- Yes, don’t care how
- Yes, as a researchable vehicle
- Yes, as a premium/event/squadron vehicle
- No
Hey guys, we’ll be having a look at a rather interesting support vehicle for France today: the AMX-10RCR T40M
This vehicle is nothing more than a demonstrator and testbed for the T40M (manned) turret. It was shown at the SATORY exposition in 2013. The vehicle features an early version of the turret that we now see on the ERBC Jaguar, the latest support vehicle to have entered service with the French army. While that vehicle’s hull was still developing, the turret was already in a further stage. Test firings had to be done; therefore, the turret was mounted on top of a pre-existing AMX-10RCR hull, resulting in this vehicle. While it might only be a one-off testbed, I still feel like this vehicle could have a place in the game. The turret found on this vehicle is an early version of the T40M turret, this one has 2 crew in it, and, unlike the ERBC Jaguar, lacks the Akeron missiles. Instead, the boxes on the side of the turret are mockups that would be able to hold other ATGMs. Likely these missiles would be either HOTs or TOWs. It fires case telescoped ammunition, which gives the weapon a great punch for its size. The cannon can fire a very wide variety of ammunitions: GPR-AB-T, GPR-PD-T, APFSDS-T, TP-T, and TPRR-T. The APFSDS has up to 140mm of penetration against NATO standard RHA and features a muzzle velocity of over 1500m/s. The gun also has excellent elevation limits, from -10°to +45°, which gives the vehicle great flexibility in its engagement choices and even allows you to attack aircraft and helicopters. The turret holds 60 rounds of ammunition ready for use with more being found in the hull. The gun has a fire rate of up to 200 rounds/minute or up to 80 rounds/minute with high accuracy. Besides the main gun and (possibly) ATGM launchers, the turret also features a remote weapon station. This RWS has a 7.62mm machine gun mounted.
As far as mobility goes, the vehicle obviously profits from the excellent characteristics of the AMX-10RC we know in-game. The 6x6 vehicle is powered by the Baudouin GF-11SX diesel engine, developing 280 horsepower. The overall empty weight of the vehicle should be around 14400kg, a small reduction compared to the 15000kg of the AMX-10RC. This difference is the result of the new turret weighing 3800kg, which is 600kg less than the TK105 turret which supposedly weighed 4400kg (assumption made based on the weight of the very similar TGG turret). The vehicle doesn’t have steering wheels, instead using skid steering. The principle is similar to how a tank turns, with the wheels on one side turning faster or slower to turn the vehicle. It can also turn in place by driving the wheels on one side forwards while the others go backward. Unlike the AMX-10RC though, the added armor of the RCR model means that the vehicle is no longer amphibious.
Protection-wise, the vehicle profits from the changes that were made in the RCR upgrade program that this vehicle is based on. It features side skirts as well as some extra armor on the front of the vehicle. This should give the AMX-10RCR T40M a small but noticeable survivability increase over the AMX-10RC in-game. The turret features STANAG level 2 protection which means it can survive 7.62×39mm API BZ at 30 meters at 695 m/s. This should make you immune to most small arms fire to the turret, but you are still vulnerable to 12.7mm armaments.
General Characteristics:
Crew: 3
Weight: 14400kg
Engine: Baudouin GF-11SX diesel engine (280hp)
Power-to-weight: 19.44 hp/t
Maximum speed: 85km/h
Length: 9,15 m
Width: 2,95 m
Main Armament: CT40 40mm cannon, firing case telescoped munitions of the following types:
- APFSDS - Armour Piercing: 1500m/s muzzle velocity, 140mm penetration against RHA.
- GPR-PD - Point Detonating: 1000m/s muzzle velocity, 210mm penetration against concrete.
- GPR-AB - Airbust: 1000m/s muzzle velocity, 210mm penetration against concrete.
- TP - Target Practice: 1000m/s muzzle velocity
Secondary armament:
- (optional) HOT (likely HOT-3) ATGMs firing from launchers mounted to turret side. (whether or not these launchers are made functional is entirely up to the devs, the launchers on the vehicle were only mockups).
- Remote weapon station with 1x 7.62mm machine gun.
Smoke dispensers: 12x
Turret rotation speed: 60°/s
Gun elevation/depression limits: -10° to +45°
Additional features:
- Laser rangefinder.
- Acoustic gunfire detector.
- Latest generation thermal sensors.
- Fully stabilized main gun.
Place in the game:
While the vehicle was never destined to be a production vehicle, I still believe this one-off model has a place in the game. This vehicle, together with the VBCI 2, offers something great to the French tree, a truly top tier support vehicle that doesn’t have fire-and-forget missiles. They should therefore be much easier to implement than the ERBC Jaguar which does have them. This means that either of these vehicles are perfect additions for the current state of the game. Being more than adequate support vehicles while we wait for the ERBC Jaguar to no longer be outrageously overpowered. Implementation-wise I think this vehicle is best suited as a premium/event/squadron vehicle due to it being a one-off. The VBCI 2 would then take up the role of tech-tree vehicle since it is actually planned to be produced as an export product.
