- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #167
I would like to suggest a rather unique tank, the Swiss Mowag Tornado Mk1
The Mowag Tornado Mk.1 was a Swiss-made IFV that was created on the base of the Tornado which was a prototype intended to replace the M113 in the Swiss army. the Tornado Mk.1 was his successor and aimed for the export
The Tornado Mk.1 was created in the late 70s on the base of the Tornado Mk.1 the tank featured serial differences which can be somehow considered as an improvement. one of which is the new transmission that was used with the engine which allows 4 forward speeds and 4 backward with a torque converter which sort of double the quantities of gears (in the game it works that way). this greatly improved the vehicles mobility in ad made it about as good as the Marder, which was the main competitor.
the engine remains the same as the previous model. The rear was changed to reposition the Apex mount on the rear and offer better protection in close combat. an additional fire port was added for the 9mm SMG which allows the crew to fight from the inside. like the original model, this the crew sits back to back. the ATGM launcher was removed as it was considered impracticable and unneeded. the Tornado Mk.1 comes with many different turrets for different needs, according to the preference of the user.
the turret is the GBD B20 which features a 25mm gun and was the basic model of this tank. this tank was never ordered for services.
Firepower
the main armament been a 25mm oerlikon KBA. this auto-cannon is featuring a very high rate of fire for his size. it also packs quit the firepower and can engage the enemy tanks in flanking manoeuvres when used well. this gun can even penetrate the early MBT. On the downside, this turret is not stabilized or includes night-vision or thermal images. the turret is operated by the crew member sitting below the gun. the ammo load is unknown but the ready belt includes 150 rounds for the 25mm. The elevation is -12° to + 52 °, which is pretty well adapted for the Alpine terrain. the tank also includes a pair of 7.5mm MG 51 in the remotely controlled turret in the rear. those turrets can have an elevation of +60° which allows them to engage air targets.
Mobility
The tank was powered by a MOWAG diesel engine with turbocharging and inter-cooling, water-cooled offering 430 hp, and had a Mowag transmission offering 4 forward speeds and 4 backward this allowed the tank to have a pretty good acceleration and be very reactive. The vehicle’s combat weight reached 22.3 tonnes. this weight may vary from the Mk.1 and Mk.2 and with different turrets, but the source (which is from various encyclopedias and author books) only states 22.3 tonnes without precision if there is a difference in weight from one to another. This remains a pretty decent weight for the engine as the tank remains with about 19 hp/tonnes which is still pretty good. the top speed reaches 70 km/h in both directions which is perfect for those who love to use the mobility of their vehicles.
Protection
The exact arnour of the tank is unknown, but due to the weight and size, it is expected to be around 30-35mm on the front and 20mm on the side. besides the protection was reported to be capable of taking fire from a 23mm auto-cannon on the front and a 14.5mm heavy machine gun on the side. this should allow the tank to have a fairly good resistance against HMG and some auto-cannon but not in a way to be immune to them. for sure compared to its main competitor, the AMX 10P, BMP-1, and Marder, this tank has fairly good protection but it remains an IFV. the did receive a smoke grenade launcher in the late stage of its test which allowed the tank to fire 2x smoke at the time to cover his movement, the crew normally includes a driver, a gunner, and a commander, but we should also give it 2x passenger who are normally operating the LMG turret (they was on the disposal of the embarked infantry)
Sources
IDF Jane's
International defense review
Spoiler
Armament
Spoiler
IDF Jane"s
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