TAG-62
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| TAG-62 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Main Battle Tank |
| Place of origin |  Licana |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Licana |
| Production history | |
| Designer | [PLACEHOLDER] |
| Designed | 1955-1961 |
| Manufacturer | Licanan Defense Industries |
| Produced | 1964-2002 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 60.2 tonnes (66.4 short tons; 59.2 long tons) |
| Length | 9.77 metres (32 ft 1 in) gun forward 7.93 metres (26 ft 0 in) hull length |
| Width | 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) |
| Height | 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) |
| Crew | 3 (commander, gunner, driver) |
| Armor | Composite |
Main armament | 1x LDI GHS-72 120mm L/45 smoothbore cannon |
Secondary armament | 1x IAM-92 machine gun |
| Engine | [PLACEHOLDER] gas turbine 1120 kW |
| Power/weight | 18.6 kW/t |
| Transmission | Automatic (4 forward gears, 2 reverse) |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic suspension |
| Ground clearance | 510 millimetres (1 ft 8 in) |
| Fuel capacity | 1,650 L (440 US gal) |
Operational range | 620 km (390 mi) |
| Speed | 72 km/h (45 mph) |
The TAG-62 is a Licanan main battle tank designed by [PLACEHOLDER] and produced by Licanan Defense Industries. It replaced the older TAG-47. The most notable features of the vehicle include its gas turbine engine, Hydropneumatic suspension, unmanned turret, and armored hull crew cell.
Development
Design
Armament
The primary weapon system of the TAG-62 is the GHS-72 smoothbore cannon designed by [PLACEHOLDER] and manufactured by Licanan Defense Industries. The construction of the cannon is entirely conventional, with the principal material of the weapon being steel with an internal chrome lining to increase the lifespan of the weapon. A fiberglass thermal sleeve is also fitted onto the weapon. Notably, the GHS-72 lacks a bore evacuator, as it does not need one due to its unmanned turret. The GHS-72's barrel life is rated at 1800 Effective Full Charge shots. Two kinds of ammunition are generally carried on board the TAG-62, depleted uranium APFSDS and shaped-charge HEDP. Other, more specialized ammunition also exist, such as guided shells and canister ammunition, though it is rarely issued or carried. When the TAG-62 was accepted for service, it's armor-piercing ammunition was considered to be effective against all current armored threats. Further improvements were made on the APFSDS and HEDP ammunition as the vehicle's service continued. Later variants of the APFSDS ammunition for the GHS-72 weigh in excess of 20 kilograms, with a penetrator weight in excess of 10 kg, and are capable of defeating the frontal hull armor of the TAG-62 at close ranges so long as additional armor packages are not equipped. Improvements to the HEDP ammunition include refinements to the shell casing to increase fragmentation, improved cone material to increase its effectiveness against armored targets, and finally the addition of a programmable fuse to allow it to act as an airburst munition.
The TAG-62 carries 44 rounds of ammunition for the GHS-72, all of which are contained within its carousel-type autoloader. This autoloader is capable of a consistent rate of fire of 12 rounds per minute, and can unload chambered ammunition and return the loaded round to its previous location in the carousel. It is also highly reliable, with an average MTBF in excess of 60,000 loading/unloading cycles. The autoloader is located in the hull, underneath the turret and between the armored crew cell and the engine compartment.
An IAM-92 machine gun is also mounted in an armored box on the left side of the turret, carrying 2000 rounds of ammunition, for engaging unarmored targets. There are storage areas within the hull that can carry up to 2 reloads for the mounted IAM-92, for a total of 6000 rounds of ammunition. However, due to the weapon's mounting, reloading from within the vehicle is not possible. The protective armored box must be disassembled to replace the ammunition container for the IAM-92, which can be done with simple tools and completed in approximately 10 minutes. The mounted IAM-92 has the same elevation arc as the main gun.
Protection
One of the principal reasons behind the development of the TAG-62 was to rectify perceived shortcomings with the design of the TAG-47. While the concentration of the crew in a single location (in the TAG-47's case within the turret) was considered to be an idea worth further exploration, the TAG-47's simple spaced armor array of high hardness steel plates was no longer considered to be sufficient to protect the vehicle and its crew. Additionally the location of the crew in the turret would render them vulnerable to ammunition fires or detonations. As such, the TAG-62 was developed with the goal of significantly improving upon crew and vehicle survivability without making significant sacrifices to the TAG-47's high level of firepower and mobility.
The starting point of this development was the idea of the armored crew cell. In order to maximize crew survivability, the crew of the vehicle would be contained within a single location. This location would only contain the crew and equipment necessary for their control over the vehicle, with other hazardous materials such as ammunition, automatic fire suppression systems, fuel, etc being place in compartments separate from this location. In the TAG-62's case, the location chosen for this crew cell was in the hull forward of the turret. The crew cell is significantly reinforced from outside threats, being the most armored section of the vehicle across any axis. Front and side crew cell protection consist of a composite layer of depleted uranium mesh sandwiched between high-hardness steel plates. This provides a high degree of protection against kinetic and explosive penetrators, as well as radiological threats. The crew cell is equipped with an overpressure system to protect against chemical and biological threats, and on certain special-purpose vehicles is hermetically sealed. The rear of the crew cell consists of a thick steel blast-plate, designed to minimize damage to the crew cell in the event of a catastrophic ammunition detonation. The top and bottom of the crew cell are made out of high-hardness steel thick enough to protect from point blank fire from weapons of a caliber up to 15mm. Internally, the crew sits upon semi-reclined shock-absorbing seats, which reduces the likeliness of crew injury or death from nearby explosions. The entirety of the crew cell's interior is protected by a Kevlar spall liner. A small hand fire extinguisher is equipped within the crew cell in the event of an electrical fire, and the overpressure system can be used to quickly purge harmful fumes from such an event.
Other than the armored crew cell, the vehicle's turret and hull are suitably armored. The turret face is the second most resilient portion of armor, after the crew cell, being made from a high-hardness steel and ceramic composite armor array that protects the GHS-72 cannon from damage. It is capable of resisting fire from the GHS-72's most advanced APFSDS rounds at ranges in excess of 400m. The sides and rear of the turret are less armored, but still sufficient to protect against infantry portable rocket systems and 30mm autocannon fire. The top of the turret is armored enough to protect against shell fragmentation. The front hull of the TAG-62 consists of a composite armor array similar to the turret face, on its own capable of providing protection against the GHS-72's early model APFSDS rounds and against the late-model ammunition at ranges in excess of 1000m, as well as protection against large anti-tank guided missile systems. The hull's sides, rear and top are protected against anti-material rifle fire and shell fragmentation.
In the event of a penetration of the vehicle's armor, several systems are in place to mitigate damage. Both the autoloader and engine compartments are fitted with halon fire suppression systems in the event of a fire. A kevlar spall liner is present in the autoloader compartment in order to reduce damage to the ammunition and loading system in the event of a high-energy impact or penetration. A blowout panel is installed in the floor of the autoloader compartment in order to mitigate the potential damage from a catastrophic ammunition detonation. The vehicle's fuel tanks are self-sealing in the event of a puncture.
Over the course of the TAG-62's long period of service with the Licanan military, several systems were developed to augment the vehicle's protection. The first of these was a SACLOS missile jammer that emitted a strong, concentrated infrared beam to confuse the guidance system of these types of weapons. As the performance of hostile weapons systems continued to advance, additional armor packages were developed for the TAG-62, which included supplemental frontal armor, explosive reactive armor kits, and a hardkill active protection system.
Mobility
The TAG-62 is powered by a [Placeholder] multifuel gas turbine engine capable of producing up to 1100 kW of power and 5500 NM of torque. This engine is mated to a 6 speed (4 forward, 2 reverse) automatic transmission. It is capable of reaching a maximum governed speed of 72 km/h, with a cross country speed of approximately 50 km/h. While the engine is intended to run on Licanan SPF-5 fuel, it is capable of functioning with reduced efficiency when fueled with gasoline of any octane, diesel, or kerosene.
Initially, the choice of a turbine engine for the TAG-62 was controversial. The initial prototype engines suffered severe problems with high fuel consumption, limiting the vehicle to a range of less than 350 km under its own power. When traveling cross country, the range of the pre-production vehicles was reduced by more than half. Additionally, the engine produced large amounts of heat, which negatively affected the vehicle's thermal signature and reliability. The TAG-62's entry to service was delayed significantly while these problems were rectified. This led to the creation of an entirely new gas turbine engine for use in the production TAG-62s. This engine is a significantly simpler design, possessing almost half of the moving parts of the prototype engines. The streamlined design led to a noticeable increase in fuel efficiency, especially on start up and when idle. Even though the prototype and production TAG-62s had the same fuel capacity, this new engine increased the range of the vehicle to 620 km, or approximately 300 km in cross-country travel. The new engine was also physically smaller than the prototype engine, which allowed larger and more effective cooling options to be used to manage heat generation. However, the exhaust produced by this engine still carries significant heat and is expelled at very high speed, which is potentially hazardous to those in the immediate proximity of the vehicle when it is running.
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