Main battle tank challenge (August 2019)

In 1963 the ailing government of Imerina was overthrown by General Ratsilikaina. His support for the socialist FSN, then in open revolt, led to the establishment of a new Soviet-aligned government. Relations with the United States soured, and the country was soon excluded from American military aid. The existing fleet of M24 Chaffee light tanks fell into disrepair and it became apparent that a replacement was needed. The PT-76 was the obvious answer and an order was placed in 1969. However, tensions were already growing between South Africa and Imerina.

The apartheid regime found few friends in Imerina, a nation which had barely escaped European colonisation. Clandestine support for SWAPO began in 1968 and a number of other organisations opposing the South African sphere of influence eventually received financial aid from Imerina. Over time, the possibility of an armed intervention became less remote. The military knew that the PT-76 would not stand against South Africa’s Centurions, regardless of their current readiness. A new main battle tank was required to supplement the light tanks.

Two options were available: the military could acquire T-55s from the Soviet Union or pursue a domestic tank programme. The government favoured the former. While generally supportive of Imerina’s domestic arms industry, it did not believe in the economic viability of local high-end military production. In general, the officers of the army also wanted the T-55. It could be purchased immediately and was a battle-proven design. Unfortunately, General Ratsilikaina chose to exert his influence and work began on a domestic main battle tank in 1972.

Rakoto Automotive Engineering, Imerina’s leading truck manufacturer, was selected to develop the tank in cooperation with the military. Early designs called for protection equivalent to 310 mm of rolled-homogenous armour across the frontal arc and favoured the D-10 tank gun employed in the T-55. Such an arrangement envisioned the up-armouring and up-gunning of the South African Centurion fleet. However, there were concerns that the armament and armour would fair poorly against future South African tanks. Thus, the armour was increased to 430 mm and the 115 mm U-5TS of the T-62 was chosen. At some point during development, the new tank received the nickname ‘Laloumena’. This term referred the extinct Malagasy hippopotamus in certain oral traditions. It would later become the official name.

The need for a new armoured recovery vehicle was foreseen during early development. The existing fleet of armoured recovery vehicles would be incapable of supporting such a heavy vehicle. A derivative of the Laloumena, known as the ‘Sokatra’ or turtle, would enter service alongside the standard tank model. Instead of a turret, the armoured recovery version would have a crane and winches. A dozer blade would also be installed, allowing the vehicle to prepare entrenched positions for the tanks without assistance from engineering detachments. Other variants were also considered, including a self-propelled gun and an air defence vehicle. However, using the Laloumena as a foundation was deemed uneconomical while the GM chassis was readily available.

1981 saw the evaluation of ten Laloumenas main battle tanks and three Sokatra armoured recovery vehicles. Trial reports were positive, and the media was allowed to publicise the project. It was hailed as a triumph of domestic industry, even though it employed a number of components imported directly from the Soviet Union. Several modifications were made to both designs and the new vehicles entered service in 1982 as the F82/A1 Laloumena and the F82/B1 Sokatra.

The F82/A1 had a crew of four including a commander, gunner, loader, and driver. In addition to the 115 mm U-5TS gun, it also had a co-axial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun and a 12.7 mm DShK mounted forward of the loader’s hatch. The heavy machine gun was considered an anti-aircraft weapon and was not to be used in conventional engagements, but that did not stop many crews. Eight dischargers for the 3D6 smoke grenade allowed the vehicle to lay a smokescreen forward of its current position. Unlike many Soviet tanks, no provision was made for the engine to produce its own smokescreen. An L-2 Luna spotlight provided illumination for infrared devices at night. These included the gunner’s sight, the driver’s forward periscope, and a periscope fitted in the commander’s hatch which could be rotated independently of the turret. While armour across the frontal arc reflected the 430 mm standard established during development, side and rear protection differed between the turret and the hull. From the side, hull armour provides approximately 80 mm of rolled homogenous armour protection while the turret armour provides 200 mm of the same protection. From the rear, these two values are 40 mm and 50 mm respectively. Interestingly, the F82/A1 replicates the folding ‘gill’ side skirts seen on several Soviet vehicles of the era. Mobility is provided by a 1050 hp V-12 diesel engine. Six roadwheels suspended from torsion bars can be found on each side.

Soon after entering service, the Laloumena and Sokatra saw service in Angola against UNITA and South African forces. Lacking experience with true main battle tanks, Merina tank squadrons often operated alongside their Cuban counterparts. Inexperience led to a number of embarrassing losses in the first two years. During Operation Askari, Squadron B of Tank Regiment 2 succeeded in destroying several Ratel-90s but retreated in the face stern opposition from South African Olifants. However, confidence grew over time and Merina tank crews were well-regarded by the time of their withdrawal in 1989.

The conflict in Angola saw the creation of two new models. The F82/A2 was an improvement of the earlier F82/A1 and featured Kontakt explosive-reactive armour, a laser rangefinder, fixed steel side skirts, and a number of other minor modifications. The F82/C1 ‘Sahona’ was special rocket artillery vehicle issued to a single unit, Independent Artillery Battery 1. The South African G5 howitzer could shoot farther than anything in the Merina arsenal, preventing effective counter-battery fire. The solution was to produce a heavily modified version of the F82/B1 which mounted a pair of Luna-M rockets. The size of the rockets meant that maximum elevation could only be attained when firing directly to the left of the vehicle. The Sahona proved effective in combat, but often became a priority target for the enemy, and was withdrawn soon after Merina forces departed Angola.

During the civil war that followed General Ratsilikaina’s death, every major faction employed the Laloumena and the Sokatra. After the conflict, surviving vehicles were reorganised into new units sharing the names of those that preceded them. Rakoto Automotive Engineering continued producing parts for the F82 series but stopped building new vehicles. In 2009, the company was contracted to modernise those Laloumenas and Sokatras still in service. The decision was largely political. Rakoto Automotive Engineering had been struggling to sell civilian vehicles with inexpensive Chinese imports flooding the market. It needed a military contract to remain afloat. However, the army welcomed the modernisation programme with open arms. Thus, the F82/A3 was born.

The F82/A3 features a new 1500 hp diesel engine in a substantially modified engine compartment, a modular armour package installed over the existing armour scheme, a 120 mm gun manufactured by Israel Military Industries, modern day and night optics, improved radios, and a host of other changes. A similar upgrade using the same engine was applied to the F82/B1 to create the F82/B2. Both vehicles have served in African peacekeeping missions, with the largest deployment being in support of the United Nations – African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur.

18 F82/A2 main battle tanks and 4 F82/B1 armoured recovery vehicles were supplied to Angola following the withdrawal of Merina forces from that country. They remain in service, though few are operational. Earlier models were marketed for export, but most nations aligned with Imerina were already receiving materiel aid from other nations or engaged in a civil war. Unfortunately, the cessation of vehicle production has limited the possibility of exporting the F82/A3.

This contest has given me a chance to preview my long-term AU project that I have on back-burner.

Bereznik was the creation of the 1960s TV21 comic created around the Gerry Anderson ‘Supermarination’ television series (notably Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet). TV21 created a unified universe for these series and introduced a rogue Eastern European superpower, Bereznik, more or less replacing the real USSR as the bad guys. In the TV21 backstory Bereznik was created following the 2026 European Nuclear War. My idea was to transplant Bereznik into the 20th century, having it created out of the carnage of the First World War and expanding after the Second. Geographically it combines Lithuania, Belarus, western Ukraine, Poland and Eastern Germany. I leave a more detailed backstory until I formally start the AU.

The T-77 main battle tank was the product of Matthias GMBH and it was the T-77 that cemented Matthias as the main tank design company within Bereznik. The requirements for a replacement for the Minsk Tractor T-65 were drawn up as early as 1968 but not until 1971 did serious design work begin. Germany was beginning work on the Leopard 2 and the USSR was introducing the T-72, both of these modern tanks required a powerful but mobile design. The design made use of new composite armour, developed partly from a research programme begun in 1969 and partly from espionage of German developments. The selected armament was a 120mm Skoda K25 smoothbore gun with autoloader. The first test rigs were driven in 1972 and by 1975 work was underway on the prototypes which began testing in 1976.

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T-77A Berenova

Specifications
Weight: 44 tonnes
Length: 6.78m (hull), 9.18m (inc. gun),
Width: 3.75m (inc. skirts)
Height: 2.44m (commander's cupola)
Crew: 3
Armour: composite (classified)
Main Armament:
1x 120mm Skoda K25 smoothbore gun with 36 rounds in autoloader carousel and 12 rounds stored in the hull
Secondary Armament:
1x 7.62mm MG-6T coaxial machine gun (4,000 rounds)
1x 12.7mm MG-9AT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,800 rounds)
Powerplant: 775hp Berez-FIAT BF12V15T 12-cylinder turbocharged liquid cooled diesel engine
Transmission: 7-gear manual gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 460km
Speed: 60km/h (road), 40km/h (cross-country)

T-77A0: assigned the name Berenova in honour of the famous Bereznik general of World War Two. Production pre-series, 25 tanks built 1976-77, had prototype fire-control system and elements of older T-65M fire-control, briefly issued to service units but most used for training.
T-77A1: main production series, 895 built 1977-80, all had the intended heavier armoured side skirts and definitive TG-5 fire-control system with laser rangefinder and passive IR. Also sold to Hungary and Romania.
T-77AK1: command tank, for Battalion commanders, 200 built. Also sold to Hungary and Romania.
T-77AK2: command tank, for Company commanders, 370 built. Also sold to Hungary and Romania.

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T-77B Berenova

Specifications
Weight: 45.75 tonnes
Length: 6.78m (hull), 9.18m (inc. gun),
Width: 3.84m (inc. skirts)
Height: 2.44m (commander's cupola)
Crew: 3
Armour: composite (classified)
Main Armament:
1x 120mm Skoda K25 smoothbore gun with 36 rounds in autoloader carousel and 12 rounds stored in the hull
Secondary Armament:
1x 7.62mm MG-6T coaxial machine gun (4,000 rounds)
1x 12.7mm MG-9AT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,800 rounds)
Powerplant: 1,000hp Berez-FIAT BF12V15BT 12-cylinder turbocharged liquid cooled diesel engine
Transmission: 7-gear manual gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 460km
Speed: 60km/h (road), 38km/h (cross-country)

T-77B1: designed as a ‘breakthrough’ tanks to destroy Soviet tank attacks and launch powerful counter offensives. The main change was improved composite armour with more extensive use of ceramics and modified side skirts made of the same material, in tests the tank proved invulnerable to Soviet 125mm anti-tank rounds. A more powerful diesel engine was fitted but speed fell slightly. 655 built 1981-84, the tank was not exported even to Allies Hungary and Romania.
T-77BK1: command tank, for Battalion commanders, 50 built.
T-77BK2: command tank, for Company commanders, 90 built.

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T-77T Berenova

Specifications
Weight: 45.25 tonnes
Length: 6.7m (hull), 9.09m (inc. gun),
Width: 3.84m (inc. skirts)
Height: 2.44m (commander's cupola)
Crew: 3
Armour: composite (classified)
Main Armament:
1x 120mm Skoda K25 smoothbore gun with 36 rounds in autoloader carousel and 12 rounds stored in the hull
Secondary Armament:
1x 7.62mm MG-6T coaxial machine gun (4,000 rounds)
1x 12.7mm MG-9AT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,800 rounds)
Powerplant: 1,000shp Tumansky TU-GT9 gas turbine
Transmission: 8-gear automatic gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 270km
Speed: 70km/h (road), 46km/h (cross-country)

T-77T1: Matthias began studying gas turbine-powered tanks in 1973 but not until 1978 did a suitable engine exist, developed by the Tumansky company. Two test chassis were first driven in 1979 but problems with developing a suitable transmission delayed trials with six modified T-77Bs until 1986-87. The T-77T was designed to overcome some of the mobility issues of the heavy T-77B but range suffered due to the high fuel consumption. Engine reliability was also poor. Some tanks received ERA blocks during the 1990s. Only 100 were built 1987-89 and issued to just two divisions, the tank was not exported.
T-77TK1: command tank, for Battalion commanders, 20 built.
T-77TK2: command tank, for Company commanders, 45 built.

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T-77M Berenova

Specifications
Weight: 46 tonnes
Length: 6.7m (hull), 9.09m (inc. gun),
Width: 3.84m (inc. skirts)
Height: 2.44m (commander's cupola)
Crew: 3
Armour: composite (classified) (plus T-77M2 has ERA blocks)
Main Armament:
1x 120mm Skoda K25M2 smoothbore gun with 50 rounds in autoloader carousel
Secondary Armament:
1x 7.62mm MG-6T coaxial machine gun (4,000 rounds)
1x 12.7mm MG-9ATM anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,800 rounds) (remote-controlled)
Powerplant: 1,250shp Tumansky TU-GT11M gas turbine
Transmission: 8-gear automatic gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 315km
Speed: 70km/h (road), 46km/h (cross-country)

T-77M1: the T-77T showed promise despite its setbacks and while Matthias was working on the new T-94, they proposed an improved T-77 as a stopgap with improved armour, now with depleted uranium rods inside, which required a slightly reshaped turret. An improved gas turbine was fitted, a modern TG-7A fire-control system and an improved main gun with a higher capacity autoloader, removing the need to stow extra rounds in the front hull. 380 were built 1990-93 and some were sold to Romania. Many were updated to more or less T-77M2 standard by 2000.
T-77M2: an improved variant with the addition of ERA blocks and a new thermal imager for the commander, 200 were built 1994-96.
T-77MK1: a command tank variant based on the T-77M, 120 built 1990-94, also sold to Romania.

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T-77E

T-77E: export production series, based on the T-77A0 and retaining the rubber skirts and a slightly downgraded TG-5E fire-control system and lacking composite armour, built from 1978 and sold to Egypt, Finland, Iraq, Turkey, Ukraine.
T-77EA: downgraded model to fulfil the need for a cheaper tank, replaced the 120mm gun with a 105mm Skoda K17 gun as fitted to the T-65 but modified for use with the K25s autoloader, Skoda developing this pairing for the T-78 reconnaissance tank project and Matthias adding it to the T-77E. Built from 1980, sold to Brazil, Chile, Libya, Nigeria and Taiwan.
T-77EK: command tank variant of the T-77E (there was no command tank option for the T-77AE), sold to Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine.
T-77EM: the export version of the T-77A1 and essentially the same vehicle, built from 1981, sold to Iraq, Serbia and Ukraine.

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GFT-77

Specifications
Weight: 46 tonnes
Length: 6.78m
Width: 3.75m (inc. skirts)
Height: 3.89m (to top of radar)
Crew: 3
Armour: steel
Main Armament:
2x 30mm Skoda vZ.70A automatic cannon smoothbore gun with 320 AA and 40 AT rounds
Powerplant: 775hp Berez-FIAT BF12V15T 12-cylinder turbocharged liquid cooled diesel engine
Transmission: 7-gear manual gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 460km
Speed: 60km/h (road), 38km/h (cross-country)

GFT-77A1: developed by Alkett to meet a 1977 requirement for a modern self-propelled air-defence vehicle. Alkett developed a new turret to fit the a modified Matthias T-77A chassis, 180 built 1980-84, not exported.
GFT-77A2: almost identical but using the more heavily armoured skirts of the T-77A1, 65 built 1982-84, not exported.

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SEF-77

Specifications
Weight: 44.5 tonnes
Length: 6.78m (hull)
Width: 3.75m (inc. skirts)
Crew: 3
Armour: steel
Armament (SEF-7A):
1x 152mm KataniaRM GH-4A demolition howitzer with 30 rounds
1x 7.62mm MG-6T coaxial machine gun (2,000 rounds)
1x 12.7mm MG-9AT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,500 rounds)
Powerplant: 775hp Berez-FIAT BF12V15T 12-cylinder turbocharged liquid cooled diesel engine
Transmission: 7-gear manual gearbox
Suspension: torsion bar spring mounted support roller drive with hydraulic dampers
Ground clearance: 45cm (normal)
Operational Range: 460km
Speed: 60km/h (road), 38km/h (cross-country)

SEF-77A: developed by Alkett to meet a 1975 requirement for a new combat engineering vehicle. Alkett developed a new turret to fit the a modified Matthias T-77A chassis, this variant was for combat demolition, 100 built 1980-85, not exported.
SEF-77B: the combat engineer variant as a recovery vehicle for T-77 units with a crane and winches, 200 built 1982-85, not exported.

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