Poland PL-01 Design
The PL-01 Concept is a tracked vehicle 7 m long and 3.8 m wide, weighing a standard 30 tons. The weight could, however, increase to 35 tons, with the use of additional modular armor panels and a mine protection kit. The structure is powered by a diesel engine with a capacity of 950 HP and self-ignition, which accelerates the tank to a maximum of 70 km per hour. on the road and 50 km per hour in the field. The range of PL-01 itself was estimated at approx. 500 km.
The tank was designed to work with a crew of three, but also provided an additional space for transporting four soldiers. Their safety was to be ensured by multi-layer, modular, ceramic-aramid armor. The turret and hull offered additional protection against HEAT shells, and the hull itself against improvised explosives. Generally, PL-01 has the overall layout of the Anders tank, which indicates the preference of the Polish designers. The engine-transmission compartment is located at the front of the tank, similar to Israeli tank Merkava, and the rest of the space is designed to house the crew and ammunition. The idea of the front location of engine and transmission is supported by the shape of the front of the vehicle with the driver's hatch shifted back, again similar to Merkava.
It is too early to talk about the armor characteristics of the PL-01 as not much can be said about the thickness and design of the armor based on a model. Perhaps, as in other modern tanks, the most powerful armor on this tank will be installed in the front part of the hull and turret. In any case, the tilt of the upper front part will improve the defense of the front projection. The sides of the model have large, relatively thick screens. Judging by the size and appearance, they may contain a multi-layer composite armor, but we can only guess what material it will be made of.
PL-01 turret is small, and like the hull has a peculiar shape of numerous flat panels, but the reasons behind this technical solution are not entirely clear. It is likely that the design considered the possibility of reducing the radar detectability of the tank through the application of stealth technology.
There is another theory that the unusual appearance of the tank is due to purely aesthetic preferences of the designers. If so, it is not very good, because tanks, just like restaurants, should be built for the consumer rather than for pleasing personal tastes. A restaurant built to the taste of the designer is 80 percent likely to go bankrupt, and tanks are no different. An attractive appearance is not an indicator for the tank, as tanks are not planes.
According to the initial assumptions, the PL-01 Concept would have a 105 mm or 120 mm gun. There would be an autoloader on board, capable of firing up to six normal or guided missiles per minute, and up to 45 rounds could be taken on board. The machine itself provided space for 16 missiles. A 7.26 mm machine gun was attached to the gun. The tank can also be armed with an additional 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm remotely controlled machine gun and a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. On each side of the turret, inside the armor, there were two rows of four smoke grenades.
One of the most controversial solutions in terms of the original appearance is the casing of the guns. The quadrilateral chopped design is significantly different from those used in modern tanks. This fact may also confirm the aesthetic theory of the origin of a number of units.
Most obviously the "aesthetics" of the tank was manifested in the original casing covering its 120-mm smoothbore gun. Only a small part of the trunk and a muzzle brake come out of the front sheet of the casing. The surface of the casing smoothly moves into the upper and lower sheets of the turret armor. This solution is optimal, which cannot be said about the gun. None of the modern battle tanks have muzzle brakes on the gun, and even more so, slotted brakes with as many as nine slots. As evident from military experience, a muzzle brake adversely affects the accuracy when hitting long-range targets.
When the gas passes through the brake, the barrel jolts as many times as it has exit points for gas. While the overall deviation is very small, at a distance of one and a half to two kilometers it can reach several meters. This is why the 125-mm gun of the Russian T-90 tank, and 120-millimeter German gun Rheinmetall on Leopard and Abrams tanks, as well as the 120-millimeter gun on the Israeli Merkava do not have muzzle brakes in principle.
The turret of PL-01 is equipped with an advanced niche in its rear part that, as in one of the Anders tank, will house an autoloader. A remote control rifle-caliber machine gun and smoke grenade launchers are mounted on the roof of the turret. In addition, on the roof of the turret, close to the sides, there are two blocks with some equipment that looks like a video camera. Their purpose was not immediately clear.
These blocks can rotate around a vertical axis and swing in a vertical plane. Another optical system unit is located in front of the turret, near the mask guns. Most likely, it is meant for the surveillance crew. If it is placed inside the hull, appropriate means of monitoring the environmental terrain will be required. Perhaps, this is why installation of a developed system of video and thermal imaging cameras is planned for PL-01.
The PL-01 Concept fire control system offers a gunner's sight with a thermal imager and a laser rangefinder. For this, a panoramic viewfinder for the commander and an imaging system on multifunctional screens were used. The tank was also equipped with an electric armament stabilization system, an omnidirectional observation system and a battlefield management system.
The systems installed above the gun, as well as certain equipment to the right will likely be used for guiding weapons. On the front part of the turret, to the right of the gun, there is a small niche with two optical devices. To the left of the gun a large vertical slit is provided for in the turret, apparently intended for coaxial machine gun.
PL- 01 will receive a promising fire control system of foreign production, an active protection complex, and a number of other important systems. International Corporation BAE Systems will likely be involved in the creation of complex electronic equipment for this tank.
The suspension of the PL-01 Concept was based on seven road wheels and a driving wheel, cooperating with torsion shafts. To guarantee the relative comfort of movement, active damping and driving assistance systems were used. This configuration was to guarantee that the PL-01 Concept would be able to overcome obstacles with a slope of 30 degrees and through trenches up to 2.6 m wide.
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