WesWorld

Weight: 18,250 kg
Length: 5.03 metres (excluding gun)
Width: 2.9 metres
Height: 2.77 metres
Crew: 4
Engine: Maybach 12-cylinder petrol, 380 hp
Speed: 60 kph (road), 33 kph (cross-country)
Power/weight ratio: 20.8
Suspension: Modified Christie with torsion bars
Fuel Capacity: 450 litres
Fuel Consumption: 35 km/100 litres

Armament: 8cm KwK46 with 64 rounds of ammunition; coaxial 7.92mm MG34 with 1,800 rounds of ammunition

Armour:

Hull Front (Upper): 47 mm
Hull Front (Lower): 47 mm
Hull Sides (Upper): 25 mm
Hull Sides (Lower): 15 mm
Hull Rear: 15 mm
Hull Top: 10 mm
Hull Bottom: 10 mm
Turret Front: 47 mm
Turret Mantlet: 57 mm
Turret Sides: 25 mm
Turret Rear: 25 mm
Turret Top: 10 mm


The KwK 46 is a derivative of the 8cm leichte Panzerabwehrkanone 45, capable of firing High Explosive, High Explosive-Antitank, Incendiary, Illuminating, and Smoke munitions.

Nice drawing.



Question: Will 380hp suffice to run that vehicle that fast? It's not really heavy weight, but 380hp isn't that much either. Just curious...

Weight and power reminds me of the Skoda T24 but not sure about suspension and these kind of things...

Quoted from "HoOmAn"

Question: Will 380hp suffice to run that vehicle that fast? It's not really heavy weight, but 380hp isn't that much either. Just curious...

It's not that much horsepower in terms of a number, but it's enough to give a power-to-weight ratio of nearly 21 hp/ton, which is quite high for anything but a light tank.

I'll have to add to my answer more later, no time to post now.

I'm no expert but I guess it depends on how you look at it...

Various tanks in the 15-25 ton range, from slowest to fastest (info from 'reliable' wiki):

Char D2 19.75t, 150hp, 23kph
Valentine 16-17t, 131-210hp, 24kph
Matilda II 25t 190hp, 26kph
Type 97 Chi-Ha 15t, 170hp, 38kph
Type 3 Chi-Nu 19t, 240hp, 39kph
Panzer III 23t, 296hp, 40kph
Panzer IV 25t, 296hp, 38-42kph
M2 18.7t, 340-400hp, 42kph
Crusader 20t, 340hp, 42kph
Type 1 Chi-He 17t, 240hp, 44kph
M41 23.5t, 500hp, 45kph
VK 20 20-24t, 300-450hp, 50-56kph
Fiat M16/43 16t, 275hp, 55kph
M24 Chaffee 18.4t, 220hp, 56kph


When you compare it with the M-2, you would say "no, not possible", but when you compare it with the M24, you'd say "yes, possible". Of course there is about a 5 year difference between the M2 and the M24, and since Bruce's design is late 1940s, I'm more inclined to compare it with the M24 than the M2.

Looks like a rival for the FV301 on the export market.

The specs I have for the FV301 lack a top speed but the weight is 21 tons and the engine is an 400hp Ursa Minor. This is 100hp down on the historical design.
Carries a 77mm 17pdr gun, the frontal sloped glacis is 50mm thick.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

M41 23.5t, 500hp, 45kph

According to Reliable Wikipedia, the M41 Walker Bulldog actually has a speed of 45 mph... 72kph. Since you noted the M41, though, another 1950s tank, the AMX-13/75, also made 60kph with a 250hp engine. Further, the M18 Hellcat, which has a lot of similarities with the the Lightpanzer design above, has 400hp on a 17.7t design, with a top speed of 88kph. So a road speed of 60kph is entirely within the realm of the possible...

I had discussed tanks via with Hood recently, commenting that tanks in WW tend to have a higher average power-to-weight ratio than historical. Generally, a higher P/W ratio translates into a tank that is faster, better at climbing hills, etc - although the suspension does play a role as well. Walter doesn't cite the P/W Ratio with the tanks he listed, but it's a better indicator of how fast a tank might be. Let me take just the top five fastest tanks of that list (with the AMX-13 included):

Quoted

-- VK 20 24t, 450hp, 50-56kph, 18.75hp/t
-- Fiat M16/43 16t, 275hp, 55kph 17.2hp/t
-- M24 Chaffee 18.4t, 220hp, 56kph 11.95hp/t
-- AMX-13 14.5t, 250hp, 60kph 17.24hp/t
-- M41 23.5t, 500hp, 72kph 21.27hp/t

Generally speaking, the average power-to-weight ratio of tanks through the 1940s is probably about 15 hp/ton, with your spread ranging from 11 hp/t to 18 hp/t. (You have a few outlying data points: for instance, the prewar Russian BT-7 had 32 hp/ton, and the Cromwell had 21.4 hp/ton.) With a power-to-weight ratio of over 20 hp/ton, the Lightpanzer definitely fits the mold of a late 1940s light tank (or even a bit of a Hellcat-inspired TD). It's a bit of a street racer for a tank, but if you took this thing street-racing, you'd still be eating the dust of Cromwells...

Quoted

According to Reliable Wikipedia, the M41 Walker Bulldog actually has a speed of 45 mph... 72kph.

Whoops! That was a reading mistake. Guess I need glasses.
(it is more likely that I rushed it a bit and since most of them had kph listed first, I got caught off guard with the M41 having its speed in mph listed first)

Quoted

Since you noted the M41, though, another 1950s tank, the AMX-13/75, also made 60kph with a 250hp engine. Further, the M18 Hellcat, which has a lot of similarities with the the Lightpanzer design above, has 400hp on a 17.7t design, with a top speed of 88kph.

Well, I said 'various tanks' not 'all tanks' though the AMX-13 would just fall outside the 15-25 ton range I was looking at.

Quoted

Walter doesn't cite the P/W Ratio with the tanks he listed, but it's a better indicator of how fast a tank might be.

I did not do that because surely everyone here knows their math. Not going to make it too easy for you guys.

Quoted

Question: Will 380hp suffice to run that vehicle that fast? It's not really heavy weight, but 380hp isn't that much either. Just curious...

As noted by Brock and others, the vehicle has a power/weight ratio of 20.8:1, which puts in in the range of the M41 Walker Bulldog and the Cromwell. It is intended as a “shoot-and-scoot” vehicle; its armor cannot stand up to a severe pounding, and the gun has its own limitations.

It will have a time finding a place in the Heer’s tactical thinking. WW Heer doctrine prefers using stealth to acquire information, rather than fighting for it. However, some potential adversaries prefer to arm their reconnaissance vehicles (or tanks that they use for reconnaissance) far more heavily than Germany – so it is possible that relatively small numbers of the Ardelt light tank could find their way into the Heer’s TO&E. Besides its relatively high speed, it has good flotation on soft surfaces, a plus for snowy or sandy conditions.

The gun, adapted from a high/low pressure infantry antitank gun, does not fire a high velocity shell, and it relies on a HEAT round to kill armored vehicles, or simply overpower them with an HE round. Present WW Heer panzer doctrine prefers to fight at long ranges in a combined-arms battle group, so there will be a certain prejudice against a vehicle with an “infantry” weapon.

Quoted

Looks like a rival for the FV301 on the export market.

I am not certain how strong the tank export market is, but I am certain that the manufacturer would happily respond to inquiries. Thus far the Standardpanzer Panther has not won any export orders, which I write off to (a) it being a rather large, heavy, and sophisticated vehicle designed for combat on the North European plain; (b) it being perceived as very expensive, despite the efforts made to reduce production and long-term maintenance costs; and (c) Germany is not willing to sell it to certain nations who would happily buy it (i.e. China). That and Skoda’s sales force is much better.  :D

One place it could find a home is with Germany’s Marinelandungsverbande, who might need mobile fire support in the event of making an opposed landing. In that case high velocity armor piercing ammunition would not be needed, while the gun’s capability in firing HE, WP, and smoke would be invaluable.

Plenty of NPCs out there, Peru, Brazil, Siam, Greece, Hungary, Afghanistan and other non-tank producing nations like Romania, Bulgaria, Caucasian republics, etc. so there is a market. Not as big as OTL, but there is a small market.
Tanks like the FV301 and Leichtepanzer offer reasonably modern designs with good performance and decent guns for small nations who want something that looks good on parade to scare their enemies but not too painful on the Treasury's coffers and offers some capability when the time comes.

I think this would also be a good buy for someone like Turkey.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

I think this would also be a good buy for someone like Turkey.

Quite possible it would. The mobility of the vehicle would be quite useful in the hill country of eastern Anatolia and the border regions near Syria or Iraq; at the moment at least there would be little opposition from heavy tanks so the limitations of the 8cm gun might be acceptable. And it certainly would cost less than a Panther.

Quite true, Turkey would likely be interested in such a tank to replace its own aging units.

Quoted from "thesmilingassassin"

Quite true, Turkey would likely be interested in such a tank to replace its own aging units.

Should I expect to see the Turkish military attache at Meppen come January then? ;)

Has he ever left Germany? lol