(1) activates main armament. (2) activates RCWS. (3) slaves RCWS to main gun elevation. (4) activates loader's M60D. VTOL and Trim to control direction. Pitch and Roll to aim weapons. (1) + FireWeapons to fire main gun. FireGuns for all other weapons.
The XM858 Scipio is a Paternian main battle tank designed by Bandit Industries as a replacement for the aging Victoria. While the Victoria was considered world-class in her time, and remained competitive until the twilight of the 21st century, she was far from ideal. The Victoria's heavy weight hindered her operational and strategic mobility, her high cost made her pricey to replace if lost, and her armor lacked top armor to deal with top-attack weapons.
The M858 Scipio, named after Gen. Scipio Africanus Smith of the Paternian Army, who was named after the Roman general Scipio Africanus of the 3rd century BCE, features the ideal balance of mobility, firepower, and protection. The 120mm M9A3 cannon sports a longer, L/54 barrel, improving ammunition performance. Lighter composites provide the tank identical protection for less weight. Featuring an improved ATG-1500A1 turbine, it is lighter, more fuel-efficient, and more reliable than its predecessros.
The M858 Scipio would be adopted by the Paternian Army to fully replace Victoria in 2020. However, the gradual adoption meant that the Victoria was still in some frontline as late as 2040. Like its predecessor, it would see a very long servie life, as late 2130.
Service History:
In service: 2020-2154
Wars: Numerous
Specifications:
Designer: Bandit Defense Industries
Designed: 2014-2017
Weight: 52 t
Manufacturer: Detroit Arsenal
Unit Cost: $8.1M
Produced: 2018-2101
No. build: ~45,000
Crew: 4
Armor: Detroit 6A Composite Armor
- Hull/Turret vs. APFSDS: 900+mm
- Hull/Turret vs. HEAT: 1300+mm
Main armament:
1x 120mm M9A3 smoothbore gun, 42 rounds
Secondary Armament:
1x .50 caliber M2HB w/900 rounds
2x 7.62mm M60D1 w/10,400 rounds
Engine: Cedco ATG-1500A1 multi-fuel turbine engine
Power/weight: 28.82 hp/ton
Transmission: Cedco DDA Y-2400-4B
Suspension: Coil spring
Fuel Capacity: 400 US gal
Operational range: 240 miles
Speed: 50mph road, governed; 30mph off-road
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 19.8ft (6.1m)
- Length 54.8ft (16.7m)
- Height 18.0ft (5.5m)
- Empty Weight 112,749lbs (51,142kg)
- Loaded Weight 112,749lbs (51,142kg)
Performance
- Power/Weight Ratio 2.391
- Wing Loading 37,243.7lbs/ft2 (181,839.7kg/m2)
- Wing Area 3.0ft2 (0.3m2)
- Drag Points 14169
Parts
- Number of Parts 469
- Control Surfaces 0
- Performance Cost 2,075
@SledDriver @Pilotmario forgot to look at this tank—not half bad. Perhaps I should make a MKII of my A-104....or perhaps a new A-105.
Neat. @SledDriver
@Pilotmario I just tried it with my Hovercannon today, got lucky and sank the entire fleet in four shots: http://imgur.com/a/HGF6m
@SledDriver I've got to try that with my Paladin.
@Pilotmario With my hover cannons I've successfully sunk ships from about 15 miles away. From 10-12 miles away I can reliably sink the entire fleet within 10-20 shots.
@SledDriver Fairly far, given that I have several artillery pieces, including a 120mm mortar and 155mm howitzer. Unfortunately for the mortar, I forgot to add cameras to the bombs to walk in the fire.
Heck you should make a story on the M9 smoothbore itself. Nice tank I must say I like the turret.
@Pilotmario I've tried gyroscope-stabilized guns, but they don't work well for me, at least not with a keyboard. What's the longest shot you've pulled off with this kind of gun?
Understood.
I should note that normally, there are two traverse settings in a turret: the rapid and the fine setting.
Rapid is for getting the weapon in the general direction it needs to be pointing. Fine is for allowing greater accuracy.
It is possible to employ gyroscopes as part of a turret assembly, with a free-spinning rotator serving as a traverse point. I've done this before as well. @SledDriver
@Pilotmario Even if you reduce mass to near-zero levels, the rotators still aren't stable or precise enough. I'm interested in pinpoint accuracy at over 10 miles, rotators could never provide anywhere near that.
@SledDriver Interesting.
I've employed bomb-launchers with rotators. Pretty much all my tanks employ it, with significant modding via XML toward the weight of the bomb so that I don't have to use obscene power settings for the detachers. While precision is something else, structural strength has never been an issue with me.
@Ephwurd Ah.
Coincidentally, the Scipio Africanus is a warship from The Expanse TV series
@Pilotmario Because the rotators aren't strong enough or precise enough. That's the whole reason I made my hover cannons. The hover tank is pretty much going to be a hover cannon in tank costume.
@SledDriver Ah. Why not make a hover tank with a gun turret?
@Pilotmario The reason I want to make a hovertank instead of a conventional tank is because the rotators and pistons in SP are a mess, they don't work well at all.
@LiamW Tanks r lyfe
cool, but you should try something other than a tank sometime soon
@SledDriver That's a familiar arrangement, although not advised due to advances in weapon stabilization. Here's the IRL tank that uses the concept, the S-tank.
@Pilotmario Excellent. So the turret doesn't need to rotate or elevate the gun, as aiming will be accomplished by maneuvering the entire tank. How does that change the equation?
@SledDriver I suppose. I can provide consultation regarding armored vehicle design.
@Pilotmario True. And if you just make the tank bigger to offset the reduced space, that would make it too heavy. Perhaps I need to make a futuristic hover tank.
@SledDriver While sloped armor dramatically improves armor effectiveness, it reduces the available interior space considerably.
Inward-sloping hull armor also reduces the turret ring diameter, which limits the size of the main armament.
Wouldn't it be better with sloped front and sides?