Difference between revisions of "Saracen MBT"

Revision as of 23:39, 25 January 2006

M-12A Main Battle Tank (click to enlarge, prototype M-12 and desert pattern M-12A shown).

The M-12 Saracen was a unique Freethinker Main Battle Tank design produced by FDI Land Systems, famous for being the first full production tank design in the country to mount a 155mm ETC cannon as its principle armament. Around two hundred and forty Saracen M-12As are still in service, equipping two armoured battalions in both the Freethinker Royal Army and the Freethinker Ground Defence Force. Recently, the government of Adejaani has declared an interest in starting domestic production, under license, of the Saracen for the Adejaani Army.

These old but powerful tanks are generally employed as defensive Tank Destroyers, urban support vehicles, and as a more conventional counter (in numbers) against Super Heavy Battle Tanks. The M-12 chassis has also been reused for the highly successful A-41 Scarab Self-Propelled 205mm Mortar.

Statistics

M-12A Saracen Main Battle Tank

Dimensions

Length

11.5 Metres (Including Gun), 9.3 Metres (Hull only)

Width

3.9 Metres

Height

2.15 Metres (Excluding modular weapon system)

Weight

76 Tons

Crew Complement

3 (Commander, Driver, Gunner)

Armament

Main Gun

1 x Ballistics International M3A 155mm/37 Smoothbore ETC (EMR) Cannon (52 rounds)

Secondary Weaponry

Mk.2 Armour Modular Weapon Point (Can carry 6-cell Silent Break ATGM launcher, 25mm Autocannon, or 8-cell Skyfire CADM Launcher)

Self Defence

2 x 12.7mm GPMG (1 Co-axial, 1 Commander's hatch), 1 x 7.62mm GPMG (Gunner's hatch)

Electronics

Fire Control

Targetting systems

Electronic Warfare

2 x Falltech Mk.5 Quad Smoke Grenade dispensors

Propulsion

Engine

Thompson Engineering D520B (1,600Hp) Diesel Engine

Performance

55 km/h (on road), 40 km/h (cross country), fording depth of 1.8 metres (without preperation)

Maximum Range

500 km (on road)

Armour

Basic Composition

Armour Ratings

Production

Program

The original M-12 Saracen was born from an intention by the Freethinker military as a technological leapfrog of its military competitors in the late 1970's, introducing in an age of ever increasingly powerful weaponry and armour a MBT mounting a 155mm gun and nigh invulnurable front armour, gained at the expense of raising the weight limit for the tank from 60 to 80 tons. Intended to be a replacement for the excellent M-11 Scimitar MBT, the M-12 design and manufacture bid was won by FDI Land Systems and work began in earnest at the end of 1980. the project was headed by legendary tank designer Henry Watkinson, the man responsible for the design of the Scimitar (and, in the future, the M-13 Spartan MBT).

The huge weaponry requirements necessitated a significant design rethink with regards to the layout of the tank. Even with the increased weight allowances, the sheer size of the main weapon and the thickness of the armour severely restricted the size of any possible turret. Given the coincidental development of first generation ETC weaponry in the Freethinker Commonwealth and the decision by the MoD to install this new weapon type, the practicality of a turreted design became harder to achieve. Watkinson therefore took inspiration from an unlikely source, utilising the basic design of the S Tank, a turretless MBT with slanting frontal armour and a very low forward profile.

Concepts were drawn up and funding for a prototype was given by a reluctant MoD.

The radical design did indeed boast a number of strong advantages:

• With the heavy sloping and high weight investment in armour, the frontal RHA rating of nearly 2,000mm was revolutionary, nearly double the value of its nearest counterparts, although the rating for side and rear protection was considered decent but standard in terms of its competitors.
• The main cannon had few equals on the battlefield, allowing the Saracen to engage its opponents at much farther ranges than they could effectively retaliate from.
• The Mk.1 Modular Weapon Point was warmly recieved, allowing field commanders to provide tactical capability adjustment and removing some of the vulnurability of the fixed position of the main gun.
• The lack of a turret significantly lowered the profile of the tank, reducing the likelihood of a direct hit.

However, even as the first deliveries were being conducted and the first major exercises were conducted, some glaring errors began to be exposed:

• The Thompson Engineering D500A 1,100Hp engine allowed for a top speed barely approaching 40km/h on the road, allowing the tank to be more easily outmanouvered by its rivals and exposing its weaker flanks to direct enemy fire.
• The main weapon, though extremely powerful, had an extremely limited firing arc (+12 to -5 degrees vertical and +/- 7 degrees horizontal) unless the entire tank was rotated. This prevented the tank from engaging enemies on its flanks and, more importantly, stopped the vehicle from engaging enemies whilst on the move, especially in the case of a retreat, leaving the tank horrendously exposed.
• Because the barrel was mounted directly into the hull, the tank could not get into a deliberate 'hull-down' position, increasing the exposure of the tank to enemy fire.
• The co-axial machine gun was nearly useless given the lack of traverse on the main gun.
• Because of the rushed development of the main cannon, several reliability issues arised during live-fire exercises. Partial ignition because of faulty circuitry, extremely high barrel-wear and problems with the overly complex hydraulic gun mounting that moved the main gun. The initial autoloader design was also heavily berated, being too slow to maintain effective rates of fire.

Even as initial production proceeded, a new project to upgrade the tanks had already begun by FDI Land Systems at the behest of an increasingly alarmed Ministry of Defence.

Upgrade

The M-12A upgrade, successfully trialled in 1990, tried to eliminate or at least alleviate the glaring problems of the original design with mixed success. The following improvements were carried out:

• The original M1 155mm ETC gun was replaced by the brand new M3 cannon, a matured weapon design that fixed many of the problems of the previous weapon in terms of reliability, replacing the complex systems of electric motors with a simpler set of computer controlled hydraulics and providing a greater (though still limited) firing range (+ 20 to -5 degrees vertical and +/-12 degrees horizontally). Other reliability issues in the firing mechanism and autoloader were also corrected.
• The powerpack was entirely replaced with the brand new Thompson Engineering D520 engine, providing a 50% in power whilst maintaining the size of the original powerpack. This increase in power improved road speed to acceptable levels and improved the manouverability of the Saracen, a vital improvement given the nature of its primary armament.
• New electronics were added, including an enhance laser rangefinder, new element sensors and a brand new digital fire control computer.
• The armour packs were upgraded to included a thicker TVA mesh and brand new NeRA, upgrading most of the armour values by 40% or more.
• The modular weapon point was upgraded to allow new weapon systems to be fitted, including for the first time the brand-new Silent Break ATGM, providing an all-round armour engagement capability outside of the gun's limited firing arc.

Nonetheless, the basic flaws of the design were still proving difficult to overcome, and full scale introduction of the design never fully occurred, a full active force total of 360 units was the largest force level maintained, and this was gradually dropped down to present force levels. Large-scale replacement for the M-11 Scimitar only occurred with the arrival of the more conventional M-13 Spartan.

Manufacture

A total of 420 M-12 and 120 M-12As were manufactured at the FDI Land Systems Trentbridge Plant. All original M-12s have been upgraded to M-12A standard. Minor improvements have been made over the course of the following decade including improvements to the electronics and main weapon, though it should be noted these upgrades are not universally implemented across the board given the limited funds avaliable. The most upgraded machines are generally in service with the Freethinker Royal Army battalions.

Currently, 120 M-12As are in service with both the Freethinker Royal Army and the Freethinker Ground Defence Force for an active total of 240 operational vehicles. There is a shared engineering pool of 62 M-12As for spares and attrition supply, and a further 80 vehicles are also held in the Stategic Reserve Stock. Around 10-20 scrapped and cannibalised M-12s are used for target practise and testing every year.

Current plans call for the eventual replacement of the Royal Army's M-12As with the latest M-14 Scorpion MBT, with the current stock to be either transferred to the Ground Defence Force or the Royal Militia Corp. No replacement for the GDF units is planned and the M-12A is expected to soldier on for at least another decade in these battalions.

However, in a surprising twist to the tale of the Saracen, recently FDI Land Systems has been approached by the Adejaani government with the proposal of acquiring the blueprints and manufacturing the design under license. With a possible production run of several thousand vehicles, the Saracen may yet see success on the battlefield it's limited Freethinker service has denied it.

The M-12A Saracen has not actively been deployed in combat.

Other Users

Other nations which use this design:

None

Other nations which use a modified version of this design:

Adejaani