Ramses II tank

Ramses II
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Egypt
Service history
In service	2005–present
Used by	Egypt
Wars	Egyptian Crisis
Production history
Designer	Chrysler Defense
Designed	1990s
Produced	2004–2005
Number built	+425
Specifications
Weight	48 tons
Length	Hull length: 7.05 m, With gun 9.60 m
Width	3.42 m
Height	2.40 m
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)

Armor	Active/Passive
Main armament	105 mm M68 rifled cannon
Secondary armament	1 × 7.62 mm SGMT medium coaxial machine gun, 1 × .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2HB heavy machine gun
Engine	TCM AVDS-1790-5A turbocharged diesel developing 908 hp
Power/weight	18 hp/tonne
Transmission	Renk RK-304 with 4 fwd and 4 rev
Suspension	General Dynamics Land Systems Model 2880 in-arm hydropneumatic
Fuel capacity	1,312 liters
Operational range	530 km
Speed	Road: 69 km/h, Off-road: 42 km/h

T-54 and T-55 tanks

Type 59 Al-Zarrar Ramses II T-55AGM Type-72Z Safir-74

Variants	IDF Achzarit Marksman MT-55 VIU-55 Munja WZT ZSU-57-2 BTR-T

T-54/55 operators and variants

Cold War tanks

List Category

MBTs	AMX-30 AMX-40 Centurion Challenger 1 Chieftain Chonma-ho EE-T1 Osório K1 88 Leopard 1 Leopard 2 M1 Abrams M60 Patton M-84 Magach MBT-70 MBT-80 Merkava Object 187 Object 292 Object 785 OF-40 Panzer 68 Stridsvagn 103 T-62 T-64 T-72 T-80 TAM TR-85 Type 59 Type 61 Type 69/79 Type 74 Nana-yon Type 88 Vijayanta Vickers MBT WZ-122

Light	AMX-13 Expeditionary tank M8 Armored Gun System M41 Walker Bulldog M551 Sheridan PT-76 Scorpion SK-105 Kürassier Stingray Stridsvagn 74 T92 Light Tank Type 62 Type 63 Type 64 WZ-132

Medium	M26 Pershing M46 Patton M47 Patton M48 Patton Panzer 58 Panzer 61 T-44 T-54/55 T95 Type 58

Heavy	AMX-50 Conqueror IS-3 Object 279 M103 T-10 T30 Stridsvagn KRV WZ-111

Tank destroyers	Infanterikanonvagn 73 Infanterikanonvagn 91 Kanonenjagdpanzer

History WWI Interwar WWII Cold War Tank

Post-Cold War tanks

List
Category

Under 120 mm gun

Ch'ŏnma-ho Ramses II

Under 50 tonnes

Al-Zarrar Al-Khalid P'okpoong-Ho PT-91 Twardy T-84 T-90 Type 10 Type 59G Type 96 Zulfiqar

Over 50 tonnes

Ariete Arjun BM Oplot Challenger 2 K1 88-Tank K2 Black Panther Leclerc Leopard 2 M1 Abrams M60-2000 Merkava Sabra Type 90 Type 99 tank

Not in service

Altay Black Eagle EE-T1 Osório VT-4 Main Battle Tank M-95 Degman M-84AS T-95 Tank EX Type 99KM T-14 Armata

The Ramses II tank is a main battle tank designed for the armed forces of Egypt. A single T-54 was sent to the United States for upgrading. A primary prototype was sent to Egypt where extensive trials were completed in late 1987. The tank finally entered production in 2004–2005. A total of 425 units have been produced. The tank was originally called the T-54E ("E" stands for "Egyptian").

At early stages, the upgrade was concerned with the firepower and mobility of the tank solely, while latter stages included the improvement of the level of protection as well. The tank's hull was modified to accommodate the new engine which had a great commonality with the one used by the M60A3 (the most numerous main battle tank in active Egyptian service), as a result an additional road wheel was added. The tank is armed with the same main gun used by Egyptian M60A3's; in addition to a sophisticated fire control system.

History of development

In November 1984, Teledyne Continental Motors (taken over by General Dynamics Land Systems) of the USA was awarded a contract to upgrade the firepower and mobility of a single T-54 tank. This was originally called the T-54E but was subsequently renamed Ramses II. The first prototype of the Ramses II was sent to Egypt for extensive firepower and mobility trials in January 1987 and these were completed in late 1987. Late in 1989, Egypt signed a technical assistance agreement with TCM to support the continued Egyptian testing of the Ramses II, with testing commencing in the summer of 1990. The tank finally entered production/conversion in 2004–2005 with 260 units so far modified from the stock of the T-54 available in the Egyptian Army arsenal.

Specifications

The upgrades and modifications, which resulted in an increase in the weight of the tank to 48 tons, are:

Fire Control System

SABCA Titan Mk I

A SABCA Titan Mk I laser fire-control system has been installed which includes:

A modified Avimo TL10-T sight incorporating the laser range-finder
An integrated in-eyepiece CRT alphanumeric graphic display
An original SABCA double digital processor
An image intensification periscopic night sight
Automatic attitude and atmospheric sensors and associated control boxes
A new communications system

Mobility

The hull section has been modified to accommodate the new power pack, consisting of:

A TCM AVDS-1790-5A turbocharged diesel developing 908 hp (which has 80 per cent commonality with the engine installed in the M60A3 MBT)
A Renk RK-304 transmission
Two new exhaust pipes, one either side of the hull rear, replace the single exhaust outlet in the left side of the hull
A new fuel tank. As a result of the lengthening of the hull (the Ramses II is nearly one meter longer than the T-54/55 and with an added wheel on each side)
A new final drives
A new General Dynamics Land Systems, Model 2880 in-arm hydro-pneumatic suspension units each fitted with:
- An M48-type road wheel
- Idler at the front
- Large drive sprocket at the rear
- Two new track-return rollers and US pattern tracks replacing the original Russian tracks

Armament

The Gun system has had the following modifications:
- The gun and turret stabilisation system are provided by HR Textron Incorporated of the United States
- The original DT-10T 100 mm gun has been replaced by the 105 mm M68 ordnance which is already fitted in the Egyptian M60A3 MBTs
- The original breech of the 100 mm DT-10T gun has been retained and modified and the recoil system has also been modified
- A muzzle reference system is fitted as standard
- An M60 day/ night searchlight is mounted over the 105 mm gun
- A collective type NBC system has been installed
- Has IR vision for the gunner and driver
- An image intensification for the commander
- A laser range-finder with ballistic computer for the gunner

Protection

Active and passive protection has been upgraded by:
- Armor protection has been added as have armored side skirts
- A modern NBC overpressure system
- A new air filtration system
- A fire detection and suppression system
- Mounts 6 electrically operated smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret
- The hatch layout has been retained
- British Blair Catton tracks
- A new turret basket

Operators

Egypt
- Egyptian Army - 425 with plans for additional conversion of 140-160

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, June 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.