T-10 Main Battle Tank

T-10 Series
Type	Main Battle Tank
Place of origin	Multiple, see Operators
Service history
In service	2010-Present
Used by	See Operators Below
Wars	Saintonge Crisis
Production history
Designer	Noyabrsk Armor Plant Rüze Armaments Military Technical Insitute Pancevo
Designed	2005
Manufacturer	Noyabrsk Armor Plant Rüze Armaments Zastava
Unit cost	T-10/M-110: $4.2 Million (2015) TVP-10: $4.6 Million (2015)
Produced	2009-Present
No. built	800+ (2000+ planned)
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	54 tonnes
Length	10.41m (2A82-1M gun forward) 7.54m (hull)
Width	3.81 m
Height	2.55 m
Crew	3
Armor	Glacis: 1,100 mm vs APFSDS and 1,700 mm vs HEAT. Malachit ERA can reduce penetration of APFSDS and HEAT rounds by at least 50%
Main armament	125mm 2A82-1M smoothebore cannon, 41 rounds (24 of them in the autoloader) 135mm 2A84 smoothebore cannon 152mm 2A83 smoothebore cannon
Secondary armament	12.7mm M87 coaxial machine gun 12.7mm RCWS
Engine	V-54TK 1,450 hp
Power/weight	26.9 shp/t
Transmission	Automatic (8fwd 3rv)
Suspension	hydro-pneumatic
Ground clearance	.40m
Operational range	685km
Speed	72km/h on-road, 51km/h off-road
References

The T-10 Main Battle Tank is a next generation Commonwealth of Northern Casaterran States (CNCS) main battle tank. The first series-produced next generation tank, the CNCS hopes to acquire over 2,000 of these tanks by 2026 - though budget shortfalls in Yugoslovenski have caused delays.

Design

The T-10 was designed over the course of 5 years, and contains a number of innovative characteristics over the T-74 series, including a bustle-mounted autoloader, a mostly-unmanned turret, and integrated combat sensors.

Armament

The main armament of the T-10 is the 2A82-1M 125mm smoothbore cannon, a replacement for the 2A46 120 mm gun of the previous CNCS tanks. The 2A82-1M also includes a muzzle energy increase, placing it higher than the Rheinmetall 120 mm gun, the current competition from the Grand Alliance. The 2A82-1M is claimed to be "far more accurate" than the 2A46 125mm cannons, with an improved angular dispersion, though official statistics have not been released. The gun is capable of firing APFSDS, Guided Missiles, High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT-FS), HE-Frag, and other rounds. The M43 Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) round under development by Yugoslovenski for the 2A82-1M, which has a tungsten penetrator of 1 meter in length, is claimed to be able to penetrate 1 meters of RHA equivalent at 2 kilometers. The Vacuum-1 and Vacuum-2 APFSDS rounds by FSR, the former being depleted uranium and the latter being tungsten, boast similar, if not superior, penetration.

The secondary armament includes a 12.7x108 mm anti-aircraft cannon on the coaxial, and can feature a variety of weapons on the RCWS mounted topside.

Initially, the T-10 was going to use the 2A84 135mm cannon, an experimental up-gunned tank cannon, however the 2A84 has yet to produce "satisfactory" results to enter series production. Another gun, a 2A83 152mm cannon was considered, but it was determined that the 125mm worked well for the threats that existed now.

The T-10 and all similar variants can use gun launched anti-tank guided missiles (GLATGMs). These missiles greatly extend the range at which the tank can accurately fire, and provide it with the capability to shoot down slow low flying aircraft such as helicopters. The range of the GLATGMs vary, from 6 to 8 kilometers of stated max range.

Mobility

The T-10 is powered by a V-54TK 12 cylinder diesel engine, offering 1,450 horsepower in most combat situations. Its operation range is 685 kilometers.

The T-10 has an automatic transmission, giving it eight forward gears and three reverse gears. Uniquely for a Northern Casaterran design, the transmission is joined with the engine into a single unit that can be swapped out in the field in less than 30 minutes.

Much like the T-82, the T-10 features 700 mm roadwheels per side. It is capable of a full adjustment of the suspension, allowing it to "kneel", or otherwise adjust its position, and will allow it to absorb the recoil of the 125 mm cannon in a superior fashion to the previous T-series tanks.

Its heavy 54 ton design means that it must be careful when crossing bridges in the country, limited to crossing freeway bridges. It can be rail transported, as most railways are able to handle the intense weight, but trailer transportation is difficult.

Similar to the T-series tanks before it, the T-10 has the ability to ford rivers with the use of a snorkel. This allows for limited crossing of small or shallow rivers.

Protection

The T-10 features a "mostly unmanned" turret design, with only the gunner being partially in the turret. This increases their chance of survival in the event of a fatal hit into the turret, allowing crew to outlive tanks in most combat operations. Both the chassis and turret are equipped with the Malachit dual-Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA). The tank is capable of analyzing battle situations to help the crew prioritize targets, or in extreme scenarios automatically take out significant threats. The tank can also detect and rectify crew errors in operating the tank.

The tank features a Defender active protection system (APS), which is able to detect, track, and intercept anti-tank, kinetic energy penetrators, and tandem charges at speeds of up to 1,600 m/s, though the CNCS plans to get the Defender to be able to intercept targets at speeds of 3,500 m/s. It is also geared upwards to shoot at top-attack munitions, like the FGM-148 Javelin. The Yugoslovenski MOD has even claimed that the Defender can help to defeat Depleted Uranium penetrators, like the M829 series, by firing a fragmentation charge into the penetrator to drastically reduce its velocity before impact, therefore saving the tank. In the event of a successful hit to the bustle-mounted autoloader, the tank has blowout panels, which will help to protect the crew in the event of ammunition explosion.

FSR has claimed that a soft-kill APS system is also on the tank, though it has not released what information it has on it nor has this been independently verified as of 2017. In 2018, press footage of the tank has shown visible hard-kill APS launchers on both sides of the turret, as well as on top of the turret.

Vihoslavia has publicly released footage of the "Asp" hard kill active protection system in use on a TVP-10 and TVP-75M, in which the APS appears to successfully shoot down frontal and top-attack ATGMs, as well as several handheld launchers. Rüze Armaments states on the product page of their website that the tank makes use of "a new suite of electronic defenses and soft-kill systems", although it is not public knowledge exactly what these soft kill systems entail or how they work.

Sensors and Communication

The T-10 has an AESA radar, which is used to help detect threats to the tank. It provides an automatic firing solution for destroying a target, to which can be transferred to either the APS, the main gun, artillery units, or the Or-57 and RZ-55 aircraft.

The commander and gunner have nearly identical image sights, which both have electromagnetic and thermal sights, as well as laser rangefinders. The commander's sight is installed on the turret top, and can see in all directions, but the gunners is only able to see out of a sight to the left of the cannon. It also has a direct vision camera and a laser designator for the GLATGMs. The detection of tank-like objects for both sights is 8,000 meters in daylight, and 3,500 meters at night in thermal channels. There is also a night vision capable backup sight, which is can see tank sized objects at 2,000/1,000 meters respectively. The driver has vision periscopes and a forward looking infrared camera, as well as multiple cameras around the vehicle, which help to minimize reasons for the commander to enter the turret.

Variants

M-110

Variant designed and used by Yugoslovenski. Features additional cage armor around the bustle. One of three "original" variants.

• M-110A - Features an upgraded armor package which includes cage armor around the bustle. Yugoslovenski determined that additional protection against High Explosive Anti-Tank rounds were needed, at low costs to the upgrade. Cage armor, which works by forcing heat rounds to detonate before reaching the armor, was added by the bustle. It works by being mounted behind the Malachit armor, with a new Malachit brick added on either side to re-conceal the portions of armor behind the ERA bricks.
• M-110B - Upgunned version of the M-110. Contains the 2A84 135mm smoothbore cannon. The 2A84 requires additional testing, according to the Yugoslovenski Ministry of Defence in 2017. A production variant would include potentially more ERA around the entire turret, or the Cage Armor Package.
• M-110-152 - Upgunned version of the M-110. Contains the 2A83 152mm smoothbore cannon. The 2A83 has been rejected from service and the tank will be put on display at the Pancevo International Military Museum.
• AM-10 - Variant used by Thesparos. Redesignated M-110. Produced by Zastava in Thesparos.

T-10

Variant designed and used by the Federation of Soviet Republics. One of three "original" variants.

• Objekt 424 - 135mm variant of the T-10
• Object 425 - 152mm variant of the T-10

TVP-10

Variant designed and used by Vihoslavia. Slightly different interior with Vihoslavian-supplied optics. These optics were left off of the rest of the variants due to the cost. Features domestic electronics and APS systems. One of three "original" variants.

• TVP-10-135 - Experimental variant of the TVP-10 with a 135mm gun

Operators

Letnia

• T-10 Main Battle Tank - 650 (2,100 total ordered)

Template:Country data Pireas

• AM-10 Main Battle Tank - 20 (100 total ordered)

Template:Country data Vihoslavia

• TVP-10 - 120 (350 total ordered)

Sebrenskiya

• M-110 - 13 in service.
• M-110A - 43 upgraded from M-110. (650 total ordered)
• M-110B - 2 in prototype testing.
• M-110-152 - 1 prototype.

Combat Usage

Saintonge

The M-110 saw direct combat action in Saintonge, being part of a series of advances during the later stages of the war. The kinetic energy penetrator sold to Yugoslovenski by the FSR was such a capable penetrator that the Leopard 1A5 that saw service against the M-110s were often times overpenetrated. Sergeant Marijo Marković spoke about this during an interview by the Yugoslovenski Federal Times.

The initial firing solutions indicated a left turret shot should cause the death of the gunner and potentially detonation of the ammunition, however, after a short engagement, we found that the rounds fired entirely through the armor of the turret. Because our initial shooting was effectively useless, we had to change it to fire directly into the hull, where there was critical components that could be heavily damaged even in the event of a fracture failure. They later requested that HEAT-FS would be the only used round on the Leopard 1A5, since the APFSDS ended up doing very little to injure the enemy tank. Because the auto-loader was different from the carousel design in the M-84, we were able to select different rounds within the autoloader, allowing us to be effective in our engagements.

The tank continued to see action against the Leopard 1 MEXAS and the Leopard 2A4, neither of which were able to land successful penetrations through the frontal armor of the tank. Military analysts have noted though that Saintonge was actively using outdated rounds, and newer DM series rounds may still be able to penetrate through the front of the tank. A Saintonge Soldier allegedly told the Yugoslovenski Federal Times of a battle between the M-110 and the Leopard 2A4

The Leopard engaged the enemy tank first, firing directly into the upper glacis. A series of two bangs were heard, followed by an immediate pause. I peered over the wall again to see the M-110's gun moving and the turret rotating, before it fired a round into the Leopard 2A4's hull, causing a huge explosion from within the tank. The tank was destroyed.

Three M-110s were damaged during the war, with two lost and one requiring heavy repairs. Of the three, one was damaged to enemy fire, the other two lost by friendly fire.

Thesparos

The AM-10 variant has seen limited combat experience in Thesparos. Army representatives have mostly refused to report on the topic, but one army technician said that the tank was "a big improvement" for the armed forces, and that the protection was "proven in combat with militants to be satisfactory".

Reporters caught images of a AM-10 tank that appeared to be disabled by rebel forces in late 2016, but military sources did not comment on the matter.]