A steel Predator from the frozen North to rend you enemies with its lethal “claws” day or night, good weather or bad, the Snow Leopard C2A7 will annihilate its prey!
Snow Leopard C-2A7
Unit cost US $5,500,000
Specifications
Weight 62.3 tonnes
Length 9.97 m (393 in) (gun forward)
Width 3.75 m (148 in)
Height 3.0 m (120 in)
Crew 4
Armor 3rd Generation composite; including high-hardness steel, tungsten and plastic filler with ceramic component.
Primary armament 1 x 120 mm Rheinmetall L55, capable of firing LAHAT ATGM and STAM rounds
42 rounds (mix of conventional, STAM, and LAHAT ATGW)
Secondary armament 1x 12.7mm heavy machine gun in a Protector Remote weapon station
1x 12.7mm heavy machine gun coaxial mount
1x 7.62mm machine gun on loaders hatch"
4,750 rounds of 12.7mm
4,750 rounds of 7.62mm
Arena Active Protection System
Engine MTU MB 873 Ka-501 liquid-cooled V-12 Twin-turbo diesel engine
1,500 PS (1,479 hp, 1,103 kW) at 2600 rpm
Power/weight 24.1 PS/t (17.7 kW/t)
Transmission Renk HSWL 354
Suspension Torsion-bar suspension
Fuel capacity 1,200 liters
Operational range 550 km (340 mi) (internal fuel)
Speed 72 km/h (45 mph)
Design
Protection
The Snow Leopard C2A7 utilizes spaced, multi-layered composite armor throughout the design. The Snow Leopard C2A7A5 and A6 models utilize additional armor added to the turret front, and on hull and side skirts. Estimated levels of protection for the Snow Leopard C2A7 range from 920 - 940 RHAe on the turret, 620 RHAe on the glacis and lower front hull on the Snow Leopard C2A7A6 against kinetic projectiles. The mine-protected Snow Leopard C2A7A6M adds an additional mine protection plate for the belly, which increases protection against mines and improvised explosive devices. All Snow Leopard C2A7 variants include spall liners on the inside of the tank, protecting the crew. The Snow Leopard C2A7 has increased protection against rocket-propelled grenades (RPG's) by the use of add-on modular slat armor which serves to prematurely detonate such warheads harmlessly against the hull. The most sensitive areas of a tank, its optics, exhaust ports and ventilators, are all protected by a newly-developed high-strength metal mesh, to prevent the possibility of explosives charges being planted there.
The Snow Leopard C2A7 also makes use of the Arena Active Protection System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_active_protection_system
Two groups of 6 Wegmann 76 mm smoke (WP/RP) mortars are mounted on either side of the turret and can be electrically fired either as single rounds or in salvos of four are mounted on most Snow Leopard C2A7 models. These also prove very effective against approaching infantry.
The crew is also protected against Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) threats as well, as the Snow Leopard C2A7 is equipped with a NBC over pressurization system which provides up to 4 mbar (0.004 kp/cm²) over pressure inside the vehicle.
The Snow Leopard C2A7 is equipped with a fire protection system as well. Four 9 kg Halon fire extinguisher bottles are installed on the right behind the driver's station. The bottles are connected to pipes and hoses and are activated automatically by the fire detection system, when temperatures rise above 180°F inside the fighting compartment, or manually via a control panel in the driver's compartment. An extra 2.5 kg Halon fire extinguisher is also stored on the floor beneath the main gun.
Armament
Primary Armament
The primary armament for production versions of the Snow Leopard C2A7 is the Rheinmetall 120 mm L55 smoothbore gun. 27 rounds of the main gun ammunition are stored in a special magazine in the forward section of the hull, to the left of the driver's station, with an additional 15 rounds stored in the left side of the turret bustle, and separated from the fighting compartment by an electrically operated door. If the ammunition storage area is hit, blow-off panels in the turret roof would direct any explosion upwards away from the crew compartment.
The gun is fully stabilized, and can fire a variety of types of rounds, such as the German DM-33 APFSDS-T anti-tank round, which is said to be able to penetrate 560 millimeters (22 in) of steel armor at a range of 2,000 meters (2,200 yd), and the German DM12 multipurpose anti-tank projectile (MPAT).[10] For the L55 gun, a newer APFSDS-T round was introduced to take advantage of the longer barrel, the DM-53. The bore evacuator and the gun's thermal sleeve, designed to regulate the temperature of the barrel, are fabricated out of glass-reinforced plastic, while the barrel has a chrome lining to increase barrel life. The main gun is capable of power elevating from +20° to -9°.
The main gun is also capable of firing a variety of high tech specialty rounds:
1. LAHAT ATGM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAHAT
2. STAM (Smart Top-Attack Munition) is a top-attack anti-tank munition designed specifically for use with the Black Panther. This projectile is fired in a high trajectory profile comparable to that of a mortar or that of long-range artillery. It should be emphasized that this is not an anti-tank missile—it does not contain any rocket propellant or motors, and travels through the air solely with the kinetic energy applied to it during the initial propulsion from the main cannon. The STAM round does, however, house internal guidance and obstacle-avoidance systems, in the form of a small millimeter band radar, IR and radiometer sensors. Should the need arise; it also has a limited ability to be manually controlled via live data link with the launch vehicle. Upon reaching its designated target area, a parachute deploys, giving the onboard radar system and sensors enough time to seek and acquire stationary or moving targets and fire its explosively formed penetrator from a top-down position, offering excellent anti-tank capabilities due to less protection present at top armor of turrets and hulls of tanks. Due to the fire-and-forget nature of these rounds, the launch vehicle can remain concealed behind cover while firing successive rounds towards the known location of an enemy. It can also provide effective indirect fire support against targets hidden behind obstacles and structures. The minimum range of the munition is 2 km, while the maximum range is 8 km.
Secondary Armament
The Snow Leopard C2A7 is equipped with 3 machine guns, one 12.7mm mounted co-axially, one 12.7mm in a Protector Remote weapon station on the top of the turret, and a 7.62mm machine gun on the loader hatch. 4750 rounds of 12.7mm machine gun ammunition and 4750 rounds of 7.62mm machine gun ammunition are carried onboard the Snow Leopard C2A7.
Fire Control
The standard fire control system found on the Snow Leopard C2A7 is the German EMES 15 fire control system. dual magnification stabilized primary sight. The primary sight has an integrated Neodinium Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Nd:YAG) solid state laser rangefinder and a 120 element cadmium mercury telluride, CdHgTe (also known as CMT) Zeiss thermal sight which are both linked to the tank's fire control computer. A backup 8x auxiliary telescope FERO-Z18 is mounted coaxially for the gunner.[6] The commander has a independent periscope, the Rheinmetall/Zeiss PERI-R 17 A2. The PERI-R 17 A2 is a stabilized panoramic periscope sight designed for day / night observation and target identification, and it provides an all round view with a traverse of 360°. The thermal image from the commander's periscope is displayed on a monitor inside the tank. Initial production tanks were not equipped with a thermal sight, due to the sight being not ready, and instead temporarily substituted the PZB 200 low light TV system (LLLTV).
The fire control suite is capable of providing up to three range values in four seconds. The range data is transmitted to the fire control computer and is used to calculate the firing solution. Also, because the laser rangefinder is integrated into the gunner's primary sight, the gunner is able to read the digital range measurement directly. The maximum range of the laser rangefinder is less than 10,000m with accuracy to within 20m.
Propulsion
The Snow Leopard C2A7 is propelled by the MTU MB 873 diesel engine, which provides 1,100 kW (1,500 hp). The MTU MB 873 diesel engine is a four-stroke, 47.6 litre, 12-cylinder multi-fuel, exhaust turbo-charged, liquid-cooled engine. The engine is a multi-fueled design, has a fuel consumption that is estimated at around 300 litres per 100 km on roads and 500 litres per 100 km across country, and is coupled to the Renk HSWL 354 gear and brake system. The Renk HSWL 354 transmission has 4 forward, 2 reverse gears with a torque converter and is completely automatic, with the driver selecting the range. The Snow Leopard C2A7 has 4 fuel tanks, which have a total capacity of approximately 1,160 litres, giving a maximum road range of about 500 km. Together, the propulsion pack is capable of driving the Snow Leopard C2A7 to a top road speed of 68 km/h (which is limited to 50 km/h during peacetime), and top reverse is 31 km/h.[6] The power pack can be changed in the field in 15 minutes. The engine and transmission is separated from the crew compartment through a fireproof bulkhead. An enhanced version of the EuroPowerPack, with a 1,210 kW (1,650 hp) MTU MT883 engine has also been trialled by the Snow Leopard C2A7,
The Snow Leopard C2A7 has a torsion bar suspension, and has advanced friction dampers. The running gear consists of seven dual rubber-tyred road wheels and four return rollers per side, with the idler wheel at the front and drive sprocket at the rear. The tracks are Diehl 570F tracks, with rubber-bashed end connectors, which have removable rubber pads and use 82 links on each track. For use in icy ground, up to 18 rubber pads can be replaced by the same number of grousers, which are stored in the vehicle's bow when not in use. The upper part of the tracks are covered with side skirts, with the first two road wheels and idler covered by an armored skirt.
The Snow Leopard C2A7 can drive through water 4 meters (13 ft) deep using a snorkel or 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in) without any preparation and climb vertical obstacles over one metre high.
