GSL-110B - Another Use For A Demining Vehicle

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TL;DR: A demining vehicle based on the Type 62 hull.

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History:

Minefields have always been a massive issue for advancing militaries. If they are not detected quickly, they can immobilize entire armored columns for days or even weeks if proper equipment isn’t available. Once minefields are detected, however, there are numerous ways to remove them, from flails to rollers to bulldozers. That being said, each one of the aforementioned methods put personnel very close to the mines they’re clearing, putting them at a risk of getting blown to kingdom come. This disadvantage wasn’t very appealing, which caused more indirect means of demining areas to be developed. One of the more simple and straightforward ways to do this was to just throw copious amounts of explosives at the mines. China rather liked this idea and produced a number of motorized demining vehicles, one of which was the GSL-110A, a truck-based demining vehicle. This vehicle would be equipped with a 10-tube 252mm demining charge launcher that had a vertical guidance from 20 to 50 degrees. Charges fired by this launcher would have a long and pointy fuse that would ensure that the 31kg TNT warhead would explode above ground, maximizing mine clearance. Initially, the GSL-210 charges fired from the launcher only had a maximum range of 1400m, however, the later fiberglass based GSL-210A would increase this to 3200m. During the Vietnam-China War, the GSL-110A proved itself very useful not only it is intended role but as a general demolition vehicle as well, however, due to being truck-based, the system did not handle soft terrain well and it was found that its armor could be easily pierced by rifle caliber ammunition. As such, work on a tracked variant would begin. The base of this tracked variant would be the Type 62 light tank, which was already in widespread service against the Vietnamese. This variant would be called GSL-110B and would be equipped with a 24-tube 252mm demining charge launcher capable of firing the same charges as its wheeled counterpart. Unlike the GSL-110A, the GSL-110B could depress all the way to 0 degrees, making direct fire on enemy fortifications much easier. It would also have a 12.7mm HMG on the hull for self-defense. The vehicle would undergo testing and would be accepted into service, however, very few would be produced.

Place In War Thunder:

Direct fire capable demining vehicles are a completely unexplored vehicle class in War Thunder. Initially, it’d seem like they’d perform like any other premium rocket tank, however, the difference is the sheer amount of explosive filler inside their charges. With 31kg of TNT, the GSL-210s are more akin to something dropped by a plane than something fired from a ground vehicle. For reference, the FV4005’s HESH shell has 21kg of TNT, the AVRE’s HESH shell has 4kg, and the KV-2’s HE shell has 5kg. With 31kg of TNT, anything you manage to hit, and maybe even things that you don’t hit, will die. Your biggest 2 weaknesses will be the pointy fuses on your charges, which will cause them to explode a short distance away from your target, and the small munitions department on top of your vehicle. If one of those charges gets hit, you’ll suddenly have up to 744kg of TNT blowing up in your face, maybe even killing a teammate as well. Try your best to pin down and engage open-topped vehicles instead of heavies and make use of the overpressure mechanic. The GSL-110B could provide a fun distraction from the monotony of the grind. It would fit in perfectly as a dumb rank III or IV GE premium.

Specifications:

Armament: 24-Tube 252mm Demining Charge Launcher and 1x 12.7mm HMG

Dimensions: 5.60m, 2.90m, 2.30m (L,W,H) (Dimensions of the standard Type 62. This vehicle is a bit taller.)

Weight: 21000~kg

Armor: Same as Type 62 in-game. Turret is proof against small arms fire and artillery splinters.

Crew: 3-4

Ammunition: GSL-210 and GSL-210A

Speed: 60~kph

Horsepower: 430hp

Pictures:

Launcher Elevated:

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Another angle of the above vehicle:

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GSL-210 Projectile:

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Sources:

Type 62 light tank - Wikipedia

中国新型扫雷车:造型怪异,几十米外“隔山打牛”引爆地雷_火箭

GSL-110B (výbušný odminovač) : China (CHN)

Chinese remote mining and demining systems

3 Likes

Would be a hilarious premium vehicle +1 32kg of explosives and a 14.5 is nutty

4 Likes

No! This level of fun cannot be a paid premium! Must be in techtree.

3 Likes

Love this! must be cloud 9 amount of fun

1 Like

Lol. Honestly ill happily agree!! Sweden and Germany get super fun auto rocket launcher HEATFS throwers. China should get something fun too!

4 Likes

+1.

1 Like

Its fking crazy i want this auto RKT launcher come into the WT !!!

1 Like

WOWWW,this thing looks very gooooooooooooood,i like it

1 Like