LT-77 Main Battle Tank

LT-77
LT-77G
Type	Main Battle Tank
Place of origin	Librira
Service history
In service	1976- present
Used by	People's Army of Workers and Peasants
Production history
Manufacturer	Sava Industries
No. built	3,500
Specifications
Weight	44 tons
Length	6.95 meters
Width	3.6 meters
Height	2.25 meters
Crew	3
Main armament	125mm 1SB20 L-type smoothbore autoloading gun
Secondary armament	KA-75 15mm HMG, LSAC-5 7.62mm LMG
Engine	Likanov Engine Factory 1020 H 1,100 horsepower
Transmission	LEF T-200 Hydrostatic transmission
Suspension	Torsion Bar suspension
Operational range	700km w/external fuel drums
Speed	80km/ph

The LT-77 Main Battle Tank is a series of main battle tanks currently in service with the People's Army of Workers and Peasants. First entering production in 1974, the type is the most numerous tank in service, with over 2400 units available. The LT-77 entered service in 1976, and is considered a 2nd generation main battle tank. The most modern version, the LT-77G2, is considered a 3rd generation MBT. It is currently the oldest Libriran MBT still in active service outside of training units. It is scheduled to be out of inventory by 2035.

Development

LT-60

Development of the LT-77 stemmed directly from the LT-60. The LT-60 was a project to develop the next generation in armored warfare, and although it succeed in most of its originally lofty goals, it was extremely expensive to build, and worse still, time consuming. The design was meant to meld the armor effectiveness of breakthrough tanks, with the flexibility of medium tanks.

the required developmental hurdles caused several compromises to be made, particularly to serviceability and reliability. When the LT-60 began to enter service in 1971, it became clear that in order to fufill the needs of the entire army a different design would be required.

LT-77

in 1972 the Libriran Central Armor Design Board, began to create a simpler, easier to make and manufacturer version of the LT-60. Armed with a derivative of the LT-60s gun but with a modified autloader, engine and armor layout. The tank was not as well protected but slightly faster, and more economical. Intended to be produced only as an emergency measure if a war were declared while the LT-60 was still not fully adopted yet, it eventually was decided to use the LT-60 only in specialized and Guards units, and use the LT-77 as the standard tank for the rest of the army.

Production

Production of the LT-77 was started initially at State Factory #131 in Stepi, however, problems with defective tooling caused the production line to be taken down for several months. In the interim production was started at Sava Industrial, which continued producing the tanks even after the tooling issues were resolved.

The LT-77 quickly became the most common MBT in the PAWP and was exported to various other countries, such as the EUSR. The tank has been produced in numerous versions over its production history, with later LT-77G2s being difficult to associate with the LT-77As that they hail from.

Armor has changed substantially since production first started, the initial LT-77A had homogenous cast steel armor, along with voids between armor plates to increase protection. Eventually starting with the LT-77C1 the tanks received composite armor, consisting of steel, ceramics, voids, etc to further increase protection. After 1984 all LT-77s were equipped with Reactive armor bricks on their front and sides.

Additional equipment, such as laser rangefinders, has appeared on LT-77s as early as 1979 with the LT-77B4T, a command model, however, after 1982 all LT-77s began to receive laser rangefinders as standard.

Variants

LT-77A

Initial Version, all-steel armor, optical rangefinder

LT-77A1

upgrade package, added minor changes to interior layout increase ammo stowage, rangefinder usage. Added new IR headlights and optics for drivers only

LT-77B

Sava Industries produced LT-77, addition of slightly more powerful 600hp LPW-120 12 cylinder diesel

LT-77B1

version equipped with experimental night optics package, not serialized

LT-77B2

Version equipped with applique armor to improve protection

LT-77B3

Incorporation of new ammunition, L13BT and L54PS and required gunner sights.

LT-77B4T

Special command version with radios, laser rangefinder, and night optics.

LT-77C

upgrade of new 750HP diesel engine

LT-77C1

Comprehensive upgrade new 880HP engine, full composite armor, laser rangefinder, new gun sights, and early night sights for all tanks

LT-77D

Equipped with mine clearing equipment

LT-77E

Export designated variant

LT-77F

Reactive Armor package integrated

LT-77G

New reactive armor package, updated composite configuration, remote operation of 15mm HMG, new ammunition

LT-77G1

upgraded rangefinder, night vision sights, and ballistic computer

LT-77G2

Newest and most modern version, new FCS, reactive and applique armor package, new ammunition

Design

Armament

The armament of the LT-77 is centered around its 125mm smoothbore autoloading gun, 1SB20 based upon the LT-60's 1SB18, the new gun featured a modified loading mechanism, integrated thermal jacket, and redesigned fume extractor. the 125mm gun is fed by a carousel autoloader located in the bottom of the turret, ammunition is stored in two sections, projectiles, and propellant. projectiles are stored lying on the floor, while propellant is stored vertically in the autoloader's trays. The gun is capable for firing HE-F, HEAT, APFSDS, and ATGM rounds, depending on the requirement.

The Autoloader is capable of storing 22 rounds in its trays, with another 17 complete rounds in separate ammunition storage. Criticism of the LT-77s autoloaders come from the way it stores its projectiles, storing the propellant the way it does exposes a greater surface area than in an H-type Autoloader. however, the L-type allows the rounds to be taken to the gun in order to be rammed, speeding the loading process, less than 5 seconds in some cases.

The tank also has two machine guns, a coaxial 7.65mm LMG, and a roof-mounted 15mm HMG. The HMG on early vehicles is operated manually by the commander, on later vehicles it is controlled remotely, allowing the commander to engage infantry or soft targets with exposing himself.

Protection

Armor protection on the LT-77 has changed drastically over its versions, both in terms of material and their thickness. The initial production version had 150mm of RHA sloped on its upper glascis, excellent protection for GW2, however even in the cold war this armor was considered useless. Early on the need for additional protection was identified. The B2 added on bolt-on Composite armor sections, that covered the front plate, front turret, and side turret. This applique armor proved cost effective, and greatly increased protection, but not enough to prove useful.

The LT-77C1 introduced a completely new turret and hull construction to the type, featuring a Steel-Texolite-steel construction that greatly increased protection against HEAT, and some APFSDS/APDS rounds in service at the time. This protection was suplemented by Reactive armor in later versions and in more modern versions, that further increased protection.

The most modern version and the current standard in PAWP service, is the LT-77G2, which features a still classified composite armor layout, standard reactive armor package and in some units, an APS that destroy's incoming rounds before they strike the armor.

Weight

The LT-77 is an extremely lightweight tank compared to its contemporaries, weighing in at only 41 tons (42 in most modern version with additional equipment) This allows the LT-77 to cross on roads and bridges throughout Librira, with only a small number of bridges not being able to allow crossing. This was intended to allow the Tanks to retain their operational mobility throughout Librira, while other larger tanks, such as those used by Rhodevus, Engleberg and others weigh significantly more and are unable to travel as freely in the event of an invasion.

The tank can also ford up to 5m deep water using a special snorkel which is stowed on the rear of the turret. the tank can be prepared for fording in a few minutes, the process is considered dangerous, since the tank would be completely submerged but useful for traversing area's of the country that have numerous streams, that vary wildly in depth.