Bernardini MB-3 Tamoyo

     Notes: The MB-3 Tamoyo (sometimes erroneously written as “MBT-30”) was an interesting idea to turn a light tank into a main battle tank. Based on Brazil’s modernization of their M41 Walker Bulldogs to the M41C Caxias standard, Bernardini felt that they could take the M41 much further than the upgrades already applied to Brazilian M41s.  This program was a company project, and they hoped to get Brazilian Army sales as well as upgrade sales to other countries using the M41.  The project was originally designated X-30, and design work began in 1978.  Original prototypes had only the 76mm gun of the Walker Bulldog, but this later upgunned to a 90mm gun, and the last prototype was armed with a 105mm M68 rifled gun.  The result was a tank that, while in most cases under-gunned, barely resembled its M41 ancestors.  The Brazilian Army was impressed with the MB-3, but was more impressed with Engesa’s EE-T1 Osorio, and a lot of M60A3 TTSs and Leopard 1A5s had recently become available for RL dirt-cheap prices.  The Tamoyo simply didn’t stand a chance on the international marketplace. A little-known fact is that the Tamoyo had modified M41 treads and modified roadwheels, allowing them to use normal Brazilian roads instead of being restricted to off-road/trail use.

     The hull looks like – well, it looks like a Leopard 1 chassis, and the fact that the chassis was extended by one roadwheel and that the Tamoyo used Leopard 1-type track skirts just helped this resemblance along.  The hull of the Tamoyo essentially looked almost nothing like that of the M41.  Internally, things had changed mechanically as well, such as the aforementioned lengthened hull with roadwheels, a much more powerful 500 horsepower Saab-Scania DSI-14 turbocharged diesel (with a 730-horsepower Detroit Diesel 8V-92TA also tested for possible upgrade packages), an automatic transmission (either a GDLS HMPT-500 or an Allison CD-500-3), and conventional driver controls.  Armor was not only strengthened, it was improved by the use of spaced armor, a variant of Chobham armor, and better slopes to its armor package.  The suspension has M41-type torsion bars, but has 12 instead of the normal 10 due to the greater length and addition of roadwheels. The first, second, and sixth roadwheels on each side also have shock absorbers.  A pivot steer capability was added.

     The turret was of a totally different design than the M41, both outside and inside. Bernardini offered four choices of main gun: the M41’s original M32 rifled 76mm (though newly made, it is the same design); Bernardini’s M32 BR3 76/40 76mm rifled short gun; Bernardini’s rifled 90mm gun, and the M68 version of the British L7A3 rifled 105mm gun.  Fire control stabilizes the main guns in two planes, while a ballistic computer and laser rangefinder further increased gun accuracy. The turret has stabilized day/night sights for both the commander and gunner, allowing a hunter/killer capability.  In addition, the Tamoyo has an FN MAG coaxial and a commander’s cupola with a pintle-mounted M2HB machinegun.  The commander and loader have all-around vision blocks, while the driver can see through vision blocks to the front 160 degrees.  The driver also has a night channel for his central vision block.

     Other available features included NBC Overpressure (though a vehicular NBC system was normally the standard protection), a CO2 fire/explosion detection and extinguishing system, and a sealed ammunition compartment in the turret bustle, with blow-off panels.

     My personal opinion is that the Tamoyo would have made a good fire support vehicle for infantry units, even if it could not fill the MBT role.

     Only one oi the Initial Prototype was built, as well as one of the Tamoyo I.  Eight Tamoyo IIs were built, and again, only one Tamoyo IV was built.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Seven Tamoyos were kept by the Brazilian Army at several museums in good running order, and these made it to the South American battlefields of the Twilight War; their fates are unknown after this point, except for one restored Tamoyo III, which was put on display in Bogota starting in 2011.

Bofors Strv-2000

     Country of Origin: Sweden

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life, beyond a wooden full-sized model.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Designed shortly before the war, the Strv-2000 was put into production during the Twilight War since the supply of Leopard 2A5s stopped when Germany decided it needed them more than the money from exports. The vehicle features state of the art night vision, full gun stabilization and fire control, a large caliber gun, and a coaxial cannon for engaging soft targets and lighter AFVs. Normally, only APFSDS or APFSDS-T ammunition was carried for the main gun, since the type of targets normally engaged by HEAT, HE, or WP ammunition would be engaged by the coaxial cannon or machinegun. The Strv-2000 was perhaps the most heavily armed and armored ground vehicle in the world in the Twilight War.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist in the Merc 2000 timeline.

GDLS M1A3 Abrams IV

     Country of Origin: United States    

     Notes: This vehicle grew out of General Dynamics’ experimentation with the FMBT (Future Main Battle Tank) concepts, but was never built. I've heard some rumors that there is an upgrade to the M1A2 that will be designated the M1A3, but this vehicle is not it.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Also known as the “Giraffe,” the Abrams IV is a standard M1A2 chassis with a greatly modified interior and an unmanned casemate turret mounting with a standard 120mm gun or an L/55 version of the 120mm gun.  In either case, the M1A3 is equipped with all the improvements of the M1A2SEP, as well as a more powerful engine.  This, combined with its lighter weight, give the M1A3 a leap in mobility over other M1A2-based designs.  Always rare in the Twilight War, with only about 150 of them being built, most of the Giraffes were deployed to divisional cavalry squadrons in the Middle East, though some 30 late production Giraffes were issued to the TXNG’s 49^th Armored Division, and about 10 showed up in USMC service in Europe (though it is a mystery how the Marines got them, since they were never officially issued to Marine units).  The driver’s hatch is moved to the front left deck, and the commander’s hatch to the front left deck.  The gunner uses the commander’s hatch.

GDLS M1A4 Abrams V

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; in fact, I made it up myself!

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle is a progressive development of the M1A2SEP, mounting a heavier caliber gun, coaxial cannon in addition to the machinegun for less armored targets, and a commander's weapon mount that can use a variety of weapons.  The vehicle is equipped with 2^nd generation thermal imaging, a VIDS system, and an IR jammer.  Most of these vehicles never made outside of the continental US, though it is estimated that about 10 were deployed to Europe, and another 20 to the Middle East.  Most of these vehicles were used against the Mexicans (where most of the combat against them resulted in lopsided slaughters in favor of the US side), and to Alaska and Canada to combat the Russian invasion.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist in the Merc 2000 timeline.

General Dynamics M60 Modernization Package

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist beyond some demonstrator models, though General Dynamics still offers the upgrade package.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: General Dynamics produced a modernization upgrade package in the years before the Twilight War, and with storm clouds on the horizon, many countries that already used the M60A3 purchased the package and had their vehicles fitted with it. The upgrade package consists of new armor, a more powerful engine, better transmission, and improved fire control system with ballistic computer, gun stabilization, and safer ammunition storage. Among the customers were certain units of the US Army National Guard, some of who were still using M60A3s in the front line role; they called the modified M60A3 the M60A3E1. Cost of the upgrade kit is only one quarter the basic cost of the complete vehicle. Ammunition storage is similar to the M1, in that ammunition hits in the turret do not destroy the vehicle; instead, all the ammunition is destroyed and 50 concussion hits are applied to the crew. The Modernized M60A2 has lugs for reactive armor (HF, TF, TS).

     Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist.

GIAT AMX-40

     Country of Origin: France

     Notes: The AMX-40 was designed in the early 1980s to be a follow-on to the AMX-30 and AMX-32, with the export market in mind. As such, it has many common features with AMX-30 and AMX-32. Unfortunately, more and more tanks that could out-do the AMX-40 were becoming available on the world market, as a (real-world) cost comparable to the AMX-40. This disparity worsened as time went by; the AMX-40 found no buyers, and by 1990, GIAT no longer offered the AMX-40.

     The AMX-40 has a conventional layout, basically identical to the AMX-32. The turret is large and angular, made for the use of composite and ceramic sandwich armors. The glacis is also designed to use composite armor, and the hull sides have spaced armor skirts. Armament layout is also similar to the AMX-32, with the exception of the use of a 120mm French-designed gun instead of the AMX-32’s 105mm main gun. The 20mm coaxial autocannon is retained, as is the commander’s cupola with a 7.62mm machinegun. The commander’s machinegun is able to be aimed and fired (but not reloaded) from inside a closed cupola. The turret has a large bustle containing 15 rounds of main gun ammunition as well as machinegun and autocannon ammunition. The coaxial autocannon has independent elevation from the main gun. Fire control is essentially the same as the AMX-32, with an advanced (for the time) ballistic computer, laser rangefinder, monitors for the gunner and commander, and a CITS for the commander with his own vision devices and laser rangefinder. An NBC overpressure system is fitted, along with an automatic fire detection and extinguishing system. On each side of the turret is a cluster of six smoke grenade launchers.

    The engine of the AMX-40 was a Poyand V12X supercharged 1100-horsepower diesel, with an upgraded transmission to match. (The best feature of the AMX-40 was its speed and agility.) The suspension is also beefed up over that of the AMX-32, to handle rough terrain as well as aid in stabilizing the main gun for fire on the move and fighting crew fatigue.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The AMX-40 was in fact mass-produced in the Twilight 2000 timeline – not just for export (it formed part of Spain’s tank force), but to equip the French Foreign Legion as their primary main battle tank.  They were sent to the Middle East with the Foreign Legion, with the Leclercs being retained for European use.

KADDB Tariq 2

     Country of Origin: Jordan

     Notes: This is a Tariq retrofitted with a kit provided by the US firm Cadillac Gage. The kit converts the Tariq into a low-profile tank with a casemated main gun. The gun has an autoloader and the number of crew is reduced. The crew rides in the hull. The gun is a new Rheinmetall gun. The vehicle is much lighter, has a lower profile, and better performance. The lugs for reactive armor on the hull are retained (HF, HS). As of 2006, this is still an experimental project, hampered by a lack of funding and any real need for the tank by the Jordanian armed forces.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: About 75 of these modifications were carried out before the Twilight War.

Krauss-Maffei Leopard 3

     Country of Origin: Germany    

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is a product of the imagination of the designers at GDW.

     Twilight 2000 Story: This version of the Leopard 2 was developed at the same time as a number of experimentations with casemated turrets; the same experiments in NATO led to vehicles such as the M1 Hawk and M1A3 Abrams IV “Giraffe,” and similar experiments in Russia led to the T-94, T-95, and the Kliver turret.  The Leopard 3’s built (about 65 in all) entered service with the 1^st and 10^th Panzer Divisions as early as 1993, at first with scout elements, then in regular tank battalions.  They acquitted themselves well in battle, especially when fighting from hull-down positions, but their lack of numbers meant that any losses hurt, and by 2000, they were a bit scarce.  The Leopard 3 has three hatches for the driver, gunner, and commander, all on the front deck. 

     Merc 2000 Story: This vehicle does not exist in the Merc 2000 timeline.

LIW/Reunart Tank Technology Demonstrator

     Country of Origin: South Africa

     Notes: The Tank Technology Demonstrator is basically a tank awaiting funds. Most of the design work has been completed, but SANDF simply doesn’t have the money to produce or acquire any new tanks.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Though this South African tank entered series production as the Twilight War picked up, the experimental name stuck (though normally abbreviated to simply the "Tech;" it never received any official designation from the SANDF). The TTD was meant to provide a match for the T-72 tanks that more and more of its neighbors were receiving from the Russians. To this end, an advanced vehicle was designed incorporating composite armor and advanced targeting systems, as well as the ability to use reactive armor. Three versions were designed (in increasing rarity), one armed with a 105mm gun, a 120mm gun, and a 140mm gun. The 140mm-armed version is very rare, perhaps 5 of the total being built with this gun. The TTD features a laser warning system that automatically launches smoke grenades in the path of an incoming laser. Ammunition storage areas feature blow-off panels that protect the crew from an ammunition explosion, and if an ammunition explosion occurs, the vehicle is not destroyed and the crew is not killed, but each member of the crew receives 50 concussion hits.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This program has been shelved indefinitely; the South Africans have instead acquired Sabra tanks from Israel, along with a few Merkava Mk 1s.

Merkava Mk 5

     Country of Origin: Israel    

     Notes: I have used this designation for an experimental idea for an upgunned Merkava Mk 3.  As far as I know, no prototypes of this form of the Merkava have actually been built, but considerable computer studies have been done.

     Twilight 2000 Notes:  This is a greatly-upgraded Mk 3, with additional armor, a more powerful engine, and larger hull.  The turret controls are all-electrical.  The loader’s hatch in the turret is eliminated, leaving only the commander’s hatch.  The main gun is an L/55 model similar to those being fielded for the Leopard 2A6.  The fire control system is the most advanced available and is capable of tracking even slow-moving aircraft and helicopters.  The rear of the hull has a camera to assist the driver in backing the tank.  Belly armor is increased along with the rest of the armor.  The Merkava Mk 4 is equipped with a countermeasure system similar to that of the Shtora-1 of Russian tanks; when an incoming round is detected, a small missile is fired into the path of the incoming round to intercept it.  This system has 10 such missiles, and they are 25% likely to intercept an incoming main gun round, or 75% likely to intercept an incoming ATGM or rocket launcher round.  The ability to carry passengers is retained; up to 8 may be carried by removing 9 rounds of main gun ammunition per passenger.

     Merc 2000 Notes: Budget problems have delayed deployment until at least 2007.

Omsk Transmash Obyekt 640 Chyorny Oryol (Black Eagle)

     Country of Origin: Russia    

     Notes: Obyekt 640, more commonly known by the Western translation of its name, “Black Eagle,” is a tank with a little mystery behind it.  It’s could be an advanced prototype, a testbed for other tank technologies, a one-time replacement for the T-80 and T-90, or a tank design that failed for technological or budget problems.  It does not, however, appear to be an active design, or something that is going to go into production at this time or in the near future, and its design bureau, Omsk Transmash, declared bankruptcy in 2002 and still in bankruptcy management.  The designs and the prototypes have been sold to KBTM, who build the T-90 series and are developing a new tank for the future.

     The roots of the Black Eagle go back to the late 1980s as a stretched version of the T-80U with a new turret.  Supposedly, the design got even more impetus after Desert Storm in 1991, when the Russians were shocked by the effectiveness of the US Abrams and British Challenger tanks.  A supposed prototype was demonstrated at the VTTV Arms Exposition in Omsk in 1997; however the prototype made only one pass for the viewers, and this was a long way from the reviewing stands.  The turret was covered by several layers of camouflage netting that effectively obscured the details of the turret and the Black Eagle was moving fast. The prototype looked like a standard T-80-type hull with a new turret that had a large bustle and a large gun that some reviewers estimated might be as large as 152mm in caliber. However, this vehicle was instead a T-80 hull with a crude mocked-up turret, one that could traverse the “turret” about 45 degrees in one direction or the other; the “gun” was likewise a fake.

     Another prototype was shown at an arms exposition in Siberia (one that had limited attendance) in mid-1999.  This one did indeed have a stretched T-80U hull with seven roadwheels instead of six, but the turret was still covered with camouflage netting (not quite as thick this time, but it was obscuration enough).  The gun was also 125mm, but the barrel was longer than the standard 2A46 gun and had a thick thermal sleeve.  A few other views here and there (including some with no netting on the turret) since then have revealed the shape of the turret; it has heavy, sloped frontal armor and a large turret bustle, and is mostly squared-off in shape instead of being the dome shape that is traditional for Soviet and Russian-built tanks.  The commander’s and loader’s hatches are widely-spaced, to allow room for the autoloader and the bustle-carried ammunition.  Some technical details are also now known, enough to stat it for Twilight 2000 game use.

     The Black Eagle is a radical departure from traditional Russian/Soviet tank design; notes about the shape of the turret are in the preceding paragraph.  The turret shape also allows for the mounting of main guns of up to 152mm without major modifications to the turret or autoloader.  The hull lengthening appear to have been done partially to allow for more glacis sloping and armor, and to allow the driver’s position to be moved back so the hatch and his vision blocks are not part of the glacis.  The engine power has been described in horsepower from 1250-1800 horsepower; most seem to settle on 1400 or 1500 horsepower, and I have used 1500 horsepower for the stats below.  The engine has been described as either diesel or multi-fuel; I have used diesel below, as the Russians do not seem to use many multi-fuel engines in practice.  The transmission is said to be fully automatic, and the engine and transmission have electronic controls and “helpers” like many modern Western designs.  An APU is sometimes said to be a part of the design, with 1-5kW in range; I have used 2kW below.  The elongated hull may also allow for additional fuel capacity over the T-80 series; the Black Eagle has not yet been seen with extra fuel tanks at the rear.

     Armor protection is heavy, especially in the frontal arc; composite armor in the frontal arc is certain, with a spaced laminate armor sandwich-type armor on the sides.  There are lugs for ERA on the turret front, turret sides, hull front, and hull sides; this ERA is normally the new Kaktus 3^rd-generation version.  Another feature is the Arena active protection system.  The Black Eagle has thick side skirts which are probably also of spaced laminate armor. Each crewmember is in his own compartment in the tank and separated by bulkheads from each other, limited collateral casualties.

     At present, the main armament of the newest prototypes of the Black eagle appears to be a version of the standard 2A46M with a longer barrel length and a thermal sleeve (I have used L/60 for the stats below).  Other gun sizes have been discussed with respect to the Black Eagle, including 135mm and 152mm guns; I have included such armament below as a point of conjecture.  The Black Eagle has not been seen with a commander’s machinegun as of yet, but it is probable that one would be provided that could be aimed and fired (and possibly reloaded) from within the turret.  The coaxial is likely to be the standard Russian PKT machinegun.  Smoke grenade launchers have also not yet been seen on the Black Eagle, but it is likely that some would be mounted; I have allowed in the stats a cluster of five on each side.  The main gun is fed by an autoloader like the typical modern Russian tank, but it is a very different system.  Currently, Russian autoloaders use a carousel system, with the ammunition in the floor of the turret; the Black Eagle uses an autoloader in the center of the turret in a tunnel, fed by ammunition in the large bustle, and controlled by the gunner through the use of a computer to select the ammunition type, fuzing, and charges.  The bustle itself holds 30 rounds of 125mm ammunition (or 28 135mm rounds, or 25 152mm rounds) and has blow-out panels a la the M1 Abrams to protect the crew from an ammunition explosion.  The remaining rounds and any ATGM rounds are carried in armored bins in the floor of the turret and in the hull.  The new autoloader and ammunition arrangement means that the overall height of the Black Eagle could be reduced by almost half a meter.

     Like many modern tanks, the Black Eagle is to be fitted with a Battlefield Management System, which plots positions of friendly and enemy units, logistics points, and sends and receives new orders and information on a continuous basis.  A laser/IR/radar warning system is also provided.

     The Black Eagle may never materialize as a production vehicle, but it does show that at least some designers are thinking about more modern designs. Many of the design elements of the Black Eagle were incorporated into the later T-14 Armata.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Black Eagle, was produced in small numbers before and during the Twilight War; however, these numbers were so small that a nickname among NATO troops for the Black Eagle is the “Ghost Tank.”

T-72/T-21 Shilden Leclerc

     Country of Origin: France (Sort Of)

     Notes: This vehicle is based on a fictional tank found on Deviant Art.  It does not, and probably never will, exist in real life.

     Twilight 2000 v2.2 Notes:  This odd combination of a T-72 Shilden hull and an AM56 Leclerc turret was the result of the philosophy throughout the world in the late Twilight War of never wasting anything.  The T-72 was dealt a near-simultaneous hit on the left side by an APILAS rocket launcher and an antitank mine on the right6, and the result was a T-72 that had shed both its tracks and a few roadwheels to book, but the worst hit was a semi-penetrating hit to the turret to the T-72’s turret by a glancing hit by a HESH round near the top curve of the turret.  The Leclerc had been sitting around about the same, unusable due to thorough toasting of its hull, though the turret and most of the turret basket retained its integrity. The Shilden was wheeled/dragged to the base; a French tank mechanic then had the idea that the tank could be rehabilitated, and after through measurements of the turret ring of the Shilden and the turret requirements of the Leclerc, got permission from his commander to mate the Leclerc’s T-21 turret with the repaired tracks and roadwheels on the T-72 hull. The mechanics christened it the Shilden Leclerc, and it served for at least four years in the Middle East alongside other armored vehicles, after which there no more mentions of the Shilden Leclerc in the logs of the unit, except for sporadic mentions for the next three years.

     The hull is a standard T-72B’s hull, with little trace of its incapacitation; the turret is also virtually identical to the Leclerc Block I turret.  his makes an odd enough-looking combination all by itself, but the Shilden Leclerc has a bank of seven Lyran-71 multipurpose grenade launchers on either side of the gun.  Inside, however, extensive modifications have been made, including French radios, 40 120mm rounds available to the Leclerc autoloader, and 22 rounds stored in the former T-72 autoloader, with the carousel now used as storage for ammunition.  The turret further has CITS, but otherwise good, but basic, French day/night/telescopic vision devices, while the driver has a Russian day/night vision block.  The commander’s position is equipped with an AAT-F1 machinegun on a pintle, The AAT-F1 may be aimed, fired, and loaded from within the vehicle if necessary. The gun is stabilized in two planes by a combination of gyroscope and ballistic computer, though Fire Control is not as good as either the Shilden or Leclerc. The commander also has a panel showing the state of the entire tank (though it cannot access the rounds in the 7-72B carousel or transmission).  The Leclerc has an inertial navigation system that keeps constant track of where the Leclerc is in relation to the start point inputted into the system.  The inertial navigation system is also tied to a computer that keeps track of vital friendly units, such as supply, replenishment, and command units, as well as the vehicle state. (Note that while the Shilden Leclerc has many of the features of a BMS, it is not an actual BMS. However, the commander, gunner, and driver have LCD panels to show them the vehicle state, and keep the driver on-course.

     The armor of the Leclerc’s T-21 turret is modular; as better or new types of armor are developed, the faces of the turret, glacis, and hull sides can be easily removed and replaced with new developments in armor. The Leclerc brings its 23kW TM307B gas turbine APU to reduce fuel consumption when the Leclerc is on watch operations or simply staying still.  The tank has NBC Overpressure and a vehicular NBC backup. On the turret wall in the back is fitted a 30-liter drinking water tank; another 10-liter tank is in the driver’s compartment.

     The Shilden Leclerc brings a fire /explosion automatic detection, one for the engine and transmission compartment and one for the rest of the vehicle. The hull has the armor rating of the standard T-72, and retains lugs for ERA on the HF (including halfway up the glacis and hull sides. T-72 extra fuel tanks are installed at the rear of the hull. The T-72AB hull has special screen for the engine that greatly decrease the possibility that Molotov cocktails or ruptured external fuel tanks will pour fuel into the engine compartment.      

     The engine is that of the Shilden hull, a V-84-1 840-horsepower turbocharged engine.  The V-84-1 is a multifuel engine; it can use diesel (meant to be the primary fuel), gasoline, jet fuel, benzene, kerosene, and even liquid rocket fuel which does not require refrigeration.  This means that the engine compartment is larger than that of earlier T-72s. If using diesel, it can inject this fuel into its exhaust to produce a thick, oily smokescreen. The front of the T-72B is fitted with mounting equipment to allow the use of the KMT-6 mine plow, and there is an unditching beam at the rear.  The cumbersome tiller steering system has been replaced with a steering yoke, brake pedal, and gas pedal.

     The GIAT T-21 120mm smoothbore gun cannot fire the original 125mm ammunition of a whole Shilden. It can use any Rheinmetall NATO/US/Western/Chinese rounds, including the guided LAHAT ATGM, though its gun barrel. The coaxial machinegun is an M2HB, which not only has antipersonnel value, but can be used as a backup ranging machinegun.  The loader’s machinegun is an AAT-F1. An air conditioner has been fitted, but this does not have NBC filters.

     This singular Shilden Leclers has a wear value of 4 for most turret components and 5 for the hull.

TM810

     Country of Origin: Romania    

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is a product of the Twilight 2000 designers at GDW.  (It is seen in Twilight 2000 publications as the "M81," but I felt that the designation "TM810" is closer to a real Romanian designation.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Originally an experimental modification of the TM800, the TM810 was placed into production in earnest after Romania switched sides to NATO, and needed a tank to combat some of the more advanced Russian and Eastern European designs.  It is essentially a TM800 chassis topped with a larger turret to house a 120mm Rheinmetall gun.  Though primarily issued to Romanian troops later in the war, about three dozen of these tanks were acquired by US tankers operating in Yugoslavia and southern Romania, and the Americans using the TM810 were generally pleased with its performance, though not as much as they liked Western tanks. 

Uralvagonzavod T-94

     Country of Origin: Russia (Soviet Union)    

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is based on a rumored design for "the next Soviet main battle tank," rumors that started appearing in the late 1970s and persisted until the early 1990s. This tank is the one originally listed in Twilight:2000 as “T-90;” I have altered the designation to take into account the appearance of the real T-90, early versions of which would have made an appearance in the Twilight War.

     During the Cold War, it seems that there was always talk about the “next Soviet battle tank” and the amazing and powerful features it had and how un-killable it was.  This was often due to incomplete information and lack of intelligence about the Soviet’s tanks (and military technology in general) and sometimes disinformation put out by the Soviets themselves.  It was also caused by the tendency during most of the Cold War for Western analysts to overestimate the Soviets’ military technology.  The Western governments during the Cold War also would often deliberately put out overestimates of Soviet technology to spur on military technology that was even better than those overestimates, and to justify high defense expenditures.  (And every so often, the Soviets did actually come up with something that was better than the West had.)  For the most part, however, Soviet military technology, and the amount of effective forces they had, lagged behind intelligence estimates, and Soviet capabilities were usually much less than Western governments publicly stated.

     One of the big buzzwords in the West was about the “Future Soviet Tank” that began circulating in the late 1970s, and intensified in the early 1980s.  The designers of the Twilight 2000 game used some of these reports to devise a fictional Soviet tank called the T-90.  Since it is now known that the T-90 is indeed a real tank (though nothing like GDW’s T-90), I have decided to re-christen it the “T-94.”  The T-94 uses a long, low hull, topped by a low, casemated turret that houses little more than the main gun, the heads of its sights, and part of the autoloader.

     The T-94’s crew all sit in the hull, with the driver in front left of the hull, behind the long, sloped glacis; the commander is on the right side, and the gunner slightly behind those two and in the center.  Due to the design, the commander has no machinegun, though there is a small hatch on the turret roof surrounded by vision blocks that can be used by the commander or gunner if necessary for observation. The vision blocks of this hatch, however, does not have the night vision equipment that the commander’s or gunner’s station has.  The driver has vision blocks in an arc from 30 degrees right to 100 degrees left, and the two center blocks are night vision-capable.  The driver can also use a TV camera in the rear of the hull when backing up.

     The primary armament of the T-94 is a modified form of the gun used by the T-80, called the 2A46-3, with the differences merely being those required for the gun and autoloader to fit inside the T-94’s turret.  The main gun can fire conventional ammunition as well as the 9M119 Refleks (AT-11 Sniper) laser-guided ATGM. The downside of the T-94’s turret design is that the T-94’s gun and coaxial machinegun is capable of almost no depression – it can manage only -1.5 degrees, but this was deemed acceptable due to the T-94’s low silhouette when hull-down.  (The T-94’s lack of depression for its main gun was also the reason that the Soviets did not use the T-94 in mountainous regions.)  The autoloader can handle any sort of ammunition the T-94 is able to fire, including the Reflecks ATGM, and all main gun ammunition on the T-94 is essentially in the autoloader.  The coaxial machinegun’s ammunition is contained in a single container in a continuous-feed belt.  The expended stub of the main gun ammunition is ejected through a small hatch on the right hull side, as is the boot-type adapter for the Reflecks ATGM.  The T-94’s fire control system is almost unbelievable by Soviet standards, including a laser designator, a ballistic computer almost up to Western standards, excellent gun stabilization, advanced night vision and amplified day vision – and all successfully downlinked by fiberoptic cabling to LCD screens in front of the gunner and commander.  The heads for these sights are on the roof of the turret, inside of armored housings, one each for the commander and gunner.  The T-94 also has backup sights and vision devices in front of their positions in the hull that allow for reduced vision and fire control; the commander and gunner can also go to an auxiliary, very cramped gun control position in the turret below the aforementioned hatch as a backup.  If the backup sights in the hull are used, the gunner and commander will only be able to fire the main gun and coaxial in a 30-degree arc in front of the T-94, simply because those sights cannot see in a wider arc; unfortunately, the auxiliary gunner position in the turret is quite difficult to reach from inside of the T-94, virtually requiring that the crewmember be a contortionist.

     The armor suite for the T-94 is advanced, somewhere in sophistication between that of the T-80 and T-94.  The glacis is very elongated and highly-sloped, causing many a shot by enemy weapons to bounce off.  The turret is small, round, and low, not presenting much of a target.  This small turret, however, has a surprising amount of protection.  Atop the turret is mounted the Shtora-1 “soft-kill” active protection system. The Shtora-1 consists of sensors and equipment mounted atop the turret and control systems mounted inside the turret and hull; the primary controls for the Shtora-1 on the T-94 are at the commander’s station.  The Shtora-1 system includes an electro-optical jamming system to jam wire-guided ATGMs (on a roll of 12+ on a d20, the difficulty to the ATGM gunner is increased by one level; outstanding success indicates that the incoming missile pre-detonates before it can hit the T-94).  A laser warning system is also included with the Shtora-1; when the T-94 is being lased by a laser designator, an alarm sounds inside the T-94, and a pair of smoke grenades are automatically launched to help obscure the T-94 to the laser beam.  The laser warning system can also be triggered manually by the commander. The smoke grenades can also be triggered by the gunner manually if he feels it is necessary; the T-94 has six smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret.   The Shtora-1 also includes a pair of IRCM lights (one on the turret on each side of and above the main gun) that emit coded, pulsed IR beams to decoy IR-guided munitions; their effectiveness is the same as listed for the electro-optical jammer above, and both have a 360-degree range of protection, as well as 180-degrees upwards.  They can also temporarily blind IR sights and image intensifiers; this is successful on a roll of 8 on a d20 for IR sights and 5 for image intensifiers.  A computer is provided to tie all of this information from the Shtora-1 and other sensors together.  The T-94 also has lugs for 2^nd-generation Kontakt-2 ERA on the glacis and hull sides (the lugs and ERA blocks do not fit on the small turret).  The T-94 is already outfitted to function as a command tank, as it comes standard with a 1kW APU and an extra medium and long-range radio; the T-94 also has a small fire-direction computer to help plot artillery, mortar, and air strikes, and is equipped with an inertial navigation system and a mapping system.

     The T-94 uses a gas turbine engine that is much more reliable than that of the T-80, though it unfortunately still uses a lot of fuel.  The engine and suspension of the T-94 make for a fast and agile tank, and combined with the low silhouette, make the T-94 a difficult target.  The SG-1050 engine develops 1500 horsepower, and can burn diesel (meant to be the primary fuel), gasoline, jet fuel, benzene, and kerosene.  Due to the fuel consumption, the T-94 has the same auxiliary fuel tank capability found on most Soviet tanks since World War 2.

     Like almost all Soviet tanks, the crew accommodations of the T-94 are cramped and best-suited for small soldiers.  The crew has an NBC overpressure system available with a collective NBC backup.  On the turret roof there is a radiac meter along with an optical chemical sniffer to warn the crew of radiation and chemical weapon threats.  Radiation protection on the T-94 is similar to that of the T-80, and is almost total proof against radiation hazards, including a neutron bomb detonation within 300 meters.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Numbers of the T-94 were never high, with only about 60 being built.  The T-94 was first encountered by scout elements of the 6th Ranger Battalion in the Ukraine in 1996, and was not often seen outside of the Soviet Union, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

*Armor for the hull floor and hull deck is 12; armor for the turret deck is 12Sp.

**If the auxiliary gun controls at the gunner’s or commander’s station are used, the Fire Control modifier is only +1.

Uralvagonzavod T-95

     Country of Origin: Russia (Soviet Union)

     Notes: There is possibly a real a T-95, but details of it have not yet been released, nor have pictures.  (The Black Eagle and the real T-95 may in fact be the same vehicle.) At any rate, this is not the real-life T-95.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The T-95 tank was begun as a program to design an improved T-80/T-90 tank that would standardize the manufacturing plants, which were producing two different models. The design borrows from the T-80 MBT for its chassis; designs seen in combat were based on the T-80UM (which is equipped with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA), a more powerful engine, better computerized fire control system, and thermal imaging systems and sights). The major difference is the addition of an automatic loading, low-profile turret that is armed with a 135mm smoothbore cannon, and is NBC-sealed.

     The T-95 has been fitted with an experimental model of the T-90s Shtora-1 Countermeasure system. It is designed to detect the presence of an enemy laser beam (used for targeting); upon detection of a laser beam, it immediately launches a series of smoke charges to obscure the beam.

     The T-95 was first seen in late 1994 by spy satellites of the National Reconnaissance Office, and was first seen in combat in the summer of 1997 by elements of the US 43rd Infantry Division. It is known to be capable of using the AT-11 Reflecks missiles of the T-90, in addition to its normal ammunition, and a special 135mm Thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) round that was designed to be used against light armored vehicles in convoys. The T-95 has picked up the nickname of "Dragon" from NATO troops, due to its ability to cripple and kill foreign-made tank designs.