Cheetah Tank
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| Cheetah | |
|---|---|
.2.jpg) Cheetah Mk1 in the northern Allied Castarcian States, 1945. | |
| Type | Heavy tank |
| Place of origin | Template:Country data Allied Connurist States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942–1955 (with Imperial Castarcian Ground Forces) |
| Used by | See Operators below |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Flynn Defence Systems |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Manufacturer | Flynn Defence Systems Willisville Manufacturing Co. |
| Produced | 1942-1945 |
| No. built | 2,358 |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 57 tonnes |
| Length | 6.32 m 8.45 m (gun forward) |
| Width | 3.56 m |
| Height | 3.01m |
| Crew | 5 |
| Armor | 51mm - 120mm |
Main armament | Imperial Ordnance 88E 88mm gun |
Secondary armament | 2 x .30 cal machine gun |
| Engine | Flynn Valour 700 hp |
| Power/weight | 12.3 hp/t |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
Operational range | 200 km |
| Speed | 45 km/h |
The Cheetah is a Castarcian heavy tank designed and developed in 1941 for the Imperial Castarcian Ground Forces. Designed and designated as a 'Heavy Assault Tank', the Cheetah's role in combat was to use its 8.8 cm gun to blast through the frontal armour of its opponents whilst being able to withstand return fire. Because of this, an emphasis on firepower and armour was made, differing from the usual design philosophy of a balanced tank.
Development and Design
In 1941, Emperor Jeremy I, who had a penchant for powerful military weaponry and equipment along with a desire to make the armed forces powerful and respected in other countries, ordered that a heavy tank capable of dominating a battlefield be designed and put into production. The use of an 88mm anti tank gun was expected and stipulated, but the only 88mm guns in service at the time were dedicated AT guns or flak guns. Imperial Ordnance set about the production of an 8.8 cm gun able to be used in a turret, which was designed by Flynn Defence Systems.
The original concepts and prototypes were supposed to weigh in the region of 45-50 tonnes, but came in on the scales at 55. This put even more stress on suspensions and the weight led to reliability issues with transmissions and gearboxes, making for frequent breakdowns in the early service life of the Cheetah. The Cheetah, despite arguably being over-engineered, lacked sloping armour.