Now we get to my favorite of the missile tanks and the reason I started this thread, Object 287. The Soviets finally gave up on modifying old heavy tanks, and built this on the hull of a T-64. Removing the gun turret and replacing it with an extremely low-profile rotating platform cut the weight to 36.5 tonnes. The main armament was a pop-up launcher for 9M15 Taifun missiles, with 15 of the missiles on board. Secondary armament was a pair of 73mm 2A25 Molniya low-pressure launchers, which have been described as very similar to the BMP-1’s 2A28 Grom, possibly with shorter barrels (I’ve used Paul’s stats for the Grom with a slightly reduced range for the Molniya below). Each launcher had 16 rounds available in a pair of 8-round drums. Finally, each Molniya had a coaxial PKT machine gun, with 1500 rounds each. The missile launcher is vertically stabilized, to allow at least some sort of firing on the move. The tank was not accepted due to poor performance – out of 45 test firings of Taifun, only 16 hit their target, with 8 misses, 18 failures of the system, and 3 unrecorded results.
The one key thing that makes me like this one is they finally accepted the fact that ATGMs would have a minimum effective range and the missile tank would need something to protect itself in a knife fight. The twin Molniya launchers probably aren’t the most mass-effective way to get that protection, but it’s an attempt to address the problem.
Fire Control: +1
Armament: 9M15 Taifun pop-up launcher, 2x 73mm Molniya, 2x PKT
Ammo: 15x140mm missile, 32x73mm, 3000x7.62mm
Fuel Type: G, A
Veh Wt: 36.5 tonnes
Crew: 3 (commander, gunner, driver)
Mnt: 18
Night Vision: Passive IR (D, G, C)
Tr Mov: 198/139
Com Mov: 31/21
Fuel Cap: 1000
Fuel Cons: 400
Config: Veh
Susp: T:6
TF: 69Sp
TS: 22Sp
TR: 12
HF: 86Sp
HS: 18Sp
HR: 10
9M15 Taifun
Missile caliber: 140mm
Guidance: Radio MCLOS
Missile speed: 250
Reload 2, HEAT warhead, Min Range 500, Max Range 4000*, Damage C19 B31, Pen 105C, Difficulty DIFF
*Max range at night is 1500 due to gunner night-vision limitations
2A25 Molniya
Rld 1, Range 225
HE C:8 B:20, Pen 4C
HEAT C:5 B:15, Pen 51C
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