News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
Back in July we posted on the Israeli Pereh missile tank. That post garnered more views than any other post we have done. As a follow up, here is a video and some images of the Pereh in action. Unfortunately, there is no English translation available for the video, but the images alone should prove quite interesting for those that are curious about his rather unusual vehicle.
Gallery of still images from the video
A video featuring Jane’s 360 reporter Chirstopher Foss at the recent DSEI 2015 exhibition explaining the new UK Scout SV vehicle which has been renamed Ajax.
Jane’s is reporting that the UK is looking for upgrade or replacement options for their current fleet of Challenger 2 MBTs. According to the article:
Bri
tish Army officers have become increasingly worried about the Challenger 2’s effectiveness, particularly the lethality of its L30A1 120mm rifled main gun and its suite of ammunition. One officer told IHS Jane’s that “the appearance of the T-14 Armata has had a significant impact and assessments of the new Russian tank’s armour and self-defence systems [have] suggested that the Challenger 2’s 120mm main armament no longer cuts it”.
The article says that the scope of the program has yet to be determined, options ranging from a limited life extension program to upgrade the most outdated components or a wider set of improvements. The UK currently only operates 227 Challenger 2 vehicles. The article stated that the option to replace the Challenger 2 with a different vehicle had not been ruled out.
Here is a video from the recent DSEI 2015 exhibition explaining the Warrior capability sustainment program (WCSP) for the UK Warrior IFV. Click on the image below to go to the video.
Jane’s is reporting that the United Kingdom has renamed its Scout SV tracked reconnaissaince vehicle as Ajax at the recent Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition. The Ajax name will apply to the entire family of vehicles, of which the UK has ordered 589. These vehicles will be produced by General Dynamics UK in a manufacturing contract worth 5.4 billion dollars. Of these vehicles, 245 will be the version armed with the CTA International 40mm Case Telescoped Armament System in a turret produced by Lockheed Martin UK. Names have also been assigned to the other variants. They include a reconnaissance support vehicle named Ares (93 ordered), a command and control vehicle named Athena (112), an equipment repair vehicle known as Apollo (50), equipment recovery variant called Atlas (38) and an engineering reconnaissance vehicle named Argus (51). Three Ajax prototypes are scheduled to be delivered in 2016.
Motherboard has posted an article about an old tractor factory in Ukraine occupied by the Azov Battalion. The article provides pictures and descriptions of the efforts by Azov at this facility to build their own armored vehicles. Particular attention is paid to the homemade vehicle “Azovette”, a heavily armored T-64 chassis:
Zvarych invited us inside the workshop, where a small team of student welders, engineers, and guys who worked here back when the factory made tractors, are finishing off their latest creation, “Azovette.”
Zvarych walks us around the metal beast, pointing out the layers of armor, each 7cm thick and lined with explosives intended to disperse the impact of any strike. Most projectiles capable of penetrating the 7cm of armor will be shaped-charged missiles, consisting of a hollow cone that lays concave to the tip of the projectile and is backed by explosives. When detonated, the explosives hit the apex of the cone and propel it forward, effectively turning the cone inside out and forming a focused jet of explosive energy that drives the projectile forward for maximum impact. The explosives in Azovette’s armor are intended to counteract the shaped-charge by driving energy in the opposite direction so the cone can’t turn inside out to focus the blast.
The armor is spaced out in layers, creating chambers that keep any damage contained to that layer of armor. There are seven chambers of this reactive armor up front and three on the sides.
“Usually a tank has 10 or 20cm of armor (in the front) but we put in 1.4m. This tank can take anything, even a big missile from a plane. It can take all the modern equipment of all the armies,” says Zvarych.
He says Azovette is the perfect tank and compares the 50 tonne 5-seater to Nazi Germany’s super-tank, Panzer VIII Maus, a fully enclosed, 188 tonne goliath of mythological proportions that never passed the prototype stage.
The article only devotes two sentences to pointing out the obvious Nazi imagery used by the Azov Battalion and their association with far-right and white supremacist ideology. Given this history, perhaps it is not surprising that they would compare their homemade tank to that most ridiculous and grandiose AFV of the Third Reich, the Maus.
The new Russian T-14 Armata continues to get media attention since it’s first public appearance this past spring. A new Russian language TV show about the Armata has been posted on youtube, Unfortunately there are no English language subtitles available but those interested in this vehicle will still find the footage worth watching. This video shows the interior of the production facility where the T-14 is made as well as footage of the interior of the crew compartment. Some nice images of the Armata powerpack are included as well.
Also in the news lately, the magazine ‘The National Interest” has run a couple articles comparing the Armata to it’s Western counterparts. Frankly, we are a bit sceptical of some of the claims made in these articles since so little concrete information is known concerning the capabilities and stats of the T-14. Still, we thought these articles might prove interesting for our readers. Article links below.
Russia’s Armata T-14 Tank vs. America’s M-1 Abrams: Who Wins?
Russia’s Armata T-14 Tank vs. Germany’s Lethal Leopard: Who Wins?
This past week, the Russia Arms Expo (RAE) 2015 took place in Nizhny Tagil in the Urals. Jane’s reporting Christopher Foss described the event as “noticeably subdued”, noting that the new T-14 Armata and T-15 heaving infantry fighting vehicles were displayed, but did not take part in the firepower and mobility demonstrations. He also notes these new vehicles were locked down behind a cordon and that no new technical information was released. According to Foss, the emphasis was on promoting the export of in-prodution AFVs, such as the T-90 series and the BMP-3. One of the few new armored vehicles shown for the first time at the event was the BMP-3 Dragon, a variant of the BMP-3 mounting a 57mm cannon in a remotely controlled turret. An upgraded version of the BTR-80 was also displayed, featuring a new protection package, cameras, and a remote weapon station with stabilized 12.7mm heavy machine gun.
To view a series of photos from RAE 2015, click here to go to the livejournal page of Varlamov.ru.
RT published an article on RAE 2015 as well. As might be expected, the RT article gives a far more positive depiction of the event than the Jane’s article. RT also posted some short videos from the firepower and mobility demonstrations.
Europe News Today has posted four lengthy videos of footage of the firepower and mobility demonstrations at RAE 2015.
Jane’s is reporting that Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) unveiled several new developments and variants of the Rosomak 8×8 family at the MSPO defense exhibition held in Kielce from 1-4 September. These include the modernized Rosomak-M, the uprated Rosomak-XP, a Rosomak direct support vehicle armed with a 120 mm cannon, the first production-model Rosomak-WPT engineering support vehicle, and a new unmanned ZSSW-30 turret prototype. Details about each new variant can be read at the Jane’s website.
Yahoo news has posted an amusing story about a father who took his son to his first day of school in a BMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The father and son live in the Donstsk in south-eastern Ukraine. As might be guessed, the boy and his father were a big hit with the other school children, who clambered all over the vehicle for pictures. Parent Vitaly Dolgorukova said: ‘It’s not unusual to see tanks around here but I’ve never seen one doing the school run before, I thought it was a really fun idea that took away the nerves of a lot of the new kids.’ The boy’s father, the tank commander, is believed to be a member of a Russian-backed separatist militia.
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