- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #196
I want to suggest an interesting light ATGM carrier, the Lohr VPX110 Milan
the Lohr VPX110 is a lightweight infantry patrol vehicle who was presented in 1977 and based on the VP90. the license of the VP90 was bought by Lohr, the company tried to exploit the concept and offer to the French army and the world a light patrol vehicle that can carry a wide range of weapons. in this case the Milan ATGM launcher. the vehicle is extremely small and extremely light and can easily be carried by aircraft or basic utility vehicles. the engine is rather powerful for its weight making the vehicles very mobile and fast. the chassis is even smaller than the ASU-57 (by 3cm) and the L3/35 by 15cm. and it is even faster than the M18 Hellcat. but this vehicle has a major flaw, the protection has been nearly non-existent, the driver and gunner have the heads exposed and the vehicle is open top. in this game, I feel like this vehicle would be crazy fun to play as it’s crazy small carries some decent firepower, and is extremely mobile. the VPX110 was offered to the international market but no order came out of it. the concept was explored further and led to the creation of the Lohr VPX110M which had a close chassis.
Firepower
this vehicle does not lack firepower, with the Milan ATGM as the main armament, it would be capable of taking out about any MBT that does not have advanced armor and even some MBTs that have advanced armor. the MILAN ATGM is a SACLOS missile that can easily be controlled by the players in-game. it offers a penetration of 530mm and a velocity of 200 m/sec. the launcher has an elevation of +20° (and probably the same depression) and can turn at 360°. the only flaws of this armament is the absence of secondary armament and the ammunition carried. the vehicle only carries 4 additional missiles and 1 ready to launch making a total of 5 rounds to fire. this makes the VPX110 unable to fight long without returning and reloading In the capzone.
Mobility
this vehicle’s mobility is incredibly good. this is due to the very lightweight and the good engine. the vehicle only weighs 3.200 kg which makes it one of the lightest of the game, and it has a 110 hp engine at 5500 rpm. this makes the vehicle have an incredible power/weight of 34,38 hp/ton. this makes the vehicle fly away quite fast and almost no vehicle can catch up with it. the top speed of 90 km/h makes it one of the fastest tracked vehicles of the game (possibly the fastest currently, i do not recall any tracked vehicle faster than this). the suspension is adjustable which allows the vehicle to adapt the angle to the terrain if if needed. the suspension allows the vehicle to raise the back by 4° or the nose by 9° which is a nice feature
Protection
the protection of the vehicle is the small size and the hope the enemy will not see you. this is one of the rare vehicles that can fight amount almost modern MBT and still be open-top. artillery, light machine-gun and even smoke rounds can easily take it out of the battle. the crew of 2 men is exposed, their heads are standing out of the chassis. the chassis armor is not very well known. but can be estimated to range between 8 and 15mm. As the chassis does not cover much of the crew, it will not make a huge difference.
Sources
Jane's armour and artillery. 1st ed. : 1979-80
Jane's weapon systems. 1979-80
Jane's infantry weapons 1977 (for the Milan ATGM)
Satory 1977 & 1979 about related development (the VPX110 share part from both vehicles)
