- Yes
- No
Hello, and welcome to my suggestion. Today I would like to suggest a variaton of a vehicle we all love and know, however, it comes with a twist. A twist that changes how it behaves on the battlefield completely.
History
The development of ZA-35, started in 1983. The main SPAAs of South Africa then were Ystervark and Cactus. While these systems were doing their jobs just fine, they were starting to show their age in comparison with systems used by other countries and the aircraft they were supposed to counter. That resulted in a competition where multiple foreign systems were studied, but South Africa decided not to buy someone else’s system and decided to make its own. Development was going smoothy, late 1991 marked the public debut of the first ZA-35 prototype, however in early 1991 initial firing trials were carried out. Vehicle in that configuration was mostly completed and functional, but lacked radar, commander sight and tracker, forcing crew to use roof mounted periscopes to aim. ZA-35 was a self propelled anti aircraft gun system based on Rooikat AFV chassis. Vehicle, designed by Kentron, combined elongated Rooikat chassis, with a specialised anti air turret, housing 2 Vector GA-35 cannons, sophisticated fire controll computer and a crew of 2. System continued its development, entering near production stage, but cut in funds due to stabilization of military situation in the region resaulted in funds getting cutted, untimately killing the project.
Now its time to talk about the specifications.
Lenght: 7,2m
Width: 2,9m
Height: 3m
Weight: 30 tonnes
Engine: V10 producing 563hp
Gearbox: Automatic, 6 forward 1 backwards, sellectable high and low ratios
Suspension: 8x8 with 4 front wheels steering
Turn Raidus: 25m curb to curb, 15m brake steering
Max speed: 120km/h
3 Crew: Driver, Gunner and Commander
Protection:
Hull: 30mm front, 25mm side, 20mm rear
Turret: >36mm front, >27mm side, 20mm rear (armour values for the front and sides are not exactly known, provide by me are minimum values)
Horizontal limits: 360° rotation
Turret rotation speed: 45°/s
Vertical launcher limits: -8° +81°
Elevation speed: 42°/s
Roof mounted periscopes
Roof mounted periscopes
Guns: 2x Vektor GA-35 automatic cannon
Fire rate: 550rpm
Stabilised: Yes
Ammuniton storage: 230 per gun, 460 total
Shell types: 35x228
APCI-T (100mm of penetration at 1000m)
HEI-T
HEI
HEI base fuze (12mm of penetration at 1000m)
SAPHEI
This sums up this suggestion. This vehicle has good mobility, punchy guns and great reaction time. Combination of all thos thing would make it a force to be reckoned with.
Sources
ZA-35 Brochure
Rooikat brochure
Vector GA-35 brochure
Denel PMP ammunition data
South African Armoured Vehicles A History of Innovation and Excellence
Surviving the Ride: A Pictorial History of South African-Manufactured Armoured Vehicles
Armada International 19991 iss 6
Armed Forces November 1991
Janes Land Based Air Defenses 1993-94
Janes Land Based Air Defenses 1992-93
Jane’s Tank recognition guide 1996
ZA-35 Twin 35 mm Self-Propelled Anti Aircraft Artillery System Archived 6/97
Nowa Technika Wojskowa 1/1994
International Defense Review 1991 Iss 11
Soldat Und Technik 1992/11
Military Technology 1991 Iss 12