General Characteristics
The Vehicle is based off of the CV-90-120.
Combat Vehicle 90 represents a family of armoured combat vehicles developed by BAE Systems Land Systems Hagglunds (formerly Alvis Hägglunds) of Örnsköldsvik and Saab Bofors Dynamics of Karlskoga, Sweden. Land Systems Hägglunds builds the chassis and Saab Bofors supplies the turret.
The development of the CV90 began in 1984 in response to the requirements outlined by the Swedish Army for a family of armoured combat vehicles with high tactical and strategic mobility, air defence and anti-tank capability, high survivability and protection. Production began in 1993 and over 1,170 vehicles have been ordered. The 1,000th vehicle was delivered in January 2009. The CV90 is in service with the armies of Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
CV90-120-TThe CV90120-T is a light tank which has a Hagglund turret mounted on the latest CV90 chassis. RUAG Land Systems of Switzerland has developed the fully stabilised 120mm high-pressure smoothbore CTG 120/L50 gun, which has a rate of fire of up to 14 rounds a minute.
Saab Systems of Sweden has developed the fire control system, UTAAS, and the panoramic low-signature commander's sight which give the tank hunter / killer capability.
The tank's battlefield management system is based on fully integrated, scalable and open electronic architecture and a video network with displays at each crew station.
"The CV9035 mkIII features a Bushmaster III 35/50 cannon."
The tank's defensive aids suite (DAS) includes laser, radar and missile approach warners, as well as a MSA (multi-spectral aerosols) active countermeasure system with top attack radar that can identify smart indirect munitions. Survivability is further enhanced by the stealth turret design and radar absorbing track skirts.
Changes
The Armor of the vehicle is extraordinarily well equipped to deal with repeated attacks from small arms weapons. While it is somewhat lacking in Anti-Tank munition protection, it is fully capable of withstanding at least one attack from most Anti-Tank munitions on a two by two meter block of armor.
These tanks, however, are intended to be Tank Hunter/Killers which are incredibly swift and use low recognition technology to essentially hide, shock, and remove most heavily armored threats. They were initially intended to be extraordinarily useful Anti Infantry and Light Armored vehicles, making their ability to hunt and kill heavy tanks more or less an addition to their nearly unmatched Anti-Light armor and Infantry capabilities.
One of Hurtubise's latest projects has been the creation of a new paste that he's called 1313 and believes could be put to good military use. It is a mixture of all his previous concoctions applied to a kevlar fiber pad and then subjected to high pressure for the period of a day in a press. The result is a board or tile-like panel. The panel is placed in layers with other materials such as tiles. The resulting composite material can withstand a direct assault by shotgun slugs, rifle fire, and enough high explosive to demolish a car, yet is quite inexpensive to manufacture.
At an enthusiastic demonstration taped by Daily Planet, Hurtubise displayed its capability to a Canadian military observer. In one of Hurtubise's demonstrations, the composite material was placed in cushions meant to be placed over the outside of a Humvee. In the tests, the material successfully blocked explosive charges greater than those of a rocket propelled grenade, although they were not shaped charges, and was able to block shot after shot on exactly the same point of impact by a sniper rifle (which is a feat no material in use by the U.S. nor any other military has matched in public demonstrations).
It is Hurtubise's desire to see military vehicles, currently in service in Afghanistan, equipped with such protection in order to stand up to a landmine explosion, which has already claimed the lives of Canadian soldiers serving there. That, along with his younger brother serving in the Canadian military, inspired the creation of 1313.
Firepaste, in paticular is a white paste that, when dry, is flame and heat resistant. It has a consistency and texture similar to clay when wet, and dries to become like a gray ceramic that looks like concrete. The impetus for firepaste came from a failed fire test with the Ursus Mark VII where the metal exoskeleton heated up, popped the air bags and left Hurtubise with numerous burns. Like Project Grizzly, Hurtubise has tested the material on himself. For a dramatic demonstration for the media and the military in summer 2004, he made a thin mask of the material, put it over his face, and aimed a specialized blowtorch at thousands of degrees directly at the mask. The temperature was intentionally much hotter than the temperatures reached by the Space Shuttle on reentry. A thermometer located between his face and the mask measured no appreciable temperature change below the mask after nearly ten minutes, and the integrity of the material stood strong.
Hurtubise is protective of ingredients for his concoction, but during a segment aired on Discovery Channel's daily news show Daily Planet, he revealed one secret to be Diet Coke. Images from electron microscopes show that the particles in the paste are very porous, which makes it a good insulator. Other tests showed the paste contained lithium and bromine, bound into compounds in the paste. Microscopically, it looks like a diatom absorbent, such as kitty-litter or any common industrial oil absorbent.
The result is a light weight, six inch outer layer of material capable of stopping all light armored threats, Rocket Propelled grenades, Incendiary and explosive munitions, and practically every type of round up to 30mm Depleted Uranium rounds; nearly indefinitely. The armor retains it's protective qualities after exposure to hundreds of rounds, and severely decreases the damage done to the vehicle by all small arms munitions.
Directly beneath this armor, is three inches of Rolled Homogeneous high Carbon Vanadium Stainless Steel, similar to the kind found in the
M3A1. While Heavy, this armor ensures a strong base and defensive protection against any heavy munitions capable of getting through the outer layer of material.
Chobham ArmorThe Next layer of armor, behind the RHA, is kind of
Chobham Armor. Although the exact construction details of the Chobham Common Armour remain a secret, it essentially armor being composed of ceramic tiles encased within a metal matrix and bonded to a backing plate and several elastic layers. Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against shaped charges such as high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators.
Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against a shaped charge jet and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators (KE-penetrators). The (pulverised) ceramic also strongly abrades any penetrator. Against lighter projectiles the hardness of the tiles causes a "shatter gap" effect: a higher velocity will within a certain velocity range (the "gap") not lead to a deeper penetration but destroy the projectile itself instead. Because the ceramic is so brittle the entrance channel of a shaped charge jet is not smooth — as it would be when penetrating a metal — but ragged, causing extreme asymmetric pressures which disturb the geometry of the jet, on which its penetrative capabilities are critically dependent as its mass is relatively low. This initiates a vicious circle as the disturbed jet causes still greater irregularities in the ceramic, until in the end it is defeated. The newer composites, though tougher, optimise this effect as tiles made with them have a layered internal structure conducive to it, causing "crack deflection". This mechanism using the jet's own energy against it, has caused some to compare the effects of Chobham to those of reactive armour. This should not be confused with the effect used in many laminate armours of any kind: that of sandwiching an inert but soft elastic material such as rubber, between two of the armour plates. The impact of either a shaped charge jet or long-rod penetrator after the first layer has been perforated and while the rubber layer is being penetrated will cause the rubber to deform and expand, so deforming both the back and front plates. Both attack methods will suffer from obstruction to their expected paths, so experiencing a greater thickness of armour than there is nominally, thus lowering penetration. Also for rod penetrations, the transverse force experienced due to the deformation may cause the rod to shatter, bend, or just change its path, again lowering penetration.
4 inch by 4 inch square
Boron Carbide ceramic tiles are suspended in a Titanium 6AL-4V metal Matrix, a titanium alloy with 6% aluminium and 4%
Vanadium. While expensive, and the Boron Carbide is more brittle than usual Tank Ceramic tiles, it offers superior results in terms of weight for the Vehicle. While the Boron Carbide is better at stopping single munitions, it's extreme brittleness causes it to be less Resilient. Still, the Armor is sufficient in stopping high grade munitions, and becuase it is placed behind armor with better "Endurance" or longevity, it's usefulness extends into it's expected Armor necessity.
Behind the Chobam Armor is essentially
Perforated Armor, or spaced armor. What it intends to do is provide space after the Ceramic and Metal matrix to allow an area for the rounds to break up or fall apart after impact, greatly reducing it's power. A foot behind the ceramic armor, is 3 inches of the same Rolled Homogeneous high Carbon Vanadium Stainless Steel found in the M3A1, designed to be the last defense against munitions. It is rather effective at stopping any "Broken up pieces" of an explosive or Kinetic Penetrate, and basically serves as material to "Catch" the smaller fragments of the much larger projectile. This type of armor mostly being empty space, it provides an extremely light weight (though somewhat voluminous) and effective type of armor, even though better types exist.
