Type 90 Tank - Armament
The main gun is a 44 caliber 120 mm smoothbore gun, and it is equipped with a German Rh-M-120 manufactured by Rheinmetall manufactured under license by Japan Steel Works. This gun can be said to be the standard gun of the Western 3rd generation tank, which is also used in Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams. A domestically produced 120mm smoothbore gun was also developed for the development of the Type 90 tank, and prototypes were also made, but Rheinmetall's one was adopted due to cost and operational performance.
Unlike conventional rifles, smoothbore guns do not have the rifling cut off, and the inside of the barrel is smooth. , which also contributes to extending the life of the barrel. Cannonballs that were conventionally stabilized by rotation by rifling are stabilized by stabilizing wings. The Type 90 tank was equipped with a smoothbore gun for the first time as a domestic tank. The ammunition uses two types of ammunition: the JM33 wing-stabilized armor-piercing ammunition and the JM12 multi-purpose anti-tank high-explosive ammunition, which are licensed productions of DM33 APFSDS and DM12A1 HEAT- MP from Rheinmetall.
DM33 is an APFSDS ammunition that has been in operation since 1987 as a shell for the Leopard 2 , and was the latest ammunition at the time of adoption of the Type 90 tank. APFSDS is a non-explosive kinetic energy projectile that penetrates armor by hitting the target directly at high speed with a dart-like projectile that has a tungsten alloy ferrous body. When fired with a 44 caliber cannon, the DM33 has an initial velocity of 1650m/s, an armor penetration of 540mm at zero distance, 500mm at 1km, and 460mm at 2km . Mainly used in anti-tank combat.
The DM12 HEAT-MP is a chemical energy bullet that penetrates armor with the energy from the explosion of the explosive, with an initial velocity of 1140m/s and an armor penetration of 600mm to 700mm regardless of shooting distance. Also, since the explosion of the explosive charge scatters fragments around it, it can be used in anti-material and interpersonal combat instead of normal high-explosive shells, and if the target is unclear, this is loaded for the time being. Although armor penetration is numerically higher than APFSDS, if the target has explosive reactive armor or composite armor, there is a high possibility that it will not be able to deal effective damage, so APFSDS is used exclusively in anti-tank combat.
In the Type 74 tank, the main gun was stabilized by a direct gyro stabilizer, but in the Type 90 tank, the gun barrel follows the stabilized sighting machine. Compared to the conventional method of directly stabilizing the heavy main gun, it is only necessary to stabilize the mirror of the lightweight sighting device, so it is much more stable, and it is now possible to aim stably even when shooting while marching.
The main gun elevation/depression angle is +10 degrees to -7 degrees, but when combined with the attitude control of the hydraulic suspension system, it becomes +15 degrees to -12 degrees, and has excellent ridgeline shooting ability like the Type 74 tank. The turret rotation and elevation/depression angle movement are all electric like the 74 type tank, and there is little risk of being hit.
One of the major features of the Type 90 tank is that it adopted an automatic loading device for the first time as a third-generation tank in the West. The 90 type tank is called the belt magazine system, and Leclerc in France and K2 in South Korea have adopted a similar mechanism. In this system, there is a magazine called a belt magazine in the bustle at the rear of the turret, and the ammunition arranged here is carried to the rear of the gun barrel one after another by a belt conveyor and loaded by a rammer (extrusion mechanism). Even if the main gun is performing elevation and depression, the barrel automatically returns to the horizontal position when reloading. It takes about 4 seconds to load, shoot, and eject the shell, and can shoot about 15 shots per minute, which is about twice the speed of the Kasetka-type automatic loader installed in the former Soviet Union's T-72. , much faster than manual loading. Also, since the loader was no longer needed, the crew was reduced by one to three.
The number of bullets in the automatic loading device is 9 rounds x 2 stages, a total of 18 rounds, and 40 rounds in total, 18 rounds in the ammunition rack on the right front of the vehicle and 4 rounds on the left side of the gunner, are loaded as spare ammunition. When loading the automatic loading device, the loading position is stored in the computer by inputting the type of ammunition with the switch each time, and the type of ammunition selected by the gunner is automatically loaded. Ammunition is normally loaded into the autoloader through the hatch on the top left of the turret, but it can also be loaded from inside the vehicle. Also, in case of emergency, the loading device can be manually moved by turning the handle. In addition, the belt magazine section of the automatic loader and the turret fighting compartment are separated by a bulkhead, and even if the belt magazine ammunition is induced to explode by being hit, the blow-off panel at the top of the turret blows off and the pressure escapes to the outside to protect the occupants.
Secondary Armament
As a secondary armament, it is equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun M2 on the top of the turret and a Type 74 onboard 7.62mm machine gun on the same axis as the main gun, which is exactly the same as the Type 74 tank.
The Browning M2 heavy machine gun is also called Caliber Fifty because of its caliber of 12.7mm (50 caliber), and although it was developed in the 1920s, it is still the best-selling heavy machine gun that continues to be produced. Licensed production is also carried out by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in domestic tanks of the Self-Defense Forces, and it has been adopted for four generations from Type 61 tank to Type 10 tank. The number of bullets is 600, the firing speed is 600 per minute, the initial speed is 835 m / s, and the maximum effective range is about 1800 m. There are normal bullets, armor-piercing bullets, tracer bullets, etc., but when using armor-piercing bullets, it is possible to penetrate armor plates of 20mm or more at a distance of 500m.
The Type 74 vehicle-mounted 7.62mm machine gun is based on the Type 62 7.62mm machine gun, and compared to the Type 62 7.62mm machine gun, which had a narrow barrel and was unreliable, there was no weight limit, making it extremely robust. , and the reliability is greatly improved. Adopted from the Type 74 tank, it is also used in the Type 10 tank. The number of bullets is 4500 rounds including spare bullets, and the firing rate can be switched between 1000 rounds per minute and 700 rounds per minute. In addition, a forced cooling system using a blower is used to cool the barrel, and it is possible to shoot 20 to 25 shots continuously at 2 to 3 seconds intervals for 3 minutes or more at a rate of 700 shots per minute.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
