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Object 287: IT-1 Plus BMP-1
History:
The IT-1 missile tank was not the only vehicle of its kind to be built in the USSR. While it languished in development hell, the Leningrad Kirov Plant began their own design process to provide an alternative option. Work began on February 28, 1961 under the guidance of J. Y. Kotin at LKZ. Other design bureaus involved were OKB-16 (for the missile), TsNII-173 (for the stabilizer), and TsKIB and GSKB-47 (for the guns and their ammunition). The concept behind this vehicle, dubbed the Object 287, was to have a combination of missiles and guns, with a large ATGM as the main weapon and a pair of smaller guns for light targets. Initially the two prototypes had a pair of 23mm autocannons as their armament, but these were found to be unsatisfactory and by May of 1965 were swapped for a pair of 73mm smoothbore guns. These guns, known as the 2A25 Molniya (Lightning). The 2A25 was closely related to the 2A28 Grom used in the BMP-1, albeit with a shorter barrel and 8-round drum autoloader. Both fired the same 73mm HEAT and HE grenades, though the 2A25 had an even shorter range and lower velocity. This was not seen as much of an issue, however, as the main use of this vehicle was the missile, with the guns being a secondary weapon to cover the shorter range where the missile was inactive (it could only engage targets starting at 500 meters). The hull selected was that of the Object 432, the prototype of the T-64. This gave it high quality armor for the time, and it even retained the frontal hull composite armor. The main armament was initially the 301-P missile system, though it changed to the 9M11 "Taifun" (Typhoon) at the same time as the switch to the 73mm secondary cannons. This missile was MCLOS and radio-guided. The launcher for the missile could fold into the turret for storage and reloading. There were also two PKT machine guns for infantry defense.Unfortunately for LKZ, this tank severely underperformed during testing. The missile was found to be inaccurate due to its manual guidance, and the sight, while vertically stabilized, was finicky and difficult to get working perfectly. The night vision system for the driver caused the image to bounce too much, making night driving almost impossible. The 2A25 cannons were too inaccurate for the requirements, though the penetration was sufficient. There were no problems mechanically, as the hull was already a proven design in the T-64. But the issues regarding fire control and weapon accuracy proved too great to overlook, and it was decided that it was not worth putting more time and money into fixing them, so the project was scrapped. Eventually, the competing IT-1 design from ChTZ would be adopted, though only briefly. One prototype survives in the Kubinka Tank Museum to this day.
Description:
The Object 287 was always designed to be used at long range, hence its primary armament being a missile. Even so, it has remarkable armor thanks to it being based on the T-64. The missile it uses, the 9M11 Taifun (Referred to as the 9M15 on English Wikipedia, but all other sources use 9M11) which, as mentioned previously, is a radio-guided MCLOS missile. 140mm in diameter, it has an engagement range of 500m to 4000m and can penetrate up to 500mm of armor, along with having the HE-Frag equivalent to a 100mm projectile. 15 of these missiles were stored in an internal autoloader which was reloaded whenever the launcher was retracted inside. The missile traveled at a decent speed of 250m/s and could be fired while on the move thanks to the stabilized firing platform and sight, but only up to speeds of around 20-30 km/h (12-18 mph).The secondary armament was a pair of 2A25 Molniya guns for shorter range engagements. Each was a 73mm smoothbore gun with an autoloader firing the same PG-15V HEAT shell as the BMP-1. Their shorter barrels, however, gave them a decreased range and velocity: 700m was the absolute maximum possible range. Each gun was positioned on either side of the missile launcher in a pod which could elevate and depress independently of each other and the missile. Each gun was fed by an 8-round drum with a further 8 rounds in storage for each gun. There was also a 7.62mm PKT machine gun in each pod coaxial with the cannon.
The turret was specially designed to be compact and flat, and does not feature any crew at all. instead it is remotely controlled from the crew compartment in the front of the tank. It can move 100 degrees to each side for a total of 200 degrees of rotation. 360 degree rotation was not a consideration due to this vehicle’s intended role. The crew only consists of two men: a driver and a commander/gunner.
Propulsion was provided by the 5TDF supercharged diesel inline-5 producing 700HP. This was taken straight from the T-64 project as part of the hull. This gave it a top speed of 66 km/h (41 mph) forward, but the same dismal reverse speed thanks to the same awful transmission from the T-64.
Armor was also similar to the T-64, consisting of (from the front) 90mm of RHA, 130mm of Textolite, and two layers of anti-radiation liner, one 30mm, one 15mm. These were set at a 70 degree angle, providing up to 600mm equivalent protection against HEAT rounds. The sides had armor varying from 56-20mm, all RHA, with the roof being 20mm. There were also armored side skirts to protect against HEAT munitions.
Specifications:
Spoiler
Primary Armament: 9M11 Taifun Anti-Tank Guided Missile
Secondary Armament: 2x 73mm 2A25 Molniya smoothbore guns
Tertiary Armament: 2x 7.62mm PKT machine guns
Armor: 90mm RHA + 130mm Textolite + 30mm anti-radiation lining + 15mm anti-radiation lining (front), 56-20mm RHA (hull sides, presumably 56 towards the front getting thinner towards the rear), 20mm RHA (roof) 330mm RHA (turret)
Ammo Count: 15x 9M11 ATGMs, 32x 73mm rounds (8-round ready rack + 8 rounds extra per gun), 3000x 7.62mm rounds (1500 per gun)
Engine: 5TDF Inline-5 Supercharged Diesel, 700HP
Transmission: 7 forward/1 reverse
Top Speed: 66 km/h (41 mph) on road
Gun Movement: +9/-2.5 degrees elevation/depression (NOTE: These statistics were taken from the game Armored Warfare as I could not find any first-party sources for this data. If anyone can confirm this, please comment below.), 200 degrees traverse
Sight: 9Sh19 Sapfir (Sapphire) panoramic day/night sight (magnification unknown)
Crew: 2 (Driver, Commander/Gunner)
Gallery:
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