Stingray II

Would you like to see the Stingray II in-game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Welcome to the suggestion for the Stingray II! While in recent years the Stingray light tank has seen more attention, an often forgotten vehicle related to it is the Stingray II, an unsuccessful attempt at further improving the Stingray by way of improved engine horsepower, armor, as well as a thermal sight most notably. Let’s find out more about the Stingray II!

History

The original Stingray, in service with Thailand.

In the 1980s, Cadillac Gage Textron developed and subsequently marketed its new Commando Stingray light tank to the world. In 1988, the company received an order of 106 vehicles by the Thai Army’s Cavalry divisions. Development of a successor began in 1992, under the name Stingray II, and a prototype had been produced by 1994.

The layout of the Stingray II remained similar to that of the original vehicle, but used a special type of high-hardness steel armor, marketed as being able to resist 23 mm cannon fire. Side skirts were also added, protecting the upper part of the suspension, with additional armor was able to be fitted per customer request. Armament remained the same, a 105 mm LRF gun in an angled and electro-hydraulically stabilized turret. Inside the turret, a digital fire control computer based on the kind used in the M1 Abrams was installed, with a Hughes HIRE thermal sight and integrated laser rangefinder for the gunner allowing for day and night operation. This sight was also displayed on a monitor in the commander’s position. Mobility was improved slightly by an uprated Detroit Diesel 8V92TA of 550 hp, coupled to the Allison XTG-411 transmission, with four forward gears, and two reverse gears.

The Stingray II was marketed to a number of nations, notably Taiwan, but Textron Marine & Land Systems appeared to have stopped marketing the vehicle in the 2000s, with no countries expressing interest. Regardless, its predecessor, the Stingray, continues to see service with the Royal Thai Army to this day.

The Stingray II, an ultimately unsuccessful and forgotten light tank.

Specifications

Crew: 4
Mass: 22.6 t
Length (gun forward): 9.35 m
Width: 2.80 m
Height: 2.55 m
Main armament: 105 mm LRF
Main armament elevation: 20°/-7.5°
Main armament ammunition: 32 rounds
Gunner sight: Hughes Hire Day/night dual-axis stabilized thermal sight
Secondary armament: 1× 7.62 mm (2,400 rounds) & 1× 12.7mm M2HB (1,100 rounds)
Engine: 550 hp Detroit Diesel 8V92 TA
Transmission: Allison XTG 411
Speed on road: 71 km/h
Range: 525 km (at 48 km/h)
Slope: 60% (Climbable gradient) 40% (Side slope)
Vertical wall: 0.84 m
Trench: 2.13 m
Water fording: 1.07 m

Sources

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Gallery

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14 Likes

May sound like a stupid question, but is there a stingray I?

1 Like

That would be the Stingray most people think about, the one in service with Thailand. I think because the Stingray II never saw any sales or large scale production, the name ‘Stingray I’ was never used for marketing the original version. I’d imagine it may have had its name changed had things turned out differently for the Stingray II though!

Gen2 thermal and M900, I hope.

3 Likes

Ahh okay. I’d love to see either one!

Definitely a needed addition to the USA tech tree. The light tank line is far too empty.

There was also the Stingray variant that was a competitor to the XM8:

8 Likes

Absolutely, it would be so good for 10.0 with all the optional features such as those and LWS and the 650hp engine

1 Like

we desperatly need this added to the TT

Considering recent developments I think it would be worth looking deeper into this variant. It seems likely to be a photoshop/unrealized proposal but even a brief history on it would be satisfactory to me.

1 Like

Seems like a real project at least, one of the four competitors in the AGS program
image
Inside the Pentagon Vol. 8 No. 11 - March 12, 1992

Found a larger a version of the known photo as well, the poster of the image also refers to the vehicle as the “Super Stingray”, not sure that’s true but I thought worth a mention. Note that this version of the photo seems to look more like a scale model.


Cadillac Gage AGS proposal : r/TankPorn

1 Like

This seems to be interesting, I’ll give it a yes