- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #170
i would like to suggest an Swiss armored car, one of the best of Swiss armored car ever built. the Mowag Shark with LATS turret
The Mowag Shark is a surprising large family of armoured car the was designed by Mowag in 1978 and the first prototype built in 1981. presented as basically a enlarged version of the Mowag Piranha 8X8 with more protection. the Shark was intended to be a wheeled tank and not really a IFV or APC like the piranha. more particularly for tank destroying role but also offer a large versatility of role due to the many turret that could be fitted. the chassis alone weight 16 tonnes and if intended to carry a turret up to 6 tonnes to give a weight of 22 tonnes but the weight was carefully studied to give an optimal agility with a 5 tonnes turret (the centre of gravity would be in the exact centre of the vehicle). the Shark feature a high quality suspension and high protection. but this come to a cost which was the price itself. the Shark was much more expensive than the Piranha who was often capable to carry the same turret. despite of a high publicity campaign, and trial in different country including Germany, Canada and Switzerland, no order came for the Shark. 3 prototype was built from 1981 to 1983 and the mass-production was ready in July 1983 but this production never took place.
in this suggestion, we will focus more precisely on the Mowag Shark LATS. this turret was mounted on the Shark in 1983. designed by Rheinmetall, the turret was created as a test bed for fitting 105mm on light vehicles. borrowing the Shark was sent to the Rheinmetall’s factory to create an export partnership aiming to meet the requirement of the US marines who were at the time looking for a mobile high firepower vehicle (but they also wanted it to be Amphibious which the Shark wasn’t). The shark was also tested in Germany (not by the Germans itself but by the Swiss, a bit like the DF 105 was built and tested in France at the Five-Lille factory). this vehicles offer a extra low turret profile and the same firepower as the 105mm L7. The test was successful, and the Germans decided to go further on the development of the turret to fit this armament on the M113 which was produced in the large number of nearly 80,000 vehicles in service worldwide while still offering the LATS turret for whoever wants the shark.
Firepower
The main armament is a 105 mm RH-105-11 this gun is a lightweight version of the L7 that focuses on improving the recoil absorption to allow it to be mounted on vehicles as light as 11 tonnes. additionally, the gun was also paired with an autoloader who was below the turret and holding 13 rounds. the turret featured a lot of advantages which made it very comparable to the French one, but also better due to the largest choice of more potent ammunition and lower profile. Sadly this still limits it to APDS, HEAT, and HESH but does not include the APFSDS (still could possibly have it). the turret also features a laser rangefinder, night vision, and an option for the Thermal.
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 basically 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 basically 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
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 offered protection against 14.5mm KPV armor piercing round or 155mm HE round at 10m on all sides. the armor was built with high-resistance armor plates and sloped on all sides to improve protection while retaining a lightweight. this makes the chassis have protection similar to the Italian Centuro B1 (without add-on armour). this makes this vehicle have protection similar to a light tank except certain tanks like the Russian BMP have rather terrible armor. The protection level of the LATS turret is not well known to me, but it was said to be protected against 7.62mm on all sides. the turret also features a very low profile which makes it quite good to stay unnoticed. the crew of 3 men includes 2 men in the turret.
Sources
El MOWAG SHARK 8x8, un tiburón de dientes agudos - Noticias Defensa Ayer Noticia
MOWAG Shark | Secret Projects Forum
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