Fire power for all occasions. Overview of combat modules and towers for cars of light and medium weight categories (5 part from 5)
RHEINMETALL company
The Lance modular tower was developed by Rheinmetall in the mid-2000-s and has now become a complete system. Four towers are ordered by GDELS for the Spanish army for installation on Piranha III 8x8 vehicles. The Lance tower was tested in Canada and installed on the Piranha 5 as part of the Close Combat Vehicle test phase.
At the Eurosatory 2010 exhibition, the Lance turret was shown on the Boxer vehicle, thereby transforming this armored personnel carrier into an infantry fighting vehicle. The modular architecture of Boxer could be better appreciated later at IDEX 2013, where Rheinmetall introduced a separate module that was installed on the machine with a crane in about 30 minutes.
The Lance turret is currently offered with the Rheinmetall Mk 30-2 cannon with air blast ammunition, although other options include the ATK Mk 44 Bushmaster II and III (30 and 35 mm respectively) and the 40 mm CTAI 40. The latter participates in the British reconnaissance program. British Scout Vehicle, whose base tower is a modification of the Lance. The coaxial machine gun is located to the right of the cannon; here you can choose from three options: the H&K MG4 in 5,56 mm, the Rheinmetall MG3 and FNH Mag 58 in the 7,62 mm and the new Rheinmetall RMG 7.62 with electric drive. The stabilized Seoss-Sector sight, mounted on the left side, allows the shooter to fire day and night, while the Seoss-Peri or Seoss-Mout can be installed at the rear of the turret in order to give the commander search and strike capabilities. Seoss-Mout has a 70 ° vertical angle, which is great for urban environments. Protection is also modular, corresponding to Level 4, although this level can vary in one direction or another. Thanks to the modular architecture of the turret vetronics, various options can be added, such as shot detection, 360 ° situational awareness, friend or foe identification, and tower on tower.
Rheinmetall is currently working to integrate the Spike ATGM and its new Wotan 30-mm cannon into the Lance turret; This electric gun allows you to have an adjustable rate of fire from 1 to 200 rounds per minute. At the end of 2013, the second prototype, with numerous improvements, was ready for firing tests.
While the current Lance variants were designed as twin towers, the turret armed with the new Wotan cannon will have optional remote control. This configuration was included by Rheinmetall in the project from the very beginning of development, its uniformity is estimated at 75%. A single or double control station will be installed inside the car, all the remaining electronics will be moved to the tower. For Lance-RC, a new contact ring is needed, since the amount of information going from the tower to the car and back is much more than in the traditional version. Lance-RC will retain the ability to reload from armor. The mass should be reduced to two tons (2,7 tons with higher levels of protection). The Lance-RC tower is currently awaiting its first customer.
Tower Lance from the company Rheinmetall modular architecture was adopted by the Spanish infantry. Also developed a uninhabited version of this tower.
DENEL company
Currently, the Denel LCT 30 tower is in full production under two contracts, one for the Malaysian AV8 8x8 machine manufactured by DefTech based on the Turkish car Pars 8x8 and the second for the South African Badger machine based on Patria AMV. In both cases, the tower is armed with a Denel LS GI-30 CamGun gun with an external electric drive. It features a no-feed double feed system and is capable of firing in “sniper mode” - a single-shot mode with a lockable shutter for maximum accuracy.
Denel LCT 30 Tower (down on AV8 8x8)
The main cannon has an 60 ammunition of ready-made shots, and a twin 7,62-mm machine gun ammunition 600 of cartridges. The twin-turret can be fitted with either an optical sight with an increase in 8x, or a three-mirror CCD arrow (both synchronized with a gun), complemented by a two-mirror imager and a laser rangefinder with a radius of 10 km. At the commander, a periscopic aiming unit is installed either with a direct sight optical sight with two fields of view, or with a CCD camera with three fields of view and a thermal imager with three fields of view. Several bishops provide the shooter with a direct overview in the 220 ° sector and to the commander in the 360 ° sector.
The MSA allows you to shoot in motion, and the commander’s independent periscope provides search and impact capabilities. The maximum elevation angle is 30 °, the maximum declination angle is 10 °. The LCT 30 tower has good frontal protection, the base level protects against 23-mm armor-piercing and incendiary projectiles shot from 500 meters. But due to the additional booking, it can be upgraded and will be able to withstand 30-mm armor-piercing shells; from the sides, back and top of the tower has protection Level 3. According to the latest data from Malaysia, which originally wanted for itself 123 BBM with an LCT 30 turret and another 54 with an Ingwe South African rocket tower, decided to install rockets on all of its twin towers from Denel. A total of 264 Badger machines have been ordered, and most of them will have LCT 30 tower installed in various configurations. Denel Land Systems also maintains a more compact and cheaper LCT-20 hand-operated turret, armed with a GI-20 2 cannon, in its portfolio.
The Reutech Super Land Rogue Tower was originally offered with a Denel GI-2 20 mm cannon, but is currently also available with Nexter M693 F2 20 mm cannons and the Russian 23-mm 2A14 cannon
REUTECH Company
This company from South Africa offers its Super Land Rogue tower, which is armed with a dual-powered 20-mm cannon, this is either the Denel GI-2 or the Nexter M693 F2. Shops with shots are located on the sides of the gun, each contains 100 20 x 139 ammunition. The Super Land Rogue can also be armed with the Russian 23-mm 2A14 automatic cannon.
The system preserves the architecture of the DBM, the armament is enclosed in a protective case (from adverse external influences), the optocoupler is located under the gun. The standard optoelectronic kit includes a CCD camera with optical zoom, a cooled thermal imager with two fields of view and a laser range finder, and an optical auto tracking mode is also available. The marine version of SuperSea Rogue is also designed and is in service fleet Benin. The marine version has vertical guidance angles of –35 ° / + 60 °, while the ground version has –10 ° / + 40 ° with a low center of gravity and silhouette. In both cases, the customer can choose between a full rotation of 360 ° or a sector of ± 150 °.
The 30-mm tower M91 (also known as Vidra) from Yugoimport will soon be available in an uninhabited configuration.
Yugoimport company
Two different towers are part of the Southport import portfolio, M80 armed with an 20-mm cannon and M91 with an 30-mm cannon. The M80 tower is available in two versions: full remote control due to opto-electronics and a single-seat configuration with the addition of a shooter's seat, a control station and a direct vision channel. The M80 module is in service with the Serbian army, where it was qualified 4 a year ago.
The M91 single tower originates in the former Yugoslavia. However, this tower has undergone several upgrades; A new version is being developed under the name Otter. Armed with a M30DF 86-mm cannon with a double-feed mechanism, a paired 7,62-mm machine gun, four 82-mm M79 smoke grenade rifles and two Little 2 anti-tank missiles, the Otter module weighs 1782 kg in full combat readiness and 1430 kg in full combat readiness and 30 kg kg in combat readiness and 2 kg in combat readiness and 4 kg in combat readiness and 3 kg in combat readiness and 2014 kg in combat readiness and XNUMX kg in combat readiness and XNUMX kg in combat readiness and weight in XNUMX The machine gun is mounted externally over the gun, and two missiles are mounted on the right. XNUMX-mm gun and arrows are protected with steel armor with ballistic protection XNUMX level, front sheet has protection XNUMX + level, and laterally XNUMX level, additional armor can be installed to increase the level of protection. The gun in the Otter Tower is stabilized in two axes. In the base SLA, the sights and sensors are synchronized with the gun, the backup sight is mounted on the left side. A full MSA and a stabilized sight are optional. The South Import company is currently working on the following configuration, the release of which is scheduled for the autumn XNUMX of the year. This configuration of the Otter will be uninhabited, but reloading from under the armor will remain in it. It can also be used as a single tower, since it will have redundant control systems and a folding seat.
Uninhabited tower Thunder Ukrainian KB them. Morozova has a good fire power and a rather unique architecture.
The fire power of the Ukrainian uninhabited tower BM-7 Sail is no doubt. She is armed with a 30-mm cannon, 7,62-mm machine gun, 30-mm AG and two ATGM
Kharkov KB them. Morozova
In Ukraine, the Kharkov bureau to them. Morozov was designed several remote controlled towers. All these towers, Thunder, Sturm and Sail, have an 30-mm cannon, an AG-30-17-mm grenade launcher, a PKT or KT machine gun and anti-tank missiles.
The Thunder Tower is armed with a dual-feed ZTM-2 gun, the Ukrainian version of the Russian 2A42. Ammunition consists of two shots of 180 shots. The gun has a valid range of 4000 meters. The Thunder has an unusual arrangement in the form of a rectangular box containing weapons and ammunition; four 9P135M ballasts are installed under the module. Including four missiles, 30-mm rounds of ammunition, 1200 cartridges for machine guns, 150 30-mm grenades for the AG-17 and 8 smoke grenades, the Thunder’s combat weight reaches 1800 kg, while the empty system weighs 1280 kg. Thunder is proposed to enhance the fire power of light armored vehicles, for example, the BTR-60 / 70 / 80, BTR-3E, MT-LB, M-113, BMP-2 and others.
Tower BM-3 Sturm has a similar set of weapons, characterized by the presence of gun ZTM-1, Ukrainian analog gun 2A72 Soviet development. The layout of the turret is completely different from the layout of the Thunder, since it has the shape of a classic turret with a 30-mm cannon in the center, a 7,62-mm machine gun on the left and 30-mm AG even to the left, behind which an optical-electronic unit with Track sighting system is installed. On the right, there are two P-2 anti-tank missiles. A barrier with a semi-automatic laser homing head and a range of 5500 meters. A panoramic camera is installed on the roof. The assault with ammunition, and this 400 30-mm shots in two tapes, 2000 7,62-mm ammunition, 87 30-mm grenades and P-2 missiles, weighs 1300 kg. The Assault Tower is mounted on the BTR-31EX1, purchased by the Thai army.
BM-7 The sail retains the layout and armament of the BM-3 Sturm, but has an improved aiming system with an independent panoramic sight for the commander. The turret mass increased to 1650 kg in combat configuration, but given the reduced amount of ammunition, two 150 rifles on the cannon, 500 machinegun ammunition and 29 grenades, it is safe to assume that the level of protection was significantly increased. The Parus Tower was installed on the BTR-4 from the second batch delivered by Ukraine to the new Iraqi army.
Kongsberg has developed a Protector Medium that is designed and ready for production.
KONGSBERG PROTECH
Norwegian Kongsberg has developed a medium-caliber remote-controlled turret (although the company defines it as an ECDM), which can be armed with an 25-40 mm automatic cannon. The tower can also take anti-tank missiles due to its open architecture. The Protector Medium Caliber prototype, shown at the end of the 2009 of the year, is armed with a fully stabilized 30-mm ATK Mk44 cannon with a dual-feed system capable of firing an air bomb.
The gun is installed in a housing with ballistic protection levels from 1 to 4; coaxial machine gun mounted above the main armament. The total mass of the module without ammunition is 1,8 tons, it is allowed to add another ton of additional equipment. Tower Protector MC can adopt the DubSM Protector in accordance with the concept of "tower on the tower." At the beginning of 2013, Kongsberg conducted a three-month test of its turret in a test center in Nevada, since it is being proposed for the US Marine Corps program on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle floating combat vehicle. The concept of Protector MC is currently adopted and is ready for production.
EVPU Company
A new member of the mid-caliber turret club, the company EVPU from Slovakia has developed a stabilized Turra 30 turret, which can accept various 30-mm guns, for example CZ 30, 2A42 and ATK Mk44 Bushmaster II. To the left of the gun a twin machine gun is installed, either 7,62-mm PCT or 12,7-mm NSV; even to the left is the optoelectronic unit with a thermal imager, daytime camera with zoom and laser range finder.
Standard protection is equivalent to Level 1, but it can be upgraded with additional reservations. The rocket launcher can be added on the left side and accept two types of missiles: the 9M113 Competition and the Rafael Spike. The Turra 30 tower has significant vertical guidance angles from -10 ° to + 75 °. Several smoke grenade rigs on the tower provide coverage at 120 °. The tower in the standard configuration has a mass 1500 kg. In May, the 2012, the Turra 30, was shown at the Czech IDEB, where it was installed on a technology demonstrator based on the BMP-1 chassis, developed by VOP Trencin. VOP Trencin and EVPU also offer upgrades to the BMP-2 under the designation BVP-M2 SKCZ, which includes the Turra 30 tower.
Having developed two lightweight OEDS, EVPU created the X-NUMX-mm uninhabited Turra 30 tower, which is designed to upgrade the BMP
EOS Company
Among the new manufacturers of mid-caliber towers, we can see the company EOS from Australia. She developed the 30-mm turret with the ATK Bushmaster II gun, which has been undergoing extensive testing for three years and will be ready for serial production in 2015.
Tank guns for medium category cars by weight
Progress in the design of armored vehicles of the middle class, especially wheeled, on the one hand, and the huge amount of work on a significant reduction in recoil forces, carried out on the guns themselves, on the other hand, inevitably had to give results sooner or later. And the word is now for the military ... as far as blowing dust from their doctrines is concerned.
The Belgian company Cockerill Maintenance et Ingegnerie offers its CT-CV 105HP turret, which allows you to transform the BMP into light tanks
CMI DEFENSE
CMI Defense is definitely the main producer of large-caliber towers, if they include towers of caliber 90 mm and above. The Belgian company currently offers four different towers. Let's start with the lightest tower CSE 90LP, which is armed with a 36 caliber cannon with a nominal pressure 210 MPa. Its weight and recoil forces allow it to be installed on machines weighing more than 7 tons; ballistic tower defense can be increased from 1 Level to 4 Level.
The modification of the CS 90LP tower received the letter “E” in the designation. This letter means electric drives, the previous CS 90LP model had hydraulic actuators. This double turret can be equipped with various sights and SLA based on customer requirements; its maximum angle of vertical guidance 30 ° allows you to shoot an indirect aiming at a distance of up to 6 km. At IDEX 2013, the latest integration of the CSE 90LP tower was shown, where it was installed on the 16-ton BTR-3E 8x8, provided by Ukroboronservis.
The next model is a double LCTS 90MP with a 48,5 caliber barrel and a nominal pressure of 310 MPa. The turret is designed for vehicles in mass categories from 10 to 20 tons. An automatic loader is installed in the turret, and its high initial speeds make it possible to have a high-explosive fragmentation projectile and a maximum elevation angle 20 ° in range 7,8 km when firing. Its MSA may incorporate components specific to main battle tanks, for example, a day / night stabilized sight for the gunner and a stabilized independent periscope for the commander, both with a laser range finder. The wind-up tower has a fully digital architecture.
CSE 90LP tower mounted on 16-ton Ukrainian BTR-3E 8x8
Interest in light tanks forced CMI Defense to develop a new larger-caliber cannon and, accordingly, a new turret. Its HP Cockerill CV 105-mm cannon has an 51 caliber barrel and differs in 120% pressure from standard cannons with peak recoil forces of less than 150 kN. Tower CT-CV 105HP is equipped with an advanced automatic loader, which allows you to reduce weight and eliminate the third crew member in the tower. The tower has electric drives with a mechanical backup branch, the digital electronic architecture makes it easy to interface with customer-defined subsystems, optional sensors, as well as with the platform itself. In order to obtain maximum functional flexibility, the CT-CV 105HP has a large angle of vertical guidance + 42 °, which allows you to fire high-explosive fragmentation projectiles at indirect range to 10 km. The gun fires not only all 105-mm projectiles of the NATO standard (including the Mecar M1060CV, specially designed for this gun and guaranteeing piercing the NATO standard with rolled armor more than 550 mm thick from a distance of 2000 m at an angle of 60 °), but also a Falarick X-NUMX long-range ATGM actions produced by the same CMI Defense. The Falarick anti-tank missile, shown in 105, has a laser semi-automatic guidance system and a maximum range of 2010 km, flight time is 5 seconds, and a tandem cumulative warhead guarantees penetration of 17 mm rolled armor behind blocks of dynamic protection. CT-CV was tested on several platforms, one of the last - a variant of the Polish Rosomak machine with a reinforced roof, which was designated Wilk.
The XC-8 turret, developed for 105-mm and 120-mm guns, is still at the concept development stage. The company CMI Defense showed the tower at the IDEX 2013 exhibition at the Korean Doosan K21 BMP
To expand and strengthen its portfolio of medium tank towers, CNI Defense has developed the XC-8 turret concept, in which you can install 105-mm or 120-mm high-pressure cockerill cannons with a small rollback. The experience gained with the CT-CV 105HP tower is used in the new twin tower. The new model was shown at the DSEI 2013 exhibition on the Korean Doosan K21 BMP chassis, giving birth to a light tank with a total weight of about 25 tons. The XC-8 turret with the 105-mm gun maintains the maximum vertical angle + 42 ° and the 10 km range of the Cockerill CT-CV 105HP turret. This allows you to get a light tank as a means of direct and indirect fire support.
CMI refused to provide any details on the version armed with an 120-mm gun. It is only known that the gun can fire with standard 120-mm ammunition for a smooth-bore gun of the NATO standard, as well as the 120-mm variant of the Falarick rocket, which guarantees penetration of at least 700 mm of rolled homogeneous armor behind blocks of dynamic protection.
With the introduction of the Falarick 90 anti-tank missile, the operational range of the CMI LCTS90 turret has increased significantly
Company OTO MELARA
As part of the next generation Centauro development contract, Oto Melara is working on further upgrading the Hitfact 105 / 120 three-seater tower, which can be installed on 25 tons of vehicles, the current mass of the tower without armor is 6,5 tons. The tower is made of aluminum in order to maximize weight loss, to obtain the desired level of protection, additional armor is bolted to it. New design while maintaining the internal volume will reduce the area of external surfaces, which is directly related to the mass of additional booking. Booking decisions are the property of the company and, for the most part, for reasons of weight saving, they are based on ceramics.
New basket and internal layout are designed to obtain maximum protection from mines and IEDs. Oto Melara and the Italian army believe that the third person in the tower performs not only the role of a loader, but also a number of minor current and emergency tasks. The tower is designed so that it can accept an automatic loader as an option, which can lead in the long run to a remotely controlled tower with a predicted weight saving of one ton (due to a decrease in the level of reservation). Although according to Oto Melara, the market is not yet ready for a remote-controlled turret with a tank gun. The company is strongly promoting its 105-mm solution for the Brazilian requirement, this caliber is still in demand, while the military is also interested in the 120-mm turret, including through new developments in 120-mm ammunition.
Oto Melara’s Hitfact turret can be armed with a 120-mm smooth-bore cannon (two photos above). In the third photo from the top of the gun, the launch of a Horus reconnaissance UAV is modeled. At the bottom photo Horus UAV close-up view.
IMI company
After several years of manufacturing the MG120 and MG251 253-mm smoothbore guns for the Merkava Merkava Mk3 and Mk4 MBT, IMI developed the 120-mm RG120 gun, which weighs almost two times less than previous models (approximately 1700 kg), and is less than the same models; recoil forces thanks to the new recoil system and the muzzle brake. New weapons optimized for remotely controlled towers equipped with automatic loader. IMI has already worked on the preliminary design of the 20-mm tower, both in the remote control version and in the direct control version.
DENEL company
The Denel LMT-015 turret, developed on the base of the 76-mm turret of the Rooikat machine, is armed with a GT-7 cannon, which uses the same barrel as the L7. This barrel is combined with the system of “long” recoil, which allows reducing the recoil of the gun. 7,62-mm coaxial machine gun with 1600 ready-made cartridges mounted to the left of the gun. The LMT-105 Triple Tower weighs 6,5 tons with 9 ammunition ready shots in the tower basket and 7 extra shots at the store in tournaments. In the 60 ° frontal arc, the turret is protected from 23-mm projectiles, the rest of the turret has 2 Level protection. The commander’s stabilized panoramic sight provides search-and-shock capabilities, and the 360 ° all-round visibility is provided by a turret with several bishops. The tower was mounted on a wheeled chassis Rooikat and tracked chassis ASCOD, but has not yet received any order.
Two more players are ready to enter the arena of heavy towers and both are from Brazil, where the potential contract "floats on the surface." The first player is Ares Aerospacial e Defesa (a division of Elbit Systems) offering the MT105BR turret, which has an Israel Military Industries (IMI) 105 gun installed, and the second player is Taroba Engenharia without a tower system.
Materials used:
Armada International Compendium Turrets 2013
www.baesystems.com
www.flickr.com
www.reutech.co.za
www.kongsberg.com
www.eos-aus.com
www.fnherstal.com
www.rafael.co.il
www.otokar.com.tr
www.yugoimport.com
www.dn-defence.com
www.saab.com
www.fnss.com.tr
www.otomelara.it
morozov.com.ua
,
The Lance modular tower was developed by Rheinmetall in the mid-2000-s and has now become a complete system. Four towers are ordered by GDELS for the Spanish army for installation on Piranha III 8x8 vehicles. The Lance tower was tested in Canada and installed on the Piranha 5 as part of the Close Combat Vehicle test phase.
At the Eurosatory 2010 exhibition, the Lance turret was shown on the Boxer vehicle, thereby transforming this armored personnel carrier into an infantry fighting vehicle. The modular architecture of Boxer could be better appreciated later at IDEX 2013, where Rheinmetall introduced a separate module that was installed on the machine with a crane in about 30 minutes.
The Lance turret is currently offered with the Rheinmetall Mk 30-2 cannon with air blast ammunition, although other options include the ATK Mk 44 Bushmaster II and III (30 and 35 mm respectively) and the 40 mm CTAI 40. The latter participates in the British reconnaissance program. British Scout Vehicle, whose base tower is a modification of the Lance. The coaxial machine gun is located to the right of the cannon; here you can choose from three options: the H&K MG4 in 5,56 mm, the Rheinmetall MG3 and FNH Mag 58 in the 7,62 mm and the new Rheinmetall RMG 7.62 with electric drive. The stabilized Seoss-Sector sight, mounted on the left side, allows the shooter to fire day and night, while the Seoss-Peri or Seoss-Mout can be installed at the rear of the turret in order to give the commander search and strike capabilities. Seoss-Mout has a 70 ° vertical angle, which is great for urban environments. Protection is also modular, corresponding to Level 4, although this level can vary in one direction or another. Thanks to the modular architecture of the turret vetronics, various options can be added, such as shot detection, 360 ° situational awareness, friend or foe identification, and tower on tower.
Rheinmetall is currently working to integrate the Spike ATGM and its new Wotan 30-mm cannon into the Lance turret; This electric gun allows you to have an adjustable rate of fire from 1 to 200 rounds per minute. At the end of 2013, the second prototype, with numerous improvements, was ready for firing tests.
While the current Lance variants were designed as twin towers, the turret armed with the new Wotan cannon will have optional remote control. This configuration was included by Rheinmetall in the project from the very beginning of development, its uniformity is estimated at 75%. A single or double control station will be installed inside the car, all the remaining electronics will be moved to the tower. For Lance-RC, a new contact ring is needed, since the amount of information going from the tower to the car and back is much more than in the traditional version. Lance-RC will retain the ability to reload from armor. The mass should be reduced to two tons (2,7 tons with higher levels of protection). The Lance-RC tower is currently awaiting its first customer.
Tower Lance from the company Rheinmetall modular architecture was adopted by the Spanish infantry. Also developed a uninhabited version of this tower.
DENEL company
Currently, the Denel LCT 30 tower is in full production under two contracts, one for the Malaysian AV8 8x8 machine manufactured by DefTech based on the Turkish car Pars 8x8 and the second for the South African Badger machine based on Patria AMV. In both cases, the tower is armed with a Denel LS GI-30 CamGun gun with an external electric drive. It features a no-feed double feed system and is capable of firing in “sniper mode” - a single-shot mode with a lockable shutter for maximum accuracy.
Denel LCT 30 Tower (down on AV8 8x8)
The main cannon has an 60 ammunition of ready-made shots, and a twin 7,62-mm machine gun ammunition 600 of cartridges. The twin-turret can be fitted with either an optical sight with an increase in 8x, or a three-mirror CCD arrow (both synchronized with a gun), complemented by a two-mirror imager and a laser rangefinder with a radius of 10 km. At the commander, a periscopic aiming unit is installed either with a direct sight optical sight with two fields of view, or with a CCD camera with three fields of view and a thermal imager with three fields of view. Several bishops provide the shooter with a direct overview in the 220 ° sector and to the commander in the 360 ° sector.
The MSA allows you to shoot in motion, and the commander’s independent periscope provides search and impact capabilities. The maximum elevation angle is 30 °, the maximum declination angle is 10 °. The LCT 30 tower has good frontal protection, the base level protects against 23-mm armor-piercing and incendiary projectiles shot from 500 meters. But due to the additional booking, it can be upgraded and will be able to withstand 30-mm armor-piercing shells; from the sides, back and top of the tower has protection Level 3. According to the latest data from Malaysia, which originally wanted for itself 123 BBM with an LCT 30 turret and another 54 with an Ingwe South African rocket tower, decided to install rockets on all of its twin towers from Denel. A total of 264 Badger machines have been ordered, and most of them will have LCT 30 tower installed in various configurations. Denel Land Systems also maintains a more compact and cheaper LCT-20 hand-operated turret, armed with a GI-20 2 cannon, in its portfolio.
The Reutech Super Land Rogue Tower was originally offered with a Denel GI-2 20 mm cannon, but is currently also available with Nexter M693 F2 20 mm cannons and the Russian 23-mm 2A14 cannon
REUTECH Company
This company from South Africa offers its Super Land Rogue tower, which is armed with a dual-powered 20-mm cannon, this is either the Denel GI-2 or the Nexter M693 F2. Shops with shots are located on the sides of the gun, each contains 100 20 x 139 ammunition. The Super Land Rogue can also be armed with the Russian 23-mm 2A14 automatic cannon.
The system preserves the architecture of the DBM, the armament is enclosed in a protective case (from adverse external influences), the optocoupler is located under the gun. The standard optoelectronic kit includes a CCD camera with optical zoom, a cooled thermal imager with two fields of view and a laser range finder, and an optical auto tracking mode is also available. The marine version of SuperSea Rogue is also designed and is in service fleet Benin. The marine version has vertical guidance angles of –35 ° / + 60 °, while the ground version has –10 ° / + 40 ° with a low center of gravity and silhouette. In both cases, the customer can choose between a full rotation of 360 ° or a sector of ± 150 °.
The 30-mm tower M91 (also known as Vidra) from Yugoimport will soon be available in an uninhabited configuration.
Yugoimport company
Two different towers are part of the Southport import portfolio, M80 armed with an 20-mm cannon and M91 with an 30-mm cannon. The M80 tower is available in two versions: full remote control due to opto-electronics and a single-seat configuration with the addition of a shooter's seat, a control station and a direct vision channel. The M80 module is in service with the Serbian army, where it was qualified 4 a year ago.
The M91 single tower originates in the former Yugoslavia. However, this tower has undergone several upgrades; A new version is being developed under the name Otter. Armed with a M30DF 86-mm cannon with a double-feed mechanism, a paired 7,62-mm machine gun, four 82-mm M79 smoke grenade rifles and two Little 2 anti-tank missiles, the Otter module weighs 1782 kg in full combat readiness and 1430 kg in full combat readiness and 30 kg kg in combat readiness and 2 kg in combat readiness and 4 kg in combat readiness and 3 kg in combat readiness and 2014 kg in combat readiness and XNUMX kg in combat readiness and XNUMX kg in combat readiness and weight in XNUMX The machine gun is mounted externally over the gun, and two missiles are mounted on the right. XNUMX-mm gun and arrows are protected with steel armor with ballistic protection XNUMX level, front sheet has protection XNUMX + level, and laterally XNUMX level, additional armor can be installed to increase the level of protection. The gun in the Otter Tower is stabilized in two axes. In the base SLA, the sights and sensors are synchronized with the gun, the backup sight is mounted on the left side. A full MSA and a stabilized sight are optional. The South Import company is currently working on the following configuration, the release of which is scheduled for the autumn XNUMX of the year. This configuration of the Otter will be uninhabited, but reloading from under the armor will remain in it. It can also be used as a single tower, since it will have redundant control systems and a folding seat.
Uninhabited tower Thunder Ukrainian KB them. Morozova has a good fire power and a rather unique architecture.
The fire power of the Ukrainian uninhabited tower BM-7 Sail is no doubt. She is armed with a 30-mm cannon, 7,62-mm machine gun, 30-mm AG and two ATGM
Kharkov KB them. Morozova
In Ukraine, the Kharkov bureau to them. Morozov was designed several remote controlled towers. All these towers, Thunder, Sturm and Sail, have an 30-mm cannon, an AG-30-17-mm grenade launcher, a PKT or KT machine gun and anti-tank missiles.
The Thunder Tower is armed with a dual-feed ZTM-2 gun, the Ukrainian version of the Russian 2A42. Ammunition consists of two shots of 180 shots. The gun has a valid range of 4000 meters. The Thunder has an unusual arrangement in the form of a rectangular box containing weapons and ammunition; four 9P135M ballasts are installed under the module. Including four missiles, 30-mm rounds of ammunition, 1200 cartridges for machine guns, 150 30-mm grenades for the AG-17 and 8 smoke grenades, the Thunder’s combat weight reaches 1800 kg, while the empty system weighs 1280 kg. Thunder is proposed to enhance the fire power of light armored vehicles, for example, the BTR-60 / 70 / 80, BTR-3E, MT-LB, M-113, BMP-2 and others.
Tower BM-3 Sturm has a similar set of weapons, characterized by the presence of gun ZTM-1, Ukrainian analog gun 2A72 Soviet development. The layout of the turret is completely different from the layout of the Thunder, since it has the shape of a classic turret with a 30-mm cannon in the center, a 7,62-mm machine gun on the left and 30-mm AG even to the left, behind which an optical-electronic unit with Track sighting system is installed. On the right, there are two P-2 anti-tank missiles. A barrier with a semi-automatic laser homing head and a range of 5500 meters. A panoramic camera is installed on the roof. The assault with ammunition, and this 400 30-mm shots in two tapes, 2000 7,62-mm ammunition, 87 30-mm grenades and P-2 missiles, weighs 1300 kg. The Assault Tower is mounted on the BTR-31EX1, purchased by the Thai army.
BM-7 The sail retains the layout and armament of the BM-3 Sturm, but has an improved aiming system with an independent panoramic sight for the commander. The turret mass increased to 1650 kg in combat configuration, but given the reduced amount of ammunition, two 150 rifles on the cannon, 500 machinegun ammunition and 29 grenades, it is safe to assume that the level of protection was significantly increased. The Parus Tower was installed on the BTR-4 from the second batch delivered by Ukraine to the new Iraqi army.
Kongsberg has developed a Protector Medium that is designed and ready for production.
KONGSBERG PROTECH
Norwegian Kongsberg has developed a medium-caliber remote-controlled turret (although the company defines it as an ECDM), which can be armed with an 25-40 mm automatic cannon. The tower can also take anti-tank missiles due to its open architecture. The Protector Medium Caliber prototype, shown at the end of the 2009 of the year, is armed with a fully stabilized 30-mm ATK Mk44 cannon with a dual-feed system capable of firing an air bomb.
The gun is installed in a housing with ballistic protection levels from 1 to 4; coaxial machine gun mounted above the main armament. The total mass of the module without ammunition is 1,8 tons, it is allowed to add another ton of additional equipment. Tower Protector MC can adopt the DubSM Protector in accordance with the concept of "tower on the tower." At the beginning of 2013, Kongsberg conducted a three-month test of its turret in a test center in Nevada, since it is being proposed for the US Marine Corps program on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle floating combat vehicle. The concept of Protector MC is currently adopted and is ready for production.
EVPU Company
A new member of the mid-caliber turret club, the company EVPU from Slovakia has developed a stabilized Turra 30 turret, which can accept various 30-mm guns, for example CZ 30, 2A42 and ATK Mk44 Bushmaster II. To the left of the gun a twin machine gun is installed, either 7,62-mm PCT or 12,7-mm NSV; even to the left is the optoelectronic unit with a thermal imager, daytime camera with zoom and laser range finder.
Standard protection is equivalent to Level 1, but it can be upgraded with additional reservations. The rocket launcher can be added on the left side and accept two types of missiles: the 9M113 Competition and the Rafael Spike. The Turra 30 tower has significant vertical guidance angles from -10 ° to + 75 °. Several smoke grenade rigs on the tower provide coverage at 120 °. The tower in the standard configuration has a mass 1500 kg. In May, the 2012, the Turra 30, was shown at the Czech IDEB, where it was installed on a technology demonstrator based on the BMP-1 chassis, developed by VOP Trencin. VOP Trencin and EVPU also offer upgrades to the BMP-2 under the designation BVP-M2 SKCZ, which includes the Turra 30 tower.
Having developed two lightweight OEDS, EVPU created the X-NUMX-mm uninhabited Turra 30 tower, which is designed to upgrade the BMP
EOS Company
Among the new manufacturers of mid-caliber towers, we can see the company EOS from Australia. She developed the 30-mm turret with the ATK Bushmaster II gun, which has been undergoing extensive testing for three years and will be ready for serial production in 2015.
Tank guns for medium category cars by weight
Progress in the design of armored vehicles of the middle class, especially wheeled, on the one hand, and the huge amount of work on a significant reduction in recoil forces, carried out on the guns themselves, on the other hand, inevitably had to give results sooner or later. And the word is now for the military ... as far as blowing dust from their doctrines is concerned.
The Belgian company Cockerill Maintenance et Ingegnerie offers its CT-CV 105HP turret, which allows you to transform the BMP into light tanks
CMI DEFENSE
CMI Defense is definitely the main producer of large-caliber towers, if they include towers of caliber 90 mm and above. The Belgian company currently offers four different towers. Let's start with the lightest tower CSE 90LP, which is armed with a 36 caliber cannon with a nominal pressure 210 MPa. Its weight and recoil forces allow it to be installed on machines weighing more than 7 tons; ballistic tower defense can be increased from 1 Level to 4 Level.
The modification of the CS 90LP tower received the letter “E” in the designation. This letter means electric drives, the previous CS 90LP model had hydraulic actuators. This double turret can be equipped with various sights and SLA based on customer requirements; its maximum angle of vertical guidance 30 ° allows you to shoot an indirect aiming at a distance of up to 6 km. At IDEX 2013, the latest integration of the CSE 90LP tower was shown, where it was installed on the 16-ton BTR-3E 8x8, provided by Ukroboronservis.
The next model is a double LCTS 90MP with a 48,5 caliber barrel and a nominal pressure of 310 MPa. The turret is designed for vehicles in mass categories from 10 to 20 tons. An automatic loader is installed in the turret, and its high initial speeds make it possible to have a high-explosive fragmentation projectile and a maximum elevation angle 20 ° in range 7,8 km when firing. Its MSA may incorporate components specific to main battle tanks, for example, a day / night stabilized sight for the gunner and a stabilized independent periscope for the commander, both with a laser range finder. The wind-up tower has a fully digital architecture.
CSE 90LP tower mounted on 16-ton Ukrainian BTR-3E 8x8
Interest in light tanks forced CMI Defense to develop a new larger-caliber cannon and, accordingly, a new turret. Its HP Cockerill CV 105-mm cannon has an 51 caliber barrel and differs in 120% pressure from standard cannons with peak recoil forces of less than 150 kN. Tower CT-CV 105HP is equipped with an advanced automatic loader, which allows you to reduce weight and eliminate the third crew member in the tower. The tower has electric drives with a mechanical backup branch, the digital electronic architecture makes it easy to interface with customer-defined subsystems, optional sensors, as well as with the platform itself. In order to obtain maximum functional flexibility, the CT-CV 105HP has a large angle of vertical guidance + 42 °, which allows you to fire high-explosive fragmentation projectiles at indirect range to 10 km. The gun fires not only all 105-mm projectiles of the NATO standard (including the Mecar M1060CV, specially designed for this gun and guaranteeing piercing the NATO standard with rolled armor more than 550 mm thick from a distance of 2000 m at an angle of 60 °), but also a Falarick X-NUMX long-range ATGM actions produced by the same CMI Defense. The Falarick anti-tank missile, shown in 105, has a laser semi-automatic guidance system and a maximum range of 2010 km, flight time is 5 seconds, and a tandem cumulative warhead guarantees penetration of 17 mm rolled armor behind blocks of dynamic protection. CT-CV was tested on several platforms, one of the last - a variant of the Polish Rosomak machine with a reinforced roof, which was designated Wilk.
The XC-8 turret, developed for 105-mm and 120-mm guns, is still at the concept development stage. The company CMI Defense showed the tower at the IDEX 2013 exhibition at the Korean Doosan K21 BMP
To expand and strengthen its portfolio of medium tank towers, CNI Defense has developed the XC-8 turret concept, in which you can install 105-mm or 120-mm high-pressure cockerill cannons with a small rollback. The experience gained with the CT-CV 105HP tower is used in the new twin tower. The new model was shown at the DSEI 2013 exhibition on the Korean Doosan K21 BMP chassis, giving birth to a light tank with a total weight of about 25 tons. The XC-8 turret with the 105-mm gun maintains the maximum vertical angle + 42 ° and the 10 km range of the Cockerill CT-CV 105HP turret. This allows you to get a light tank as a means of direct and indirect fire support.
CMI refused to provide any details on the version armed with an 120-mm gun. It is only known that the gun can fire with standard 120-mm ammunition for a smooth-bore gun of the NATO standard, as well as the 120-mm variant of the Falarick rocket, which guarantees penetration of at least 700 mm of rolled homogeneous armor behind blocks of dynamic protection.
With the introduction of the Falarick 90 anti-tank missile, the operational range of the CMI LCTS90 turret has increased significantly
Company OTO MELARA
As part of the next generation Centauro development contract, Oto Melara is working on further upgrading the Hitfact 105 / 120 three-seater tower, which can be installed on 25 tons of vehicles, the current mass of the tower without armor is 6,5 tons. The tower is made of aluminum in order to maximize weight loss, to obtain the desired level of protection, additional armor is bolted to it. New design while maintaining the internal volume will reduce the area of external surfaces, which is directly related to the mass of additional booking. Booking decisions are the property of the company and, for the most part, for reasons of weight saving, they are based on ceramics.
New basket and internal layout are designed to obtain maximum protection from mines and IEDs. Oto Melara and the Italian army believe that the third person in the tower performs not only the role of a loader, but also a number of minor current and emergency tasks. The tower is designed so that it can accept an automatic loader as an option, which can lead in the long run to a remotely controlled tower with a predicted weight saving of one ton (due to a decrease in the level of reservation). Although according to Oto Melara, the market is not yet ready for a remote-controlled turret with a tank gun. The company is strongly promoting its 105-mm solution for the Brazilian requirement, this caliber is still in demand, while the military is also interested in the 120-mm turret, including through new developments in 120-mm ammunition.
Oto Melara’s Hitfact turret can be armed with a 120-mm smooth-bore cannon (two photos above). In the third photo from the top of the gun, the launch of a Horus reconnaissance UAV is modeled. At the bottom photo Horus UAV close-up view.
IMI company
After several years of manufacturing the MG120 and MG251 253-mm smoothbore guns for the Merkava Merkava Mk3 and Mk4 MBT, IMI developed the 120-mm RG120 gun, which weighs almost two times less than previous models (approximately 1700 kg), and is less than the same models; recoil forces thanks to the new recoil system and the muzzle brake. New weapons optimized for remotely controlled towers equipped with automatic loader. IMI has already worked on the preliminary design of the 20-mm tower, both in the remote control version and in the direct control version.
DENEL company
The Denel LMT-015 turret, developed on the base of the 76-mm turret of the Rooikat machine, is armed with a GT-7 cannon, which uses the same barrel as the L7. This barrel is combined with the system of “long” recoil, which allows reducing the recoil of the gun. 7,62-mm coaxial machine gun with 1600 ready-made cartridges mounted to the left of the gun. The LMT-105 Triple Tower weighs 6,5 tons with 9 ammunition ready shots in the tower basket and 7 extra shots at the store in tournaments. In the 60 ° frontal arc, the turret is protected from 23-mm projectiles, the rest of the turret has 2 Level protection. The commander’s stabilized panoramic sight provides search-and-shock capabilities, and the 360 ° all-round visibility is provided by a turret with several bishops. The tower was mounted on a wheeled chassis Rooikat and tracked chassis ASCOD, but has not yet received any order.
Two more players are ready to enter the arena of heavy towers and both are from Brazil, where the potential contract "floats on the surface." The first player is Ares Aerospacial e Defesa (a division of Elbit Systems) offering the MT105BR turret, which has an Israel Military Industries (IMI) 105 gun installed, and the second player is Taroba Engenharia without a tower system.
Materials used:
Armada International Compendium Turrets 2013
www.baesystems.com
www.flickr.com
www.reutech.co.za
www.kongsberg.com
www.eos-aus.com
www.fnherstal.com
www.rafael.co.il
www.otokar.com.tr
www.yugoimport.com
www.dn-defence.com
www.saab.com
www.fnss.com.tr
www.otomelara.it
morozov.com.ua
,
Information