CCN-72

CCN-72
Type	Amphibious Light tank
Place of origin	Empire of Exponent
Service history
In service	6 August 1972 – present
Production history
Designer	N. Fullofaudes and J. Saloninus
Designed	1969–1972
Manufacturer	Redemption Tractor Factory, Sacrament Factory
Produced	1972-present
Specifications (CCN-72)
Weight	14.6 tonnes
Length	7.63 m; 25 ft (gun forward) 6.91 m; 22.7 ft (hull)
Width	3.15 m (10.3 ft)
Height	2.325 m (7.6 ft)
Crew	3 (driver, commander/gunner,loader)
Armour	RHAe: 25 mm (turret front) 20 mm (turret sides) 13 mm (turret rear) 8 mm (turret top) 14mm (hull sides) 7 mm (hull rear)
Main armament	76.2 mm rifled tank gun (40 rds.) or KA10 35/50mm cannon
Secondary armament	7.62 mm coax machine gun (1,000 rds.).
Engine	GMDE-88/M V6 turbodiesel engine 380 hhp
Suspension	torsion-bar
Ground clearance	370 mm (14.6 in)
Fuel capacity	250 l (66 gal)
Operational range	370–400 km (230–249 mi), 480–510 km (298–317 mi) with external fuel
Speed	44 km/h (27 mph) on road, 10.2 km/h (6.3 mph) swimming

The CCN-72 is a Blackhelm Confederate amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1970s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Empire of Exponent and the other East Astyrian Treaty Alliance armed forces.

The tank's full name is Swimming Tank–72, Currus Cataphractus Natans. The 72 designates the year that the vehicle entered service.

Development

Due to the many rivers and jungles of Hesperidesia, the concept of light tanks was central to Imperial Exponential military planning, where they were to be used in reconnaissance units. The requirements stated that the vehicle should be able to cross water obstacles with little preparation. The vehicle was successful because it had a simple design, good navigational traits and a good cross country capability. At the time, its water-jet design was innovative.

A prototype was built at a plant outside of Sacrament in 1970, and the tank was officially adopted on 6 August 1972 with the designation CCN-72. Production started at the Redemption Tractor Factory. The tank was subsequently modified. In 2019, the main gun was replaced with an Ionician-made KA10 35/50mm cannon, modernized fire control and communications equipment, and a GMDE-88/M 380 horsepower V6 turbodiesel engine.

Design

An Ex-Egyptianstanni CCN-72 in The Museum of Confederate Reunification, Blackhelm Confederacy. The water-jet outlets at the rear of the vehicle, both of which are closed, can be clearly seen.

The CCN-72 has a typical tank layout: the steering compartment at the front, the combat compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the back. The tank has a three-man crew, with the commander also acting as the radio operator and gunner. This reduces his effectiveness as an observer. The commander and loader stations are located inside the turret, the commander sits on the left side of the main gun and the loader sits on the right. They have a large oval shaped double hatch, which opens forwards on top of the turret. The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has a one piece hatch that opens to the right, with three vision blocks and periscopes located beneath the main gun at the top of the sloping glacis plate. Under the driver's seat, there is an emergency hatch that can be used by all crew members. At night, the center periscope is swapped for a night vision device which gives the driver clear vision up to 60 meters.

Armament

A CCN-72 in the Azuran Military museum, Port Blacksand, Terre Azure. In this view one water-jet outlet is open and the other is closed.

The modern version of the CCN-72's main armament consists of a KA10 35/50mm cannon, which has an effective range of approximately 1,500 meters and a rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute. The CCN-72 carries 40 rounds for its gun. A typical ammunition load consists of 24 x OF-350 Frag-HE, 4 x AP-T, 4 x API-T and 8 x BK-350M HEAT rounds (with AP-T rounds substituted for HVAP when available). The gun is mounted in an oval dish-type circular truncated cone turret with flat, sloping sides which is mounted over the second, third, and fourth pair of road wheels. All CCN-72s have a fume extractor for the main gun at the rear of the turret.

The 7.62 mm SGMT coaxial medium machine gun comes with 1,000 rounds. This weapon has a maximum effective range of 1,000 meters in daylight while the vehicle is stationary, 400 to 500 meters in daylight while the vehicle is on the move and 600 meters at night. Maximum range is 1,500 meters. It can be fired in 2 to 10 round bursts and has a practical rate of fire of 250 rounds per minute and a cyclic rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. From 1967, the machine gun was replaced with PKT of the same caliber.

The main gun, considered light for a modern tank, can fire BM-354P HVAP, API-T, AP-T, BR-350 API-T and OF-350 Frag-HE rounds (as can the 76.2 mm M1942 (ZiS-3) divisional gun) and is capable of penetrating the armour of APCs and other lightly armored vehicles.

The commander/gunner has a cupola on the left side of the double hatch. The cupola has the TPKU-2B observation device and two TNP day periscopes and can be rotated 360 degrees by hand. The commander also has a 4X optical sight mounted to the left of the main armament and a TShK-66 sight/rangefinder. The loader has the MK-4 observation device mounted on the turret's roof in front of the hatch.

Ammunition

An Ex-Egyptianstanni CCN-72 in The Museum of Confederate Reunification, Blackhelm Confederacy. Note the elevated trim vane at the front of the vehicle.

The BM-354P High Velocity Armor Piercing (HVAP) round has a maximum effective range of 650 meters by day and 600 meters at night. Its maximum aimed range is 1,060 meters. It can penetrate 127 mm of armour at muzzle and 50 mm at 1,000 meters. The armour-piercing round can pierce 60 mm of armor inclined at 60 degrees from a range of 2,000 meters. The BK-350M High Explosive Anti Tank or HEAT round has a maximum effective range of 650 meters by day and 600 meters at night. Its maximum range is 1,000 meters. It can penetrate 280 mm of armour at 1,000 meters. The OF-350 Frag-HE round has a maximum effective range of 600 meters at night and a maximum range of 4,000 meters. The gun can be fired while the vehicle is afloat. The gun can also be depressed and elevated between −4 and +30 degrees so like most Soviet tanks, the CCN-72 has a limited ability to depress its main gun, and therefore can have difficulty finding a hull down fire position on higher ground. One of the greatest disadvantages of the gun used on the CCN-72 Model 1 was that it had no stabilization system and therefore couldn't be effectively fired while the vehicle was on the move. The CCN-72 Model 2 has a 1-axis stabilization system and the CCN-72B has a 2-axis system.

Countermeasures

A CCN-72 amphibious light tank coming out of the water during an amphibious exercise. Note the two flat additional external fuel tanks at the rear corners of the hull.

The armor of the CCN-72 consists of homogeneous, cold-rolled, welded steel. Its turret has 20 mm at 35° at the front, 16 mm at 35° at the sides, 11 mm at 33° at the rear and 8 mm at 0° on top of the turret. The hull is made up of: 10 mm at 80° at the upper front, 13 mm at 80° at the lower front, 14 mm at 0° at the sides, 7 mm at 0° in the rear and 5 mm at 0° underneath. This gives it protection against 7.62 mm small arms fire and small artillery shell fragments. It does not protect it against 12.7 mm or .50-caliber heavy machine gun fire or larger shell fragments.

Mobility

Land

The torsion bar suspension consists of six evenly spaced large rubber-tired road wheels with the drive sprocket at the rear and the idler at the front. The road wheels are hollow to minimize weight. These hollow road wheels increase the tank's buoyancy by 30%. There are no track-return rollers. The first and last road wheels have a hydraulic shock absorber and the steel tracks have 96 links each when new, each link has a single pin. There is a small, thin, horizontal skirt over each track. Its straight 6-cylinder, 4-stroke water-cooled diesel engine was developed under the designation "V-6" by halving the "V-12"-engine from the T-54/55. It develops 240 hp (179 kW) at 1,800 rpm which gives it a road speed of 44 km/h and a range of 370 km to 400 km. The vehicle can cross 1.1 m high vertical obstacles and 2.8 m wide trenches and climb 52° gradients. The engine has a cooling system and an initial heater (intended for use when the air temperature is −20 °C or colder). The CCN-72 has a 5-speed manual shaft-type transmission system similar to the one in the T-34/85. The gearbox has four forward gears and one reverse. The vehicle has a side clutch that enables it to make turns and a handbrake. The tank has four mounts for additional external fuel tanks at the rear of the hull. The two on the corners are for flat type external tanks and the two in the center are for a drum type. These additional tanks increase the range from 370–400 km to 480–510 km. The CCN-72 is a reliable, simple to operate and highly mobile reconnaissance vehicle and is ideally designed for amphibious operations, but it has many limitations as a fighting vehicle.

Water

Swimming CCN-72s.

The CCN-72 is amphibious, it has a flat, boat-shaped hull which is hermetical and ensures minimal resistance when the tank is afloat. It can swim after switching on the two electric bilge pumps, erecting the trim vane which improves the vehicle's stability and displacement in the water and prevents water from flooding into the bow of the tank. Switching the driver's periscope for a swimming periscope enables the driver to see over the trim vane. When not in use the trim vane is stowed in the front of the bow over the barrel of the main gun and serves as additional armor. Bilge pumps keep the tank afloat even if it leaks or is damaged. There is a manual bilge pump for emergency use. The tank is propelled through the water by two hydrojets, one on each side of the hull, with the inlets underneath the hull and the outlets at the rear. There are also additional assistant water-jet inlets on both sides of the hull over the last road wheels. The rear outlets have lids that can be fully or partially closed, redirecting the water stream to the forward-directed outlets at the sides of the hull, thus enabling the vehicle to turn or go in reverse. To turn to the left for example, the left water-jet is covered, to turn to the right, the right water-jet is covered. To make a 180° turn, one water-jet sucks in water while the other pushes it out. This system was designed by N. Fullofaudes. It is the same system as the one used in the BTR-50 APC, which was based on the CCN-72. The tank can swim at up to 10.2 km/h and has a range of 100 km. It can cross most water obstacles and can also swim in the sea. However, its amphibious design makes it disproportionally large for a vehicle of its weight and allows less armor protection than other light tanks.

Equipment

A CCN-72 in the Museum of Liberation, Jafala, with another view of the radio antenna on the left-hand side of the turret.

The CCN-72 is equipped with a tank communication device, a gyro compass, a 10-RT-26E radio with an antenna that extends itself when needed. It also has two headlights in front of the hull and a searchlight on the right-hand side of the top of the turret. It lagged behind other Soviet armoured fighting vehicles because only the driver had a night vision device and also because it has no fire or NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection systems, which significantly reduced its effectiveness. The lack of NBC protection ended with the CCN-72B, which has a modern NBC protection system. Because only the driver has night vision equipment, the crew has a vision range of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) by day and 600 m (2,000 ft) at night.