HoverTank

[ysi_maniac]

Let's speak ALMOST SERIOUSLY about HoverTank:

I mean a hvering tank to be designed now in the earth. Which problems should be addressed?

For instance:
- Gun's recoil force can move the tank as to the point to eliminate any accuracy?
- Can this be solved with rockets or recoilless guns?
- Air cushion's air flow is technically possible to hover a (let's say) 30 ton tank?

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,14283.0/highlight,hovering+tank.html

OK lets also speak about roles. missions etc ...

[Gary]

I saw somwhere that the Russians did some experimenting with hover tech to get tanks over the bogs and marshlands that seem to cover the Ukrain. It may have only been tried on APC's but I do recall it. I think it was on this site.

Re: recoil, go rail gun. Or guided shells. There are all kinds of guided munitions for shells as small as 100mm. So if the recoil is really bad it's not a big deal if the shell is already on the way and guided to the target.

[philp]

Recoil can be solved 2 ways, either ground the tank to fire the gun (not as affective) or use a recoiless system (energy weapon, rail gun, mass driver, or some other).

The LCAC can haul 60 tons + with todays technology, the SRN4 could carry 54 autos, so other than the size of these vehicles, should be able to produce something that would move a tank.  Course, you can add in nuclear powerplants, etc.

While not sure we have the tech to create a viable beast today, definitely possible in the (near?) future.

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^^ what's mass driver?

[ysi_maniac]

BTW, Rail guns suffer recoil as classical guns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun

[philp]

The vehicles in Hammer's Slammers used what they called a Powergun:

Powerguns come in a variety of flavors. On vehicles they are typically arranged in a three barreled minigun pattern, firing 2cm charges. For infantry they come in 2cm, for a semi-automatic shoulder weapon, and 1cm for submachine guns and pistols. They can be scaled at least up to tank size, and possibly even to stationary planetary defenses designed to take out starships. They contain perfectly arranged copper atoms stored in a plastic matrix. They use electromagnets to pull these down the barrel, which is perfectly smooth. The atoms degenerate into a plasma pulse, which is shown as a cyan streak. the plasma flashes to heat on impact. They have no recoil, unlike gun powder type weapons; however, in the bigger sizes they can permanently blind. They are very expensive, due to the iridium barrels required.

Mass Driver:

High-acceleration linear motors are currently undergoing active research by the military for use as (ground-based) armor-piercing weapons. (See railgun.) Since a mass driver is essentially a very large, very high-velocity linear motor, it could in principle be used as a very large weapon, either firing directly on a target in space, or used to attack a location on a planet's surface from a position in orbit, long range over-the-horizon indirect fire, or from a nearby planetary body, such as a moon.

Think I was thinking of a PPC instead of a rail gun:

Particle Projection Cannons (PPCs) which release lightning-like beams of charged particles that inflict kinetic, thermal and electrical damage. The iconic PPC, usually depicted as emitting a blush-white beam, is fielded on many of the strongest and best-known units.

[B777LR]

An advantage of hovertanks:

No need for heavy turning turrets, and armour on the rear of those. A hovertank would be able to turn just as fast and effectively. Could be the return of Sturm tanks!

[PanzerWulff]

How about a hovercraft based MLRS system? or maybe something on the idea of a infantry fighting vehicle I dont think the weaponry of say a bradley would cause too much in the way of recoil I bet the armoured cavalry would love the speed
"Panzer"

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^
I am thinking in a hovercraft armed with moderate recoil gun. Specially suited for amphibious assault and support. Speed over water would be really outstanding, but over the beach it would move slower. I think this approach is adequate to complement current amphibious AFV that moves better over land than over water.

What do you think?

Keep track of this too: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,19448.0.html

[PanzerWulff]

The Marines could use it as a LCAC escort,and my idea as a cavalry scout vehicle has taken root I'm actually thinking of building it
"Panzer"

[ysi_maniac]

An advantage of hovertanks:

No need for heavy turning turrets, and armour on the rear of those. A hovertank would be able to turn just as fast and effectively. Could be the return of Sturm tanks!

IMHO, the ability to fire on the move require a proper turret.

[pyro-manic]

Weapons-wise, maybe something along the lines of the new 40mm gun for the Warrior IFV? Or even a variant of the Bofors 57mm gun. Couple that with a box launcher for various missiles. Could have Hellfires as on the Swedish CB90s, CAAM/Starstreak/Stinger for anti-aircraft, TOW or etc. Could be pretty interesting! I think the issue of survivability would be a problem, though - it would be very difficult to give such a vehicle sufficient armour to fully protect it. Maybe it would mount several active defence systems rather than lots of armour...?

[Gary]

Does a Gauss rifle have recoil?
I was surprised to read that Rail guns have recoil.

[pyro-manic]

Well, it's Newton's Third Law. Every force is countered by an equal and opposite one. A Gauss gun will also have recoil.

[philp]

While a guass gun would have no recoil (no moving parts), the force of the projectile leaving the barrel may still follow the 3rd law.

A coilgun or Gauss gun is a type of projectile accelerator that uses one or more electromagnetic coils to accelerate a magnetic projectile to high velocity. Coilguns accelerate the projectile using contactless means.

"Coilguns consist of one or more coils arranged along the barrel that are switched in sequence so as to ensure that the projectile is accelerated quickly along the barrel via magnetic forces. Because coilguns have no sliding contact, no wear or erosion occurs to the barrel, and the working life of a coilgun is potentially infinite."

It is distinctly separate from a railgun, which pass a large current through the projectile or sabot via sliding contacts.



Per this, we can add our own, BB firing guass gun to our kits.  Could help take out some competition on the table.
http://www.techass.com/ggun/ggun.php