French tank and Soviet howitzer: AMX-13D30 Vulcano SAU (Peru)
Far from all countries have the ability to produce or acquire military equipment with the necessary capabilities and characteristics in a timely manner. As a result, they have to look for alternative ways to update the fleet of combat vehicles. One of the obvious ways to modernize the army is to restructure the existing equipment, which is still suitable for further use. It is this principle that underlies the new AMX-13D30 Vulcano self-propelled artillery system project being developed in Peru.
It should be recalled that the Peruvian ground forces can not be called fully developed and modern. So, on their arms there is a total 24 self-propelled artillery. These are French-made 12 mm Canon MF155 Automoteur machines and the same number of M3 American ACSs. Both armored vehicles carry 109 mm caliber guns. At the same time, the army needs more self-propelled guns, and in addition, it requires systems of other calibers. To date, Peru’s Ministry of Defense has been able to find an acceptable solution to this problem.
The proposed look of ACS AMX-13D30. Collage Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC / discasanave.com
Due to the limited financial capabilities of the country, the purchase of new types of armored vehicles abroad is excluded. The production of machines on their own from scratch is also not possible. For this reason, warlords and engineers decided to build a new technique using available models already in service. Such an approach has already been used before and has made it possible to improve the condition of the troops to a certain extent.
Peruvian experts are going to build a promising model of self-propelled guns on a serial chassis of the lung tank AMX-13, designed and manufactured in France, and the armament of such a machine will be a Soviet-made D-30 howitzer. Such tanks and guns are available in Peru in sufficient quantities, and therefore the army can count on obtaining the desired number of self-propelled guns.
The new project, as reported, received the name AMX-13D30, combining the designations of the two main components of the self-propelled unit. In addition, the car was given the name Vulcano - "Volcano".
The new project will be implemented in the framework of cooperation of several state and private enterprises. In addition to the Ministry of Defense of Peru in the person of the Central Arsenal, the project involves the companies Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC (DICSAC) and FAME SAC. They will all have to undertake certain tasks related to the replacement of existing components or the production of new ones. The participants of the AMX-13D30 project already have some experience in rebuilding light AMX-13 tanks into carriers of one or another weapons. It can be expected that this will somewhat simplify the production of "Volcanoes".
In the recent past, Peru was armed with about one and a half hundred French-made AMX-13 light tanks. This technique has long ceased to arrange the military, and therefore in recent years several projects of its alteration, involving the replacement of weapons, have been implemented. As a result, to date, the original configuration retained no more than 40-50 combat vehicles. All others, having lost their gun turrets, became carriers of anti-tank missiles or other modern weapons.
The new project AMX-13D30 is based on the same principles as previous developments. Ready light tank must lose its native weapons and equipment, after which it will equip the new "combat module." Probably, the existing chassis simultaneously with the modernization will be repaired and will restore its technical readiness.
Principles of building a new combat vehicle. Collage Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC / discasanave.com
From the base tank self-propelled gun "inherits" the body with a relatively weak protection, capable of guaranteed to withstand only small arms bullets. The thickness of the frontal part of the hull with a homogeneous reservation, having a curved shape, does not exceed 50 mm. Side protection is provided by 15-20 mm steel. The minimum thickness of the reservation on the roof and bottom is 10 mm. Tank AMX-13 received a specific layout, which to some extent will facilitate the construction of ACS. The engine compartment of this machine is located in the front of the case, behind it is the control compartment. Central and aft compartments, thus, are given under the fighting compartment.
In the course of the proposed chassis upgrade, the existing eight-cylinder petrol engine, the SOFAM Model 8Gxb hp, will have to be kept. Also in their places will remain units of manual transmission with manual control. With their help, the engine torque is given to the front drive wheels.
The chassis has a tracked undercarriage with five support rollers of average diameter on each side. The rollers are mounted on an independent torsion bar suspension; The first and fifth balancers of each side are also connected with hydraulic shock absorbers. Drive wheels of larger diameter are placed in front of the hull. The crawler tensioning mechanism and guide wheels are in the stern. The chassis includes a steel caterpillar 350 mm wide with an open metal hinge. 85 tracks tracks can be equipped with rubber shoes to move on roads.
The project "Volcano" provides for the removal of the standard tower of the so-called. swinging structure, equipped with an insufficiently powerful tool. Also, probably, a number of different equipment will be removed from the combat compartment, no longer needed due to the replacement of weapons. The freed volumes and the existing shoulder strap of the tower are proposed to be used for the installation of a new open installation with a D-30 howitzer.
Directly on the chase, the project authors placed a support platform with vertical supports for mounting the gun. Since the breech of the D-30 cannon is large, the self-propelled gun does not receive a wheelhouse. The protection of artillerymen will be provided only by a regular cannon shield mounted on the same supports with it. The side, back and top of the crew is not protected. However, the machine is intended, first of all, to work in closed positions, and therefore it is possible to impose less stringent protection requirements on it.
Apparently, the companies participating in the project had to re-develop only a special platform for the installation of the gun. On its supports, it is proposed to mount the entire swinging part of the D-30 assembly assembled from the native towed carriage. At the new installation, the gun can be guided horizontally in any direction. Elevation angles probably won't change much. Recall, the staff carriage allows you to direct a gun in the range of -7 ° to + 70 °.
It is planned to mount a rocking artillery unit, including the barrel, breech and anti-recoil devices, for the new installation. Thus, despite the new carrier, the D-30 howitzer retains an 122-mm rifled barrel with a length of 38 caliber, equipped with a developed muzzle brake. The wedge valve remains in place. The barrel is connected to the hydraulic recoil brake and hydropneumatic haul. The cylinders of these devices are located above the barrel and are still covered with a recognizable casing. Means of aiming will also remain regular.
Tank AMX-13 with a caliber gun 105 mm. Photo of Wikimedia Commons
In the basic towed version, the howitzer D-30 is transported forward with the help of the so-called. pivot beam installed under the muzzle brake. Self-propelled gun does not need such a device, and it can be removed. However, on some available images of ACS AMX-13D30, made by photomontage, the beam remains in its place. This can be explained by the error of the authors of the demonstration materials.
Aft for 122-mm separate-loading shots will be placed in the aft part of the tank hull, which was freed for the new gun mount. Any automation tools are not offered, and therefore the calculation will have to manually lift the shells and shells to the breech and then load them into it. It can be assumed that this will not adversely affect the rate of fire, and it will remain at the level of 7-8 rounds per minute, like the D-30 in the original towed version.
Naturally, a howitzer can use all compatible 122-mm shots for various purposes with the ability to change the propellant charge. Depending on the assigned combat mission, the calculation will be able to shoot high-explosive, anti-tank, smoke, etc. shells. Range characteristics will not change. The maximum firing range will be 15,3 km, as with the towed sample.
Most of the devices and devices of the base chassis will remain the same, but some new products are envisaged. So, according to the customer, self-propelled gun should be able to move at night. To do this, it is proposed to install a TVN-5 night-vision device on the hatch above the driver’s workplace. In addition, it is proposed to use the modern VHF radio station P-030U. Night vision devices and communications equipment are purchased by the Peruvian army from Ukraine.
There is reason to believe that the dismantling of the tank’s rocking turret and the subsequent installation of a new artillery installation will not have a significant impact on the size and weight of the vehicle. Thus, the length of self-propelled AMX-13D30 body will not exceed 4,9 m with a width of about 2,5 m. The height, taking into account the shield of the gun (with its transport position) should not be more than 2,5-2,7 m. The combat weight of AMX-13 tank was 14,5 t A similar parameter of the new self-propelled gun should be at the same level.
The same should be the case with mobility. The base tank accelerated to 60 km / h, the power reserve was 400 km. The AMX-13D30 ACS will receive the same powerplant with clear consequences for the ride characteristics. Also, she probably also will not be able to cross the water obstacles by swimming, and will have to move only along shallow fords.
According to known data, the companies participating in the Vulcano project have completed the design of self-propelled guns and are ready to begin production of such equipment. 8 March The Peruvian Ministry of Defense signed a new contract with the DICSAC and FAME SAC companies. This document defines all the conditions, terms and costs of future work.
X-NUMX-mm howitzer D-122 in a combat position. Photo by Vitalykuzmin.net
Soon, the first light tanks AMX-13 will arrive at the Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC plant, which will have to lose some of the native equipment and get new equipment. DICSAC is the main developer and executor of the project. FAME SAC and the Central Arsenal of the Peruvian army, in turn, will work on the rights of subcontractors and suppliers of individual devices.
According to known data, now the Peruvian army has no more than fifty AMX-13 armored vehicles in the initial configuration of light tanks. These cars are no longer of interest in their current form, and therefore they can be rebuilt according to the Vulcan project. The number of D-30 cannon howitzers is noticeably smaller - there are only 36 of them in total. Thus, it becomes clear the maximum possible number of newer self-propelled guns. Using existing stocks of equipment, the Peruvian military and engineers will be able to build no more than 36 SAU AMX-13D30.
The number of new types of self-propelled guns planned for assembly is not too large. However, if we take into account the current state of Peru’s self-propelled artillery, the situation begins to look different. Assembling cars Vulcano will allow two and a half times to increase the fleet of self-propelled guns. In addition to quantitative advantages, there will be qualitative ones. So far, the army has only 155-mm guns on tracked chassis, which limits the flexibility to use artillery. In the near future, they will be supplemented with 122 mm caliber systems, and this will expand the range of tasks.
According to the results of the AMX-13D30 Vulcano project, the number of self-propelled artillery in the army of Peru will increase in the most noticeable way. However, after this self-propelled installation will not be able to bypass the towed system. Without tracked or wheeled carriers, there will still remain a few hundred guns of different classes and calibers. However, in this case, one should expect a certain increase in the combat capability of the ground forces.
It should be noted that the new project “Vulkan” is a continuation of a kind of new vehicle family based on the old tank, which is no longer suitable for solving initial tasks. For several years, the vast majority of obsolete AMX-13 tanks were rebuilt into carriers of modern weapons. In this case, while it was only about anti-tank missile systems. Now this conditional family will be replenished with a combat vehicle with powerful barrel armament.
As you can see, not the richest state in Latin America is in no hurry to write off and send in the smelting more unnecessary machines. On the contrary, it repairs them and returns to service in a new capacity. Obviously, a tank chassis with rockets or a howitzer — despite all the required costs — is much more beneficial than a pile of scrap metal. As for the characteristic shortcomings of an outdated chassis, they are compensated by the specifics of its use in the new role. For example, the risks associated with insufficiently powerful booking are neutralized through the use of weapons with a long range of fire.
According to published information, the construction of new ACS AMX-13D30 Vulcano should start as soon as possible. In just a few years, the Peruvian army will receive dozens of such vehicles and will probably completely cover the current needs for self-propelled artillery, while at the same time increasing the firepower of the ground forces. What is especially important to do such a modernization of the park of equipment will succeed with minimal costs. Contracting companies will have to produce only individual units from scratch, which will simplify and speed up the execution of the existing order.
On the materials of the sites:
http://discasanave.com/
http://armyrecognition.com/
http://forte.jor.br/
http://tanks-encyclopedia.com/
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/
It should be recalled that the Peruvian ground forces can not be called fully developed and modern. So, on their arms there is a total 24 self-propelled artillery. These are French-made 12 mm Canon MF155 Automoteur machines and the same number of M3 American ACSs. Both armored vehicles carry 109 mm caliber guns. At the same time, the army needs more self-propelled guns, and in addition, it requires systems of other calibers. To date, Peru’s Ministry of Defense has been able to find an acceptable solution to this problem.
The proposed look of ACS AMX-13D30. Collage Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC / discasanave.com
Due to the limited financial capabilities of the country, the purchase of new types of armored vehicles abroad is excluded. The production of machines on their own from scratch is also not possible. For this reason, warlords and engineers decided to build a new technique using available models already in service. Such an approach has already been used before and has made it possible to improve the condition of the troops to a certain extent.
Peruvian experts are going to build a promising model of self-propelled guns on a serial chassis of the lung tank AMX-13, designed and manufactured in France, and the armament of such a machine will be a Soviet-made D-30 howitzer. Such tanks and guns are available in Peru in sufficient quantities, and therefore the army can count on obtaining the desired number of self-propelled guns.
The new project, as reported, received the name AMX-13D30, combining the designations of the two main components of the self-propelled unit. In addition, the car was given the name Vulcano - "Volcano".
The new project will be implemented in the framework of cooperation of several state and private enterprises. In addition to the Ministry of Defense of Peru in the person of the Central Arsenal, the project involves the companies Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC (DICSAC) and FAME SAC. They will all have to undertake certain tasks related to the replacement of existing components or the production of new ones. The participants of the AMX-13D30 project already have some experience in rebuilding light AMX-13 tanks into carriers of one or another weapons. It can be expected that this will somewhat simplify the production of "Volcanoes".
In the recent past, Peru was armed with about one and a half hundred French-made AMX-13 light tanks. This technique has long ceased to arrange the military, and therefore in recent years several projects of its alteration, involving the replacement of weapons, have been implemented. As a result, to date, the original configuration retained no more than 40-50 combat vehicles. All others, having lost their gun turrets, became carriers of anti-tank missiles or other modern weapons.
The new project AMX-13D30 is based on the same principles as previous developments. Ready light tank must lose its native weapons and equipment, after which it will equip the new "combat module." Probably, the existing chassis simultaneously with the modernization will be repaired and will restore its technical readiness.
Principles of building a new combat vehicle. Collage Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC / discasanave.com
From the base tank self-propelled gun "inherits" the body with a relatively weak protection, capable of guaranteed to withstand only small arms bullets. The thickness of the frontal part of the hull with a homogeneous reservation, having a curved shape, does not exceed 50 mm. Side protection is provided by 15-20 mm steel. The minimum thickness of the reservation on the roof and bottom is 10 mm. Tank AMX-13 received a specific layout, which to some extent will facilitate the construction of ACS. The engine compartment of this machine is located in the front of the case, behind it is the control compartment. Central and aft compartments, thus, are given under the fighting compartment.
In the course of the proposed chassis upgrade, the existing eight-cylinder petrol engine, the SOFAM Model 8Gxb hp, will have to be kept. Also in their places will remain units of manual transmission with manual control. With their help, the engine torque is given to the front drive wheels.
The chassis has a tracked undercarriage with five support rollers of average diameter on each side. The rollers are mounted on an independent torsion bar suspension; The first and fifth balancers of each side are also connected with hydraulic shock absorbers. Drive wheels of larger diameter are placed in front of the hull. The crawler tensioning mechanism and guide wheels are in the stern. The chassis includes a steel caterpillar 350 mm wide with an open metal hinge. 85 tracks tracks can be equipped with rubber shoes to move on roads.
The project "Volcano" provides for the removal of the standard tower of the so-called. swinging structure, equipped with an insufficiently powerful tool. Also, probably, a number of different equipment will be removed from the combat compartment, no longer needed due to the replacement of weapons. The freed volumes and the existing shoulder strap of the tower are proposed to be used for the installation of a new open installation with a D-30 howitzer.
Directly on the chase, the project authors placed a support platform with vertical supports for mounting the gun. Since the breech of the D-30 cannon is large, the self-propelled gun does not receive a wheelhouse. The protection of artillerymen will be provided only by a regular cannon shield mounted on the same supports with it. The side, back and top of the crew is not protected. However, the machine is intended, first of all, to work in closed positions, and therefore it is possible to impose less stringent protection requirements on it.
Apparently, the companies participating in the project had to re-develop only a special platform for the installation of the gun. On its supports, it is proposed to mount the entire swinging part of the D-30 assembly assembled from the native towed carriage. At the new installation, the gun can be guided horizontally in any direction. Elevation angles probably won't change much. Recall, the staff carriage allows you to direct a gun in the range of -7 ° to + 70 °.
It is planned to mount a rocking artillery unit, including the barrel, breech and anti-recoil devices, for the new installation. Thus, despite the new carrier, the D-30 howitzer retains an 122-mm rifled barrel with a length of 38 caliber, equipped with a developed muzzle brake. The wedge valve remains in place. The barrel is connected to the hydraulic recoil brake and hydropneumatic haul. The cylinders of these devices are located above the barrel and are still covered with a recognizable casing. Means of aiming will also remain regular.
Tank AMX-13 with a caliber gun 105 mm. Photo of Wikimedia Commons
In the basic towed version, the howitzer D-30 is transported forward with the help of the so-called. pivot beam installed under the muzzle brake. Self-propelled gun does not need such a device, and it can be removed. However, on some available images of ACS AMX-13D30, made by photomontage, the beam remains in its place. This can be explained by the error of the authors of the demonstration materials.
Aft for 122-mm separate-loading shots will be placed in the aft part of the tank hull, which was freed for the new gun mount. Any automation tools are not offered, and therefore the calculation will have to manually lift the shells and shells to the breech and then load them into it. It can be assumed that this will not adversely affect the rate of fire, and it will remain at the level of 7-8 rounds per minute, like the D-30 in the original towed version.
Naturally, a howitzer can use all compatible 122-mm shots for various purposes with the ability to change the propellant charge. Depending on the assigned combat mission, the calculation will be able to shoot high-explosive, anti-tank, smoke, etc. shells. Range characteristics will not change. The maximum firing range will be 15,3 km, as with the towed sample.
Most of the devices and devices of the base chassis will remain the same, but some new products are envisaged. So, according to the customer, self-propelled gun should be able to move at night. To do this, it is proposed to install a TVN-5 night-vision device on the hatch above the driver’s workplace. In addition, it is proposed to use the modern VHF radio station P-030U. Night vision devices and communications equipment are purchased by the Peruvian army from Ukraine.
There is reason to believe that the dismantling of the tank’s rocking turret and the subsequent installation of a new artillery installation will not have a significant impact on the size and weight of the vehicle. Thus, the length of self-propelled AMX-13D30 body will not exceed 4,9 m with a width of about 2,5 m. The height, taking into account the shield of the gun (with its transport position) should not be more than 2,5-2,7 m. The combat weight of AMX-13 tank was 14,5 t A similar parameter of the new self-propelled gun should be at the same level.
The same should be the case with mobility. The base tank accelerated to 60 km / h, the power reserve was 400 km. The AMX-13D30 ACS will receive the same powerplant with clear consequences for the ride characteristics. Also, she probably also will not be able to cross the water obstacles by swimming, and will have to move only along shallow fords.
According to known data, the companies participating in the Vulcano project have completed the design of self-propelled guns and are ready to begin production of such equipment. 8 March The Peruvian Ministry of Defense signed a new contract with the DICSAC and FAME SAC companies. This document defines all the conditions, terms and costs of future work.
X-NUMX-mm howitzer D-122 in a combat position. Photo by Vitalykuzmin.net
Soon, the first light tanks AMX-13 will arrive at the Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC plant, which will have to lose some of the native equipment and get new equipment. DICSAC is the main developer and executor of the project. FAME SAC and the Central Arsenal of the Peruvian army, in turn, will work on the rights of subcontractors and suppliers of individual devices.
According to known data, now the Peruvian army has no more than fifty AMX-13 armored vehicles in the initial configuration of light tanks. These cars are no longer of interest in their current form, and therefore they can be rebuilt according to the Vulcan project. The number of D-30 cannon howitzers is noticeably smaller - there are only 36 of them in total. Thus, it becomes clear the maximum possible number of newer self-propelled guns. Using existing stocks of equipment, the Peruvian military and engineers will be able to build no more than 36 SAU AMX-13D30.
The number of new types of self-propelled guns planned for assembly is not too large. However, if we take into account the current state of Peru’s self-propelled artillery, the situation begins to look different. Assembling cars Vulcano will allow two and a half times to increase the fleet of self-propelled guns. In addition to quantitative advantages, there will be qualitative ones. So far, the army has only 155-mm guns on tracked chassis, which limits the flexibility to use artillery. In the near future, they will be supplemented with 122 mm caliber systems, and this will expand the range of tasks.
According to the results of the AMX-13D30 Vulcano project, the number of self-propelled artillery in the army of Peru will increase in the most noticeable way. However, after this self-propelled installation will not be able to bypass the towed system. Without tracked or wheeled carriers, there will still remain a few hundred guns of different classes and calibers. However, in this case, one should expect a certain increase in the combat capability of the ground forces.
It should be noted that the new project “Vulkan” is a continuation of a kind of new vehicle family based on the old tank, which is no longer suitable for solving initial tasks. For several years, the vast majority of obsolete AMX-13 tanks were rebuilt into carriers of modern weapons. In this case, while it was only about anti-tank missile systems. Now this conditional family will be replenished with a combat vehicle with powerful barrel armament.
As you can see, not the richest state in Latin America is in no hurry to write off and send in the smelting more unnecessary machines. On the contrary, it repairs them and returns to service in a new capacity. Obviously, a tank chassis with rockets or a howitzer — despite all the required costs — is much more beneficial than a pile of scrap metal. As for the characteristic shortcomings of an outdated chassis, they are compensated by the specifics of its use in the new role. For example, the risks associated with insufficiently powerful booking are neutralized through the use of weapons with a long range of fire.
According to published information, the construction of new ACS AMX-13D30 Vulcano should start as soon as possible. In just a few years, the Peruvian army will receive dozens of such vehicles and will probably completely cover the current needs for self-propelled artillery, while at the same time increasing the firepower of the ground forces. What is especially important to do such a modernization of the park of equipment will succeed with minimal costs. Contracting companies will have to produce only individual units from scratch, which will simplify and speed up the execution of the existing order.
On the materials of the sites:
http://discasanave.com/
http://armyrecognition.com/
http://forte.jor.br/
http://tanks-encyclopedia.com/
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/
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