- Yes
- No
- Benelux
- France
- Other / Don’t know
- I said no
The Cobra IFV LAU97 is a Belgian Cobra IFV/APC fitted with a LAU97 MLRS.
But what is the Cobra IFV?
The Cobra IFV was a Belgian project built in the late cold war with the aim of building an IFV/APC that was as light and nimble as possible.
To achieve this, the engineers used an electrical transmission, which didn’t take as much space and was lighter than a conventional transmission. Other than the lower weight it allowed the vehicle to have, it also came with several advantages, for example, the handling of the vehicle is much easier and smoother, it accelerated faster than with a mechanical transmission, and it had the same acceleration and top speed in reverse, allowing it to quickly get out of trouble!
As a nice bonus, they were also amphibious! But they were quite slow in the water (5 km/h) so it won’t be very exciting either.
However as you’ve probably guessed by now thanks to some clues like “APC”, “light” and “amphibious”, the armor protection on the Cobra was very low, and could only protect the crew from small-arms fire.
It shouldn’t be too much of an issue, since its very low weight (less than 10 t) and its modern transmission also means that it has a good top speed of 80 km/h, not the best top speed but remember it’s the same top speed in reverse!
Unfortunately, as the Soviet Union collapsed and military budgets dropped worldwide, it did not recieve any orders, as its electric transmission was often deemed too advanced for many armies’ mechanics.
The Cobra IFV was also designed with adaptability in mind, so it came in several variants, most of them suitable for War Thunder!
→ Cobra IFV LAU97 - The one in this suggestion
- Cobra IFV 90/46 LWGS - With an ugly little turret
- Cobra IFV MILAN - With a twin MILAN ATGM launcher
- Cobra IFV 204GK - With a 20mm autocannon
The ACEC Cobra IFV LAU97
Specifications
Armament:
FZ70 Rocket launcher system (ammo: 40)
- FZ49 HEAT: 350 mm - 701 m/s
Vertical guidance: 0 / 55°
Stabiliser: no
Laser rangefinder: no
Thermal sights: no
Armor:
Resistant to small arms AP fire and 14.5 mm AP at 200 m but has a big ammo rack on top
Mobility:
Cummins VT-190 engine (190 hp)
Max. speed: 80 km/h - 5 km/h in water
Power to weight ratio: 22.35 hp per ton
Crew:
3 (Driver, Co-driver, Gunner)
Dimensions:
Mass: ~8.5 t
Length: 4.52 m
Width: 2.75 m
Height: 1.76 m without the MLRS
A fun and unique little vehicle that i can only see being added to France due to its proximity to Belgium or be kept for a future BeNeLux tree, but let me know what you think!
It would play similarly to the Type 75 MLRS in the Japanese tree, only less tedious to play with better rockets and a way better mobility.
The armor being paper-thin with a giant ammo rack on top of it but the mobility being pretty great as well as amphibious capabilities, it could be a very fun vehicle to ambush enemies in!
The FZ49 HEAT rockets are also already in the game, on the Rooivalk helicopter, and since it’s a premium, you can already test out for yourself how having these rockets on a fast APC would feel like.
I would personally place it at 7.3, being a better vehicle than a Type 75 but i wouldn’t place such vehicle higher than 7.7.
Still, if you have any questions or things to add, feel free in the comments!
Sources