Leopard as Urban Fighting Vehicle?

[Kirkhill]

....they don't have any air and artillery capability...

Air superiority.... Magic.  It makes all sorts of things possible.

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

One of the Russian Lessons Learned from Chechnya was that BMP's and BTR's were particularly vulnerable to the ubiquitous RPG-7.  Their solution was the BMP-4.  It is an up armoured APC, created from a T-54/55 chassis.

I'll try to find a picture.

 

[Infanteer]

I think the Israeli's have the same idea from their experience in the Occupied Territories.

 

[McG]

Their solution was the BMP-4.   It is an up armoured APC, created from a T-54/55 chassis.

Something like this proposal: Future uses of the Leopard: APC, AD, FIBUA tanks, etc (Idea Feasibility?) 

 

[a_majoor]

Heavy APCs and fire support vehicles are one way to fight and win in the urban battlefield. You could also use light infantry infiltrating the AOR and sniping the bad guys, but this doesn't generate lots of momentum.

Some heavy APC's are the Israeli Achzarit and Russian BTR-T, but lots of armies are experimenting along these lines. The most extreme example I have seen was a Ukrainian vehicle based on a T-80 with the engine compartment rearranged and several infantrymen wedged in the open space....The Italian Centurio can also be modified by removing some of the rear stowage racks and seating four infantrymen as well.

 

[Kirkhill]

More on the 120mm M1028 canister round - Deployed.

Big Boost to Battlefield Operations
 
 
(Source: US Army; issued Dec. 5, 2005)
 
 
FORT KNOX, Ky. --- While the booming sounds of a 120mm tank main gun firing on Cedar Creek Range were familiar, the type of tank round being fired was very unique. 

The 16th Cavalry Regiment provided a live fire demonstration of the first M1028 canister rounds at Fort Knox, Nov. 10. The canister round is the newest 120mm tank main gun ammunition now available to the Armor Force, and has been deployed in the Middle East. 

According to Maj. Kevin Parker, the S-3 of the 16th Cav., the purpose of the demonstration was to provide trainers with the opportunity to see close up the unique capability of the canister round. 

New round flexibility 

While the canister round is not the heaviest tank main gun round in the inventory, its size and weight distribution does make handling and loading the round a bit unique. 

Soldiers and Marines who have handled and fired the round in preparation for deployment to Iraq have said that with a bit of practice the round can be handled in much the same way as the other 120mm rounds in the inventory. 

Fort Knox senior leaders, including Fort Knox Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Williams and post Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Albert Bryant attended the demonstration. 

"Since the inception of the 120mm-armed Abrams tank, we have lacked a true anti-personnel weapon system. The M1028 canister round has satisfied that need," said Bryant. "A documented operational need for such a round has long existed in Korea. Operations in Somalia and now in Afghanistan and Iraq have demonstrated that the requirement also exists for stability operations. 

"The M1028 canister round provides the tanker in the field with another option to defeat the enemy and protect our troops." 

Battlefield promise 

"The canister round was awesome," according to Staff Sgt. Michael Hill and Sgt. Daniel Miller, of Troop B, 1-16th Cav., who were part of the firing crew. They said the round would be great for tankers confronted by massed enemy troops, inflicting massive casualties and providing a shock effect which will certainly make other enemy troops think twice before continuing their attack. 

"We know the canister round will be able to defeat enemy dismounted troops, no question," said Williams. Based on this demonstration, it is clear that it can also defeat other obstacles, such as wall barriers, during the close in fight. The good news for the tanker is that while the enemy can still run, the canister round will make sure they can't hide." 

-ends- 

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.16851726.1133540294.Q5BzxsOa9dUAAHeSPdQ&modele=jdc_34

 

[a_majoor]

If 120mm cannister isn't your thing, the Russian's have an alternative idea: the Tank Support Combat Vehicle.

The turret mounts 2 X 30mm automatic cannons, 4 X ATGMs and co-axial machine guns, and I read one description which suggested that 30mm AGLs could be fitted (possibly to replace the MGs). This is a rolling fire base, although I personally think you could get almost the same results more easily with a tank. (Russian tanks can fire through tube missiles, so they don't even loose the ATGM). The BMP-3 mounts a 100mm cannon, a coaxial 30mm, a co-axial GPMG and can carry a roof mounted ATGM (although is lacking in armour compared to the tank).

 

[McG]

Has the picture been Photoshopped?

 

[a_majoor]

Has the picture been Photoshopped?

I can't speak for this particular picture, but the vehicle is quite real, and can be read about in detail in Jane's and other reputable sources.

The Russians came up with this solution based on their unfortunate experience in Chechnya, so their interpretation of fighting in complex terrain suggests special support vehicles to suppliment tanks are required to prevail. (Knowing the Russians, they will use infantry plus tanks, plus special support vehicles, PLUS bucketloads of artillery, along with flame and thermobaric weapons and air support for any sort of terrain).

 

[McG]

I can't speak for this particular picture, but the vehicle is quite real, and can be read about in detail in Jane's and other reputable sources.

It's the picture I'm questioning (I know the vehicle exists) because the missile tubes look a little pixelated & more numerous than I recall.