Mako Light Tank
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| Mako LT | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Light tank |
| Place of origin |  Pequeñoya |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Pequeñoya |
| Production history | |
| Designer | VT Cinética |
| Designed | 1978–88 |
| Manufacturer | VT Cinética |
| Produced | 1988-Present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 22 tonnes (24 short tons; 22 long tons) |
| Length | 9.6 metres (31 ft 6 in) gun forward |
| Width | 2.71 metres (8 ft 11 in) |
| Height | 2.55 metres (8 ft 4 in) |
| Crew | 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver) |
| Armor | High-hardness steel, frontal protection from up to 25mm projectiles |
Main armament | 1 x VT Cinética ALA-82 105mm L/58 rifled cannon |
Secondary armament | 1 x AU-70 coaxial machine gun 1 x AP-88 12.7x99 mm machine gun |
| Engine | 8-cylinder turbo-diesel engine 550 hp |
| Power/weight | 25 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | trailing arm |
| Ground clearance | 460 millimetres (1 ft 6 in) |
Operational range | 460 km (290 mi) |
| Speed | 66 km/h (41 mph) |
The Mako LT is a Pequeñoyan light tank produced by VT Cinética, designed as part of a general program to improve or replace the Pequeñoyan Armed Forces's lackluster anti-vehicular weapon systems.
Development
In late 1976, it was determined that the increasing levels of protection and lethality offered by foreign AFVs were rapidly outpacing the capabilities of the various Pequeñoyan anti-armor weapons systems of the time. In order to address this capability gap, a program was instituted to overhaul the various armor-defeat systems and tactics in place in the Pequeñoyan Armed Forces. One of the principal requirements of this new program was the acquisition of a new lightweight anti-armor AFV.
Early on, it was determined that foreign procurement would be preferred over the expensive process of developing an entirely new, indigenous vehicle. To this end, several foreign examples of vehicles that could match these requirements were procured for testing purposes. Vehicles trialed in this program included the Notreceauen AVS-16 SRC and the Trinovantan ATAG-26, among others. However, these vehicles were eventually deemed insufficient, as being either too vulnerable, too heavy, or being insufficiently armed. At the conclusion of these tests, a design requirement was issued to VT Cinética to develop a new vehicle that could meet or exceed all of the requirements previously issued. This vehicle was developed under the project name Mako for Counter-Intel reasons, believing that due to the name’s connotations and Pequeñoya’s extensive shipbuilding industry that any foreign actors who learned of the project would believe it to be the development of a fast attack submarine. However, even after being adopted for service as the TL-88, the vehicle retained the Mako name for export marketing purposes.
Design
Armament
The primary armament of the Mako is the VT Cinética ALA-82 (Arma Lixeira Avanzada modelo 1982/Gun, Lightweight, Advanced model 1982), a derivative of the Trinovantan GHC-11. It was determined that the recoil force of any high-pressure guns of a caliber greater than 110 mm would certainly cause damage upon being fired by any vehicle within the allowed weight requirements, and the performance of low pressure systems at the time were deemed insufficient. As such, the fairly common Trinovantan gun would provide a workable base to develop from.
Modifications to the gun included a longer 58 caliber barrel, a reinforced sliding breach, a lengthed recoil damping mechanism, a muzzle brake, and a new bore extractor. These modifications were made primarily so that the gun could make full use of the new PCA-900 depleted uranium APFSDS shell developed for the program by VT Cinética. During testing of this ammunition with unmodified GHC-11 guns, stress failures in the breach were frequent, and excessive muzzle blast from the shorter barrel indicated wasted energy potential. The modifications made to the ALA-82 would give it a useable service life and, combined with the new APFSDS ammunition, a notable increase in lethality over the GHC-11. When fired from the ALA-82, the PCA-900 shell has performance roughly comparable to some 120mm guns firing non-DU APFSDS shells.
For reasons of future proofing, another type of ammunition was developed for the gun. This alternative ammunition, designated PCAG-901, is a guided shell designed to strike at the vulnerable top-armor of heavily armored AFVs. In order to enhance survivability, PCAG-901 was required to have fire and forget capabilities. This is achieved via the use of a miniaturized millimeter wavelength RADAR for target acquisition and tracking. The only action the gunner of a properly equipped vehicle must take prior to the firing of the PCAG-901 is to set a range zone for the activation of the guided shell’s onboard RADAR. This activation zone can span over a kilometer in length, however such large activation zones are not recommended as the shell can adopt unpredictable behavior. As per its fire and forget requirements, once the PCAG-901 is fired, no further action is required by the vehicle crew to guide the shell. PCAG-901 has a minimum range of 300 meters, and a maximum range in excess of 5 kilometers.
During its flight, PCAG-901 follows a ballistic trajectory similar to any other conventional shell. Once the onboard RADAR activates and acquires a valid target, PCAG-901’s kill mechanism is to adopt an overfly trajectory relative to its target. Once directly over the target location, PCAG-901 detonates an explosively formed penetrator into the target’s roof armor. Flight control is achieved via a series of fluidic jets mounted ahead of a rear fin assembly. These flight control systems are capable of making moderate changes in flight altitude, and in testing have demonstrated a limited capability to track and destroy rotary-wing aircraft as well as their intended ground targets. Due to its high speed ballistic flight profile, lack of a rocket motor, usage of self-guiding MMW RADAR instead of command guidance, the short time in which the MMW RADAR is active, and its top-attack kill mechanism, there are few viable countermeasures against PCAG-901 once it has been fired.
PCAG-901 would turn out to be an incredibly ambitious development project, suffering numerous delays and setbacks. In particular, the miniaturization of a MMW RADAR system proved an extraordinarily difficult task for the time. The fluidic flight control systems would also be difficult to integrate properly into the shell. Ultimately, the Mako would proceed to pre-production trials and be adopted into service without the capabilities provided by the PCAG-901 guided shell. Development and refinement of PCAG-901 continued at a much reduced pace, with it going through initial proof of concept tests in 1994 and eventually being adopted for service in 2005, over 15 years after the Mako was approved for service. PCAG-901, as adopted for service, can also be fired from standard GHC-11 guns so long as these guns are fitted with fire control software that can set the activation zone of PCAG-901’s onboard RADAR.
In addition to these specifically designed shells, the ALA-82 can also fire any of the shells that are available to the GHC-11 gun. However, due to the ALA-82’s improved features, ballistic profiles of these shells may vary slightly when compared to those fired from the GHC-11. This gives the ALA-82 a wide variety of already available ammunition to utilize, including but not limited to APDS, HEAT, HESH, and Canister. The Mako has stowage for up to 32 rounds for the ALA-82 gun.
In addition to the ALA-82 main cannon, a AU-70 medium machine gun is mounted coaxially with up to 3000 rounds of ammunition capable of being stored. Atop the turret, there is a pintle mount forward of the commander’s hatch that accepts a VT Cinética AP-88 heavy machine gun, which can have up to 600 rounds of ammunition stored. Some Mako crews have also retrofitted an additional pintle mount for a AU-70 medium machine gun forward of the loader’s hatch. Ammunition storage for these weapons is usually taken from the coaxial gun and/or mounted along the loader’s side of the exterior turret.
Protection
The Mako’s armor is lacking compared to most contemporary AFVs, due primarily to the extensive weight restrictions outlined by the design requirements given to VT Cinética. Several armor options were explored including aluminium alloys, titanium, and NERA composites. However, it was determined that none of these less orthodox armor systems provided a substantial enough increase in protection in the given weight class, so high-hardness steel was chosen to make up the majority of the vehicle’s chassis and passive armor. This steel armor is sufficient to protect against up to 25mm Armor-piercing projectiles from the frontal aspect, and up to 14.5mm API all aspect protection from anti-material rifles and machine guns.
Acknowledging the inherently limited protection provided by such a lightweight vehicle, the vehicle was designed to be easily fitted with additional protection systems. The first of these to be developed is a composite appliqué armor kit, which is designed to significantly increase the vehicle’s ability to survive threats such as hand-held infantry anti-tank rockets. Over time, several other optional protection systems have been developed for the Mako, including explosive reactive armor and various soft-kill and hard-kill active protection systems. These modular protection systems are designed to be fitted in between two to four hours with simple tools.
The driver occupies a separate area from the fighting compartment, which provides a small degree of protection as the fighting compartment is the most likely area for an AFV to be hit. In the event of a damaging penetration, several countermeasures are in place to increase crew and vehicle survivability. Ammunition blow-out panels are present for the main-gun ammunition stowage, significantly reducing the risk of a catastrophic ammunition detonation completely destroying the vehicle or killing the crew. Automatic fire extinguishing systems are present in the engine and crew compartment. If the automatic fire extinguishers are active within the crew compartment, the crew may use built in ventilated face-masks to avoid evacuating the vehicle. The Mako has limited climate control systems that include an overpressure system, giving it limited NBC protection capabilities.
The Mako is commonly fitted with two 4-round smoke-dischargers along the front of the turret to provide visual obscurant. Additionally, the vehicle is also capable of producing a smoke screen via injecting diesel fuel into the exhaust. Later models also include a passive laser warning receiver to augment crew awareness of ATGM threats.
Mobility
Power is provided by a single V8 turbo-diesel engine producing 550 hp mounted transverse behind the fighting compartment. Compared to its contemporaries, the twin-turbocharged diesel engine provides improved power output for its displacement as well as improved efficiency. This engine is mated to an automatic transmission with 5 forward gears and single reverse gear. The standard track width for the Mako is 380 mm. However, wider 460mm tracks can be mounted to reduce ground pressure when equipped with optional protection systems. Due to the vehicle’s light weight, this powertrain provides a high power/weight ratio and good acceleration. It is capable of climbing a slope of up to 60 degrees as well side slopes of up to 40 degrees. The Mako has an independent trailing-arm suspension with a maximum vertical object clearance is 840 mm, with a trench clearance of over 2 meters. It can ford water up to a meter deep without preparation. Both the engine and suspension can be easily accessed and serviced.
While it was not explicitly designed for this capability, the Mako’s relatively compact size and light weight means it can be airlifted by most medium sized cargo aircraft.
Sensors and Systems
The Mako was designed with a modern digital fire control system. This FCS utilizes a ballistic computer that is fed data from the inbuilt laser-range finder, barrel deflection and temperature sensors, a crosswind sensor, external environment sensors, and muzzle reference system. The ballistic computer also contains data on each of the rounds that can be safely fired from the ALA-82 cannon, and can automatically calculate data such as target range, velocity, and ballistic lead angles from the sensors and stored data. These calculations are automatically updated at 30 millisecond intervals, and provided to either the gunner or commander’s terminals. The commander’s station can take over operation of the gun if the gunner is incapacitated.
The driver, gunner, and commander stations are all provided with night vision equipment to allow for operation in low light conditions. In addition, both the gunner and commander stations are equipped with day thermal optics for target acquisition. The commander’s station has seven periscopes for general situational awareness when inside of the vehicle. For navigation and communications, the tank has an integrated GPS and long-range programmable radio systems.
The turret is hydraulically powered and has a manual crank backup. It is capable of traversing its full 360 degree firing arc in less than 9 seconds. The gun has an elevation arc of +20/-8 degrees.
Operational History
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Variants
OTL-91: This is the import designation of the Mako Light Tank assigned by the Imperial Army of Temuair upon accepting the vehicle into service in 1991. The vehicle remains largely unchanged from its original specification excepting that the coaxial machine gun was replaced with an Aisling GMD-03C 8x50 mm general purpose machine gun and the commander's weapon was replaced with a AP-37 12.7x81 mm machine gun. When the Imperial Navy of Temuair Marine Infantry adopted the vehicle in 2002, the elected to mirror the Imperial Army designation for clarity.
Operators
Current
- Pequeñoya - As the TL-88