- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #180
I would like to suggest a rather unique tank, the Swiss-Austrian Saurer Tartaruga,
The Saurer Tartaruga was a Swiss tank built to answer the request of the Swiss army for an APC. the tank was built by the Swiss branch of Sauber and was the last known tank designed by them. the tank competed with the Mowag Pirat 18 and 3M1 Pirat, AMX VCI and M113. the tank was rather interesting and was very close to what we call an APC nowadays but was fairly conventional with the engine at the front, the turret in the center, and the passenger in the rear. one of the first to be built for the competition, the tank seemed to not have fared so well as it was at first the heaviest and also had the weakest engine. but it remained capable to move around and have decent protection. the turret is also the most flexible known of the competition and this tank could act as SPAA. the trial ended with the competition in 1963 when the M113 was adopted. the tank was preserved in perfect condition and can be seen in Thun Museum.
Firepower
the main armament of this tank is the 20mm Maschinenkanone Oerlikon Typ 204GK. this auto-cannon was a field version of the Flab Kan 54 which could be used like a heavy machine gun. this gun could use APCR rounds with penetration of up to 50mm at short distances and also used APHE with 30mm at short distances. this allow the tank to engage some WW2 medium tanks such as the T-34 or the Panzer IV. but the absence of a stabilizer makes it more suited for flanking or ambushing. the tank probably carries up to 850 rounds in a 50-round magazine. like the M2HB, this auto-cannon is belt-feed but the belt is carried in 50 round box.
Mobility
The mobility of this tank is right. due to the bit heavy weight and engine which was not as strong as his competitor, the tank was offering a much slower mobility. with a power-weight ratio of around 13.5 hp-tonnes, this tank would accelerate barely faster than the M4 Sherman. it was still capable of reaching 65 km/h thanks to the decent transmission. In reverse it’s also slower than most his competition with 8 km/h but in-game it would not be any worse than most tanks. the tank was powered by a Saurer CH 5D V-8 cylinder diesel Displacement cm ³ 12670 153 kW (246 hp) and had a Wilson Typ RV30, 8F/2R, Preselector Manual transmission which should have allowed it to move fairly smoothly
protection
Less armored than its competitor, the Mowag Pirat 18, the tank still features an armor reaching 25mm thick which is in theory, enough to resist the .50 cal. the tank also have this huge advantage to smaller. not only the top of the tank is lower, but also the whole hull is lower while the Pirat and M113 were much higher. this allows the tank to go unnoticed easily. The tank has no smoke or other defensive measures to allow it to survive more. the crew of 3 men is also rather small and all together near the center of the tank.
Sources
Primary
- Saurer Tartaruga - Wikipedia
- Saurer Tartaruga - Schützenpanzer - Raupenfahrzeuge | militärfahrzeuge.ch
Armament
- 20 mm Flab Kan 54 - Fliegerabwehr - Geschütze | militärfahrzeuge.ch (AA version of the same gun)