- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #198
i would like to suggest an interesting vehicle for France, the Lohr VPX110M (MCT)
if you feel like this tank was been designed by some guerilla in a warzone who could have improvised a tank out of plywood mounted on a tractor, you would be wrong, although, it does look improvised. but only look.
the VPX 110 was a development of LOHR based on the tankette VP 90. The VPX110 is a light open-top tracked vehicle for patrol that could also be used as a tank destroyer and offer high mobility. presented to the French army in 1977, the VPX110 wasn’t adopted. Lohr didn’t stop there and further upgraded the vehicles with the Lohr VPX110M (M standing for Missiles). The tank was fully enclosed and built around the fact that the vehicle was to use an ATGM launcher. in this case, they mainly built the tank around the ATGM and not the ATGM around the tank. that would probably explain the simplicity and ugliness of the design. the VPX 110M was created to give the infantry higher offensive capacity and more aggressive defense ability. highly mobile, extremely light, and using proven and reliable mechanics, the VPX 110M could be carried by air and go in all terrain. revealed in 1978, this vehicle was mainly proposed for the French army but also offered for export. the nicknamed Fennec, it was in height shorter than an average man. it was even smaller than a car (see the pickup truck behind the tank in the picture). the version will propose here is the simplest one,. carrying MTC Milan turret, which is a compact turret carrying 2 Milan ATGM. this version is highly adapted for tank hunting.
the VPX 110M wasn’t introduced to the French army. probably due to the introduction of the AMX 10P and also the fact that a simple jeep could carry the ATGM with more flexibility to the use (as the jeep can be used to do a lot of other things) and the higher price.
Firepower
the MTC turret offers a better performance than the launcher pod. not only does it feature 2 missiles, it also provides the operator full protection and an improved optic wich allows it to fire at longer distances. the turret can turn at 360° manually which might be a bit slow. probably around 15°/sec. the elevation and depression is also limited at ±15°. this is not the best but it’s not bad at all and allows the player to be fairly comfortable in all situations. it is also possible to improve the elevation with the controlled suspension which can add to the front 9° of elevation or 4° depression. there are 2 missiles ready in the turret, and 8 additional missiles are carried inside the vehicles bringing a total of 10 missiles. it’s not a lot but quite enough for a battle. the optic allows a zoom of 7x which is pretty decent.
Mobility
The VPX 110 without armament weighs 3.6 tonnes, Given the Milan ATGM pod and additional missiles and other possible equipment, you cannot get much more than 200 kg of additional weight (those are normally infantry-carried weapons after all). making this vehicle weigh about 3.8 tonnes. making this vehicle extremely light. powered by a reliable and well-known Citroen CX 2400 engine, the tank has 110 hp at his disposal. making it a bit overpowered by the engine with a power/weight of 28.95 hp/tonnes. the vehicles will have extremely high mobility and acceleration. the gearbox offers 4 forward speeds and 1 reverse and it is paired with a torque converter which virtually doubles the gear. capable of performing well in all terrains, it would have the same mobility as the best top-rank MBT. The power allows the player to reach 85 km/h on the road and quit possibly get 60-65 km/h off-road. the original VPX110 had having controlled suspension which allowed it to raise the back by 4° and the front by 9° if needed. the is no mention of it for the VPX110M but it seems there is no modification on the suspension which may mean this feature is still there.
protection
the armor is not specified. but given his weight of 3.8 tonnes, the armor cannot be much better than capable of taking LMG fire. A thickness of about 8 to 10mm is likely to be enough for this vehicle. his extremely small size makes it easily hidden. the best solution to survive is to not get hit. In this matter, the small size and high mobility might come heady. the crew of 2 men is a bit small.
sources
LOHR advertisement
International defense review 7/1979
Jane's armour and artillery. 1st ed. : 1979-80
International Defense Review 1978: Vol 11 Iss 9
International Defence Review 1974
Jane's Armoured Fighting Vehicle Retrofit Systems 1993 94
Satory VII (1979)
