AMX 30

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AMX-30
General characteristics
Crew 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver)
Length 9.5 m
Width 3.1 m
Height 2.5 m
Weight 36 t
Armour and armament
Armour 80mm to 100mm
Main armament 105 mm Modele F2 tank gun
Secondary armament 7.62 mm machine gun
Mobility
Power plant Hispano-Suiza HS-110
680 hp (507 kW)
Suspension torsion bar
Road speed 65 km/h
Power/weight
Range 500 km (420 km on gasoline)

The AMX-30 is perhaps the most successful post-war French armoured vehicle design, a main battle tank designed by GIAT Industries with a focus on good firepower and superior mobility and first delivered to the French Army in 1966. In addition, it was designed to be able to operate with minimal support services. The downside of the design was the limited armour protection (50 mm base), unable to protect the tank against contemporary main battle tank weapons of NATO or the Warsaw Pact.

Design features included a fully sealed hull, allowing operations in nuclear, chemical, and biological contamination areas. The tank is also capable of fording water up to 2 m in depth. The armour is made of rolled plates and castings, completely welded. The turret is entirely cast and highly shaped for maximum protection.

Contents

[edit] History

The AMX design was the result of French specifications for a new main battle tank to replace aging American tanks in French service since the end of World War II. Like the Germans during the same period, the French subscribed to the theory that even the heaviest armour would prove unable to keep up with rapid development of anti-tank weaponry, and that the best way to protect tanks within a reasonable design was to enhance their manoeuverability. Thus the design solution was a tank with less heavy armour, but greater speed and an accurate powerful weapon that would allow quick destruction of the enemy.

An additional design requirement, as with most French military designs, was for the design to be able to attract wide export markets, as French weapon design relied heavily on foreign sales for financing. The AMX-30 was successful in this regard, being widely exported in many versions.

From 1956 until 1963 the French cooperated with the Germans in the design of a "Europa Tank", each country providing several prototypes. In 1963 it transpired that Germany insisted on a somewhat wider and heavier vehicle than at first specified and refused the new French 105 mm gun optimised for firing a special stabilised HEAT-round with the outer shell rotating at a higher speed than the shaped charge within. Both countries went their separate ways, Germany building the Leopard 1. German export restrictions greatly favoured the foreign sales of the AMX-30.

In February 1964 Israel started preparations for a parallel license production of the AMX-30 hull — the turrets having to be imported from France — but this project was canceled for as yet undisclosed reasons around 1966, the very year series production began in France. Between 1974 and 1984 there was a license production in Spain. The last French vehicle was delivered in 1993.

France used the AMX-30B2 during the first Gulf War in 1991, where it equipped the 6e Brigade Légère Blindée ("6th Light Armoured Brigade"). The tanks' performance was regarded as excellent. Saudi Arabia, and Qatar used their AMX-30S' tanks in the ground campaign of the Gulf War as well.

The design has been supplanted in France by the Leclerc, but is still in world-wide use. In addition to the more than 2,000 tanks produced, more than 1,000 chassis were used as the basis for a range of self-propelled artillery and other derivatives.

Known Users:

[edit] Derivatives

  • AMX 30 D: repair tank
  • AMX 30 AuF1: 155 mm autonomous artillery
  • AMX 30 EBG: armoured engineering
  • AMX 30 ROLAND: Roland ground-air missile system
  • AMX 30 PLUTON: Pluton tactical nuclear missile
  • AMX 30 B2: Improved version with new onboard computers
  • AMX 30 EBD: armoured minesweeper
  • AMX 30 BRENUS: Improved version with reactive armour
  • AMX 30 FORAD: Cosmetically modified version, to play the role of foreign tanks during exercises.
  • AMX 32: Export version prototypes with heavier armour, but far less manoeuvrability.

[edit] In popular culture

Prototype

View of the turret system

amphibious capabilities

Roland ground-air missile system

AMX-30 Pluton tactical nuclear missile

155 mm autonomous artillery

AMX-30 Hull (AuF1 under repairs)


Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


Modern French armoured fighting vehicles
Tanks & Armoured Cars

Leclerc | AMX 30 | ERC-90 Sagaie | AMX 10 RC | VBC-90
Armoured personnel carriers

VAB | Panhard AML | VBL | AMX-10P | VBCI
Artillery

LRM | AMX 30 AuF1 | CAESAR
French armoured fighting vehicles


[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/m/x/AMX_30_5a78.html"