Behemoth class heavy armoured track layer
| Behemoth class heavy armoured track layer | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type: | Heavy Tank |
| Designed in: |  Imeriata
|
| Service history | |
| Produced: | 1978- present |
| Users: | Imeriata |
| Wars: | The first new Frelandian war. The second new Frelandian war. Northern Venezuean liberation. The crimson war. The Al-Jzr Al-Khḑrān war. The Vorraidian war. Imerian colonial campaigns. |
| Production history | |
| Designer: | Birger auf Björkenholm |
| Designed: | 1977 |
| Manufacturer: | the royal merchant guild (Auf Stjarnhjalms jarn ach stal) |
| Variants: | Standard variant Female variant |
| Specifications | |
| Weight: | 100 tonnes |
| length: | 11.70 m |
| Width: | 4.5 m |
| Height: | 3 m |
| Crew: | 8 (captain, 2 gunners, 2 loaders, first mate (driver), second mate (co driver), Mechanic) |
| Armour: | 220 mm thick. |
| Primary armament: | 1 x smoothbore 210 mm heavy Khönungkannon |
| Secondary forward armament: | 1 X 120 mm Khönungkannon howitzer |
| tertiary armament: | 4 X 16x80mm Martin Tyngre kulsprute gevar |
| Fuel capacity: | 2000 liters |
| Fuel: | Disel operated |
| Operational range: | 450 km |
| Speed: | 60 km/h |
Background
Just as the medium and light tracklayers were devolved to fit different rolls so did the royal guard consider that there were a great need for a heavy tracklayer that could be employed in smaller battles and not the massive ones that landships and super heavy tacklayers were restricted to but still could carry heavier armour and cannons than the standard medium tracklayer.
The result was the machine that would one day become the massive behemoth class heavy armoured tracklayer that was designed when the medium tracklayer showed that there was a need to modernise the rest of the tracklayer fleet and another order came out from the royal guard that krigsmakten were in the need of a heavy tracklayer as well as a light one to protect the infantry waves from enemy attacks.
The winner of this competition was the heavy Auf Stjarnhjalms jarn ach stal's tracklayer that kept the more traditional tracklayer designs but added the widely successful cannon tower that had made the hammar class tracklayer even if it was armed with a larger cannon than the hammar class tracklayer had had.
While not having scored as many victories that was entirely his own as the behemoth class often is used supported by both artillery, infantry and even air and cavalry support so have the heavy tracklayer shown itself to be a remarkable beast of war that are more than able to engage enemies on long distances and tear large holes in enemy armour.
Main cannon
Armed with a massive 210 mm wide and seven meters long cannon specifically designed for tracklayer combat and it can serve both as a anti tank gun, a light artillery piece by aiming indirectly and a cannon able to unleash heavy high explosive shells by aiming directly that is capable of firing both as stated high explosive anti infantry shells, gas shells, HEAT anti tank shells as well as the newer 210 mm self propelled shell that is able to move large distances with the aid of computer guidance and then with remarkably precise accuracy.
With a automatic loading system so is the heavy cannon able to unleash bullets in a remarkable seed and it has place for as many as fifteen shells in its main tower and an additional 30 ones in the tank proper which makes this beast able to attack enemy targets at ranges up to 4500 meters and enemies at 9000 meters with the heavy self propellant shells.
Secondary cannons
Just as the medium hammar class tracklayer so is the behemoth equipped with the 120mm bandläggare khönunga kannonen that is version of the 120mm khönunga kannonen that is designed for tracklayer combat. To help it with this so is the 120mm cannon equipped with amongst other things a stabilizer to help it to fire while on the move.
Where the cannon on the behemoth differs from that of the hammar class is that it is a sponson cannon and is as a result outfitted with a smaller reloader that can only store seven shells in each sponson cannon even if the main tank stores as many as 30 additional cannon shells.
Just as the cannons used by the hammar class tracklayer so is the side cannons used by the behemoth class able to fire both high explosive shells to deal with infantry, HEAT shells to deal with enemy armour and finally self propellant shells capable of attacking enemies at twice the distance of the normal cannon.
Tertiary cannons
To keep itself protected from common foot soldiers and to be able to provide covering fire for the infantry that it will support so are the behemoth class tracklayer armed with as many as four 16x80mm Martin Tyngre kulsprute gevar attached to the cannon tower and the front of the tank to enable it to fire both forward towards the enemy as well as towards their main target while the forward sponson guns are also equiped with their own machine guns to keep enemy infantry on the sides suppressed. All four machine guns have flexible mounts, so you can aim it even if the tank, the cannon tower or the sponson guns are not aiming in the right direction.
Electronics devices
without including the internal lighting and the tea boiler so is the behemoth class tracklayer rather modesty equipped with a laser range finder to aid the crew of the behemoth to neutralise enemy.
Fire control
The behemoth class is not only outfitted with its standard fire control system but the gunner is also given a 8x periscope to allow him to spot and aim his cannon towards the enemies and the commander of the tank is also given a independent periscop that allows for a 2x magnification to help him keep a better eye on the battlefield.