X-30 / MB-3 Tamoyo
Bernardini experimented and ended up developing a new MB-3 Tamoyo medium tank, that was little more than a direct derivative of the M41, a little bit larger [6 rather than 5 road wheels] and with new “garments”, designed to have the 90mm and 105mm cannon, depending on the version. Almost all the prototype components, wheels, tracks and even the 76mm cannon came from the M41.
First designated "X-30", the program was established in 1978. To try and jump ahead of the competition, Brazil implemented ambitious plans to move to high technology. This is a big change from their original strategy of "make It simple, make it cheap." Engesa also had under full-scale development the X-30 tank which it specifically designed for the climatic and topographical conditions of countries in South and Central America. The X-30 is particularly well suited for operations at the higher altitudes which exist in many Latin American countries. By 1992 they had developed specialized arms such as Ensesa's I-30 tank which was specifically designed for climates and topographies in South and Central America. This tank operated very well at high altitudes, needed in several Latin American countries.
The first MB-3 Tamoyo prototype was completed in 1982, and was armed only with a 76-mm gun, but the following 9 prototypes built in 1983 through 1985 had 90-mm guns (the 11th and last prototype had a 105-mm gun). The hull was significantly redesigned over the M41, and the turret was essentially all-new, resulting in a tank that looked almost nothing like what it was derived from.
Compared to the M41 it was derived from, the chassis of the Tamoyo has been stretched by several feet, a additional roadwheel has been added, different armor arrays, a cluster of smoke mortars, a new wedge-shaped gun shield, a track skirt (from the aforementioned M41C Caxias), a new and longer gun, and a longer, raised rear engine deck. The turret was completely original, and significantly lower, more angular, and more shallowly-sloped than the original example from the M41.
The Tamoyo is 8.76 m long, 3.22 m wide, 2.48 m high, and has 0.5 m of ground clearance. It can surmount a 0.7 m vertical step, ford a 1.3 m deep water obstacle, and tackle a 60% gradient and 30% side slope. The suspension utilizes the standard torsion bars of the M41 light tank, but has 12 instead 10 (due to the added 6th pair of roadwheels). The 6 roadwheels, 3 return rollers, drive sprocket, and idler are the same as used in the M41 Walker Bulldog, and the track seems to be the same T91E3 from the M41 as well. The first, second, and sixth roadwheels are fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers. The ground pressure is approximately 0.72 kg/cm2.
Propulsion is provided by either of two different V8 diesel engines; a 500 hp Saab-Scandia DSI-14, or a 730 hp Detroit Diesel 8V-92TA. The available gearboxes are a General Dynamics HMPT-500 automatic transmission, with 3 forward and 1 reverse speed (for the DSI-14), and an Allison CD-500-3 automatic transmission, with 1 forward and 1 reverse gear (for the 8V-92TA). With the Saab-Scandia engine, the Tamoyo has a power/weight ratio of 17.18 hp/t; with the Detroit Diesel engine, it’s power/weight ratio is 25 hp/t. Both transmissions allow a pivot-steer capability, which the original M41 Walker lacked.
At least 4 different main guns were available for the Tamoyo - the original M32 rifled 76-mm gun of the M41; Bernardini’s own 76/40 M32 BR3, a rifled 76-mm gun with a tube 40 calibers long; the Bernardini rifled 90-mm gun, 40 calibers long (with 68 rounds); and the L7A3 rifled 105-mm gun (with 40 rounds), with a tube 52 calibers long. The Tamoyo also has a coaxial machine gun and an anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof, either or both of which may be a 12.7mm M2HB, or a 7.62mm MAG. Both the main gun and coaxial gun are fully stabilized on 2 planes, allowing the Tamoyo to accurately fire on-the-move, even at high speeds.
The Tamoyo had vision blocks and/or periscopes for all 4 crewmen, day/night sights for both the tank commander and gunner, and both GPS (Gunner's Primary Sights) and GAS (Gunner's Auxiliary Sights) for the gunner. The definitive fire control system of the MB-3 Tamoyo was the Ferranti Falcon, which included a digital ballistics computer, and a laser rangefinder.
The first prototype was elaborated together with CeTEx (Army Technological Center) in Rio de Janeiro, RJ. The prototype phase was the first and the only phase. The crisis in the Brazilian defense sector at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s was fatal for big domestic projects. They were substituted by second-hand material purchased from several countries. Brazil for the first time acquired the MBT (Main Battle Tank), M-60 A3 TTS and LEOPARD 1A 1, respectively from the United States and Belgium.
What is certain is that the partnership between Bernardini and Krauss-Maffe (GLS) helped a lot in the larger project that was the car development TAMOYO, combat the prototype stage. These attempts, with its mistakes and successes were the great booster of a new era that witnessed the rise and fall of the material industry in defense in Brazil. They served as a battery of tests, with experiments to overcome barriers to each time of course had great problems, but it took the other developments from it or creating in concepts and needed for tracked vehicles. The development of the project of modernization of M41 and other vehicles by Bernardini was not in vain, as it taught many lessons.
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