- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #199
i would like to suggest a interesting vehicles for France, the LOHR VPX 5000 HOT HCT
the VPX 5000 was an extremely light tank destroyer developed by LOHR in the end of 70s. revealed for the first time in 1981, 10 vehicles were built until 1989 for test and trial & marketing purposes. the tank was an extremely small and light tank that could carry a large selection of light armament. Lohr offering a large selection of good vehicles in the early 80s was aiming for the international markets and tried to make a name for themselves. mainly offering light vehicles, they put their hope on the lightness of their vehicles and their high mobility to earn some contracts. the VPX 5000 was a family of the tank that offered high mobility for a compact vehicle. close to the concept of the German Wiesel, this tank can carry different weapons and do different missions. the version that we are suggesting here is the HOT HCT. a light tank destroyer featuring the HCT turret. but most important, it looks much cooler than its predecessor, the VPX 110M
Sadly no orders came up for the VPX 5000 and the vehicle was no longer offered in the 90s.
Firepower
the firepower of the VPX 5000 is based on the firepower of his HCT turret, the HCT is armed with either 2x or 4x HOT missile launchers. while the turret itself is not extraordinary, the ATGM is pretty decent. having 4 of them allows the players to engage easily many targets in a short time. however, it has no stabilizer. the turret has a double transverse system. The whole turret is manual while a part of it has an elector-hydraulic transverse that is limited to 30° to allow easier tracking of the targets. the turret has 4x missiles ready to use, the vehicle also carries 6x more missiles inside the hull. the elevation range from -18° to +20° which is very good for all sorts of situations.
Mobility
the VPX 5000 is extremely light. even lighter than the wheeled RPX 6000. featuring a pretty decent 180 hp engine, it will offer extremely good mobility that would allow it to out-speed even the MBT. weighting about 5.1 tonnes loaded, the VPX 5000 will have a power/weight ratio of 35.29 which shall allow it to get an extremely high speed even off-road. the maximal speed of 80 km/h on the road would be pretty easy to reach. capable of going all terrain, it would also fare well in soft ground and snow.
protection
the armour of this vehicles is not specified in any way. only said to be made of all-welded steel which allows us to guess, from the light weight, that it only offered protection against small arms. that can be translated to a thickness of 8 to 10mm. this makes the VPX 5000 an extremely vulnerable vehicle who shall keep his distance from the enemy. the crew of 2 men is pretty small as well. there is also no evidence of smoke or any sort of active defence
sources
Jane's Light Tanks And Armoured Cars
Jane's Armoured Fighting Vehicle Retrofit Systems 1993 94
Jane's Armour and Artillery 85-86
