FA.90 Liopard

Liopard
FA.90F Liopard
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Tír Glas
Service history
In service	1990–present
Wars	Fuinic Conflict (1990 onward) Jedorian Civil War (2006) Jedo-Tairngiric Skirmishes 2012) Invasion of Vyzhva (2019)
Production history
Designed	1978–1989
Manufacturer	Byrne Heavy Industries
Unit cost	$7.2M (2017)
Produced	1990 onwards, production as-required
No. built	>2,155
Specifications
Weight	Base: 52.5 tonnes Phase II: 58.4 tonnes Phase III : 61.4tonnes tonnes
Length	10.32m (7.5m without gun)
Width	3.85m
Height	3.1m
Crew	3 (Commander, driver, gunner)
Armour	Modular composite armour
Main armament	120mm L44 or L55 30 rounds in the autoloader 12 rounds in the hull
Secondary armament	13.2 mm machine gun (900 rounds) 7 mm coaxial machine gun (4,200 rounds)
Engine	12-cylinder 4-stroke multi-fuel 1,210 kW (1,620hp)
Power/weight	19.7kW/tonne
Suspension	hydro-pneumatic
Ground clearance	490mm
Fuel capacity	1,100 litres
Operational range	550 km
Speed	72 km/h (45 mph) on-road 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

The FA.90 Leopard (Glasic: Feithicil Armúrtha 90 Liopard) is a main battle tank (MBT) designed and manufactured by Byrne Heavy Industries (BHI) as a replacement for the FA.79 Leon and FA.83 Tíogar. It entered service with the Glasic Army in 1990. It itself has recently begun to be supplemented with the FA.15 Pantar.

Development

By the 1970s it had become apparent that the the FA.60 would not be sufficient in the face of newer armour being developed in Casaterra and Hemithea. Up until this point the FA.60 could be relied on to deal with most threats and indeed had been upgraded to remain competitive. After a lengthy development phase the FA.79 entered service, based on the Anglian Chieftain the FA.79 was primarily intended as a stop-gap before a clean-sheet design could enter service. This took much longer than anticipated and resulted in another stopgap tank being procured, the FA.83 which essentially was an export variant of the Challenger.

With the adoption of the Tíogar the Glasic defence procurement agency was still looking to the future with an eye on replacing the FA.79 with an entirely clean sheet design, as a result multiple mockups and prototypes for replacement vehicles were produced between 1978 and 1983. Some were based on the FA.79 with complete with the wedge shaped glacis whilst others featured a three-part glacis.

Major contract work was undertaken by Timoney Automotive, Timoney Technology and Brennan Brown alongside the Defence Research and Technology Exploitation Institute (RTEI). After the desired vehicle layout was decided upon a further series of prototypes were constructed, all completed between 1980 and 1981. A second series of prototypes were constructed in 1986/87 incorporating improvements for issues identified during troop trials. These were the first in the series to be equipped with a 120mm gun, the first prototypes being fitted with the 105mm L62 of the preceding FA.79. This new gun which was derived from an Eisenmatian weapon provided significant growth potential over the 105mm gun. The second and third series of trials between 1986 and 1988 further refined the vehicle's design with low rate initial production beginning in 1989. A second round of troop trials prior to mass-production rectified several small issues brought up by during the trials which were incorporated into the final production design. Mass production commenced in 1990 and continues to the present day.

Design

The design of the Liopard superficially resembles that of the Eisenmatian Leopard 2 with its angular turret and general shape but the similarities end there. The Liopard has a highly sloped front hull, angled at 83 degrees on the upper glacis and 63 degrees on the lower, greatly increasing the relative thickness of the vehicle's armour without the substantial increase in weight otherwise dictated by the required protection level. The driver, partly as a result of the highly sloped frontal armour is seated in a supine position between three self-sealing fuel tanks (front and side) which, serve the additional role of adding further armour protection through their construction method. The upper hull sides lack any sort of slope but contain further armoured fuel cells for a total of 1,150 litres inclusive of the bow tanks.

The Liopard initially featured an MB 873 V12 engine manufactured in Tír Glas under licence by Timoney Automotive, whilst this was an acceptable arrangement at the time of introduction the Glasic army wished for a fully removable power-pack to improve accessibility and maintenance time. This resulted in the introduction of a power-pack arranged around the MB 873 for existing vehicles and smaller but more powerful MB 883 for new-construction. More recently both power-packs have been supplanted by the introduction of the MB 893, again smaller and more powerful than the outgoing designs, this in turn has freed up valuable hull volume for other items such as ammunition, fuel or improved air-conditioning.

The Liopard is steered by a pair of joysticks, one to either side of the driver, these are connected to electrically-actuated brake discs which are in turn connected to a 10 speed hydrostatic transmission. Between the drivers legs are the accelerator and brake peddles in the usual positions. The driver's seat can recline fully allowing for the driver to egress the vehicle through the turret in the event that their hatch is unusable.

The Liopard utilises Horstman hydro-pneumatic suspension on all of its road wheels which allow for adjustable ride height in addition to smoothing out bumps and dips in terrain whilst on the move.

The main armament of the Liopard has changed both while in development and since its introduction. Initially the vehicle was schemed to use the long-barrelled L62 105mm gun then in use by the FA.79 and FA.83, during development this was changed to a derivative of the Eisenmatian 120mm gun found on the Leopard 2. The change to a smooth bore gun necessitated the replacement of the HESH round with a HEAT round, again of Eisenmatian origin in the form of the DM12. Ordinarily the Liopard houses thirty ready-use rounds in its autoloader with up-to a further twelve stowed in the hull on newer vehicles as required. The gun is fully stabilised and computerised unlike the preceding FA.79 which greatly increases the first-round kill probability of the vehicle in combat, additionally the Liopard was the first Glasic vehicle to be equipped with a chain gun in a bid to reduce fume ingress into the fighting compartment. In newer its variants the Liopard has been fitted with a longer 55-calibre gun in place of the earlier 44-calibre gun in a bid to improve armour penetration though some vehicles have either retained or been retrofitted with 44-calibre guns for operations in urban areas where the longer barrel could pose problematic in regard to obstacle clearance. A 51-calibre 130mm gun has been trialled on some Liopards with an extended rear bustle and modified gun cradle though it has yet to be decided whether the 130mm gun will be accepted for general use on the Liopard or whether the fleet will receive improved 120mm weapons, leaving the 130mm gun to the Pantar fleet.

The fire control system has changed greatly over successive variants of the Liopard, initially only able to be worked from the gunner's side of the vehicle but in subsequent variants both the commander and gunner are now able to work the main and coaxial guns as require with the commander having the now commonplace override system. Recent variants of the Liopard have started to be fitted with the Elbit COAPS panoramic-sight for the commander, replacing the CAPS system by the same manufacturer. The new system allows for easier replacement and upgrading of sensors as well as integrating a laser range finder. The gunner too has received upgrades to his fire-control equipment, not least the replacement of his periscopic sight with a multi-mode digital system.

Service History

The Liopard entered service as the FA.90 with the Glasic Army in early 1990 after trials had been completed. They immediately equipped the Glasic Army of the Blackwater (GAOB), being tasked with defending Tír an Crainn from possibly incursions by the ever more belligerent Vyzhvan regime. Like its Casaterran rivals the Liopard has found export success, largely in Vinya as a standardised vehicle of the VDC. It has yet to be adopted in numbers outside of Vinya.

It was in Vinya that the Liopard's reputation as a reliable and potent vehicle would be formed, firstly during the Jedorian Civil war and more recently in Operation Geas, the invasion of Vyzhva. Experience in the former has greatly affected the roadmap for the vehicle's future with focusses on urban combat coming to the fore rather than the originally envisaged en-masse engagements on the plains of Vyzhva and Tír Ealga.

The Battle of the Blackwater

On February 14th 2019, shortly after 00:00 local time the Royal Skellige Dragoon Guards whilst making the crossing of the Blackwater into Vyzhva made contact with what Initially thought to be a motor rifle regiment with armour support, later turning out to be a motor rifle brigade (believed to be from the 103rd Guards Armoured Division). During the ensuing battle the force of 58 Liopards supported by Ermin of the Queen's Light Dragoons fought to secure the Vyzhvan side of the river destroying 53 tanks and damaging a further 11 without loss.

Variants

FA.90A
The initial Liopard variant was unsurprisingly the A, manufactured between 1990 and 1992 these vehicles were quickly superseded in production by the B and even C variants resulting in the vast majority of A models being converted into driver-training vehicles as well as optionally manned mine-clearance vehicles.

FA.90B
The Liopard B had various internal changes such as the change to a removable power-pack as well as changes to the autoloader and forward fuel cells. Externally there is little to differentiate a Liopard B from a Liopard A. Like the Liopard A, many Liopard Bs have gone on to service in non-combat roles such as driver training vehicles.

FA.90C
The Liopard C designation was given to those Liopard Bs upgraded with thicker side and floor armour welded on as well as those vehicles built with it from new. The Liopard C was received the first to feature thermal sights for both the commander and gunner, it also received a different arrangement of fuel cells to allow separate refuelling as well as to limit damage in the event of a hit. Other minor changes introduced with the Liopard C included a deflector plate for the turret ring and improved NBC system.

FA.90D
The most numerous Liopard variant by far is the Liopard D which introduced substantial changes to the vehicle including the fitting of a fully digital fire-control system capable of handling newer ammunition types as well as a redesigned turret structure making extensive use of titanium and tungsten armour. The Liopard D can be split into two distinct tranches, those vehicles re-manufactured from Liopard Cs and those built as Liopard Ds from new. The Liopard D was the first to achieve export success and continues to be the baseline for export vehicles.

FA.90E
The Liopard E is more than anything else an incrementally improved Liopard D which introduced the distinctive wedge-shaped add-on armour package reminiscent of the Leopard 2A5. The Liopard E also features substantially increased armour on the turret roof and upper and lower front hull as well as thicker side-skirts and improvements to the command and control and fire control systems. Other changes in the Liopard E include the installation of spall liners throughout the fighting compartment, the introduction of hull stowage for extra ammunition as-required and the replacement of the gun mantlet with an improved version.

FA.90F
The Liopard F is a further refinement of the Liopard E, introducing a more efficient and smaller power-pack the Liopard F also re-arranged the turret interior, relocating the commander's sight and gunner's sight with the former being moved to behind the commander's cupola and the latter to the turret roof. The Liopard F as a new production vehicle also introduced structural changes to the Liopard design including changes to the fighting compartment to make better use of space freed up by the new power-pack, the net result of all the changes introduced with the Liopard F was a weight reduction of around 750kg.

FA.90G
The Liopard G is the current production standard for Glasic vehicles, the main changes from the Liopard F being the introduction of a 20kW APU, an improved intercom system, the ability to fire programmable munitions as well as the introduction of a GLATGM and both rocket-boosted and top-attack munitions, all stowed within the hull racks. The Liopard G also marked the first operational usage of so-called Smart-ERA for use against both tandem CE warheads and KE penetrators.

FA.90CG
The Liopard CG or Liopard Next-Generation is a technology demonstrator owned by the Glasic MoD to test industry-proposed improvements to the Liopard family. The tank has received the name Failinis after the legendary hound, renowned for its invincibility on the battlefield and its ability to catch and slay any beast it encountered. Failinis introduced the majority of changes found on the Liopard F and G but has since evolved further with the introduction of newly developed armour materials, fitting of a prototype 130mm gun, hybrid-electric transmission and regeneratively charged batteries for silent operation and movement. Additionally the vehicle has been provided all-round vision including "see-through-armour" systems for all three crew-members and micro-UAVs.

Operators

• Tír Glas: The Glasic Army has 1,311 Liopard in service as of 2019, expected to increase to 1,350 to replace battle damaged vehicles from the Vyzhvan campaign.
• Tír Tairngire: The Tairngiric army acquired 270 Liopard Ds between 2003 and 2007 and currently operates 262 vehicles to Liopard F-standard.
• Tír an Crainn: The Crainnic army acquired 250 Liopard Ds between 1999 and 2002 and currently operates 232 vehicles to Liopard F-standard
• Tír Ealga: The Ealgan army acquired 150 ex-Glasic vehicles that have been upgraded to Liopard G-standard as part of an ongoing reappraisal of the Ealgan armed forces