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Renegade334

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Everything posted by Renegade334

  1. Renegade334
    To be fair, we don't see much of the back of the turret on this poster. It doesn't really tell us if GD went the Meggitt horizontal bustle carousel way or if they had a look back at the TTB's vertical carousel (which I don't think they did as it would require more re-engineering than the HC), which has deeper implications for available crew space in the turret. The hatches could still be there, only they're hidden from view. As for the smoke grenade launchers, they're still affixed to the front sections of the turret sides; it's just that they've been given some sort of angled metal housing that dovetails with the storage baskets, makes it look neater. The launchers don't seem to "dig" into the armor cavity, proper. That would require redesigning the driver's compartment and reducing the amount of protection afforded by the huge fuel cell that surrounds the driver's seat. Don't know how much wiggle room they've got in there for a second person, much less all the screens and panels required for the second crewmember's tasks and responsibilities. That said, I do remember that a while ago there were proposals to insert a mechanical autoloader into the Abrams and repurpose the now-redundant loader into an UAV/EW operator -- maybe the loader could relocate to the hull front while the commander and gunner keep their seats inside the turret, on the right side of it. Slightly better enhancement of the poster, from Damian at tank-net: @Ramlaen Were there any pictures displaying the volume reduction of the Trophy VPS sponsons as well as where exactly would the radars be mounted? Any possibility those turret-side storage containers are actually Trophy sponsons?
  2. Renegade334
    Played a bit with layers and exclusion blending modes in Photoshop to enhance the pictures (YMMV depending on your screen's contrast and luminosity, of course). Either they reduced the Next-Gen Abrams turret's height or that mantlet has overdosed on growth hormones (or they blew it up to better streamline it with the 20/30mm RWS' pedestal). And what ARE those things beneath the turret cheeks and what did they do to the mudflaps? ...That is, assuming that the 3D models are properly proportioned and detailed(for example, the Trophy launchers don't seem to have the shields to protect the crew when they're topside - omission or not? Seems to me like the commander and loader lost a bit of topside real estate there), of course.
  3. Renegade334
    Those rectangular objects beside each camera turret...Trophy out of the box? And the UFP seems to have more detail...a thicker plate to protect the driver's compartment? For the gun, it could be the XM360 in its original configuration. There were plans to put an XM360E1 in what would've eventually become the M1A3, but there was no pepperbox muzzle brake, only a muzzle with MRS. EDIT: ninja'ed.
  4. Renegade334
  5. Renegade334
    Better yet, a video of it: EDIT - overhead shots of the wreckage (not the best quality, but it's better than nothing):
  6. Renegade334
    Uh, what's with the side skirts? It looks like metal plates, kinda reminiscent of the T-64's Gill Skirts, but set at an angle and/or shingled. This doesn't even remotely look like a M19 ARAT-1 or M32 ARAT-2 (which, IIRC, was more designed to counter EFPs rather than full-blown HEAT jets) array.
  7. Renegade334
    Dunno if that has been posted here before, but the YouTube algorithm has struck again. The APFSDS model wasn't specified, only that it is a 120mm sabot. The failure seen here apparently stems from a destruction of the fin assembly, which also resulted in tip detachment from the long rod's main section.
  8. Renegade334
  9. Renegade334
    Soldier from 1st ID peeking around a corner by leveraging the wireless connection between his ENVG-B and his LMG's sight (Family of Weapons Sights - Individual [FWS-I]). This feature even allows soldiers to more or less accurately shoot from the hip (not that it's encouraged, though). Photo: SFC Chris Bridson Soldier Lethality Team Delivers First Big Futures Deliverable with ENVG-B (army.mil) PEO Soldier | Portfolio - PM SMPT - Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binocular (ENVG-B) (army.mil)
  10. Renegade334
    Combat as seen through L3 Harris' Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binoculars (ENVG-B), which is gradually replacing the AN/PVS-14. The unit here is 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, going through a live-fire exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (WA), on April 19. View mode is "Outline Mode Fused + AR/RTA" (Augmented Reality/Rapid Target Acquisition). The ENVG-B reportedly allowed the wearers to engage targets twice farther away than with the PVS-14.
  11. Renegade334
    Is Aermet also capable of this "heat reset"? IIRC it does not use intermetallic precipitation to attain high hardness, but carbide [(Mo,Cr)2C?] precipitation. 900°F-aged Aermet 100, in particular, has fracture and notch toughness exceeding that of maraging steel (I believe A100 was selected for the landing gear of the F/A-18E/F because the Navy was not satisfied with maraging steel), which makes me wonder if it was ever considered for inclusion into armor packages (even in small amounts) despite its very high price.
  12. Renegade334
    Is friction stir welding a (technologically or economically, take your pick) viable way to mate maraging steel plates (let's say something like 18Ni2400) or does it require extensive side treatment to make sure the crystalline structure is not weakened in and around (HAZ) the weld due to the heat? I also seem to recall reading some time ago that there were concerns about the durability of FSW equipment when working with MS, but I don't know if they're still relevant nowadays.
  13. Renegade334
    Chanced upon this on imgur: an SPG sound suppressor, at the Military Training Area in Meppen, Germany. Vehicle in question is a M109G. EDIT:
  14. Renegade334
    Do you mean this?
  15. Renegade334
    ___
  16. Renegade334
    Looks like a flipped-over FASTDRAW. That turret is guaranteed to have fat cheeks... The XM91 autoloader on the M1 CATTB had 17 rounds and those were 140mm, though that tank was supposed to have TWO extra carousels (22 rounds, folded) inside the hull for reloads:
  17. Renegade334
    That's from the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exposition from March 26-28 (scroll above on this page).
  18. Renegade334
    ^--- ...I...I don't feel so good now. Is there no end to his Gavinitis?
  19. Renegade334
    ^-- Also, the steel-encased part does not reveal whether they are talking about a fully-enclosed NERA package (with the steel possibly acting as shatter plate, unless they have DU front plates to fill that role) that's lowered into the armor cavities or if it merely refers to the cavity walls (the "outer skin" of the turret) being made of steel.
  20. Renegade334
    Wasn't the HAP armor previously described as steel-encased NERA arrays with DU backplates or interstitial DU meshing? Can't remember which piece of literature mentioned it or somewhat alluded to it (maybe DOE, not certain).
  21. Renegade334
    @Ramlaen: did you notice this? IMHO, it's a bit small to be the mystery cylinder on the M1A2C, but it's the right shape. A zoom on that part of the exhibit reveals it to be the Blackstone Vehicle Mount Kit (VMK). https://www.leonardodrs.com/media/6608/blackstone_vm_datasheet.pdf
  22. Renegade334
    To illustrate Ramlaen's explanation: P.S. That is, of course, the old XM8, not the current, up-to-date M8. EDIT: didn't realize Ramlaen had already posted them on the first page, I thought I was just re-posting stuff he had only dropped in the AW forums (RIP, BTW).
  23. Renegade334
    ??? Apparently, the M109A8 won't have an autoloader before 2024. Source I'm a bit confused about the first paragraph, since there are already a couple A8s rolling around...unless they are officially not type-classified as M109E8s but as mere version-agnostic testbeds.
  24. Renegade334
  25. Renegade334
    Given that it has a ring of circular apertures above the main optic, I suspect it's some sort of flash/laser beam detector. Maybe a soft-kill APS component to complement the hard-kill Iron Fist? It's either that or an anti-sniper system (though the latter, like the Raytheon Boomerang, would rely more on microphones, rather than optical sensors, for source triangulation).
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