- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #179
i would like to make a suggestion for a Swiss armoured car, one of the best Swiss armoured cars ever built. the mowag Shark with ADATS turret
The Mowag Shark is a surprisingly large family of armoured cars that was designed by Mowag in 1978 and the prototype was built in 1981. presented as basically an enlarged version of the Mowag Piranha 8X8 with more protection. The shark was intended to be a wheeled tank and not an IFV or APC like the piranha. more particularly for tank destroying roles but also offer a large versatility of roles due to the many turrets that could be fitted. the chassis alone weight 16 tonnes and if intended to carry a turret up to 6 tonnes gives a weight of 22 tonnes but the weight was carefully studied to give optimal agility with a 5 tonnes turret (the centre of gravity would be in the exact centre of the vehicle). The shark features a high-quality suspension and high protection. but this came to a cost which was the price itself. the Shark was much more expensive than the Piranha and was often capable of carrying the same turret. despite a high publicity campaign, and trials in different countries including Germany, Canada and Switzerland, no order came for the Shark. 3 prototypes were built from 1981 to 1983 and the mass production was ready in July 1983 but this production never took place.
the one we will focus on here is the Version with the ADATS turret. or by the real name, the Air-Defense anti-tank system. this turret developed by Oerlikon-Buhler was mounted on the Shark in 1985 in partnership with Orlando Aerospace who was subcontracting the production of the turret and the missiles for the Canadian. the purpose of mounting this turret on the Shark is not specifically intended for any country. it was more for the general market than anything else but it was likely related to the attempt to sell the Shark to the Canadian air defense and American marine corp for who the Shark was suggested but not considered. there is no indication that this specific variant was tested by any of those countries but it was surely tested by Orland Aerospace just to comfirm the viability of the design. this version wasn’t really noticed on the market as the Shark was considered too expensive for most potential buyers.
Firepower
These vehicles feature a pretty good turret. the main armament is 8x MIM146 missile launchers also known as the ADATS missiles. those missiles are dual-purpose anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles capable to lock on both targets due their high speed and high firepower. this makes the ADATS quite deadly and versatile. featuring a high rotation speed of -70°, from which a ground target may out-speed his turret and even the fast airplanes will have difficulty doing it. the elevation is of course good at -85° but the depression is only limited at -4°. the biggest flaw was the ammunition load. the ADATS has nothing less than 8 missiles ready but the vehicle does not carry any additional missiles. the turret comes with a search radar with a range of 25 km on 360°. the options include a TV and IR optical tracking and of course, also allow the gunner to use thermal and night vision. the turret also use a laser rangefinder to help the gunner to destroy his enemy in a single shot.
Mobility
the Shark is powered by a General Motors Detroit Diesel 8V-71 T developing 530 hp at 2500 rpm. this was intended to give a power weight of 25 hp/ton at the weight of 21 tonnes. the shark is designed to offer a high speed on rough terrain with a top speed of 80 km/h off-road and climb the very sharp slope of 70% angle. that means that the Shark was capable of hunting his target on any terrain. the Allison automatic box model HT-750 DRD off a 5 forward speed and 1 backward. it is coupled with an auxiliary two-speed transfer box and four self-locking differentials that can be coupled, two to two or all four, pneumatically by the driver depending on the terrain conditions or driving needs. the center of gravity with a 5-tonne turret was carefully studied to be placed at exactly 1.25m from the ground right between the 2nd and 3rd axes, which is the center of the vehicle. each wheel has an independent suspension. the two middle axes aren’t steerable; their suspension is built with shock absorbers and their wheels are mounted on oscillating arms connected to a torsion bar. the first and last are steerable and hydraulically assisted. they have suspension by wishbone, oversized helical spring, and hydraulic damper. the prototype was fitting Michelin 13.00 x 20 tubeless tires
with the ADATS turret. i calculate the turret from the M113A2 ADATS to be 5.3 tonnes. (M113a2 weight 11.3 tonnes, M113a2 ADAPTS weight 16.6 tonnes) that makes the Shark have about the perfect weight for his balance. that gives it a nearly perfect agility ingame with a total weight of about 21.3 tonnes
Protection
The protection of the Shark was intended to allow it to be used fairly close to the battlefield. but retaining a good weight which was carefully studied to give a perfect balance on the vehicle. the armor was offering protection against 14.5mm KPV armor piercing round or 155mm HE round at 10m on all sides. the armour was build with high-resistance armour plates and sloped on all side to improve protection while retaining a light weight. this makes the chassis have protection similar to the Italian Centuro B1 (without add-on armor). this makes this vehicle have protection similar to a light tank except for certain tanks like the Russian BMP have rather terrible armor. in the case of the turret, it is already in the game so i just copy-paste the in-game value of the turret without actually comfirm his thickness. it give it protection against all type of small arms and even some HMG on the frontal arc.
- This following armor thickness is estimated based on the protection efficiency reported and knowing the armor has been made of HHRhA
Sources
- El MOWAG SHARK 8x8, un tiburón de dientes agudos - Noticias Defensa Ayer Noticia
- MOWAG Shark | Secret Projects Forum
- http://www.military-today.com/missiles/adats.htm
- https://www.army-technology.com/projects/adats/
Armoured car #30, 1995
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