 metres, for ranges between 5000m and 40,000m. At ranges shorter than that, the margin of error decreases considerably. As experience has grown, increasing success has been made apparent in radar-only return fire in a semi-indirect role.
The LY6A1 is the first Lyran-built AFV to feature organic EW equipment as standard. While obviously not possessing the very long visible horizon (and thus standoff capability) of airbourne platforms, the Werewolf, being a very significant and notable target in its own right, has been fitted with a ground-based variant of the Lyro-Varessan AN/ALQ-281 'Tiamat' (Babylonian mythology – 'Dragon of Chaos') electronic warfare system.
The 'Tiamat' recievers and transmitters are situated in pods atop the LY6A1's turret rear, distinguishable by the multitude of panels and aerials. The system, when engaged, is capable of intercepting, automatically processing and jamming received radio frequency signals. The LY6A1's electronic attack capabilities involve using radiated EM energy to degrade, neutralise or destroy hostile force- or force-support elements. Of particular note is the potency this represents in the operation of ground forces in contested or hostile airspace. Given the mobile, tactical and ground-based nature of the platform, it is quite likely that most hostile radars encountered will be airbourne, ground-surveillance radars. The LY6A1 is therefore perfectly equipped to wage electronic warfare, preventing a useful target lock on friendlies within the hostile aircraft's visible horizon.
'Tiamat' is one of the first EW platforms to use high-end solid-state emitters, coupled with dramatically elevated potential power throughput, and dynamic and pattern-probability frequency agile (PPFA) barrage and spot jamming to render all but the most potent radars impotent. Further, if the seeking radar is calculated to be capable of burning through the jamming, the system uses precisely timed and Cromwell-backed broad-spectrum DRFM (Repeater) jamming, to further maximise detection degradation.
This capability is second to none, and places the Werewolf at the very top of known NS-AFVs in the active electronic warfare role. The receivers can also be used to detect, identify and locate non-friendly signals, providing ELINT/SIGINT either automatically or manually. When emissions control (EMCON) is required, however, the 'Tiamat' transmitters can be turned off, which thus, as one would expect, cancels the EM broadcasting. Unlike the earlier AN/ALQ-99 series, the 'Tiamat' utilises power generated by the platform to function. Given the very high power output of the LY6A1's hybrid electric hyperbar engines, and the extensive Li+ polymer battery banks, this has not adversely affected performance in any appreciable manner.