Approved Tech Skocha-Class Main Battle Tank

[Popo]

Made by: Shimmering-Sword

The Skocha-Class Main Battle Tank

Intent: To provide a high quality Main Battle Tank to interested parties that can fulfill multiple roles on the battlefield and replace top competitor models in the market.
Development Thread: Cash for Guns
Manufacturer: Tenloss Corporation
Affiliation: Tenloss Corporation, Open Market
Modularity: Yes. Tenloss Corporation sells various blaster, heavy repeaters, anti-rocket cages, and various other bolt on additions and modifications for this vehicle.
Production: Limited Production, capable of mass production with sufficient factories and research (Dev Thread for Minor production then another for Mass Production)
Material: Durasteel and other combat armored vehicle construction materials.
Description: Seeing the need for a high quality, powerful Main Battle Tank capable of engaging and reliably destroying targets on the battlefield, the Tenloss Corporation set out to meet this goal. Research into the performance of the J-1 Semi-Autonomous Proton Cannon manufactured by the CIS showed Tenloss engineers exactly what they needed as an effective main cannon. Purchasing the weapon from the CIS minus the walker chassis, the cannon was then mounted into the armored turret of what was to become the Skocha-class Main Battle Tank.

The Skocha was then designed around the weapon. From high powered repulsor lift engines to support the weight of the vehicle to the heavy armor required to protect the tank, the Skocha is the absolute best the Tenloss Corporation has to offer on the ground.

The tank is both simple and effective in all aspects. The tank uses the breach loading proton cannon as the main weapon mounted in the turret. The gunner sits to the right of the vehicle's turret, giving him the ability to engage and destroy enemy targets while stationary or on the move. The loader sits to the left of the tank and hand loads the ammunition into the weapon's breach. The two positions are set primarily for efficiency. Generally speaking, most humans and beings in the galaxy are right handed. This layout allows the gunner to aim from the right side of the vehicle, allowing greater efficiency in both target acquisition and accuracy. The loader sits on the left of the turret while the ammunition hopper sits to his or her right allowing the loader to load and seal the breach with their right hand, increasing loading time and slightly increasing the cannon's rate of fire.

Behind and above the gunner and loader sits the tank commander. Using holoscreens connected to cameras located around the tank turret and hatch, he can observe the battlefield and guide the tank in combat as well as calling targets to the gunner. He also has access to the cupola-mounted repeater blaster from both a controller within the turret or he can open the hatch and manually fire the weapon. The driver sits to the fore of the tank and in front of the turret. From there, he operates the tank through a simple set of controls and foot pedalswhile using holoscreens connected to cameras around the tank to pilot the tank effectively as well as controlling the hull-mounted heavy repeater. The gunner operates both the main cannon and the coaxial heavy repeater.

The tank can accelerate up to 70k/h and utilizes repulsor lift engines to speed across the battlefield. This allows the Skocha to speed over difficult terrain and bypass dangerous ground that would immobilize or slow a similar vehicle using caterpillar treads, walker legs, or wheels. The 70k/h speed also allows the tank to keep pace with other vehicles during an armored assault and to chase down fleeing or retreating enemies, both vehicles and infantry.

The Skocha's heavy armor and ray shields also help maintain the tank's survivability, length of effectiveness, and durability of the vehicle. The thick armor plating measures 300mm thick and features sloped hull plating on the front and sides, maximizing armor protection from kinetic strikes. A combination of composite armor, depleted uranium, and durasteel alloys along with the sloped armor effect gives the tank the ability to shrug off all but the heaviest of guns. A ray shield is mounted on the fusion engine which powers both the engine and the ray shields on board the tank, propelling the tank forward and offering protection against energy attacks.

Overall, the Skocha tank is highly effective, efficient, and very, very dangerous on the field. It is, however, not without it's flaws.

Primarily, the tank is very heavy and complex to produce. Mass production is difficult and so the tank is currently only offered on limited production status. Also, should the engines be disabled, the tank will obviously be immobilized completely until the repairs are completed, which takes a time from 3-5 hours in a dedicated facility or up to 8-10 hours in the field due to the engine's complex fusion bottle and repulsor lift system. The cannon, while powerful, is slow to fire as each shell is hand loaded into the weapon's breach. No automation is installed at this time due to the bulky engine and ray shield generator mounted inside the rear hull of the Skocha. Also, because the ray shield is powered from the same source as the repulsor lift, the more power that is drawn for speed, the less power is available for the shields. This means that at maximum speed, the shields can only withstand a few anti-tank energy shots before the shield fails. At a stand still, the shield can take multiple rounds, usually a few minutes of sustained fire, before failing. Also, should the fusion bottle powering the tank become damaged or ruptured in combat, the tank has a decent chance at exploding. This danger also exists should penetrating damage hit the hopper of shells for the proton cannon.


Role: Main Battle Tank
Height: 2.5m
Length: 8m Hull Length, 10m Total Length with Barrel Forward
Width: 3.7m
Weight: 65 tonnes
Minimum Crew: 1 Driver, 1 Gunner/Commander, 1 Loader (3 total)
Optimal Crew: 1 Driver, 1 Gunner, 1 Loader, 1 Commander (4)
Propulsion: Repulsor lift
Top Speed: 70km/hour
Armaments:

1x Proton Cannon (turret mounted)
- Maximum Effective Range of 4,000m on Average
1x Hull-mounted, Forward arc Heavy Repeating Blaster
1x Coaxial, Turret-mounted Heavy Repeating Blaster
1x Cupola-mounted Heavy Repeating Blaster
- Maximum Effective Range of 2,000m on Average

Armor Effectiveness:

Against Regular Armor Piercing Rounds - 800mm
Against High Explosive Rounds (HESH) - 1600mm
Against Energy Rounds (With Weak/Inactive Ray Shield) - 800mm
Against Energy Rounds (With Maximized Ray Shield) - 1500mm

Against Kinetic Weapons (Generalized) and Energy Weapons (Shields Maxed):
Turret Front: 10
Turret Sides/Rear: 9
Hull Front/Sides: 9
Hull Rear: 8
Hull Top/Bottom: 7

Against Energy Weapons (Low/Inactive Shields)
Turret Front: 9
Turret Sides/Rear: 8
Hull Front/Sides: 8
Hull Rear: 7
Hull Top/Bottom: 6

Passenger Capacity: No passengers internally, though up to six may ride on top of the vehicle at personal risk.
Cargo Capacity: None aside from standard load out of weapons, ammo, and the crew's personal gear.
Misc. Equipment:

Standard Targeter
Standard Sensors
IFF Indicator
Standard Tracking Suite
Standard On-Board Computer System
Standard Damage Control Systems

 

[War Hydra]

We've talked about this and I was almost going to approve it flat out. It is a very detailed and well thought-out submission.

But I have an issue with those "Armor Effectiveness" values. You put a lot of thought and research into this, but I'm going to need you to translate those armor values into 'game' terminology. Body armor typically goes from tier 1 to tier 10. With... almost no tier 10 armors being approved.

On a 1-30 scale, with 30 being Flagship grade Starship Armor... what effectiveness would you rate your armor as?

 

[Popo]

@[member="War Hydra"]
Honestly never thought about that in the sense of starship grade. The body armor classification would be easier for me if that's okay. Using that I'd say it'd be broken down like so:

Against Kinetic Weapons (Generalized) and Energy Weapons (Shields Maxed):
Turret Front: 10
Turret Sides/Rear: 9
Hull Front/Sides: 9
Hull Rear: 8
Hull Top/Bottom: 8

Against Energy Weapons (Low/Inactive Shields)
Turret Front: 9
Turret Sides/Rear: 8
Hull Front/Sides: 8
Hull Rear: 7
Hull Top/Bottom: 7

My reasoning for the rate of 10 on the Turret front is because, traditionally IRL and canonically in SW (also common sense from a design concept point), is that the turret is the most heavily armored point of the vehicle so as to protect the main gun. The gun can still operate and fire normally even when the hull is damaged or generally rendered inoperable. As for the rest, I feel it matches what a heavy, main line tank would field as armor with a leaning towards defense against kinetics with a ray shield to reinforce the armor against energy based attacks.

 

[War Hydra]

Keep in mind that these things should be very, very expensive. Otherwise, I can't find any mechanical fault with the submission. So approved on my end.

 

[Asemir]

I think this looks good, with application from RL studies. However, I'd prefer to see the hull top/bottom armor ratings be dropped down one or two rating points because these are traditionally the weakest portion of any armor on a tank. In fact, if we were to use RL values, the rating for the hull top/bottom would probably be 2-3. But I think dropping by 1-2 for this submission is fine. Your choice on how much to drop it by, depending on flavor and all.

In any case, otherwise, this looks great. I like the detail, as well as the attempt to use RL measurements of armor (X mm of RHA) to try to quantify the protection values.

Please tag me in your reply. Thanks!

 

[Popo]

@[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]
Edits made. I also made a few edits not asked for. Mainly correcting a few typos in the sub, adding a link to the J-1, and I somehow left the "heavy" in "Heavy Repeating Blaster" on one of the weapons mounted on the tank.

 

[Asemir]

Approved!