MARS 15 TML 105. the upgunned failed lightank

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caid’s suggestion #117

I would like to suggest an interesting light tank to fallow up the light tank line in France. the MARS 15 TML 105

The Mars 15 was a light tank developed by the Creusot-Loire industry and revealed in 1990 during Story 90. The tank was intended to be the successor of the long-life AMX 13. featuring high standardization, the Mars 15 was a modular tank that could easily be used in a wide choice of roles and high hardness steel. depending on his role, the rear part of the chassis could be changed to a different one to be a light tank, an APC, a reconnaissance vehicle, a fire-support vehicle, commanding vehicles, Radar vehicles, IFV, SPAA, and pretty much every single existing role you can give to a tank. the one we suggest here is the AFV version mounting the Creusot-Loire T.25 turret. this version was presented in 1992 during Satory and was the 3rd version of the Mars 15 ever presented. featuring the low chassis rear, with the 105 TML. this configuration was intended to offer the tank higher anti-tank capacity. The 105 TML was an improved version of the TK 105 turret used on the AMX 10RC with a newer gun using the standard MBT ammunition.

this version appears to have been built in 1993 and was only a final demonstrator of the Mars 15 concept who didn’t receive any order on the domestic or international market. this is surely due to the collapsing of the USSR which flooded the market with cheap tanks and made the various nations with large military forces have little need to modernize or produce more tanks.

Firepower
the tank is carrying the TML 105 turret. which is a successor of the TK 105 used on the AMX 10RC. the turret features the 105mm G2 gun who offer a much better firepower than the 105 F2. The gun can fire HEAT and APFSDS rounds which are getting very close to the MBT power. Sadly this specific version of the TML 105 wasn’t stabilized. the turret can turn on 360° at a speed of 40°/sec. the gun has an elevation of -5° to +18° which is similar to the value found on the FL-10 turret used on the previous AMX 13. the turret also features Night vision, a thermal imager, and a laser rangefinder. the sight is the Soptac 11 or 37 (both are used) which offer an 8x zoom and a 6° field of view.

Mobility
the tank has good mobility. the engine offers 420 at 3000 rpm. the turret is 2,8 tonnes heavier than the Mars 15 C90 (as we have in-game) which allows us to know the weight of the tank to be around 18.8 tonnes. this will reduce a fair bit the acceleration of the tank but it would still keep it pretty mobile. the transmission offering 6-speed with an inverser allows the tank to go at 75 km/h with a power weight of 21 hp/ton. this is a much smoother mobility than the AMX 13.

Protection
the tank has light protection with thin steel, only the Steel is not RhA but HhA. The Mars 15 got its name precisely from the steel it has. it’s the Mars 240 high hardness steel which gives a protection 66% superior to the actual thickness. the tank was designed to be protected against the 7.62mm on all sides for the chassis and 14.5mm at 100m for the turret. the actual protection seems to support that. the crew includes 4 men of which 3 are in the turret. the tank also features 8 smoke dischargers.

Sources

Raids hors-série n° 20 p.61




Catalogue de materiel Français de l'arme terrestre



6 Likes
2

The French really didn’t like stabilizers, did they?

1 Like
3

It’s unbelievable how much France could get yet is at times seemingly neglected

7 Likes
4

I heard it’s because they initially didn’t believe in tactics involving the need to fire on the move unfortunately

Took a while for them to learn

2 Likes
5

it’s because the capacity to fire on the move during the cold was an offensive capacity and France had a purely defensive doctrine. giving stabilizers to their tanks was like showing their intention to attack USSR

1 Like
6

CaID going strong on the posts as always! I really would like to see this, even if it’s unstabilized. +1!

1 Like
7

they started recruiting 3 new suggestion moderators the day I was back home. i do not think it’s a coincidence.

2 Likes
8

They had to prepare for the storm, my friend, they knew you were coming.

2 Likes
9

for a moment I had 72 suggestions pending.

now I only got 5 pending

10

I don’t doubt it, I’ve had to remove some suggestions from my notepad because you beat me to the draw. Not that I mind though, I’ve been too lazy and I think you could find more information than I could anyways.

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They do have autoloader fetish, but I don’t know what will happen to them when the autoloader module gets modelled as a damageable part lol

1 Like
12

Sucks for War Thunder.

13

@CaID do keep them coming! France is the nation that made me make the complete switch from being a decade old air RB main to a tanker. Would love to see more of what they have to offer

Are you planning on making a suggestion on the VAB VDAA? I tried but I got discouraged because I couldn’t find better sources

14

+1 , i think this would not fit into the TT, it would be better as a squadron ,event or BP vehicle mostly because france already has a great light TT that is well filled at BR where this would go.

15

well maybe we will also see the stabilization devices being modelled as part of the damage model one day ;) just saying

16

Take my +1, France definitely needs more neat Light Tanks