StuG III Thread (and also other German vehicles I guess)

[SH_MM]

Some info regarding Rheinmetall's KF41 Lynx based on the current Wehrtechnische Report of the Mittler Report Verlag:

 

The Lance 2.0 turret is being offered with two configurations; internal missile launcher (probably the one designed in cooperation with SupaShock for Australia) and the already show-cased confiugration with two external mission pods. Apparently one configuration envisioned by Rheinmetall is to use one mission pod for a dampened dual launcher of Spike-LR ATGMs, while the other is to be fitted with an electronic warfare package.

 

When fitted with the MK30-2/ABM autocannon, the elevation range is -10° to +45°. There is storage for 252 ready rounds, reloading under armor is possible from the gunner's seat via a hatch. Main gun ammo and anti-tank missiles are stored in compartments separated from the crew in order to increase post-penetration survivability; no idea if there are blow-out panels. The 30 x 173 mm KETF ammunition is the only 30 mm airburst ammunition that has been fully qualified to NATO standards, but for customers wanting cheaper ammunition, a HEI-T and a SAPPIE-T round have been developed. Secondary armament is a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun with 750 rounds. The electrically-powered Wotan 35 gun is still not fínished, but will be available in the near future.

 

Rheinmetall has developed the SEOSS-2 as successor for the current SEOSS sight. The basic functionality (LRF, daylight camera and thermal imager; all signals are transmitted electronically to the FCS & displays) is comparable to the original model, but sensor resolution has been improved. The SEOSS-2S (sector) designed for use as a gunner's sight has 15° traverse (-7.5° to +7.5°) and covers elevation from -13° to 70°. The SEOSS-P (panorama) provides the same elevation, but 360° traverse. It can be fitted with a ballistic cover for protection according to STANAG 4569 Level 3. The SEOSS-2P can be adapted to act as RWS as part of the Main Sensor Slaved Armament (MSSA). The fire control system of the KF41 Lynx includes features for automatic target detection and target tracking.

 

As already mentioned in the LAND 400 topic, the Lynx makes use of a six-cylinder in-line diesel engine from Liebherr with 18 litres of displacement and double turbo-chargers to reach a boost output of 850 kW and a constant 800 kW. Between 1,200 and 1,900 rpm, the torque is constant at 4,300 Nm. Maximum engine speed is 2,300 rpm. The transmission is Renk's excellent HSWL-256 as fitted to the Puma IFV and the AJAX family of vehicles.

 

The current situational awarenss system from Rheinmetall uses the SCM 60 (surveillance camera module) that is also part of the Boxer CRV and the Puma S1 upgrade. It combines a 1,600 x 800 pixel daylight camera and a 640 x 480 pixel thermal imager with a 60° fíeld of view. The Lance 2.0 turret features six SCM 60 modules. The software allows fusing the outputs of thermal and daylight optics together. The driver's night sight is the RFEL Trailblazer.

 

They Lynx makes uses of Rheinmetall's xGVA, which is fully compatible with the NGVA (NATO STANAG 4754), the older and less comprehensive British DefStan 23-09 GVA and the DEF (AUST) 11316 Australian GVA.

 

While Rheinmetall has only showcased one configuration of the Lynx, the company is willing to adapt to the customer. Both its own Ragnarok mortar and the Patria Nemo turret are available. Likewise steel tracks or Soucy's rubber band CRTs are available, though the later only support a GVW of up to 47 tons. Armor concepts are also designed for a wide range of threats including passive and active protection (i.e. ADS as hybrid protection module) systems against RPGs and top-attack threats.

[MoritzPTK]

Small follow-up to the last post.

 

Here are some pictures from the inside of the Lynx, i thought i may share it as there hasn't been much shown of the internals.

Very clean and tidy if you ask me.

 

 

 

[SH_MM]

7 hours ago, MoritzPTK said:

Small follow-up to the last post.

 

Here are some pictures from the inside of the Lynx, i thought i may share it as there hasn't been much shown of the internals.

Very clean and tidy if you ask me.

 

There are also photos from the interior of the turret. Unfortunately the image resolution on the pdf versions is always so low...

[DIADES]

11 hours ago, SH_MM said:

Rheinmetall's xGVA, which is fully compatible with the NGVA (NATO STANAG 4754), the older and less comprehensive British DefStan 23-09 GVA and the DEF (AUST) 11316 Australian GVA.

Hilarious - the G in all these is Generic.....  The intent always was exactly that - generic.  Yet here we go with manufacturer and organizational unique "generic" architectures

 

[DIADES]

11 hours ago, SH_MM said:

The electrically-powered Wotan 35 gun is still not fínished, but will be available in the near future.

I;ll bet they have dug up and jumpstarted the 50mm program too.

[SH_MM]

2 hours ago, DIADES said:

Hilarious - the G in all these is Generic.....  The intent always was exactly that - generic.  Yet here we go with manufacturer and organizational unique "generic" architectures

 

The US also has its own standard, though it is also to some extend compatible with the NGVA. The problem is that the UK and the United States didn't want to wait for a NATO standard and started their own project(s), then split up and went into different directions.

 

The UK ended up with LOSA (Land Open System Architecture) that contains their GVA (DEF-STAN 23-13). The US ended up with Vehicle Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY). Meanwhile NATO - in form of OCCAR - searched for a common GVA as part as the LAVOSAR I (Land Vehicle With Open System) project, with further enhancements being added by the LAVOSAR II project. The winner of the open tenders for LAVOSAR I and LAVOSAR II was Rheinmetall, which leveraged most of its experience gathered with Boxer and Puma, while also making changes to Puma. Funnily enough the LAVOSAR project was initiated on behalf of the MILVA (Military Vectronics Association) which includes both the UK and the United States...

 

LAVOSAR became standardized by NATO as STANAG 4754 and has since been called NGVA; the Puma IFV is the first NGVA compliant vehicle.

 

LOSA, VICTORY and NGVA are all interoperable to a certain standard, but NGVA encompasses more stuff (incl. common interfaces for active protection systems and unmanned systems). Apparently VICTORY also requires some hardware changes - at least some companies are offering parts compatible with LOSA/NGVA and separate parts for VICTORY. No idea how AS GVA (Australian GVA) fits into the picture.

 

 

Interoperability between different countries is the last step of fully adopting a GVA. First step is interoperability of all components within a vehicle, followed by adopting the common GVA for all vehicles in a country.

[SH_MM]

[Beer]

Can you post some information about that prototype for us who don't know it? Thanks. 

[MoritzPTK]

6 hours ago, Beer said:

Can you post some information about that prototype for us who don't know it? Thanks. 

 

Maybe me knowledge will suffice as well.

 

This is the VT-001 (Versuchsträger) prototype of the Marder 2 vehicle.

With the introduction of the Leopard 2 there was a need for a new IFV that could keep up with the MBT, both from a mobility and technology standpoint. The German army then put the „Kampfwagen 90“ to life. The requirements were then given to the manufacturers (KMW main contractor) to come up with an offer. Main requirements were for the vehicle to carry at least 7 grenadiers and to protect them against 30mm AP(DS) munitions on the frontal arc.

 

In theory the armor concept was to be modular, but due to the heavy weight (44t) this was wishful thinking. The armor made the vehicle immune to 14.5mm AP all around, with the already mentioned 30mm protection on the front. It also had a spall liner.

 

The main armament (found in the rather cramped 2 man turret) was the Rh503 35mm external propulsion gun.

 

 

An innovative concept with quite a lot of firepower for its time (even upgradeable to 50mm if the need arises) with then newly developed Oerlikon APFSDS rounds and just like the modern Puma it had a programmable HE round against infantry. While the Marder 2 for some reason had no anti tank missiles, a major upside compared to the Marder 1 was that the gun now was fully stabilized.

 

Powering the Marder 2 was carried out by the 1000hp MTU Ka-500 from the Pzh2000 and the same gearbox from Renk which is also used on the SPH. The propulsion allowed for top speed of 60km/h (which produced an unpleasant sound for the passengers). In contrast to the Puma the Marder 2 relied on a torsion bar suspension system.

 

The fire control computer was a modified version of the ATLAS FLT2 found on the Leopard 2. 

The gunner was supposed to use the PERI-ZTWL sight, which was very similar to the EMES-15 (Both with the same daylight cameras and WBG-X thermal imager).

The commander had the PERI-RT 60 periscopic daysight (No dedicated thermal imager, just access to the gunners view).

 

While the vehicle was technically ready for mass production, the end of the Cold War (like so often) ultimately was the reason for the cancellation of the program.

 

The only existing prototype now is displayed at the WTS Koblenz. A disappointing end to a maybe overweight and simple, yet very powerful and (in contrast to Puma) maintainable machine.

 

 

I hope i was able to portrait it in an interesting manner, if there are still questions about the vehicle that i cannot answer, i can ask a curator at the WTS 

 

[DIADES]

On 9/6/2020 at 8:13 PM, SH_MM said:

Interoperability between different countries is the last step of fully adopting a GVA. First step is interoperability of all components within a vehicle, followed by adopting the common GVA for all vehicles in a country.

Australia already has two nascent GVA so it will be a long time before we converge.

[skylancer-3441]

18 hours ago, Beer said:

Can you post some information about that prototype for us who don't know it? Thanks. 

more pics and articles on Marder 2 there 

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/yzkG/2HxFV6VYL

and on Rh503 autocannon - there

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/igBF/3GkB7DgKw

[SH_MM]

19 hours ago, Beer said:

Can you post some information about that prototype for us who don't know it? Thanks. 

 

Sorry, I expected the Marder 2 to be well known to all posters. The others have provided plenty of informations, but here are the official specs from the old BWB website (the new website of the BAAINBw unfortunately lacks many details):

Spoiler

 

[SH_MM]

Puma and Puma VJTF 2023 being compared by the Bundeswehr's Amt für Heeresentwicklung:

 

 

A few issues have been identified and will be/have to fixed before 2023. But confidence in the Puma has been increased.

 

https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/heer/aktuelles/die-alles-pruefer-vom-amt-2121510

 

[SH_MM]

Fuchs PARA RASIT, i.e. reconnaissance variant  with radar system.

 

 

[David Moyes]

Hungarian Government confirms Lynx KF41 numbers: 218 vehicles, 172 built locally
 

 

[SH_MM]

[SH_MM]

 

[Beer]

13 hours ago, David Moyes said:

Hungarian Government confirms Lynx KF41 numbers: 218 vehicles, 172 built locally

 

They buy also 9 Buffalo ARV. 

[heretic88]

On 9/10/2020 at 2:19 AM, David Moyes said:

Hungarian Government confirms Lynx KF41 numbers: 218 vehicles, 172 built locally

We also agreed upon the place of the factory, near Zalaegerszeg (western part of the country). Additionally, it will include an R&D department too. The whole complex will create about 500 jobs, total cost will be around 168,000,000 EUR.

Source (hungarian gibberish, but I'll include it anyway)

https://honvedelem.hu/hirek/lynx-magyar-gyartas-magyar-fejlesztes.html

[LoooSeR]

   Maus tech documentation PDF in this link:

https://thedeaddistrict.blogspot.com/2020/09/maus-tank-document-manual-in-english.html

 

   Some pics:

 

Spoiler

 

 

[skylancer-3441]

On 9/10/2020 at 5:04 PM, SH_MM said:

 

 

 

[MoritzPTK]

Technology demonstrator APC with hybrid propulsion

Made by FFG Flensburg

 

https://soldat-und-technik.de/2020/09/mobilitaet/23977/genesis-funktionsfaehiger-vollhybrid-technologie-demonstrator-von-ffg/

 

[SH_MM]

 

The new Kongsberg turret is really interesting. Also seems like an/the upgraded Wiesel 1 was also showcased at the event.

 

 

[MoritzPTK]

7 minutes ago, SH_MM said:

The new Kongsberg turret is really interesting. Also seems like an/the upgraded Wiesel 1 was also showcased at the event.

Apparently together with a new version of the PMMC 5 (M113 Rework) with drones, new software and new protection modules

 

[SH_MM]

The protection modules seem old. Also from Felix Woessner's twitter:

 

The PMMC G5 is supposed to act as command post for drone operations.