SH_MM

Why did they downgrade the Chieftain's turret armor?

Official report on arms exports in the German parliament. Approved for sale to UAE: 203,448 fuzes for 40 mm grenade for a non-disclosed price, aswell as an unknown quantity of reactive armor kits for €125.84 million.

So the United Arab Emirates ordered German explosive reactive armor for ~125 million Euros. Does anybody know where this is going to be used? Maybe on the Leclerc or BMP-3? ___ Btw: Slovakian ERA from the T-72M2 Morderna:

Worker, project manager, assistant project manager - seems pretty German to me.

German Army + industry testing Wirkmittel 90: Wirkmittel 90 (Effector 90) is an evolution of the RGW-90. The first series production models are currently being evaluated/validated for standard use with the German Army. It has a range of 1,200 metres (twice that of the currently used PzF-3IT-600 and more than twice that of a RGW-90). It is being used by the special forces of Army and Navy since an unknown amount of time already. Like all cool and modern RPG/davis gun in the German Army, it includes it's own fire control system and laser rangefinder. According to one of the guys in the video, it's accuracy is "nearly 100%", which is achieved thanks to a sustainer rocket motor and the projectile gathering wind and acceleration data, which is used for in-flight correction by the projectile. The muzzle velocity is about 200 m/s. The development of the Wirkmittel 90 for the German Army started some time after 2005, when the company was test-firing prototypes and invited a member of the German military procurement office to watch them. He was very impressed with the accuracy and range. The weapon can fire four types of ammunition: HE-FRAG (programmable ammo with air-burst option), smoke/fog, IR illumination and training ammunition. The German Army wants to use it to engage MG nests, infantry in structures or on open fields and unarmored/lightly armored vehicles. It is currently in series production for Germany, official introduction will be in a few months with an official handover ceremony.

It's even more half-assed than putting the Kontakt-5 ERA at the frontal turret. Huge gap at the smoke grenade dischargers, which is absolutely unnecessary, as seen on the other turret side where it was eliminated (together with the dischargers...).

Actually PELE has pretty bad penetration unless it's PELE-pen (PELE fitted with an additional penetrating core behind the PELE assembly). PELE is mostly suited for larger calibres or for aircrafts, otherwise FAPDS/FAPIDS is better suited.

PELE is something completely different.

I don't see what's wrong with the concept. Most ATGM launchers on IFVs and other lightly armored vehicles also can't be reloaded safely in combat. Recoilless rifles have been pretty much only used in poorly armored vehicles or with a completely exposed crew. The overlapping armor on the recoilless 75 mm guns of the design seems to provide rather decent protection compared to other solutions...

Given that Farrand and Magness have tested equally sized DU and WHA rods in multiple different papers (most US tests are focused on keeping the dimensions constant despite changing density), it seems very likely that they kept the same dimensions for both rods. That would be a 9.7 mm diameter, 130 mm "medium calibre" APFSDS. Most of the plotted data comes from "Deformation Behaviour and its relationship to the penetration performance of high density KE penetrator materials" which unfortunately seems to be not available for free.

Regarding to the DU vs WHA discussion from the first page: The document "Definition and uses of RHA equivalences for medium caliber targets" by T. Farrand, L. Magness and M. Burkins provides some new information on how much better DU is as a penetrator material (at least in case of medium calibre ammo). It can be found here. Medium calibre APFSDS rounds made from DU have superior armor penetration into semi-infinite targets, but they don't have better armor perforation compared to WHA ammunition! Penetration measurements focus on how deep the penetration channel of a projectile extends into a non-penetrated target. Perforation on the other hand looks at how thick the armor can be, that the round still punches a hole through it. While penetration is commonly measured, perforation values might have more application in real life (What is the benefit of a round going a bit deeper into the armor, if it is not perforated?). So in other words: DU penetrates armor more effectively, but WHA can cancel out this effect (in some cases, depending on the failure mechanism) by breaking off more material at the back of a plate. Supposedly this is the result of DU's adiabatic shearing ("the self-sharpening") causing the penetrator mass to shrink much more (speculated in another random document), thus the relative perforation ability of a DU projectile would shrink while penetrating into (steel) armor. This is all valid for medium calibre ammo against steel sloped at 60°, but I think in general it seems plausible that this can scale up to tank calibres in theory. The conclusion of the document is something I can agree very well: "The protection level of a threat vehicle cannot be defined by one RHA-e value; it depends on several factors: penetrator material, penetrator geometry, target configuration, RHA penetration, and the method and RHA baseline used. It has been shown that the RHA-e for one medium caliber target evaluated with several projectiles can vary by more than 100%."

The MK-30/2 has a maximum rate of fire between 700 and 800 rounds. On the Puma, there is a special mode limited to 200 rounds, which is known as "fast single shot" in German. There are some videos about the Puma's development on the official YouTube channel of the German Army. The metal sleeve was first tested in the 2011, after initial firing tests were done in 2009. According to the member of the BWB (Germany's military procurement agency, today known as BaainBW) in the video, the firing results of the original trials were excellent with single shot mode and already met the requirements. However when driving at high speeds, firing salvos of multiple rounds against targets moving at high speed (so firing from a moving vehicle at another) was too much for the gun stabilization system without the metal sleeve. Originally the Puma was designed to use only "single shot" and "fast single shot" modes, but I've read somewhere that the decision was made to also unlock the full RoF as a third option. The ASCOD Ulan and Pizarro use the MK-30/2 without an external metal sleeve.

The "stability issues" are the result of the higher rate of fire. If the RoF is limited to levels comparable to the Bushmaster, the problem doesn't exists.

The optics for both gunner and pilot include thermal imagers made by Safran (based on their Iris product line). The Osiris mast-mounted sight also includes other optics, a laser-rangefinder and an automatic tracking functions. Still the gun pod requires the whole helicopter to turn/depress for aiming. Germany uses the HMP-400 gun pod from FN Herstal, which holds only 400 rounds, which (given that you cannot reload it without landing) seems to be lackluster. In the very first firings, the system was criticized for poor accuracy, but supposedly that was fixed via better calibration. It's quite a shame. The UHT was originally meant to be "the best anti-tank helicopter" and then the most expensive/capable variant of the Tiger, but ended up being cut down to be currently being useful for nothing (excluding carrying HOT missiles and Stinger MANPADS). After the decision was made to switch the UHT from an anti-tank to a general combat support role, the German MoD founded the development of the RMK 30 recoilless automatic cannon. The French gun was previously considered as being not precise enough and being expensive to integrate... the RMK 30 ended just being "too expensive to integrate". So, next logical step would be IMO to buy another gun turret, maybe a smaller 20 mm calibre that will cause less issues with recoil. More than 6,000 Rh 202 guns have been used on combat vehicles, static mounts and naval vessels, but apparently it's still much cheaper to buy new HMP-400 gun pods. The HMP-250 RMP with 250 rounds machine gun ammunition + three 70 mm FZ rockets would probably have been a better choice, because one 70 mm FZ rocket should provide more punch than 50 rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition. (that's a weapon mount for the Wiesel, the Tiger would have the gun mounted below the center) The situation wouldn't be as bad, if the development of the LFK NG was continued. The LFK NG was meant to replace all vehicle mounted Stinger systems (i.e. the Stinger on Tiger and Wiesel), being based on the very capable IRIS-T missile (which is can be used in essentially any role). Unlike the Stinger, the LFK NG was capable of engaging ground targets, including armor vehicles (thanks to a penetrating warhead - probably a "small" shaped charge). So the UHT would have at least four missiles + MG pod + CFT, even though wasting a LFK NG for defeating terrorists with AK-47s sitting in a mud hut. But apparently the LFK NG was canceled, at least the manufacturers have deleted it from their websites, it was last mentioned in a press release in 2010. Meanwhile the industry is now pitching the French Mistral SAM as replacement for the Stinger... Australian, French and Spanish Tiger helicopters have no issues carrying rockets on the outer hardpoints, because somebody was clever enough to put cables there! Wow. To enable the UHT of carrying rocket pods on the outer hardpoints, the THOR (Tiger Helicopter Outer Rockets) program has been started; however it has been postponed to be part of the Tiger Mk. 2 upgrade, which will first happen after all German Tigers have been delivered (even though it already has been decided to reduce the number of Tigers several years ago; essentially we are buying outdated systems, that will immediately be upgraded, as well as surplus systems which will be sold or used for spare parts most likely). Great business... A Tiger Mk. 3 upgrade is also planned for the German aircrafts, it might include a laser illuminator for guided 70 mm FZ rockets/missiles, although it might be possible to use them at an earlier time. The only upside of the THOR upgrade might be the ability to carry the large rocket pod with 19 missiles at the outer hardpoints, at least FZ believes this might be possible. The German military procurement office is currently investigating the situation. The German Tiger variant could have been a clear contender to being the best attack helicopter in the world: The RMK 30 would offer advantages in accuracy and range (although trading some ammo capacity for it), the PARS 3 LR (Trigat) missile system is probably class-leading (159 mm diameter, tandem warhead, top-attack mode, thrust vectoring, salvo firing mode, pre-cooled thermal imagers, ability to engage helicopters), while the LFK NG would have been an advantage over all Mistral/Stinger (thanks to not being limited to a man-portable size) and over the Sidewinders (thanks to being based on the more capable IRIS-T family and also having ground attack capbility). Even the unguided rockets are top-notch (Germany is using the FZ 90 rocket with wrap-around fins made by the Belgian company Forges de Zeebrugge, which has a range of 9,100 metres compared to only ~5,000 m of the French 68 SNEB system from TDA Armaments - ironically both companies are nowadays owned by Thales). Interesting side note: The Wiesel suffers from the Tiger program. The Wiesel 2 Ozelot was meant to receive the LFK NG using a vertical launch system, while the Wiesel 1 MK was meant to receive the RMK 30. But that's another story, Wiesel upgrades and replacements are currently being developed.

Interested in a joke? Germany decided to send four Tiger helicopters to support combat operations in Mali. Now the first two have arrived... Thanks to poor planning and political reasons ("who wants to spend money on upgrades now, if you can spend the money in the future"), they are armed with a 12.7 mm gun pod aswell as... nothing! Yes, a €45 million combat helicopter is armed with a 12.7 mm M2 machine gun only. Sending an equal amount of CH-53s to Mali would have provided greater firepower!

No, it's not correct. The turrret is not a standard Leopard 2A4 turret, but a Leopard 2 turret in the process of being upgraded to a Leopard 2A5. That's why the steel plate behind the gunner's has been cut away already. The EMES-15 gunner's primary sight takes up much smaller volume than what is marked yellow, the center steel plates might have other functions related to the optic channel rather than being there to form an empty cavity; i.e. being the upper plate in this photo.

The armor might have been removed. There is no reason to assume it's jsut a T-54/55 variant with a thin spaced layer of steel. Proof:

I fail to see any similarities. The G5 resembles the US AMPV much more than any T-64-based vehicle. Edit: Puma

Textron TAPV.

It's really ugly. The engine is mounted at the left side of the mid section.

No, these are two different tanks. Also note that there is not one Rh 105 gun, the name has been used for various different guns, but not officially for the gun you seem to be interested in.

Chinese ATGMs: