Previous proposals for the T267 HEAT round suggested expanding the caliber of existing HEAT rounds. However, because there are few HEAT rounds with a caliber of 150mm or larger, the only way to achieve this was to expand the caliber of the smaller HEAT rounds. This required finding a HEAT round that, when expanded to 155mm, would approximate the historical weight of the T267 HEAT round (29kg or 43.1kg), which was a time-consuming and difficult problem.
So this time, I’d like to change my approach and propose a method based on the warheads of anti-tank missiles with a caliber of around 150mm.
With this method, the shell weight is set in advance to either 29kg or 43.1kg, and the focus is on adjusting the explosive amount and type. Because there is no information in historical sources about the explosive amount or type of the T267 HEAT shell, it is thought that adjusting the explosive amount and type would be difficult if we simply enlarged an existing small-caliber HEAT shell.
Candidate missiles
This section lists missiles in the 150mm caliber class from two categories: ground-based and airborne.
Ground-based missiles
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MGM-51
This missile is used by the 152mm gun launcher mounted on the M551, MBT-70, and several other vehicles. It has a caliber of 152mm and contains 3.6 kg of Octol explosive, equivalent to 5.72 kg of TNT. -
TOW-2
This missile is used by several vehicles, including the M3A3 Bradley. It has a caliber of 152 mm and contains 3.1 kg of LX-14 explosive, equivalent to 4.4 kg of TNT. -
MIM-146
This dual-purpose anti-tank/anti-aircraft missile is used by the ADATS anti-aircraft system. It has a 152mm caliber and contains a 4.2kg explosive charge of a mixture of octol and TNT, equivalent to 6kg of TNT. -
9M123
The missile, used by the Russian Ground Forces’ Khrizantema-S, has a caliber of 155 mm and contains a 4 kg A-IX-2 explosive, equivalent to 6.2 kg of TNT, although the warhead is a tandem warhead, and the amount of explosive used in the smaller primary warhead must be taken into account. -
9M133
This missile, used by the Russian Ground Forces’ BMP-2M, has a caliber of 152 mm and contains 4 kg of OKFOL explosive, equivalent to 6.5 kg of TNT. However, this warhead is a tandem warhead, and the amount of explosive used in the smaller primary warhead must be taken into account.
Aircraft and helicopter-launched missiles
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PARS 3 LR
This missile is launched from a ground attack helicopter, has a caliber of 159 mm, and contains 3.1 kg of HTA as an explosive, but because it is a tandem warhead, the amount of explosive in the primary warhead must be taken into consideration as above. -
HOT 3
This is a ground-to-ground missile developed by the Euromissile program. It has a caliber of 150 mm and contains 4.1 kg of Octol explosive, which is equivalent to 6.5 kg of TNT. It also has a tandem warhead, so a primary warhead must be considered.
Explosive type adjustments
The missiles listed above are loaded with various explosives, but some of them were not in use by the US military at the time the T58 was planned. Therefore, we will only calculate the TNT equivalent values for Composition B and Octol.
For reference, the in-game TNT equivalent is thought to be calculated based on the RE coefficient, with Composition B’s TNT equivalent being 1.33 and Octol’s TNT equivalent being 1.54
However, in-game, Octol’s RE coefficient is treated as 1.59.
The table below should be read as an example.
example:
-
Missile Name
XX kg=Original explosive amount
XX kg/XX kg=Explosive amount in TNT equivalent(Composition B/Octol) -
MGM-51
3.6kg
4.78kg/5.72 -
TOW-2
3.1kg
4.12kg/4.92kg -
MIM-146
4.2kg
5.58kg/6.67kg -
9M123 and 9M133
4kg
5.32kg/6.36kg -
PARS 3 LR
3.1kg
4.12kg/4.92kg -
HOT 3
4.1kg
5.45kg/6.51kg
Looking at it this way, it can be said that both of these are realistically applicable to the T267 HEAT round.
Missile reference image
If the proposals listed here are adopted and passed by the developer, or to make it easier for everyone to understand, we will post a cross-section of the missile. Please note that there may be missiles for which cross-sections cannot be found.
I have made many proposals, including the last one, and I would like to continue discussing and proposing with you all. If you have any ideas that are even better than these, please feel free to let me know. Also, if you have any that you think are good, please feel free to pass them on to the developers.