Super Gun Tank Q

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, Remember all the Talk about "SUPER GUNS" What if Such a Weapon were Mounted on a Tank??? Who would Field such a Tank and What would be Built to Fight it?? Thanks for Looking.

[Maverick]

Dan,

A super-gun = super sized hull & turret (if any) which likely means an overloaded powerplant, something that's too heavy to be agile on the battlefield or easily transported and a juicy target.  The Jagdtiger, Elefant and Maus are good examples of this.  If the weapon is a mobile artillery piece, then go as big as you want/need.  As for who'd potentially use it, I think either the Russians or Germans in WW2 could be silly enough.  Germany had plans for all manner of 'heavy' tanks.  As for tank-killers, a cab-rank of Typhoons overhead with rockets and it's bad news for the super tank.

Regards,

Mav

[Cobra]

I'm thinking Closer to Something like the Tank featured in an Episode of "Captain Scarlet"! closer to that kind with a 'Rocket Gun' type Weapon. That work for You,Buddy???

[Hobbes]

Don't the Russians have something like that? An antitank missile that can be fired from the gun tube of an armored personnel carrier?

[Maverick]

Okies Dan, although tube-fired rockets haven't been that successful.  Excepting for the Shilleagh (sp?) that could be fired from the Sheridan or M60A2, the only tube-launched ATGW i know of is a Russian weapon that was part of the armament of the T-64B.  Mine you, the 64 is an MBT, not an APC.  It's definitely old kit now, although they might have brought out something newer that I'm unaware of, as they seem to sometimes go with odd concepts that the West doesn't touch.

Regards,

Mav

[Sauragnmon]

The Russian gun-carried ATGMs are probably the most worthwhile legacy of Kruschev, militarily, that I can think of.  Their missiles are actually, as with most of their missiles, Cold Launched - they're fired out of the gun as a regular munition, with a launch canister and a small propellant charge, and the rocket motor does not ignite until it's clear of the gun, to avoid destroying the barrel.  After that, it engages on laser seeker towards the target, homing in along the rangefinder beam.  They are standard equipment in all Russian MBT's, and the Chinese have the 105mm variant, and have developed their own for the newer MBT's.

[Mossie]

Going beyond the Maus, the P.1000 Ratte & P.1500 Monster were two enormous tanks designed in Germany.  They were several times larger than the Maus & much heavier (the numbers reflect the tonnage).  The Ratte had a naval turret with two 280mm guns, it may have also carried a pair of Maus turrets to the rear.  The Monster carried an 80cm K gun, that was used by the Gustav & Dora Railway guns.  If the Maus had problems, then these two had no chance.  They would have been incredibly slow, difficult to maneouver through terrain, would gobble up huge quantities of fuel & be an easy target for aircraft & artillery.  Not suprisingly, they never went past the design stage.

I think if a really massive tank was ever going to being practical, you'd need very advanced technology.  Hover tank maybe, to reduce the tanks impact on the land.  Turretless tanks have been investigated & even fielded in the case of the Sweedish S tank, so you could try & cut down weight & bulk that way.

[B777LR]

With a super gun, you might as well place it in space. If it is super, it should be able to hit targets with a heavy thing fired from 200 kms above the target.

[sagallacci]

While the really big German projects were more a matter of self-propelled artillery, they DID have a plan for adapting their 17cm long artillery piece as a direct fire sturmgeschutz/panzerjager mount in, presumably,  a Maus or E100 hull.

[Sauragnmon]

From what I've read it was the E-100 that was planned for the Jagdpanzer/Stug design.

It's tempting to consider a modern Superheavy concept.  Not quite sure how it would play out just yet, but it looks quite interesting in my head.  I'm not sure how I'd get the tracks widened in scale though... and I think single width roadwheels are good... though perhaps a double-wide roadwheel on the same suspension would work to dissipate weight over the tracks more evenly... or else I could scale-o-rama the 1/35 T-80UD I have.... or something like that.

[ChernayaAkula]

While the really big German projects were more a matter of self-propelled artillery, they DID have a plan for adapting their 17cm long artillery piece as a direct fire sturmgeschutz/panzerjager mount in, presumably,  a Maus or E100 hull.

E-100 StuG 



Available in 1/35 for 89 EUR (conversion set only) from NEW CONNECTION. More pics HERE (from New Connection's site) and a built-up model HERE.