Key Data
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)
Dimensions
Length (With Gun Forward): 8.6m
Length (Hull): 7.6m
Height: 2.68m
Width: 4.1m
Weight : 81.2 tonnes (LY413) OR 76.4 tonnes (CCA140BRETC)
Ground Clearance: Variable. Default at 50cm
Performance
Maximum (Governed) Speed: 87kph
Cross Country Speed: 63.4kph
Speed, 10% Slope: 33kph/35kph
Speed, 60% slope: 16kph/18kph
Acceleration: 0kph to 32 kph in 6.3sec/5.9sec
Range: 690/710km (570/600 km at operational cruising speed)
Manoeuvrability
Vertical Obstacle Crossing: 116(45in)
Trench: 3000mm(10ft)
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Fording: 3m unprepared, 5m prepared.
Armament
Main Armament: LY413 140mm 50 calibre, very high pressure, ETC smoothbore (40rnds) OR CCA140BRETC 140mm/L50 Rarefaction Wave ETC smoothbore (40rnds)
Coaxial Weapons: LY106 50mm compact automatic cannon (350rnds) AND either ML150 HMG 15mm (700rnds) OR LY60 14.7mm HMG (700 rnds) OR AGH-32 HMG 15mm (700rnds)
Commander's Weapon: 'Acropolis' powered remote rotary platform with ML150 HMG 15mm (700rnds) OR 15mm AGH-32 HMG (700rnds) OR 14.7mm LY60 HMG (700rnds) OR 7.62mm LY64 GPMG (2,400rnds) OR 7.5mm Lagash MG (2,400rnds) OR MGJ-21 'Mary Jane' LMG (2,500rnds) OR 4 x SALY28 SAMs
Additional: 2 x dorsal-lateral grenade launcher racks
Power
Propulsion: LY693 20L hybrid-electric opposing-piston multi-fuel hyperbar engine, generating 2,000 HP (1,500 kW) at 3000RPM.
Transmission: Hydropneumatic automatic transmission (5 fwd gears, 2 rvse)
Power-to-Weight Ratio: 24.6hp/ton
APU: 2 under armour
Batteries: 16 x high density Li+ polymer
Armour and Protection
Chassis: Titanium
Armour: Titanium-ceramic, depleted uranium mesh, 'Hauberk' ERA, ‘Acerbitas’ NERA
Anti-spalling: Semi-synthetic anciniform spider silk
NBC Protection: SCFM, clean cooled air, LYMkII CBRN overpressure system.
Missile Countermeasures: GOLIATH Active Protection System.
Background and Conceptualisation
The -A2 upgrade to the LY4 series marked a dramatic change in the potency of armoured fighting vehicles fielded by the Lyran Protectorate and its allies, and not simply for the potency of the LY4A2 itself. The technologies implemented in the -A2 upgrade program would form the template for a number of other AFVs, and also see spinoffs to aircraft and even satellite design.
However, as examinations were commenced into the possibility of a further advancement to the LY4-series, certain facts began to become apparent. Paramount amongst them was the realisation that the LY4 chassis, in general terms, had not originally been designed to utilise the many advances in technology that were filtering through to the front lines. While the chassis, robust as it is, had adapted splendidly, there was, it was decided, a limit to how far that chassis could be upgraded, before a new, purpose-designed chassis would be required. While research continued into the -A3 upgrade, research and development also began on the new LY9, designed as its successor in Lyran service.
The LY9, dubbed 'Dire Wolf', shares a large degree of commonality (although primarily in concept, rather than in maintenance terms) with the LY6A1 and LY4A2, and also, especially in turret design, with the LY7. Much of the hardware and components fielded on the LY4A2 have been, where they remain the optimum in combat potency, transferred bodily over to the LY9.
However, unlike the LY4A2, the LY9 has, from the outset, like the LY7, been designed with modularity and whole-of-lifetime upgradability in mind. As a consequence, the LY9 has been able to accept a number of features and upgrades that have proven difficult to implement in the LY4-series. The result is a tank that ranks in the very top tier of NS-grade AFVs.
The LY9 is not, however, a main battle tank. The LY9 is a 'heavy tank', which is a description of a role for which the platform has been designed. Heavier, better armoured and with higher armament lethality than its medium-tank counterparts, the LY9 is designed specifically to strike at the point of decisive engagement, and then conduct rapid (albeit limited) exploitation in a tactical and low-scale operational setting, creating a breach into which more theatre-mobile force elements can flow. Unlike an MBT (medium tank), the LY9 is not intended to operate across the entirety of the battlespace... such utilisation, while possible, would be a misuse of the vehicle's unique strengths and design focus.
Main Armament
There are two main armament options for the Dire Wolf, both in 140mm. The main armament of the LY9 is fitted to the turret of the vehicle, as is far and away the AFV standard. However, like the LY7, the LY9's turret is unmanned, making it akin to a very large example of a remote weapon station, which has a number of positive results. Firstly, the extra space created by the removal of a crewman from the turret has allowed for the entirety of the vehicle's main gun ammunition capacity to be stored within the autoloader, increasing the platform's sustained rate of fire without decreasing total available ammunition. Secondly, the diminished profile has lowered the area of armour required, increasing the protection ratings of the turret as a whole. Thirdly, the complete seperation of the turret and main gun ammunition from the crew compartment adds a degree of protection to the crew, especially in the hull-down condition.
The LY9, by default, fields the LY413 as its primary armament. Based on the LY412 of the LY4A2, the LY413 is broadly similar, but includes a dramatically altered recoil mitigation system, and hugely increased pressure-borne lethality.
Issues with pushing the potency of an AFV's main gun have been ever more pronounced in recent years, with still-commonplace conventionally-fired rounds being less and less effective against the ever-progressing armour schemes of leading edge AFVs. A great number of methods of improving the per-shot killing power of the tank gun have been examined, including a number already featured on foreign and domestic platforms, both in-service and in prototype laboratories.
The LY413 is, in many respects, a synergy of the LY407, LY410 and LY412 weapons. While being visually most similar to the LY412 of the LY6A1, it is in a calibre more akin to the LY410 of the LY4A2, but in a configuration most similar to the LY7's -407.
The electro-thermal chemical propellant ignition system, using an adaptive plasma-based flashboard large area emitter (FLARE), was selected, for both lethality (paramount) and ongoing standardisation with other Lyran and Lyran-aligned systems.
The LY413 also follows on from the -410 and -412 in using dynamic gas assistance to increase the range and power of the weapon still further, as well as push down felt recoil, reduce component wear (and thus improve barrel life) and, both in concert with the above and also in a stand-alone sense, allow for higher rates of fire. On this vein, and with the intent to still further enhance platform lethality, the platform also employs a Successive Fire Projectile Assist system to push fire rates still higher. It is worth considering that maintaining high rates of fire can quickly wear out the barrel, so operator discretion is advised.
It is due to these features, and to the turret's being designed around the autoloader, rather than the other way around, that enables the LY413 to burst fire seven rounds in twenty seconds, with a sustained fire rate thereafter of twelve rounds per minute, the second figure being on par (in RoF terms) with – if not superior to – many existing 105mm, 120mm and 125mm systems, and significantly higher than the vast majority of 140mm systems.
Recoil forces operating on the LY413 are pronounced, and here further innovations have been implemented to mitigate the effect this has on the platform's rate of fire, stability and ongoing operations. While the dynamic gas assist reduces it below what would be expected of a system of the LY413's power, and despite the 600mm recoil mechanism retained from the LY410, and even including a high-efficiency muzzle brake based upon that of the LY412, recoil was still higher than the platform's developers would have liked, and efforts were directed at bringing it down as far as practical, without sacrificing lethality.
The LY413 is also different to previous Lyran AFV weapons in that it is designed to fire under considerably higher pressure than the international rounds. Newer projectiles, powered by considerably higher-yield propellant charges, have in turn forced considerable reinforcement of the barrel and chamber of the main gun, to withstand pressures at around 190ksi.
The main gun's inner walls are 300ksi aged martensitic steel, 4.7" thick, weighing 5,400kg, and yielding a 20% reserve tolerance using the extremely high-pressure rounds for which the LY413 was designed. This is, in turn, strengthened by wire-winding the barrel using ultrahigh-modulus carbon fibre, rated at 550GPa. Of the 7 tons that constitute the weight of the main gun's barrel, 1.5 tons of it is composed of this UHM fiber. UHM carbon fibre is very expensive (nearly $9m per ton), and it is partly for this reason that the total gun system costs nearly NS$15m. The costs would be higher, but for the thinning near the barrel end, and very large economies of scale generated by the almost-normal mammoth production runs undertaken within Lyras.
Around the carbon-fibre wrapped inner barrel is a titanium tensioning sleeve, tapering towards the muzzle end. The titanium sleeve is fitted to the inner barrel at the chamber and by means of a stiffened disk, which transfers vibration from the inner barrel to the tensioning sleeve, giving the gun the same properties of a full-thickness barrel over the whole length, while saving considerable weight, and shielding the carbon fiber from environmental effects.
The heat generation of the total weapon system is notably in excess of that generated by conventional 140mm weapons, due to the dramatically increased potency. In actuality, the system is more akin to a 180mm system, 'necked down' (in small arms parlance) to 140mm. This dramatically increased pressure of the newer Lyran munitions leads to a direct increase in the velocity of the projectile, but has mandated increased weight for the turret and turret ring. While rates of fire for tank guns do not compare to other armaments, the significantly greater thermal loading per shot fired cannot be completely ignored. The LY413 circumvents the potential heat-related hazards through the use of several features.
The primary is a bank of heat sensors installed between the tensioning sleeve and inner barrel. This sensor bank records ambient temperature, and ensures that safe parameters are maintained. Should higher than normal rates of fire generate unexpectedly high heat generation within the main gun, the subsequent counter-thermal measures come into play. First of these is a simple sprinkler system within the tensioning sleeve, designed to spray water into the space between the barrel and sleeve, in order to rapidly bring down otherwise concerning temperatures. A series of small perforations along the exterior of the thermal sleeve allow this steam to escape, aided by similar (albeit considerably smaller) perforations in the support disk towards the muzzle.
The alternative primary of the Dire Wolf is the Yanitarian CCA-140BRETC 14cm L/50 "CORbeau" (also known, as stated, as the Bré-C,) gun combines several top of the line technologies compared to similar older systems. A standard example, the CCA-1978 is made of steel, were as the CORbeau is made of titanium, which already lightens it considerably. Taking a page from the CCA-1978L (Léger, or Light), which was developed in 2003, was 50% lighter than the CCA-1978, and only takes up the amount of space as the CCA-1940 10cm gun. Further more, CORbeau technology, which lowers considerably the amount of pressure in the gun barrel, lower the entire weight of the 12cm variant (the CCA-120BRETC 12cm L/55 "CORbeau") system by an additional 50% compared to the CCA-1978L, meaning that compared to the CCA-1978, the CORbeau 12cm is only 20% of the weight. However, the main drawback of CORbeau technology is the added bulk, as the gas funnel which sticks out of the back of the turret, is very big, however, newer versions of CORbeau technology, including the Bré-C series, minimize this, as does the turret design of the CA-42, based on the LY7.
CORbeau 10cm demonstrator prototype CORbeau guns, developed mainly by Yanitarian Arms with help from Lyran engineers, work using the principal of rarefaction waves. Essentially, when pressure is released from a gun, the projectile will not be effected by any decrease in pressure until the rarefaction wave reaches the projectile. The CCA-140BRETC cannon relieves pressure from the gun barrel by siphoning gas out of the rear. Synchronization is key in siphoning gas quickly and effectively enough that it reduces recoil, with out allowing the rarefaction to catch up with the projectile, is tricky, and took many months of perfecting, however, the result is an 80% reduction in recoil (without using a muzzle brake) versus the CCA-1978 series with a muzzle break, as well as a 40% decrease in temperature with in the bore, a 70% increase in sustained rate of fire, and a 70% increase in the number of burst shots.
This contributes in more ways than just the obvious. With high performance propellants, the barrel life of many modern tank guns has been shortened from 200 rounds to 50 rounds (on 120mm rounds. It can be assumed that 140mm guns have higher barrel wear rates) on unimproved barrels. However, CORbeau technology can bring the life of a 12cm tank cannon to an average of 500 rounds before requiring a replacement, with future upgrades planned to "retake barrel life yet again."
Technically described,
The CCA-140BRETC incorporates ETC technology as well as a novel swing chamber capable of accepted standard Yanitarian cased telescoped ammunition that has lent to the compactness of earlier Yanitarian guns. Modifications to the ammunition design are minimal to control costs and accelerate schedule, as well as minimize risk, however the changes are there, and make compatibility with regular 140mm guns problematic at best, depending on the ammunition. Incorporated within the breech end is a fixed annular vent and expansion nozzel within which a 140mm blow back bolt is positioned. Centered within the aft end of the cartridge is a 140mm consumable disk. Upon ignition of the cartridge, the consumable disk is pressed into the forward face of the bolt and the vent mechanics proceeds to drop the pressure with in the breech. However, with the latest model having a bolt and projectile of the same diameter, the cannon does not impart forward or rearward inertia, as earlier demonstration models have. This eliminates a primary load that contributes to the gun dynamics that beget dispersion. The application of variable orifice hydraulic recoil brakes and recuperators. These arrest the rearward recoil motion of the bolt and return it to its battery position. The bolt is coupled to the recoil cylinders through the outer expansion nozzle housing. Four vanes cast into the nozzle merge to support the coaxial bolt. This allows a convenient integration method of the recoil cylinders and allows a portion of the thrust generated to directly arrest the recoil motion. Vent timing may be altered by the use of different bolt faces. Blunt faced bolts require a greater recoil distance to vent. Progressively more conical bolts vent earlier. The swing chamber for loading is connected to four thick heat resistant polymer flat-hoses that link to the gas funnel in the back of the turret. This ensures that gun depression is minimally effected, a fact for which is compensated via the suspension, to be explained later. The gas funnel is lined with ceramics, and at the end is a shield that directs the gas upward, and through eight ceramic shutters. This serves to mitigate IR footprint during and immediately after firing. Furthermore, the back blast, because it is vented upward and cooled, does not effect those behind the tank, and the back of the turret can withstand up to a 30mm round due to the shield, rather than having no protection, like earlier prototypes, and foreign guns using the similar but different RAVEN based guns. In addition to saving weight, (the gun itself only weighs 3500kg), it saves weight in other ways as well.Eric Kathe et al: A CORbeau cannon intentionally opens it's breech while the projectile is still traveling down the barrel, causing a dramatic decrease in barrel pressure. One might assume that this would cause an equally dramatic decrease in projectile acceleration, but as stated, this cannot happen until the rarefaction wave reaches to projectile. For clarity's sake, the rarefaction wave can simply be called the pressure loss wave, which gives one a better idea of what is meant. The speed of the pressure loss wave is limited to the speed of sound with in the propellant gasses, meaning that the projectile cannot be effected by the pressure loss wave until it essentially "hears" the gases venting. If the projectile leaves the muzzle before the rarefaction wave reaches it, muzzle velocity is not compromised, and venting afterward will not decrease velocity at all. Of course, the gasses have to go somewhere, and it was initially assumed that this was the main problem with fitting what is essentially a recoilless rifle or gun in a tank chassis, as experimented with the CA-35 in the 1950's. However the properties of a recoilless rifle and a CORbeau gun are different from a recoilless rifle. While a recoilles rifle vents gas out the back in order to provide an inertial counterbalance to the force of the projectile, the CORbeau gun simply drops pressure in the breech, and and vents the gas through a funnel, which does not have to be in the opposite direction of the projectile. Timing, however, is crucial. and generally occurs once the projectile has moved between 1/3 and 1/4 the distance down the barrel. Although a positive pressure shock wave can move faster through a column of gas than the speed of sound, a rarefaction wave cannot. In the case of a shock wave, the increased pressure of the gas behind the wave front results in the adiabatic heating of the gas, increasing it's sound speed. This allows a coalescence of pressure waves to form an abrupt increase in pressure at the shock front that can travel faster than the speed of a sound wave ahead of the shock. To the contrary, a rarefaction wave reduces the gas pressure and density behind the wave front. As gas density is reduced, it becomes more rarefied. This rarefaction progressively cools the gas, decreasing its sound speed and weakening the pressure loss gradient as the wave propagates. As such waves propagate through the gas column, the local flow of velocity of the column must be arithmetically added to the local sound speed to properly compute the rarefaction wave velocity. In the case of a synchronized CORbeau, the local gas velocity may initially be approximated as zero upon first opening the breech and that of the projectile's muzzle velocity upon reaching it at the shot exit. Thus, an average gas velocity contribution to the rarefaction wave of half the muzzle velocity provides reasonably accurate first estimation. This estimate is one thousand meters per second. Dividing the length of the gun by the sum of the sonic and average gas velocity estimates the extent to which CORbeau venting may precede shot exit with out any loss in muzzle velocity. Accurate simulation of rarefaction wave propagation has been undertaken using a lumped parameter interior ballistic code and two separate one dimensional interior ballistic codes. The closed breech code NOVA was employed to determine rarefaction wave propagation rates through several gun systems with out computing effects behind the wave front. A lumped parameter code incorporating blow back recoil was developed to predict wave front propagation rates in support the design of CORbeau technology demonstrators. A new one dimensional code named Rarefaction Wave Recoil (RAR) was specifically developed to model CORbeau. It explicitely simulates the rarefaction wave process to include estimation of thrust produced and reduction of thermal heating of the bore.
The turret is set slightly further rearward than that of the other Lyran AFVs, and the weapon itself is set back slightly within the turret, a factor which has been demonstrated to increase accuracy on the move, and mitigating the negative effects of the weapon's long barrel.
Though unmanned, the gunner's station is located directly below the turret ring, and rotates to maintain facing with the main gun. This is so as to reduce disorientation when using the BALCOTH-type targetting system, and also to enable the use of the back-up periscopes in the advent of the failure of the quadruple-redundant headset interface.
The vehicle commander, should the gunner's station be inoperable, can fire the primary armament, although the commander's station does not rotate in the same manner as the gunner's.
The autoloader on the Dire Wolf is a brand new joint Lyro-Lamonian system, based upon the Compact Automatic Loader designed by Meggit Defense Systems, Inc, of Irvine, California. The Meggit system includes a fully articulated robotic transfer unit, which can support a load rate of 12rpm, and has a magazine access rate of 15rpm. If the CCA-140 is fielded as the primary armament, the rate of fire is enhanced due the significantly lower recoil forces being overcome, and burst firing rates of 30rpm (for 10 rounds) and sustained rates of 20rpm are the norm.
The Lyro-Lamonian system, dubbed 'Theophilus' (reasons for which remains unknown), is very similar to the Meggit design, although rather than making 34 rounds available, the system (due to the larger size of the LY413's 140mm rounds) only allows for 20 rounds. However, the Meggit design, being as it was intended to slide into an M1 Abrams without impinging upon crew space, presumed the requirement for a loader and gunner in the turret. Theophilus, bereft of such requirements in the Dire Wolf, utilises two such-units, thus allowing 40 rounds in total. Each sub-unit uses a double-row closed-loop chain of canisters, granting the magazine excellent volumetric storage efficiency. When the gunner selects an ammunition type (using his switch on the control yoke), the nominated round is moved to the blast port by the carousel, whereupon a ram-arm pushes it into the breech. Removal of a loaded round is essentially the same process, in reverse, although using a tri-forked extractor, rather than a ram. Theophilus features a full automatic ammunition inventory, and grants very high load speeds, coupled with an exceptional reliability, due to its relatively simple operation.
Due to the turret's unmanned design, and in accordance with standing Lyran AFV design philosophy, the autoloader is able to load and extract rounds at any degree of elevation or traverse.
Lessons pertaining to operational turn-around time learned from the LY4A1, and applied in the -A2, have been brought over to the LY9, with the LY9's turret designed to facilitate considerably faster loading. Once the main gun magazine is depleted, the entire turret magazine can be removed, and a fresh one inserted, a process not dissimilar to changing magazines on a rifle, only on a larger scale. This does require the presence of a dedicated service vehicle, but takes less than 4 minutes. Should such a vehicle be unavailable, the system can be reloaded manually/conventionally.
Additional armament
While co-axial weapons are standard on the vast majority of Lyran AFVs, the use of dual coaxials, of differing calibre, is a relatively recent innovation. By default, the left co-axial station is given over to the LY106 50mm compact medium autocannon. The LY106 fires the Fedalan-standardised 50x300mm caseless telescoping round, an ammunition standard first seen in the primary weapon system of the Sumerian PIV-30 Armoured Infantry Combat Vehicle. The LY106 is a chain-operated, externally powered (by the same 4 HP motor that proved to be the most reliable element of the failed LY105 30mm cannon) weapon, which, as with the PAK2 25mm cannon (fitted as coaxial on the earlier marks of the LY4 and -6), uses a system of sprockets, grooves and clutches to not only feed, load and fire rounds, but also allows the operator to switch ammunition types, by selecting from which of the four ammunition drums to draw rounds from. Available ammunition types include APFSDS-T, HEI-T, HEDP-T, Illum and practice rounds.
Much of the weapon system is titanium, which, while expensive, is considerably lighter than its steel volume/strength equivalent, thus allowing for the weapon's mounting to be considerably lighter. Given that the total weapon is firmly secured to the MBT's turret while used in the coaxial role, the now-lighter elements of the receiver assembly do not adversely affect the weapon's recoil characteristics. A high-efficiency muzzle brake and long recoil mechanism (45mm) also lower the felt recoil signature, and provide for more efficient firing characteristics. As with all weapons on the platform, the LY106 is linked to the Cromwell FCS, and thus benefits from the attendant sensory and ballistic calculatory suite.
The barrel is 50 calibres long, putting it 2.25m from the end of the reciever, and is chrome-lined to improve durability, and allow for the provision of higher-pressure propellant charges.
Three rates of fire are able to be selected: semi-automatic, low-rate automatic and high-rate automatic, which allow single-shot, 50rpm (approx.) and 100 rpm (approx.) respectively.
The LY106 is designed to provide effective, reliable and accurate firepower for the destruction of most medium-armoured threats, including helicopters, IFVs, APCs, and even many MBTs outside of the frontal arc. In this anti-armour role, the LY106 is considerably more potent than its predecessors, despite their distinguished service record.
The right coaxial station is designed to be able to fit weapons generally of up to 35mm. Conventional armament on Lyran vehicles for the right coaxial station has been the LY60 14.7mm HMG, a reliable and time-honoured weapon that has served the Protectorate for over a hundred years. However, recent allied co-operation and joint operation considerations have lead to the implementation of the Yanitarian-Eridian ML-150 15x120mm HMG. The EL-1 Beowulf (formerly the EL-3182) had been the frontline heavy machine gun for Erid’Lor for a decade, and had made some decent profits as well, with 1.3 million being bought by Waldenburg for military use. However, motivation for an upgrade (later to become an entirely new project, the EL-2 Athenian in Eridite service) came in three forms: first, the Lyran and Lamonian governments requested for a version of the Beowulf which could fire the Fedalan-standard 15mm cartridge (the term being used lightly, as generally when Yanitaria, Lyras, and Lamoni decide on a cartridge as part of their close military cooperation, it tends to become somewhat popular among other Fedala Accord nations); secondly, the company SNMAE made an offer to create an upgraded version of the Beowulf together with the Eridite Research and Development Bureau; and thirdly, the 14.5mm bullet used by the EL-1A3 (EL-3182A3) currently used needed a slight boost in hitting power versus new IFVs which specifically attempt to protect against 14.5mm cartridges.
With this in mind, the ERDB worked with SNMAE to produce a new HMG, later to be christened the EL-2 Athenian in Eridite service, and the ML-150 in the Yanitarian military, a designation adopted within Lyras.
The ML-150/EL-150 is a heavy machine gun designed to be mounted on vehicles both heavy and light, and to guard defensive positions in infantry usage, such as checkpoints. For this, the 15mm round was chosen at the behest of the Yanitarian military, specifically Maréchal Antoine de Sacsburg. It was known that Yanitaria had the ability to set trends with regards to small arms, as it has already pushed forward the 6.5mm JMC, 10mm JMC, and 6.5x70mm Yanitarian as popular international rounds, due to a special combination of ballistic efficiency and creative usage of materials and application of ideas.
The basic round is a lubalox coated round seated on an aluminum case. Because the 15mm Yanitarian is often used by heavy snipers in the anti-material capacity, all marques have their aluminum casings coated in lubalox, creating a distinctive all black look. The 15mm Yanitarian comes in a number of flavors, of various Marque numbers. Tracers are every fifth round, but can be removed if required.
The rounds are fed into the gun using a dual feed system already used by Eridite machine guns. This is done by using a movable feed way, which can easily be slid to either side, so that at any one time only one belt of ammunition is aligned with the chamber and able to fire. This allows soldiers to switch on the fly between two ammunition types, or, for more advanced strategists, to use a general purpose or multipurpose ammunition to suppress and enemy while a loading assistant switches the second belt to a more appropriate type of ammunition. Another common use, especially during COIN and patrols in unstable civilian areas is to simply have two belts of the same ammunition, using the first belt to suppress until out of ammo, and switching to the second belt while reloading the first. Linked by a disintegrating steel belt, the rounds are fed through the top, and expelled from the bottom, which ensures that the large shells are not flung unto anyone's face. A heat resistant nylon bag may be fitted in order to collect shells, should the situation require.
The ML-150 features a dual spade grip with two stepped triggers for firing single and fully automatic fire. The barrel is quick detachable to facilitate barrel changes, and is chrome-lined to provide corrosion resistance. One debate earlier on in the design was whether or not to manufacture the barrel to extremely tight specification with regards to diameter. Doing so, which is essentially standard practice in aircraft design with Yanitaria, allows for improved accuracy at the expense of durability, as evidenced by the high quality of SNMAE-made aircraft guns, however there was debate with in SNMAE itself as to whether or not this was necessary. Two major engineers battled over this, Kurt Fakel (who, incidentally, is of Erid'Lorian descent, was born in Yanitarie, and had worked for SNMAE for almost since it's founding), and Anna de Chappard (who had mainly worked on all aircraft gun projects by SNMAE). Fakel claimed that the increased burden on logistics that the lowered barrel durability would cause was too great, and that it would require more barrels per vehicle, which was viewed as a waste of space. Eventually Fakel won the argument by using an old ML-147 with a scope to hit several targets from over a kilometer and a half away.
While previous Eridite machines guns were manufactured out of titanium to reduce weight, Yanitarien designers felt that this was a major extravagance, and that high grade steel would be much cheaper, and allow for much faster production, at the expense of weight, which was considered a non-issue for this particular weapon. During a quick change, the side of the shroud swings out allowing the user to slide the barrel out and a new one in. The sights are either a Vi-87 ladder sight, a well loved sight with in the ARY which is essentially a "pronged" ladder sight with tritium inserts, or the Vi-38. SNMAE sights are well liked with in their customer base because of the use of green tritium on the rear sight, and red on the front, in order to allow for quick snap firing. Because it is a ladder sight, however, the Vi-86's rear sight uses alternating blue and green tritium, which, when viewed in the dark, looks very futuristic. The alternative, the Vi-38, is a top shelf SNMAE holosight which generally sells for $250 on the military market. The muzzle brake is a heavy design with multiple vents along the side.
New to Lyran manufactured platforms is the Yanitarian 'Acropolis' RWS. The SNMAE made "Acropolis" RWS is an all new design meant to be integrated with existing and future military technology. Able to accommodate previous generation heavy machine guns such as the EL-1, ML-147, M-2HB, and Kord 14.5mm, the Acroplis consist of three parts, the interface section, the sensor, and the weapon mount.
The sensor suite used on the Dire Wolf is the YwVE-33ML which combines day/night infrared sights with laser range finding for land and naval operations, and is much quieter that previous systems, being inaudible from 50m away (and although this seems ridiculous, this is in fact very good). Against CA-40MqIII tanks (the variants of the Lyran LY4A2 Wolfhound used by the ARY for training) and CA-39MqIX tanks (both AFVs with extremely low detection footprints), the YwVE-33ML has an 8.1km detection range and a 3.1km recognition range, while the laser range finder is typically good up to more than five kilometers, well out of the engagement range of most weapons which would rely on the RWS's sensory capability, rather than the wider platform's. The YwVE-33ML is meant to be used in multiple applications as a stand alone system, with the Acropolis simply being the first. The YwVE-33ML, as one would expect, provides data to the vehicle;s Cromwell system. The total system weighs 100kg and is largely made out of titanium in order to save weight.
Weapons options on Lyran vehicles on the Acropolis mount (and thus available to nations seeking to purchase the platform) include a quartet of SALY28 short-to-medium range AA missiles, ML150 15mm HMG, LY60 14.7mm HMG, LY64 7.62mm MMG, or a pair of Helios II BVRATGM. Weapons of most types are compatible, though of course those produced by states other than the Protectorate or affiliates cannot be exported by or through Lyran Arms. Such weapons are easily integrated into the platform after purchase, and include such well known systems as the Sumerian AGH-32 HMG and AGS-5 LMG, Yanitarian “Hag” HMG, Former Soviet KPV and RPK machine guns, AGL-19s and Koronet ATGMs, and such systems as the MG-3, M2 .50 cal HMG, Javelin and Stinger.
The Dire Wolf also mounts two lateral grenade launchers. Each launcher is electronically-fired, and consists of four barrels which can be intermixed with either smoke, fragmentation or chaff grenades. The smoke grenades are capable of shrouding the tank from visual or thermal detection and the chaff grenades are utilised as a means of breaking up the tank's radar cross-section. Both of these measures work most effectively in conjunction with the 'Warshroud' system to maximise operational performance.
Networking, Sensory and Fire Control System
The LY9, at time of release, represents a new standard in AFV networking, sensory, fire-control and crew interfacing capabilities. The vehicle is fitted with a highly extensive sensor suite so as to enable the transmission of as much information as possible into any extant battlenet, while possessing substantial internal (multiple-redundant) computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from that selfsame network.
While designed to slot into any existing battlespace architecture, the LY9 by default utilises the world-benchmark Cromwell II. Cromwell II is an integrated and adaptive battlespace network that maximises combat lethality, performance, and output and enables command and control on an unprecedented scale. Information is sourced not only from multiple sources on the individual platform, but from every Cromwell II equipped friendly vehicle within the battlespace, which provides constant informational updates across a broad spectrum of sources, both known to the operators, and operating below their awareness. With the LY4A2 and LY224, the Cromwell II system began to mature as a force-multiplier, with effectiveness of the system increasingly and exponentially evident to all but the most entrenched detractors. Image and pattern recognition software constantly interfaces with sensory systems (even while the given input is not being examined by crew), and the results both relayed to friendly and superior force elements, and also displayed for action by the vehicle operators. For example, a gunner has the turret swivelled to the 2 o'clock position, trained on a suspicious-looking patch of vegetation, with the view in the HUD set to thermal imagery. While in that orientation, the vehicle's sensors at 11 o'clock register motion non-consistent with environmental movement, 2100m away, and the image is instantly cross-referenced to Cromwell's databanks. A pattern match is found – the front-right quadrant of a javelin MANPATGM. Performing a quick locstat recheck, Cromwell ensures that no corresponding friendly forces are in the given location. The identified target is then silhouetted (with any of a number of settings [such as colour-coding or numerical assignment] in place to illustrate level of threat, in both relative and absolute terms), and the image is displayed on the HUD.
The results speak for themselves.
At the most basic level, the Cromwell II system aims to accelerate engagement cycles and increase operational tempo at all levels of the warfighting system. This acceleration is achieved by providing a mechanism to rapidly gather and distribute targeting information, and rapidly issue directives. Cromwell II's ultra-high speed networking permits almost completely error-free, high integrity transmission in a bare fraction of the time required for voice-based transmission, and permits transfer of a wide range of data formats, from a multitude of compatible sources.
Borrowing from fire control measures designed by the Koreans for the K2 Black Panther, and implemented in a host of Lyran and Lyran-allied AFVs, Lyran Arms and the Varessan Commonwealth's VMRDB developed a built-in trigger-delay mechanism. Most earlier platforms can be found to, despite all other fire control methods, miss their target when they fire their gun/s and hit a slight bump at the same time, a problem exacerbated, as would be expected, by movement at high speeds and/or across uneven terrain. The designers of the K2 anticipated this situation, and generated a solution for it by installing a laser emitter-receiver assembly linked to the FCS, a concept that was brought across for implementation in the main gun on the LY7, and is now commonplace on Lyran weapons.
The emitter is fitted near the top of the barrel, with the receiver being placed at the barrel's base. The weapon can only be fired when the laser receiver array is exactly aligned with the emitted laser. To illustrate, if at the point of firing, when the gunner presses the trigger, linked as it is to the fire control system, the vehicle comes upon an irregularity in the terrain at the same moment, the laser will find itself pushed off the receiver by the sudden movement, and the FCS will delay the round's ignition until the beam reorients to the receiver again. As the barrel shakes up and down, the FCS will automatically fire off the gun when the laser finds its mark, and the barrel is judged to be on target. This system, combined with an advanced gyro-stabiliser, static pendulum cant-sensor and powerful fire control system, dramatically improves the vehicle's capacity to engage targets while moving at speed, even across broken terrain.
In case of an emergency, the vehicle can be operated by only two, or even a single, member of its three crew. The FCS can autonomously locate and track visible targets, comparing them both to known hostiles (identified by way of the Cromwell II datalink) or targets established by image recognition (again as available via information uplink), avoid blue-on-blue engagements and fire its main gun without needing any input from a human operator, although the absence of a human operator will adversely affect engagement tempo.
The LY9's crew-stations again borrow extensively from the LY4A2, -6A1 and -7, and utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than that of legacy platforms. The new system integrates the data gathered by the vehicle's external sensors and projects it directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor, a feature not dissimilar to that utilised in the BALCOTH helmet. As the operator turns his head, the view pans, and the image displayed can be either a direct projection of the terrain and environs, as would be seen with the naked eye were the tank's hull not in the way, or various overlays, magnification and enhancements that can be applied or superimposed to highlight important elements (such as friendly forces), in a fashion not unlike an aircraft's HUD. From this point, either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the vehicle commander may look left, with the weapon mounted on the commander's weapon station following his movement (if the function is activated). With Cromwell having identified hostile dismounted infantry, the vehicle's commander simply places the targeting reticle (located by default in the centre of his HUD) upon the desired target, and presses the firing stud. Alternatively, he could centre the reticle at a target, and designate it for engagement by the gunner by either voice command or toggle. Targets can be sequenced for engagement, and the gunner may target and fire in a similar manner using the vehicle's main gun, or either of the co-axials. The gunner's station is identical to, and interchangeable with, the commander's, and either can take on additional roles if the situation requires. When used in conjunction with Cromwell II, and the new fast-traversing shielded-electric turret, the engagement speeds of the LY9 are 80% as fast again as that of the LY4A1's legacy system, and nearing double that of most international armoured platforms. Traverse speed is such that the bore of the main gun will traverse at the same speed as the operator's head (even if startled, which lead to jokes about the effects of sneezing while in control of an LY4A2, although the novelty had worn off a little by the time the LY6 upgrade was concluded. By the development of the LY9, it really wasn't funny, only being used by instructors seeking to mock poor or sloppy trainees), allowing real-time orientation and lag-free look-shoot capability.
Some issues with platform stability have adjusted the inputs, with the helmet mounted weapon traverse only applying when the operator has his ‘enable’ switch depressed. At other times, the crews’ head movement will simply pan the camera-fed images presented to their helmet displays.
Unlike previous Lyran AFVs, the LY9's computational capabilities are internally disbursed; making use of widely spread individual, multiple-redundant components, connected through the use of solid-core photonic-crystalline fiber-optic cabling. Fibers-optics are used instead of more traditional systems as signals travel along them with less loss and allowing for a higher-than-standard bandwidth, and they are also immune to electromagnetic interference. Photonic-crystalline fiber optics have in turn been selected due to the improved confinement (and thus loss reduction) of the light which forms the data carriage.
Highly magnified imagery of photonic-crystalline fiber optics. Image courtesy of the United States Naval Research Laboratory
While adding to the cost of the (already expensive) electronics, the presence of a high-speed, distributed system allows for greater parallelity, system robustness and combat durability than an equivalent unitary system. Combat damage may slow the system, but is unlikely to completely destroy it, without having destroyed the entire vehicle.
Continuing on a trend in Lyran hardware that was established by the original LY6, the platform's electrics, more specifically the processors, are composed of Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs), rather than silicon-based semiconductors, rendering the vehicle extremely resistant against electromagnetic interference or EMP-based attack, although the InGaAs is itself yet another highly expensive addition. Given the ever increasing utilisation of sophisticated electronic and sensory systems, shielding these systems is, now more than ever, deemed a centre of gravity for the platform's protective systems. It was quickly reasoned that when operating in an environment which may include anti-strategic platforms such as the LY4032 “Rampart”, the chances of the platform encountering high levels of electromagnetic interference goes up dramatically, and the dangers presented by these and similar munitions far outweighs the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of InGaAs components.
The immense potential of this as a feature of military system was demonstrated in spectacular fashion during the Stoklomolvi Civil War, when Lyran warships not only saved the lives of countless Stoklomolvi civilians by defending them from nuclear attack on two seperate instances, but also then, in both cases, were able to exploit the massive EMP side-effect the 'Rampart' generates in nuclear defence. The result was a carrier battle group destroyed, to no Lyran loss. While not a land-based example, the lesson has been learned, and indium gallium arsenide is set to stay as a standard feature of Lyran electrics for the some time to come.
The LY9 adds standard and integral short-to-medium range fire-finder radar to its repertoire, borrowing again from innovations of the LY4A2 and LY6A1. In this case, however, the LY9 uses the Lamonian LA-16 multi-function radar system. The LA-16 takes software and hardware features from the LA-135 Cutlass, British (DRS Technologies) MSTAR, and Chinese SLC-2 firefinder radars. By making hardware and software changes to the LA-135 fire finder radar, LAIX ARMS engineers were then able to miniaturise the LA-135 to a size that was workable on the M-21A1 MBT. This new radar was then designated the LA-16. The LA-16 radar can be used in all weather conditions and is a J band doppler radar. The exemplary performance of the LA-16, in a wide variety of combatant roles, lead to its being transferred bodily across to the LY9, where it now comes as standard.
The LA-16 radar weighs 30 kg, and has a maximum effective range of 42 km. The LA-16 can detect incoming artillery fire (artillery, rocket, and mortar types), low flying aircraft (fixed wing, helicopters, UAVs), as well as ground vehicles, and troops. The LA-16 can also observe the fall of shot of friendly artillery systems; thus improving their accuracy. In addition, the LA-16 can be (and is) used as the platform’s radar rangefinder. Concerns raised about the drain the multi-use system places on the vehicle’s computational capabilities did not continue past the implementation of the new computer system, given the exceptionally high capacity of the platform’s processing suite. As with the vast majority of active emitters, the LA-16 on the LY9 can be set to 'off' if EMCON is a mission or theatre requirement.
The LA-16 has the following detection ranges in ideal conditions:
Maximum Range: 42 km
Walking soldier: 14 km
Small vehicle, most UAVs, fixed wing aircraft, helicopter: 24 km
Conventional MBTs: 42 km
Artillery/MBT's main gun: 30 km (not including Cromwell II connectivity. When factored in, the system can use the round's trajectory to establish position of initial fire accurate to 10 m at ranges of up to 50 km, despite not, technically, having a solid radar fix on the firing platform.)
The LY9, following on from the -A1 upgrade to the LY6, is only the second Lyran-built AFV to feature organic EW equipment as standard. While obviously not possessing the very long visible horizon (and thus standoff capability) of airbourne platforms, the Dire Wolf, being a likely target in its own right (along with units in its vicinity), has been fitted with a ground-based variant of the Lyro-Varessan AN/ALQ-281 'Tiamat' (Babylonian mythology – 'Dragon of Chaos') electronic warfare system.
The 'Tiamat' recievers and transmitters are situated in pods atop the LY9's turret rear, distinguishable by the multitude of panels and aerials. The system, when engaged, is capable of intercepting, automatically processing and jamming received radio frequency signals. The LY9's electronic attack capabilities involve using radiated EM energy to degrade, neutralise or destroy hostile force- or force-support elements. Of particular note is the potency this represents in the operation of ground forces in contested or hostile airspace. Given the mobile, tactical and ground-based nature of the platform, it is likely that most hostile radars encountered will be airborne ground-surveillance radars. The LY9 is therefore perfectly equipped to wage electronic warfare, preventing a useful target lock on friendlies within the hostile aircraft's visible horizon.
More than this, however, the system also makes acquisition of useful radar-based information of all forms, including range-finding, highly problematic at best. Acquiring a radar-based sight picture within a 'Tiamat' protected area can be challenging, although as an emitting system, the full capabilities should be used judiciously, lest the high-potency EM signature broadcast the unit's position un-necessarily, and compromise operational security.
'Tiamat' is one of the first EW platforms to use high-end solid-state emitters, coupled with dramatically elevated potential power throughput, and dynamic and pattern-probability frequency agile (PPFA) barrage and spot jamming to render all but the most potent radars ineffective. Further, if the seeking radar is calculated to be capable of burning through the jamming, the system uses precisely timed and Cromwell-backed broad-spectrum DRFM (Repeater) jamming, to further maximise detection degradation. Multiple platforms can be co-ordinated to provide simultaneous EW if the radar in question is potent.
This capability is second to none, and places the Dire Wolf at the very top of known NS-AFVs in the active electronic warfare role. The receivers can also be used to detect, identify and locate non-friendly signals, providing ELINT/SIGINT either automatically or manually. When emissions control (EMCON) is required, however, the 'Tiamat' transmitters can be turned off, which thus, as one would expect, cancels the EM broadcasting. Unlike the earlier AN/ALQ-99 series, the 'Tiamat' utilises power generated by the platform to function. Given the very high power output of the LY9's hybrid electric hyperbar engines, and the extensive Li+ polymer battery banks, this has not adversely affected performance in any appreciable manner.
Another feature new to the LY9 is the provision of a telescoping reconnaissance mast, affixed to the rear of the turret. The mast is topped by a sensor bundle and, when extended, enables the platform to remain in cover, and establish or maintain details of its surroundings. This provides a highly useful service, especially when in the van of an advance, or when positioned along a reverse slope, offensively or defensively.
