140 mm gun by the Germans

fprado.com...

the studies of future guns for future tanks. what do u think? should we increase the size of the calibure or stay the same on 125 or 120 mm worldwide? there are disadvantages and advantages of an increase calibure, but right now i see no reason for supporting the 140 mm gun because the tanks right now cannot withstand the weapons in present time so it be an overkill to have 140 mm unless there is a new tank in near future in the world that can withstand the current weapon system of the 125 or 120 and the improvements on those guns.

I was just about to tell you to look down the list of recent posts, but it looks like you already know there is a similar topic.
Well, bigger guns are heavier to carry, heavier load means heavier transport. This means heavier armor and more necesary firepower to destroy. It is a vicious cycle.

There are other solutions to achieve more power/energy with the current 120 or even 105mm. Electro-thermal-chemical gun for example... Some people already think that 120mm is maximum where we should go and they want to increase the power rather with new technologies than higher caliber. (Eventually 30mm railgun)

30mm Railgun...
(shivers)
Yeah, the railgun.
It sickens me to see how much we strive to become more destructive.

Bigger also means less ammo. Thats huge.

Like someone said bigger caliber means heavier then you need more power then the tank gets bigger, then you carry less ammo, its keeps going on and on. But Like some said rail guns wound be nice on a tank.

The biggest we will go on our main battle tanks is probably 135mm. The rounds we have now and that are under development will still destroy about anything. Weve done exteremely well with 120mm. Then theres the mack daddy of them all. The 155mm Paladin. We have about a thousand of these beasts. We are just now fielding guided 155mm rounds that can manouver around objects. Chaos is sure to follow. The magic being done with the huge 155mm Paladin is astonishing. Theres twice as much going on in the MBT field. I personally feel that the Abrams may be on the way out as our MBT. They are being left afire outside and inside by insurgents with RPGs.

We now have to slant armor the weak spots adding much uneeded weight. The Abrams is now starting to give way to the new German and Israeli MBTs which seem to be much better suited to the current geopolitical situation. The thick armor on an Abrams is on the front and was designed to battle massive waves of oncoming Soviet armor. We need to do something with the Abrams soon. Its as solid of a tank platform as they come though. A super modified Abrams is the most likely candidate redesigned with a beyond next generation series of nearly unpenetrable armor. Ive heard an EMP proof diesel electric hybrid is in the works that has 25% more power and nearly twice the range.

hm.. pics of prototypes of Leopard II with 140mm cannon:

This has come up on a few threads recently

The german actually went for a longer (1.3m) 120mm L55 cannon instead of the 140mm.

The higher calibre (longer cannon) giver greater muzzle velocity and accuracy and thus penetrating power than the previous L30 120mm cannon

Great pics Wodan

Originally posted by Popeye
This has come up on a few threads recently

The german actually went for a longer (1.3m) 120mm L55 cannon instead of the 140mm.

The higher calibre (longer cannon) giver greater muzzle velocity and accuracy and thus penetrating power than the previous L30 120mm cannon

Great pics Wodan

errm... the previous was L44, not L30, the brits want to change from L30 to L55, and the L55 improvement was done 4 years ago with the LeopardIIA6 upgrade..

[edit on 1-5-2005 by Wodan]

Originally posted by Wodan

Originally posted by Popeye
This has come up on a few threads recently

The german actually went for a longer (1.3m) 120mm L55 cannon instead of the 140mm.

The higher calibre (longer cannon) giver greater muzzle velocity and accuracy and thus penetrating power than the previous L30 120mm cannon

Great pics Wodan

errm... the previous was L44, not L30, the brits want to change from L30 to L55, and the L55 improvement was done 4 years ago with the LeopardIIA6 upgrade..

[edit on 1-5-2005 by Wodan]

Sorry my mistake got the two mixed up as was talking previously (else where about the challyII cannon)

Thanks