In May of 1946, Chrysler presented a heavy tank to the War Department Equipment Board. Chrysler's vehicle arose from postwar requirements for American heavies that were spawned by the fear of the IS-3. The Chrysler vehicle was called the Chrysler K Tank(no relation to the K Cars). Oddly, The K Tank featured some unorthodox design features. Most notably is the rear turret design. Other oddities about the K Tank is the 4 .30 caliber MG pods(fired remotely like the guns on the B29 bomber), the unique suspension, the 1200 hp engine, and the location of the crew all being within the turret much like the MBT 70.
With an estimated weight of 60 tons the K Tank was a relatively large and well protected vehicle. The frontal hull armor of the K Tank is approximately 205 mm(178 mm at 30 deg) thick without normalization. The side armor being near 76 mm thick, with proper angling the K Tank could be an effective side scraping vehicle. The turret armor is very thick in the front like most American vehicles even without the mantlet. The rear area of the turret is where ~100 rounds of the main gun ammo would be stored. By the way, the main gun is the 105 mm T5E1(which is going to be a subject sooner or later itself), however the rear turret arrangement really hampers the depression values(-5 degrees would be lucky to get out of it).
The 1200 hp engine would give this behemoth ~20 hp/t which is more/less the same as the E-50. However the 60 ton weight mark is most likely an underestimate. The final drive is located in the front which could pose some fire issues.
It is noteworthy to mention that Chrysler reused the K Tank name in the late 60s when they were asked to create the next generation of M60s. The K Tank used technology from the MBT 70, but the 2nd K Tank was also never adopted and faded into oblivion.
In WoT the K Tank would find itself a good spot as a tier 8 premium in my opinion. The possibility of an alternate US Heavy line also opens the opportunity to have the K Tank become a researchable tier 8 or even a tier 9 armed with a more powerful 120 mm gun. I haven't seen WG ever talk about this design though so we might never see this vehicle in WoT.
Sources:
Hunnicutt's Firepower and Patton
Wait...sidescraping was used in real life?
ReplyDeleteTheoretically it would be a useful technique, I don't think the tactic was ever used in any armored warfare doctrine. However the main reason why there were rear turreted tank designs was to keep the length of the vehicle at a minimum.
DeleteAlso I was referring to WoT tactics not real life.
Practically, sidescraping would lead to the tank getting its tracks destroyed, turning it into an expensive bunker.
DeleteOr the enemy might decide to simply shoot through the wall.
The side armor being near 76 mm thick, with proper angling the K Tank could be an effective side scraping vehicle.
ReplyDeleteWut? Its hard to sidescrape with vk45P wich has 100m ...
lol fail, 76mm requires a 228mm shell to overmatch, so as long as you keep below the 20degree autobounce angle it will easily work
DeleteWith such angle how much meters you need to "travel" from your actual cover between shots?
Deletelrn2angle
DeleteNo really, it is possible (and relatively easy) to even side scrape out in the open by watching the opponents gun.
All you need is any kind of hard cover to really abuse the system, but it is still feasible in open terrain as long as shell mechanics exist as they do now.
I would love to have this in game. They could probably make a new heavy tree with some obscure prototype vehicles. There should be enough designs to at least make it tier 7-10 since most of them are post war designs.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a rear turreted tank to play around with. The current ones in game I don't feel like getting either because of a horrible grind or the general disappointment from other people.
4502P and FV215b respectively.
putting new, similar vehicles on an American tree won't change either of those problems.
DeleteSuggest the design to Chieftain to pass it to the big guys maybe we could get this tank introduced It looks pretty nifty.
ReplyDeletethis looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteI just want to know all about the testserver... but in the moment nothing else!
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for those Yu-gi-oh tanks... I mean YOH :D
ReplyDeleteMh, i think i would buy one of these.. :)
ReplyDeleteI like the Jeep brand . I always have. I see nothing wrong with carrying it on a date. I think it is well suited to some of the environments that couples could enjoy together.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone likes to be in a club all the time. The outdoors is pretty fun too. Where you need to go, the Jeep can take you there. Plus it is pretty study, so you don't have to worry about it breaking down on the road.