Modern reincarnation of "transitional -> definitive" line of tanks?

[dy031101]

Playing with World of Tanks MMO got me an idea: modern reincarnation of a line of tanks from "an inadequate interim tank that might be made serviceable by thinking outside the box", to "flawed, but good enough when needed the most", and finally to "definitive".  Bonus point for sticking to a common ancestry as much as possible......

What I have in mind so far might even be just modern reincarnation of the examples enclosed above...... the "serviceable by thinking outside the box" might be armed with a turreted 120mm mortar or 105mm howitzer plus a few more machienguns than normal; the "good enough when needed the most" with a hull-mounted 105mm or 120mm gun as well as a smaller turreted gun for all-around defense, and the "definitive" with a turreted 105mm or 120mm gun.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed.

[Maverick]

The only problem I see with transitions per se in a modern sense is that designers have, by and large, realised the flaws of previous designs and slowly improved upon them to come up with the masters of the battlefield we see today.

WW2 especially saw a flood of concepts, prototypes and production examples in many fields that were superseded almost as soon as they were fielded.  In the modern sense, there's less 'urgency' per se to field 'anything that will do' before the definitive example comes out.

Of course there's always the improvements within a baseline of vehicles.  M1 with 105mm upgraded to 120mm etc, but the basic layout and design remains constant.  Naturally, there are exceptions like the external gun tank designs, but these are only protoypes/concepts because the urgency of total war isn't there to expand upon them.

Regards,

Mav

[dy031101]

Well I admit I'm looking for excuses to see WWII tank ideas armed with Cold War standard tank ordnances...... 

[Maverick]

Fair enough too.  Sorta like 'IronStorm' in Armour.

Regards,

Mav

[Jacques Deguerre]

I gotta tell 'ya, this design of yours is really cool:
LINK

I've been playing with a similar concept but the idea being that either a higher-velocity 76.2 mm, a British 77 mm (short 17 pounder) or even the US 90 mm would be mounted in the turret. The lowered and sloped upper hull and rear-mounted transmission would be definite keepers, though. My version would be lazier in the turret is based on the version from the M41 Walker Bulldog. I still haven't come up with a hull design I'm happy with but the basic idea would be similar to yours, as well as real examples like the M18 and T14 assault tank.

[dy031101]

I deliberately keep the turreted gun decidedly less powerful at least in one area (in this case, the AT performance of the 105mm rifle naturally outclasses the 75mm) so as to create the need for the hull-mounted gun in the first place.  

With the 77mm HV in the turret...... I wouldn't be able to help but to think of a Maus-hunting gun in your tank hull?  


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This imagination looks interesting...... I'm also thinking of a modern reincarnation of T-29 tank (since its suspension design came from the BT tanks, I feel tempted to think of it as a bridge between the two)...... maybe an inspiration for the turret...... just maybe.