M8 AGS now with hybrid drive, 120mm main gun + troop capacity

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Targan

Raketenjagdpanzer, you have very much captured my attention. Where is this photo from? Do you have further photos or information? Are there any articles about this that you can link to? I must know more!

http://www.tank-net.com/forums/index...howtopic=38395

that thread

They don't take new registrations anymore so any further info will have to either be posted or not; my account was deleted there so I can't ask on your behalf.

And before anyone asks, I posted exactly three things: I asked if the French 105 they mount on some wheeled assault vehicles was NATO compatible (politely answered by a few that no, its breach was too short), someone asked what the weight and composition of the explosive in the Sheridan's HE round was (TNT, and I think it was like 4 or 5 lbs?)...and a response (of thanks) and that was about it.

Tried repeatedly to log in a week or so later and my account didn't work. Tried to mail the site owner, never a response.

If I breached some protocol, I wasn't told. The Sheridan ammo thing I found via Google search. The French 105 was a little unclear; I had a book that said it was "NATO standard", Google said otherwise, I asked for clarification.

Anyway, that's the thread; they haven't yet instituted a lockdown on unregistered members reading threads so knock yourself out.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Looking a little closer, it's an interesting compartment. Looks like about 50" of vertical space on the forward bulkhead - but you run out of room before you get to the actual bulkhead anyway with the gun racks. Behind the four M16A2s is what I'd wager is a satchel full of magazines. To the left is a light medkit, likely for the bumps and bruises the passengers are going to get going cross country in there!

I'm not sure what the large cylindrical container strapped to the bulkhead is. Any guesses?

Good stowage area under the seats, too. You could stick a couple of Javelin rounds under there and the CLU under the other seat, or M136s, LAWs, MREs, etc. etc. To the right there appear to be racks behind the heads of those passengers, but, obviously we can't tell what they are.

Forward of those is what looks like a ventilation fan, but I don't know if that's supposed to be an NBC air scrubber or just a recirculation fan. In the middle of the roof there's what looks like an armored light fixture AKA "this is why we wear our covers inside the track, boys".

I don't see any provision for an intercom or phone system, I'd guess a full production vehicle would just about have to have one. At four soldiers wide, side by side in full kit and/or MOPP gear I'm thinking the overall structure is too shallow for an immobilized CASEVAC, likewise laying crossways, but ambulatory wounded could be moved out obviously. Can't tell if there's FPs on the rear door/ramp but, given the shallow depth, likely not. I can't imagine trying to jam a 40" rifle thru a firing port then spilling hot brass into a space that's basically 1/3rd the size of the interior of my Honda Civic, but soldiers do stuff if it means surviving...

I know the batteries/generator system must be somewhere else in the tank; maybe in the space between the fighting compartment/turret of the tank and the passenger space?

[Jason]

Got to be a bouncy ride! I bet those 'oh sh*t' straps hanging from the ceiling will get a real workout from the passengers.

[boogiedowndonovan]

I believe Olefin mentioned the 120mm AGS with hybrid drive back in one of his earlier posts. He used to work for United Defense on the AGS if I recall? There was another dude who wrote his Master's thesis on the AGS, I don't remember his name, but maybe he will chime in.

I thought the 120mm AGS with hybrid drive was a technology demonstrator. But I like the idea and would go with it in game if I could. Just waiting for Paul Mulcahy to whip up some stats.

[Sith]

You are correct that this vehicle is a technology demonstrator.

About the back compartment in the photo. It's pretty much all props, don't read too much into it. The only important thing is the seats. As a demonstrator, the intent was to show that they could put people in the back.

As for the hybrid drive, that is still not mature (militarized) technology yet. Despite the vehicle being around for some time now, there has not been a lot of interest in developing that type of technology. No interested buyers.

[Sith]

Also...

Currently, there would be no interest in a troop carrying version of the AGS in the US Army [my assessment]. The AGS was originally going to be used in two types of units: the Airborne (as a Sheridan replacement) and in a newly designed light cavalry unit with a mix of AGS and M113A3s. The 2nd ACR was going to be that unit and is why all of its heavy armor was stripped away in the 90s.

With the advent of the Stryker the need for an AGS equipped light cavalry regiment is gone. So, that leaves the Airborne. Putting a troop compartment in the back of an AGS is, of course, a mechanized infantry concept and the 82nd does not operate that way. There would not be much call for 54 or so vehicles that could carry four troops each in a unit where thousands are walking. It's the gun they are interested in.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Sith

It's the gun they are interested in.

That's a thought...use the rear space for more ammo...or give it a secondary use to haul ammo for the troops or evacuate wounded under some kind of cover.

I'd have to have a lot more data before I could stat this vehicle, though.