A Combat Vehicle Design Systemby Paul A. AllcockWhat follows is an integrated design system capable of resulting in real-world figures for AFV designs of your own choosing. Minimum equipment is a brain and a calculator or set of log tables (does anybodyactually remember them?) along with a scratch pad. Note that while the results are 'real-world' figures,e.g. millimetres, kilometres-per-hour, rounds-per-minute etc. any one parameter taken out of context willNOT work. For example the gun weight ONLY refers to the gun as installed as a total part of the vehiclesystem, likewise the electronics costs etc. The maths may appear daunting but they've been checked andvetted by Jim Webster who's professed a mathematical ineptitude to me and still come up with his firstdesign inside of an hour. The example given at each stage is Jim's.A: GUNTo paraphrase Mrs. Beeton; first, choose your calibre. There appears to be no real limit on your choice,and maybe some reasons why you should go for a weird figure. (note 1).For all guns take the calibre in millimetres and raise to the power of 1,8. For Rifled weapons divide by1,83, for smoothbores divide by 2,25 and for Gun/Launchers (as per M551 and M60A1E2) divide by 5.(Note 2). Autocannon are calculated as Rifled, and should be classed as having a rapid-fire Autoloader (See Section B). Co-Ax machine guns and a loader's mg we can take for granted I think.Summary:Rifled:Weight = (Cal mm
1,8
)/ 1,9 kilogrammes.Smoothbore:Weight = (Cal mm
1,8
)/ 2,4 kilogrammes.Gun/Launcher:Weight = (Cal mm
1,8
)/ 5 kilogrammes.Rate Of Fire is found by dividing 50 by the square root of the calibre in millimetres and rounding.ROF:50/(Cal
1/2
) round to nearest whole number Rounds per Minute.For Reconnaissance vehicle type weapons that use ONLY HE, HESH and HEAT rounds the followingapplies as a modifier to the calculations for weight (Section A, above) and Muzzle Velocity (Section M,below). This allows the use of a low-recoil low-pressure weapon for light vehicles, e.g. GIAT 105mm andthe Cockerill 90mm. This also covers Artillery barrels.LP Tube:(Except Gun/Launcher) Weight, Muzzle Velocity & Cost x 0.7 .So let's start. Jim requires an MBT with a large gun, so he picked 150mm, and he wants it rifled. 150raised to the power of 1,8 is 8259,7; divide by 1,83 gives 4 513,5 kg for the gun.B: AUTOLOADERFor a standard Autoloader just calculate the weight as per below, for a rapid-fire or burst-fire autoloader square the ROF given above and add 50% to the calculated Autoloader weight.Weight:Gun Wt
1/1,5
kilogrammes.ROF:ROF
2
Rapid/ Burst Fire only.Example: Nobody fancies loading a 150mm by hand so the weight is that of the gun raised to the power of 1/1,5. This is a tidy way of saying raised to the power of 0,6 recurring. The autoloader weighs 273 kg. Itgives a rate of fire of 4 rounds per minute.C: MORTARAccording to an article in an old Armed Forces magazine and some of Simpkin's books future AFVs maysplit the main gun roles between different weapons. The main gun will be purely a tank-killer while the HErole will be farmed out to a mortar, mounted in the turret, and the anti-APC/ MICV/ soft-skin killing will bedone by an auto-cannon, also turret-mounted. The auto-cannon is as per main gun calculations, themortar as below. Mortar Autoloaders are as above.Weight:(Square root of Calibre /3)
3
kilogrammes.Example: No mortar is required, as a 150mm gun is perfectly capable of firing an acceptable HE round.D: TURRETHaving chosen your gun you must now pick something to fit it into. There are six types of gun 'mount'available; a standard turret (3 man), a cramped turret (low-profile 3 man), a 2 man turret, a one man lightweapon (machine-gun or autocannon) turret, an artillery casemate and an external mount. The differencebetween the first three (apart from the fact that a two-man turret of necessity requires an autoloader) only
applies for 1) campaign games (where a four-man crew can maintain a vehicle better than a three-mancrew) and for the actual appearance when you draw up and scratch-build your world-beating design.Firstly decide upon the Armour Basis, i.e. the average of the total Effective Ballistic Thicknesses on allfive turret faces: Front, both sides, rear and top. (Note 4). (See also remarks in the next section). Externalmounts are not armoured as such and therefore are not calculated in the same manner. Note that if thearmour is spaced (as built-in) then the average Basis counts as 25mm higher, and with Chobham armour the Basis counts as 50mm thicker.Basis = Total thickness required for Top, Side, Side, Rear, Front divided by 5.Spaced Armour =Basis+25 for weight.Chobham Armour =Basis+50 for weight.Casemate:Weight = Basis
1,9
kilogrammesStandard:Weight = Basis
1,7
kilogrammes.Cramped:Weight = Basis
1,6
kilogrammes.2 Man:Weight = Basis
1,5
kilogrammes.MG Turret:Weight = Basis
1.4
kilogrammes.External MountWeight = 1,25x (Gun + Autoloader) kilogrammes.Example: The vehicle is required to have a standard turret, after all it's a big gun. Armour will be M-60equivalent at least so we opt for 275mm Chobham. This weighs (275+50) raised to the power of 1,7. Theturret weighs 18 629,5 kg.E: HULLHulls are 'designed' similarly to turrets, i.e. total up the thickness of armour on all six faces and divide by 6to get the basis. There are three types of hull available, standard, cramped (no tank crew over 5'6"!) andexternal mount. Armour may be normal, spaced or Chobham. If using spaced armour (this only applies if the spacing is built-in, not if skirt armour is added later) then add 25 to the basis. If using Chobham add50. For anyone requiring APCs or MICVs then double the number of extra (non-crew) personnel carriedand add to the armour basis.Notes on armour basis and ballistic thickness, the following are ballistically-corrected values for certainAFVs, compare them with figures given in the reference books. All numbers are calculated EffectiveThickness in millimetres. (Note 3).
VehicleGlacisSideRearDeckBellyBasisT-72M1372280942520670BMP-11317516718,5M60A311467070 25? 20?233M113A22388102013
Basis = Total thickness required for Top, Belly, Side, Side, Rear, Front divided by 6.Spaced Armour =Basis+25 for weight.Chobham Armour =Basis+50 for weight.Standard:Weight = 1000x (Basis
1/1,8
) kilogrammes.Cramped:Weight = 1000x (Basis
1/1,9
) kilogrammes.External Mount:Weight = 1000x (Basis
1/1,7
) kilogrammes.Example: A turret that heavy requires a substantial hull, but with slightly thinner armour as a sensiblecommander will operate hull-down. A cramped hull with a 250mm Chobham basis will suffice. (250+50)raised to the power of 1/1,8 (or 0,5 recurring) gives 23,778. Multiply by 1 000 means the hull weighs 23778 kg.F: DRIVE TRAINDrive train selection is simply a matter of choosing your horse-power and multiplying by the number givenbelow. Note that while wheeled vehicles can get along quite nicely thankyou with 150 -250 HP a decent-sized tracked vehicle will be looking for 800 -900 at least. (Note 5).
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4-Wheeled:Weight = HP x 2.0 kilogrammes.6-Wheeled:Weight = HP x 2.2 kilogrammes.8-Wheeled:Weight = HP x 2.4 kilogrammes.Narrow Track Type:Weight = HP x 3.0 kilogrammes.Wide Track Type:Weight = HP x 4.0 kilogrammes.Example: Wide tracks are a must for something the weight of this beast, and a very powerful enginewouldn't go amiss either. Defence Minister Jim asked for 1 000HP, so 4x 1 000 gives 4 000 kg for thepower pack.G: SPEEDFairly obvious, divide the vehicle Horse-Power by Total Vehicle Weight in tonnes(i.e. all the weights of theindividual components above, divided by 1000), multiply by one figure and add or subtract another.4-wheeled:(4,5x(HP/ Total Vehicle Weight)) +55 km/hr 6-wheeled:(4x(HP/ Total Vehicle Weight)) +55 km/hr 8-wheeled:(3,5x(HP/ Total Vehicle Weight)) +55 km/hr Narrow tracked:(3,03x(HP/ Total Vehicle Weight))+4.8 km/hr Wide tracked:(1,8x(HP/ Total Vehicle Weight))+21 km/hr Front Mounted Engine:add 200 mm to the frontal armour value but add 1 to the reliability factor, seeSection L.Speed may be varied at designer's discretion by
±
15%, check new AGILITY.Example: everything gets easier at this point, being reduced to simple multiplication, division and additionor subtraction. Add the weights of the Gun, Autoloader, Turret, Hull and Engine, and divide by 1 000 toturn it into tonnes. The vehicle weighs 51 tonnes (51,194 to be exact). Engine power divided by theWeight then multiplied by 1,8 and added to 21 gives a road speed of 56,2 km/hr. As this is 35 mph we'renot getting anywhere particularly fast, but then again what are tank transporters for?H: AGILITYThis is to calculate the acceleration of the vehicle. Of more importance to actual combat vehicles thanAPCs etc. it has a direct effect on survivability. It doesn't particularly matter about top speed (abovecertain limits), go for acceleration. (note 6). Use weight in tonnes.Wheeled:HP/ Weight x 0,55 km/hr acceleration per moveNarrow track:HP/ Weight x 0,25 km/hr acceleration per moveWide track:HP/ Weight x 0,35 km/hr acceleration per moveBut note that any modifications to speed are doubled, e.g. if speed is altered by 5% then AGILITY altersby 10%.Example: HP divided by Weight multiplied by 0,35 gives an acceleration of 6,8 km/hr per move. Thismeans that our dinosaur will take 8 moves and a bit to reach its top speed of next to nothing. It does,however compare favourably to a T-72, is left standing by the M1 (9,6 gives 7,5 moves to reach 70+) andleaves Chieftains behind in the dust (4,8). There is no real hard and fast rule on what constitutes goodagility. Combat experience has to be the decider, along with sensible tactical use.I: GROUND PRESSURECalculates the cross-country performance of the vehicle. Weight in tonnes.4-Wheeled:Weight/ 186-Wheeled:Weight/ 228-Wheeled:Weight/ 24Narrow track:Weight/ 36Wide track:Weight/ 53Cross-country speed:(0,9+(Ground Pressure x -0,4)) x Speed for tracked vehicles.(0,9+(Ground Pressure x -0,5)) x Speed for wheeled vehiclesExample: 51,194 over 53 gives a ground pressure of 0,966 kg per square centimetre, and a cross-countryspeed of 0,4 times our road speed, or 23,4 km/hr. At 14 mph this virtually constitutes an Infantry Tank in
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the Matilda class. According to Ogorkiewicz (see Bibliography) light armour should be around 0,5 kg/ sq.cm, while MBT are 0,98 or more. OK, we're safe this time, but at around 0,91 vehicles are likely toexperience difficulties in muddy terrain.J: COSTThis is where you find out if your world-beating design actually goes into production, or even gets off thedrawing board. Prices are in pounds sterling, well they would be wouldn't they?Smooth Bore Gun:Calibre x900Rifled Gun:Calibre x1000Gun/ Launcher:Calibre x1100Mortar:Calibre
0,7
x61Drive Train:HP x10Basic Vehicle Cost:Total Vehicle Weight x25000Add 5% per Electronic Item (e.g. Laser Rangefinder, Ballistic Computer, Satellite Navigation etc.)Add 12% if multipurpose (e.g. MICV, or multi-calibre weapons)Add 5% if fitted with Autoloader Add 10% if fitted with a rapid-fire Autoloader, (either/or; do NOT add costs if both are fitted)Add 5% if fitted with a Low Recoil Force (LRF) gun, see Section L.Example: So what does the dinosaur cost? Rifled gun of 150mm = £150 000, drive train = £10 000 andbasic vehicle (Weight x 25 000) = £1 279 850, for a grand total of £1 439 850. Electronics are left, as theysay, as an exercise for the student.K: VEHICLE SIZEDensity of tracked vehicles varies between 597 and 770 kilogrammes per cubic metre, with 665 kg/cu mas an average. For amphibious vehicles a value of 650 kg/ cu m appears to be a maximum. For 4-wheeled vehicles 230 is the limiting factor, and for 6- & 8-wheeled vehicles 400 is the maximum limit for amphibious movement. Wheeled vehicle densities vary between 200 to 300 for 4 wheels, 275 to 400 for 6wheels and 300 to 450 for 8 wheels. Decide upon your density, a higher value meaning a more compactvehicle, of course, and divide the total vehicle weight by the density to get the volume. Divide this volumeby 4,2 for tracked vehicles, 1,9 for 4 wheelers, 2,4 for 6 wheelers and 3,3 for 8 wheelers and take thecube root of the result. This figure is the vehicle's height in metres.Typically tracked vehicles are 1.24 times wider than they are high and 3,35 times longer. Vehicles with 4wheels are about 0.95 times wider, (i.e. they are taller than wide) and 1.97 times longer. 6 wheelers are1,08 times wider and 2,56 times longer while 8 wheelers are 1.07 times their width high and 3,05 timestheir height long.Simple multiplication will render your final vehicle overall dimensions, a certain amount of latitude isallowed as these values are averages. Note that Height is over turret (or gun if external mount) and hullonly for width and length.Example: An amphibious 51-tonner is not a real option, so we'll just make it average density. 51194divided by 665 gives 76,98 cubic metres of volume. To get the height divide the volume by 4,2 and takethe cube root (using Webster mathematics you can raise to the power of 0,333 recurring for the sameeffect) for a height of 2,637 metres. Without doing any fancy adjustments that means the megadeathmobile is 3,270 metres wide and 8,834 metres long, excluding gun and boy racer whip aerials. This size ishardly in the tradition of Russian vehicles (T-54 is 2,4 high 3,27 wide and 6,45 metres long) but would bewell suited to the American army with its 'look at me mum, here I am!' sized tanks of the M-60 type.L: FINISHING TOUCHESAll AFVs break down at some point, and strangely enough it's the same point: just when they're mostneeded. To add spice to the proceedings roll D100 every appearance on the battlefield/ proving ground,and once per hour thereafter, or once per day for strategic games.
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Weight ClassTacticalStrategicTonnes% Failure% Failure15 1 1225 2 1435 3 1745 4 2055 6 2465 8 2875 11 2485 16 4095 23 48105 32 57
Add one weight category if the vehicle has any extra feature (e.g. MICV, multiple weapons, frontalengine). Reduce by 1 category if wheeled (much easier to maintain), to a minimum of weight class 15.Having eventually arrived at a final figure for your AFV it is time to destroy all your hopes and dreams. Asany engineering designer will tell you, what gets manufactured is never quite what got drawn, so here wealter the Weight, (go back and recalculate speed, ground pressure etc.), Reliability (next section so don'tworry too much) and overall Cost. You will note that, as in real life, the opportunities for you to end upworse off are more than those for ending up smelling of roses. Anyway, you can always respond as in reallife -blame the drawing office, as we say in engineering, everything takes longer and costs more.
D10 RollWeightReliabiltyCost0 down 10%down 2down 15%1 down 5%down1down 10%2 no variationno variationdown 5%3 no variationno variationno variation4 no variationno variationno variation5 no variationno variationno variation6 no variationno variationup 5%7 up 5%up 1up 10%8 up 10%up 2up 15%9 up 15%up 3up 20%
As a final upsetting task it should be noted that gun size is limited by vehicle weight, so prepare to losesome performance as you add extra armour to bring the weight up, or reduce the gun calibre. Theproblem may be solved by using a Low Recoil Force (LRF) gun at extra cost. Externally mounted mainguns count as LRF due to fewer constraints placed on recoil stroke, as do Low Velocity weapons. Thechart indicates MINIMUM vehicle weight in tonnes to use a gun of the stated calibre. Gun/ Launchersclass as only half of their calibre and may only fire HE, HEAT and the relevant missile.
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CalibreNormal GunLRF G50 13,4 7,760 17,2 9,870 21,2 12,180 25,5 14,690 29,9 17,1100 34,5 19,7110 39,2 22,4120 44,1 25,2130 49,1 28140 54,2 31150 59,4 33,9160 64,7 37170 70,1 40,1180 75,6 43,2190 81,2 46,4200 86,8 49,6
Example: Looking at this chart shows that for a 150mm gun the minimum vehicle weight is 59,5 tonnes.This means that not only is our dinosaur slow, likely to get bogged down and good-sized target it also fallsover every time someone pulls the trigger. This seems really cruel after Jim has done all the work, so we'llmake an additional proviso; vehicles may carry a gun the next weight class up, but may not fire them tothe side while on any sloping ground. Vehicles carrying a gun TWO weight classes higher may not firethem to the side while on sloping ground OR while moving. So Jim can either recalculate (e.g. go for a130mm gun which would reduce weight and improve performance) or accept this tank which can only fireahead or behind (usual wargaming method holds relatively true here, use the vehicle's diagonals as aguide to fore, sideways and aft) while moving and doesn't like inclines.M: WEAPONSThe weapons used will have their own particular characteristics, i.e. a Panther's 75mm is similar in calibreonly to a Sherman's, so here is where we define those properties. Firstly the weight of the individual roundis calculated:For APCBC rounds the shot diameter is as the gun calibre and weight in kilogrammes is therefore foundby the formula; ((Calibre
3
/ 0,5236)+(Calibre
3
/ 1,5708)) divide by 1 000 000 then multiply by 7,8 for steelrounds or by 19,2 for tungsten. Muzzle velocities are typically in the region of 1514+(Calibre x -6,65)metres per second, which makes very large calibre APCBC rounds not worth it.For APDS rounds the shot diameter is approximately 60% of the calibre, and the penetrator itself islonger; (Diameter
3
/ 0,5236)+(Diameter
3
/ 0,3183) divide by 1 000 000 and multiply by 7,8 for steel roundsor by 19,2 for tungsten. Muzzle velocity for APDS rounds is around 1466,2+(Calibre x -1,08).APFSDS rounds are 28% of the calibre and are much longer; (Diameter
3
/ 0,5236) +(Diameter
3
/ 0,1157)divide by 1 000 000 then multiply by 7,8 for steel rounds, by 19,2 for tungsten or by 18,1 for depleteduranium. (Note 7). APFSDS round muzzle velocity can be calculated by 2844,5+(Calibre x -10,3).For all muzzle velocities I suggest you roll D100 four times, add the first two results and subtract the lasttwo to get a final muzzle velocity in metres per second.Example: a 150mm gun would have a muzzle velocity of 516,5 metres/ sec for full-calibre APCBCrounds, and APFSDS rounds are better fired from smoothbore weapons, so we'll go for APDS. This givesa V
0
(Vee-nought = technical speak for muzzle velocity) of 1304,2 metres per second. It also means thatthe penetrator is 0,6x 150 = 90mm in diameter and weighs 70,7 kilogrammes if made of tungsten, or 28,7kg if steel.PENETRATIONLastly, there's little point working out all the above if you don't know how good your gun is, so below is asimplified formula for armour penetration in millimetres.
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Penetration in mm:((Diameter x20/ 39)x ((Weight x Velocity
2
/ (Diameter
3
)))
1/1,414
)Penetration degrades to a value of:(1-(2.5/ Diameter))
1,414
of the previous figure per 250 metres of range; for example if the diameter is 75mm and the penetration is 100 then the degradation is 0,95. So at0-250 metres the penetration is 1000, at 250-500 it is 953, at 500-750 it is 908,2 and at 750-100 it is 865,5Example: the easiest way to do ANY calculation is to break it down into small chunks, ideally working frominside the brackets outwards. So basic penetration is: Weight x Velocity x Velocity = 70,7 x 1304,2x1304,2 = 120256291,1, divide by diameter cubed (90x 90 x90) =164,96. Raise to power of 1 over 1,414,or 0,707 (whichever you prefer) giving 36,976. Multiply by the diameter and then by 20 over 39 for a resultof 1706,6 mm penetration at the muzzle. This figure reduces to (1-(2.5/ Diameter))
1,414
= 0,98 of itsprevious value for every 250 metres downrange. e.g. 1706,6 at the muzzle, 1673 at 250 metres, 1639 at500 metres etc. With this weapon we aren't going to punch holes in T-72s at 4000 metres, but with thepenetrator being so large we are sure it'll hold its velocity for a long way downrange so we can takevirtually anything from the side at very long range. In fact at 7500 metres the penetration is STILL above50mm. Jim Webster appears to have re-designed the Conqueror! But, happily, with that killing power itdoesn't NEED to move fast or have a good cross-country performance. Fluke or forethought, Jim?Bibliography:Simpkin, Richard: Red Armour: An Examination Of The Soviet Mobile Force ConceptSimpkin, Richard: Mechanised InfantrySimpkin, Richard: Antitank: An Airmechanised Response To Armoured Threats In The 90sOgorkiewicz, Richard: Design & Development Of Fighting VehiclesMessenger, Charles: Observer's Book Of TanksNotes:1) "Viktor Suvorov", the famous pseudonym implies that the USSR picked a different calibre for each newweapon so as to reduce confusion, i.e. 30mm ammo only fits one gun (2A42) as opposed to NATO whohave 30mm ammunition to suit 5 different guns. (He doesn't explain how nobody mixes up 7,62 M'43,7,62 M'08 and 7,62P, but that's Suvorov for you; not entirely accurate). And apparently one reason theRussians chose 82mm as a mortar calibre was so that they could use our 81mm stuff, but we can't usetheirs. How true this is, and how accurate I leave to you.2) I have made smoothbore guns slightly lighter than they would otherwise be, because according toSimpkin a smoothbore gun is worth an extra 10mm in calibre when it comes to APFSDS rounds and is,contrary to popular belief MORE accurate than a rifled barrel. To save factoring all this in I have made itless costly in weight terms to 'buy' a given calibre.3) BMP-1 rear armour is anomalous due to use of the doors as fuel tanks, this gives a double thicknessand the fuel itself as effective armour.4) For more information on effective ballistic thickness see my article 'Mathematics For The Wargamer' inissue 12 of the Society Of 20th Century Wargamers' magazine, The Journal. For more information aboutThe Journal and the SOTCW contact Mark Wheeler, 25 Buttermere, White Court, Black Notley, Essex,CM7 8UY.5) A nice idea is to limit yourself to a maximum HP rating. While engines of up to 500 HP are reasonablycommon they become much harder to get hold of at higher ratings. Turbine engines can provide thepower, but at much higher cost. It may be more realistic to cost engines over 800 HP as half much again,over 900 HP as twice as much again, over 1000 HP as 2,5 times as much, etc.6) Very few tanks will be capable of outrunning an APFSDS round, and not many more will have any realeffect on aim-off factors when travelling at 90 degrees to the line of flight (a T-72 at its claimed top whackof 100 kph will only cover 42 metres while the round aimed at it takes 1,5 seconds or so travelling 2000metres. This is only 6 times its own length and doesn't pose much of a problem to any gunner. So itcomes down to agility which is the ability to change position rapidly. You need the acceleration becausethen you can bung a couple of rounds downrange and get the hell out before the other guy reciprocates.
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This is a definite case of it being better to give than receive. Always have prepared positions to scoot off to, and a high acceleration lets you leave in a hurry.7) APFSDSDU (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) rounds are not quiteas dense as Tungsten APFSDS rounds, thereby not achieving quite the same penetration (about 6% lesstheoretically) but do have the advantage of being pyrophoric, that is they ignite spontaneously on contactwith typical armour and burn at extremely high temperatures.
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