- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #43
I would like to suggest a Swiss armoured car, The Mowag Puma
after the relative success of the MR-8 Wotan and the lighter Rolan, Mowag wanted to propose a heavier wheeled APC. an APC that offers better protection and carry capacity without reduction of mobility. the development was launched in the early 1960s and the prototype was built in 1966. The new vehicle named Puma was designed to meet the highest standard of the armoured car of that time. the vehicle featured 3 axes and was 15 tonnes which allowed it to carry more embarked soldiers and heavier armament. at this time, the Puma was one of the best armoured car APC available but this was only for a very short time. the Puma was rather expensive and heavier than what the potential buyer needed. the heavyweight was making it hard to carry and reduced his range. despite being well-designed and marketed, the Puma saw no orders. the offer was supplemented by the Piranha which entered production in 1972.
Firepower
the main armament of this tank is the 20mm HS 820. an auto-cannon created by the French branch of Hispano-Suiza and based on the HS.404 which was a WW2 auto-cannon. this auto-cannon is rather powerful and can use a wide selection of ammunition, including APCR which has around 50mm of penetration at short range. while not perfectly good against tanks, it is still capable of penetrating WW2 medium tanks such as the T-34-76 by shooting at some weak spot on the front or just by shooting on the side. this gun is identical to the Oerlikon KAD but with different ammunition available in Switzerland. the tank carries around 800 rounds in a 100-round belt. the elevation of the gun is important. with -7° of depression and + 60° of elevation.
Mobility
the Puma is powered by a Mowag 8-cylinder M8DV. this engine provides 320 hp. weighting 15 tonnes, this vehicle is pretty light for its engine and it gives it a power-weight ratio of over 20 hp tonnes. the vehicle is 6x6 which gives it a fairly heavier pressure for each wheel over most vehicles. but it remains pretty good on road. with a top speed of 80 km/h on the road, this vehicle is fairly fast. The transmission offers 6 forward speeds and 2 backward. this makes it accelerate quite smoothly and even the reverse speed is decent. the vehicle is also amphibious and powered in the water with 2x water propellers which give it a speed of 12 km/h in the water. off-road it was reported to be capable of 42 km/h which is still pretty good (better than most tanks)
Protection
the protection of this vehicle is unknown, but since the weight and size are similar and the Shark was related to this development, it is assumed the protection was at least against HMG on the front side. that should give a frontal armour of about 20mm and 15mm on the side, but this is only a guess. the vehicle had a fairly large empty spot on the rear which was for the passenger. that means it can take a direct hit on the rear without suffering any real damage. the crew is limited to 3 men which include a driver and commander in the front and a gunner in the turret. the turret also features 6x smoke launcher to produce some cover.
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