BMS Parmenio MBT
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| BMS Parmenio MBT | |
|---|---|
 Parmenio MBT-2A5 Main Battle Tank | |
| Type | Main Battle Tank |
| Place of origin |  Belfras |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1980-present |
| Used by | Belfrasian Armed Forces See Users |
| Wars | See Operational History |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Belfrasian Military Systems |
| Designed | 1973-1978 |
| Manufacturer | Belfrasian Military Systems |
| Unit cost | $5.83 million (base unit cost) $7.92 million (MBT-2A5) |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications (Parmenio MBT-2A5) | |
| Weight | 65.4 metric tons (Base) |
| Length | Gun forward: 9.80 m Hull length: 8 m |
| Width | 4 m w/ Reactive Armour kits |
| Height | 2.44 m |
| Crew | 4 (Commander, gunner, loader/operator, driver) |
| Armor | Callistan IV armour (Modular Reactive Armour kits and bar armour ) |
Main armament | MA220 120mm cannon (42 rounds) |
Secondary armament | Coaxial 7.62 mm BMS-20 machine-gun 1 x 7.62mm machine guns 1 x CROWS (12.7mm) Barrel-mounted 12.7mm machine gun |
| Engine | Sentennei SST-1500 1,500 hp |
| Transmission | Automatic |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic |
| Ground clearance | 0.43 m (1 ft 5 in) |
| Fuel capacity | 1,900 l |
Operational range | 428 km (internal fuel) |
| Speed | 42 mph (67 km/h) (governed) road 25 mph (40 km/h) off-road |
The BMS Parmenio is a Belfrasian Main Battle Tank (MBT) in service with the Belfrasian Armed Forces and others. It was designed and built by Belfrasian Military Systems, a government-owned body that operates alongside BAU Systems. The Parmenio is designed to be highly mobile while also providing heavy armor protection for it's crew and the ability to deliver accurate and efficient firepower to targets as necessary.
The Parmenio was designed to replace the aging BMS Crusader, which had been the Army's primary MBT for many years. Development actually began in the early 1970s through the Next Era Battle Tank (NEBT) program. NEBT's first candidate, ultimately the Ajax, was not deemed suitable for a replacement to the Crusader. The Army initiated the New Generation Light Tank (NGLT) program for the Ajax, which came into service in 1982. The Parmenio was the second candidate and was accepted for further development in 1973.
Development of the Parmenio lasted five years, which includes a one year hiatus in development in 1975 as the program was nearly scrapped due to budget cuts. Despite setbacks, the Parmenio was deployed in service with the Armed Forces in 1980 in a number of variants: The standard Main battle Tank (MBT), an Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV), Armored Engineer Vehicle (AER), and Heavy Assault Bridge-Layer (HAB). Development also saw a brief look at a possible APC variant, although this was abandoned within a year of research.
History
Design
Armament
The first Parmenio tanks utilised the Crusader tank's 105mm rifled tank gun, which itself was built on license from Arthurista. The tank gun, known as the MA205, was possible of firing the advanced 105mm Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) round along with a variety of high explosive and anti-personnel (flechette) rounds. The tank gun was kept in service until 1985, when a study showed that it's range was inadequate for the rapidly modernising battle ground. Subsequently a larger diameter round (and subsequently barrel) was needed.
The MA220 120mm smooth-bore tank gun was brought into service over a year period from 1986 to 1987. The tank gun was initially developed from NATION NAME's TANK NAME in Belisaria. The MA220 is capable of firing a multitude of rounds, such as the upgraded 120mm SABOT round, a shape-charged high explosive round designed to 'batter enemy armour' with the intention of causing a shudder effect on the opposite side of tank armour with the hope of generating loose projectiles inside the crew compartment. The round is capable of being detonated at pre-set distances, which allows it to be detonated ahead of soft targets to shower it with super-heated debris.
New rounds for the MA220 also includes the 120mm anti-personnel canister, which contains over 1,000 tungsten balls which are released after leaving the barrel to create a shot-gun effect with a lethal range beyond 600 meters. The canister is used to clear on-foot enemy contacts, suppress or destroy enemy ambushes, and to conduct breaches in walls or habitable structures. A visual obstruction round comes in a variety of colours and can disperse it's smoke at the impact site to produce an obstructive smoke for up to two minutes in decent conditions. An anti-obstacle round features a steel penetrating nose to penetrate targets before a high explosive warhead is detonated in a sphere.
Development into an gun-launched anti-tank missile came fruition in 1993 when the Ballista Missile came into existence. The 105mm weapon utilises a 4.5 kg HEAT warhead and is capable of semi-active laser homing to a range of 8 km when fired from the Parmenio. The Ballista also comes equipped with active protection system countermeasures and can be guided onto it's target by laser designation from either the launching vehicle or from a third party laser designator. Unlike the other tank rounds fired by the Parmenio, the Ballista does not need to be fired from a tank gun and be removed from the Parmenio for usage on mounted guns on other vehicles or on foot with the usage of recoilless rifles.
MA220 120mm cannon (42 rounds) Secondary armament Coaxial 7.62 mm BMS-20 machine-gun 1 x 7.62mm machine guns 1 x CROWS (12.7mm) Barrel-mounted 12.7mm machine gun
Countermeasures
Mobility
Operational History
Belfras
Variants
- Parmenio AER-2 Armored Engineering Vehicle
The AER-2 is based on the MBT-1A2 chassis, but lacks the combat turret. In place of the gun system, it has both a large hydraulic arm and a raised crew compartment. The hydraulic arm is intended for acting to excavate areas, move obstacles, or deposit the fascine carried on it's rear. The AER-2 is capable of carrying two kinds of ploughs - Either a single bladed earth-moving plough or a dedicated mine clearing plough, which comes in several hydraulically controlled sections with two moving arms to clear smaller debris to the side.
For rapid mine-clearing purposes, the AER-2 can also tow a trailer called the Apollo, which fires a rocket-propelled hose filled with explosives. At maximum effectiveness, the Apollo is capable of clearing a 7-metre wide path up to 230 meters. Reloads of the Apollo are typically carried on supply trucks and can be reloaded within 30 minutes.
- Parmenio HAB-2A3 Heavy Assault Bridge Layer
The commonality between the Parmenio HAB-2A3 and the Parmenio ARV-1 was critical to it's design as a bridge layer. The HAB-2A3 also featuresr an advanced communications and local awareness package designed to both keep it in contact with local field commanders and accurately position itself for it's duties. The HAB-2A3, however, is unarmed and thus requires protection if working under fire.
The HAB-2A3 is operated by two crewmen operating within the hull. Both crewmen have access to operational equipment such as bridging controls with the bridge itself carried in two sections above the hull. Once the location is chosen for a bridge to be deployed, the vehicle positions itself and secures itself with a spade to avoid tipping over. The two sections are slowly unfolded and extended across the obstacle and dropped into place. Hydraulic arms are able to perform minute corrections to the exact placement of the bridge and a retracting arm extends across the length of the bridge to provide a camera image of the furthest landing site without losing that camera once the bridge is deployed. Once operations are complete the HAB-2A3 simply reverses the process from either side of the bridge. The entire process of laying or collecting the bridge takes five to ten minutes depending how much fire the HAB-2A3 is under. At all times, the crewmembers do not need to leave the safety of their armoured vehicle.
The bridge itself, a 2009-design, is 27 meters long and officially capable of supporting a 70 ton vehicles moving just over 16 km/h or 10 mph. In common operations, the bridge has been proven to exceed it's stated tonnage limits by another 10 tons, theoretically allowing an 80 ton vehicle to pass over the bridge. However, this is heavily recommended against as extensive tests have not been conducted.
- Parmenio ABV-2A1 Assault Breacher Vehicle
The Parmenio ABV-2A1 Assault Breacher Vehicle were designed to clear pathways for personnel through minefields and suspected IED locations. The ABV-2A1 is based on the same chassis as the HAB-2A3 and ARV-1, with the ARV-1s plow, a remote-operated machinegun, and nearly 7,000 pounds of explosives.
The ABV-2A1 is equipped with the Apollo mine clearance system. Rocket propelled hoses that carry explosives capable of clearing a path 7 meters wide and 230 meters long per shot. Each ABV-2A1 carries eight such Apollo rockets in the launcher with an additional four held in an automated loader system.