- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #119
I would like to suggest the Europanzer with the turret of Type A
the Europanzer was the French proposition of the German-French-Italian common medium tank starting in 1956. initially only including Germany and France, Italy joined the project in 1958 and looked forword to having a modern European tank locally built. the project was rather ambitious. it was to propose a new 30-ton tank capable of fighting the Russian tank at 2000-2500m. this new tank was supposed to be used by all three countries as the main-battle-tank in replacement to the American Patton tanks (M46, M47, M48 & M60).
the new tank was been going to be produced from part of all 3 countries to stimulate the economy and return the investment of the project. but this is where the problem shows up. neither France nor Germany nor even in some instances Italy agreed on who should make what. so 3 teams were working on 3 different tanks of the same project. while in Germany this project was called Standardpanzer, in France the new tank went by the name Europanzer or Char Européen. 3 German teams developed 2 different prototypes with serial sub-variants while France developed a prototype on his own. only one could be accepted as the common tank for the three countries and both Germany and France disagreed and try to include as much part as possible that would be built in their own country. this was essentially for economic interest at first but as much as the development went on, the focus was getting different on each 3 teams. the French thought the firepower and accuracy were to be put forward at the cost of lower protection which was judged useless as the ATGM was not making more armor effective. while the German one was still considered important to have decent armor and wanted to focus on high mobility before considering more firepower. By 1962 the 3 tanks were showing relatively different but equivalent performances and both the French and German teams proposed tanks that were mainly partly produced in their own country. as for the result, the French and Germans didn’t want to accept each other prototype and decided to simply create their tank based on the standarpanzer/europanzer tanks. Germany initially used a 90mm gun and eventually used the British 105mm L7 while the French expected them to use a new 105mm of their design. it was giving birth to two new tank families, the Leopard 1 from Germany, and the AMX 30 from France. Both tanks were relatively equivalent and similar but also very different.
as for the French Europanzer, the prototype was built in 1960. it shows many features that were proposed on the AMX-30. the hull was welded while the turret was cast forged to provide more ballistic protection. the main gun was 105mm as used on the AMX 30A. there were 2 prototypes built under the joint project but finally, it was after the failure of the project that the French improved their prototype and produced 7 prototype tanks in 1962 that hosted the multi-fuel Hispano-Suiza diesel engine. those prototypes received even more modification and the last 5 were finished in 1963 and officially renamed AMX-30A and their improved production version AMX-30B
technically the Europanzer is the Prototype of the AMX-30 but it is also a un-produced predecessor tank. a bit like the Landsver L-60 is a prototype of the Strv M/38 but also a tank on its own. or the Landsverk Lago-I was the prototype of the Strv M/42 but also a different tank on its own. the European can be considered as a tank on his own as the prototype was a tested and successful design that was simply never produced and received further improvement to the point it was a completely different tank. it differs from the AMX-30 by the different turret shape, different gun mantlet, absence of auto-cannon or HMG, and low profile & unarmed commander copula.
the Europanzer had received over his development 2 different turrets. the Tourelle de 105 version A and the Tourelle de 105 version F. The turret was different from the one used on the AMX 30 and used a DEFA D.1507-T 105mm gun which is the prototype of the 105mm F1 (it fires experimental rounds). both turrets are very alike but different. the only difference is the sight like those the Germans like on the Type A and the capacity of the commander to control the gun which is why I suggest the Type A here.
Firepower
the gun is a D.1507-T which is the prototype of the CN-105-F1. this gun was used to test serial potential rounds for the 105mm with 60 rounds. this will give the tank a much greater range of ammunition over the AMX 30 (at least the early version) it will grant him a APDS, HESH, HE and HEAT. all of which have relatively good usefulness. the tank will be capable of dealing with different types of targets. the gun have an elevation of -10° to +20° at a speed of 5°/sec which is pretty good. the turret turns on 360° at a speed of 24°/sec which is a bit less than the AMX 30 but still good enough. there is a 7.62mm coaxial but the armament is limited to this. the gun’s sight have a zoom of 8x while the rangefinder have a zoom of 12x. the tank features a coincidence rangefinder for the most accurate shot at long range. the commander also disposes of the capacity to use the gun
Mobility
the tank features great mobility which is pretty ironic knowing that the French favored firepower while the Germans favored mobility and turns out that the French are more mobile and their guns were more accurate while the Germans had less accurate guns but were capable of more potent ammunition. for the engine, the prototype Europanzer had a Sofam type 12 GS D S that was developing 750 hp at 2800 rpm. the tank is light enough with 31.3 tonnes in combat order. this gives the tank 24 hp/tonnes which is pretty decent for an early MBT. The transmission is a ZM-AMX of an unspecified model which had 5-speed and an inverter. this will allow the tank to go as fast forward and in reverse which is ideal for popshot and quick retreat. the top speed is 65 km/h which is pretty good for a MBT. The tank is quite maneuverable with a minimal turn radius 3.5m when on the move but also can turn on itself.
if the boxgear is like the AMX 30B, the speed per gear should go as follows.
- 1st = 7 km/h
- 2nd = 15 km/h
- 3rd = 26 km/h
- 4th = 43 km/h
- 5th = 65 km/h
Protection
the armor of this tank was designed to offer minimal protection. the armor is just strong enough to not be completely humiliated when you encounter a simple SPAA. the tank is designed to be immune on all sides against medium caliber such as 12.7mm. the front is immune from the 20mm at the velocity of 1050 m/sec. the chassis offers a heavy slope to maximize the chance of ricochet. the turret has a thickness ranging from 100 to 40mm on the front and 40mm at all sides. the turret is molded in single-cast pieces while the chassis is welded. the crew comprises 4 men. a driver is in the hull while a loader, gunner, and commander are in the turret. for more active defense, the tank features 4 smoke launchers on the side of the turret.
Sources
Primary
Le char de combat AMX - 30 (AMX 30 been the builder and the weight class of the tank)
char Standard Européen AMX 30 (last time it mention the standardization an MBT for the entire Europe)
Turret Type A
Turret type F
Chassis
APDS Rounds
HESH rounds
HEAT rounds
secondary
