M6 Uhlan
4 tanks, Lieutenant. That's all you have. You're going up against a battalion? How do you expect to live?"Famed for the distinct report of it's gun and the sheer armored firepower a single tank could bring to a battle, the M6 Uhlan was the most advanced tank serving at the start of the cold war. Filled to the brim with advanced composite armor giving it over 1500mm of RHA protection on the turret, the Uhlan is one of the most durable MBTs in active service. Top-of-the-line advanced composite, 1st generation metamaterial coatings and a diesel-electric engine - a departure from the beloved turbine engines utilized in prior designs, gave the Uhlan, a blocky tank, some form of stealth against increasingly relevant thermal sights. Newer, depleted uranium composite combined with harder materials and top-secret armor, gave the tank unparalleled surivability. The Ulhan was the first 4th Generation Main Battle Tank, and the design features in the M6 would affect tanks for years to come.
Development
The advent of the 3rd Generation MBT-92, issued by Weltkrians to their elite regiments - forced the development of a new MBT. Older M4s stood no chance against the verifiable flood of 92s and 78s that they would face - considered to be far superior to even the M4A5, the newest Ardenian tank, with a CITV, 105mm gun and thermal sights. The development cycle had prioritized the fighter jet. As the first contracts were received - Consolidated Technologies Corporation was tendered, along with a multitude of competitors - and the M6E, the prototype, came out on top. The ETC cannon was simply overkill against near-peer threats for the foreseeable future, while a formidable APS allowed for operations within Urban Areas. M6E allowed for a clear overmatch - and with the expected numbers of Weltkrian Tanks, M6E was chosen as the main battle tank for Ardenian Forces...Power Generation
A diesel-electric hybrid engine is used as the main-powerplant. Quieter and colder than older turbine engines, the DEH-74, pioneered by Specialized Electronics, allows for the tank to run fully quiet - combined with advanced heat dissapation techniques, allows for the tank to simply meld into the background.
Able to push 230 kilometers on a full fuel tank and 70 km/h on flat ground, the M6 is capable of waging manuver warfare on a strategic scale, with unprecedented autonomy and unmatched firepower.
Weapons & Armament
WASH. Mark 1. It was on every damn round we fired - I still don't know why they called it WASH, out of all things. Anyway, each time we fired, we cracked open a Weltkrian tank. One shot, one kill. We were proud of that, y'know.First Generation WASH APFSDS rounds would be trialed. Generation 1 types, with full depleted Uranium SABOTs, would be a far cry from the Carybne SABOT and Quantum SABOT rounds that would come later. WASH rounds were a massive leap in the capabilities of Ardenian Armored Forces, with a WASH DU able to penetrate up to 1400mm in RHA when coupled with an equally powerful ETC gun. Gun-launched ATGMs are also present, with SANCLA/MARSKAL ATGMs nearly doubling the range of the tank. A stablized 120mm ETC gun was installed on the M6 - firing 120mm rounds at a blistering 3.2km/s, allowing for unparalleled range and firepower. This Gun also carries support for liquid propellants such as the WASH Mark 2. Recoil management systems are understandably immense to take the sheer power that the gun can bring. The standard complement of machine-guns is installed, with an RWS - three high-caliber machine guns, one coaxial, and a MMG for the loader. Four vertically launched attack or recon drones are also carried on the M6 itself, in ubqitous vertical launch tubes present on almost all Ardenian tanks.
Armor and defense
8th Tank Platoon had the uneviable duty of responding to a full-on armored batallion screaming towards the front in a border probe. After two hours of ardous Combat, Tactical Number 82, led by Lieutenant Paul Jones, was the only operational survivor. In their wake, they left a entire destroyed tank battalion. Y'know the best part? They were all still alive. Every single tanker in the 8th survived, even as their tanks burnt, even as they bailed out.The turret cheeks are the most armored part of the MBT - with over 1400mm RHA on the front turret cheeks, hull-down positions are considered the most survivable position for the MBT. Side armor is neglected due to weight concerns - along with the rear, however, doctrine calls for tanks to face "front towards enemy". Survivability kits with ERA are available and are in active use. Ammunition is stored behind heavily armored blast-doors and in armored components to the rear of the tank, filled to the brim with fire-suppression equipment, poppers and other implements. If the ammo rack is hit, then crew survivability is close to guaranteed. Four launchers for the automatically reloaded active protection system feed off a RADAR - with over 2 cartridges ready at any time for rapid defense, the APS is capable of engaging SABOT rounds and ATGMs. Other methods such as laser dazzlers and soft-kill APS are also present in the system itself - over 34 smoke canisters are available, with M6IP and later models carrying over 64 cans, along with fragmentation "SLAM" rounds as a additional hardkill measure.
Communication Tools & Systems
Lieutenant Paul Jones stayed in near-constant contact with artillery and command, calling in fire-mission after fire-mission - hell, even vectored in a couple bombers.Link 82 datalink systems are integrated into the tank. Laser designation, target finding and other systems are automatically collated by the AI and either highlighted or sent to rearline command vehicles to be plotted on Battle Management Systems.
Sensors
We never saw them. All we knew was that our tank was on fire. The oil sept into our coveralls as we heard the silent hum of engines, of the Uhlans, of Death.A hunter-killer system allows for efficent designation of targets, while integrated AI automatically highlights suspect tanks and outlines. "Clear/Overlay" thermals have also been pioneered, with the overlaying of "real vision" - non-FLIR, on FLIR. However, this is usually not used. All sights have the ability to utilize high-resolution thermals. This is combined with a modern, state of the art BMS designed to cue and collate information from all available sources on the modern battlefield, allowing for unparalled situational awareness. A number of cameras are also embedded into the tank, allowing for near-360 degree vision.
Nickname
Ulhan
Manufacturer
Creation Date
1935
Decommission Date
2102
Owning Organization
Price
12 Million Arns, Baseline
Speed
80km/h
Complement / Crew
4 Crew
Cargo & Passenger Capacity
20 Rounds ready, 34 rounds racked
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