Armored Warfare News

Commanders!

We are happy to announce that the U.S.-themed American Dream season is now available!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

From new vehicles to exciting Special Operations, Update 0.30 has it all. Here’s what’s new:

New Vehicles

Oscar Faraday received a new set of high-Tier progression vehicles, each of them fairly different and with its own unique abilities and play style. These vehicles can be unlocked from other dealers’ trees.



The Update 0.30 launch includes the following machines:

• Griffin 50mm Tier 8 AFV – unlocked from the Leclerc Prototype, this Griffin is the heavy IFV version of the program. Gameplay-wise, it features a tremendously powerful and accurate automatic cannon, allowing it to snipe at longer distances (learn more)
• M113 Hellfire Tier 9 TD – unlocked from the Griffin 50mm, this fragile but potent vehicle sports multiple Hellfire ATGM launchers, allowing it to devastate its targets at long distances (learn more)
• TTB Tier 9 MBT – unlocked from the M1A2 Abrams, this vehicle represents the future of the Abrams MBT, at least the way the American developers saw it in the 1980s. With its unmanned turret and a plethora of upgrades (including a hydraulic suspension), you now get to see the “what if the Cold War never ended” Abrams future in action (learn more)
• M48 GAU-8 Tier 10 TD – unlocked from the TTB, this vehicle utilizes a brand new mechanic that is coming to Armored Warfare – a rotary cannon. Spin those barrels and let the enemies experience several dozen rounds per second (learn more)

Two more progression vehicles will be arriving at a later date during this season:

• T249 Vigilante featuring a massive 37mm rotary cannon, unlocked from the Tier 8 BMPT Terminator
• M8 with LOSAT missiles, featuring new mechanics for hypersonic kinetic ATGMs

Additional vehicle-related content includes new retrofits, camouflages, achievements and a new commander that you are already familiar with – Douglas O’Reilly of the Evocati PMC!



What you might not be familiar with, however, is his commander skillset that includes a new mechanic – the ability to boost the performance of his team mates within a certain radius. You can read more about him and his skills in a dedicated article.

Additional Progression for Existing Vehicles

We added optional Active Abilities as additional progression elements to the following Tier 10 vehicles:

• T-14 Armata
• Merkava Mk.4M
• Leopard 2AX
• Type 99A2

The T-14 Armata also received a Mastery skin using mechanics similar to the Leclerc T4. Please visit each vehicle to find out more about their upgrade conditions. It’s worth noting that the new Tier 10 vehicles introduced in this update also have access to additional progression elements.



And last but not least, all Tier 9 and Tier 10 Light Tanks received a new module called Improved Gearbox. For more info, please visit the patchnotes below.

American Dream Special Operations

Europe is nearly lost to the mysterious new organization that calls itself Enigma. With its seemingly endless resources, Enigma made itself known during the ill-fated Moscow summit, attacking and defeating the ISD within weeks using previously unseen technologies. Various terrorist groups, lured by the promise of funding, united under its banner, dealing a crippling blow to corporations and forces of order alike.



What little resistance survived the onslaught was forced to hide or flee across the ocean to the lawless territories that used to be a part of the now nearly defunct United States of America only to discover that evil has taken root even in the land of the free. As Ryan Miller, a former sheriff turned resistance fighter from Arizona, it is up to you to find out more about the mysterious enemy!



Four new Special Operations missions await you, taking place between Enigma’s assault on Salzburg and the Pleternica operation of the Moscow Calling season. Two missions are currently available with two more coming during the season.

Fresh Contract Mission Campaign

A new Contract Mission campaign awaits you in Update 0.30. Based on your positive feedback, the campaign will feature similar mechanics to the Moscow Calling one, allowing you to obtain the main prize without having to collect Loot Crates or blueprint pieces. One major change we made was widely requested by you – we removed the missions that require you to ram your targets.



The new campaign prize is a Tier 9 Premium Tank Destroyer called Stryker ADATS – a Stryker chassis with a turret featuring not only very fast ATGMs, but also unguided rockets. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Consumable Redesign

We are introducing serious changes to the way the consumables work, including the following changes:

• Added a new respawn system to PvE that no longer requires you to spend your PvE hitpoint restoration consumables on reviving yourselves
• Added a free ammunition reload feature to PvE
• Removed the least useful consumables with proper compensation to their owners

For more details, please visit the detailed patchnotes below.

Other Mechanic Changes

Apart from the abovementioned new features, we are also introducing a series of overhauls and new features, including:

• Improved smoke generator mechanics
• Wilk XC-8 PELE overhau
• Improved thermobaric ATGM performance
• Improved death screen

And more. Please see the patchnotes below for more details.

Further Season Plans

These are, of course, not the only things coming during the American Dream season.



This season will feature a steady monthly flow of content with some features we are really excited about still in works and coming after the season’s launch. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Early October: Tank encyclopedia window in your Garage, enhanced AI vehicle pool (learn more)
• Mid-October: Third American Dream Special Operation, T249 and LOSAT progression vehicles
• Late October: Fourth American Dream Special Operation, new Battalion features, including a new reward vehicle, the Shadow
• Early November: A major, yet unannounced feature that we are sure you’ll love
• December: New Battle Path launch

The autumn and winter of 2019 will definitely be really exciting!

List of American Dream changes

Gameplay Mechanisms

New Special Operation

Two epic Special Operation missions await you, taking place in the United States of America. These will, of course, come with new achievements:

• Patriot (several stages)
• No-fly Zone
• Hello and Goodbye
• Tac Team Mission
• To Protect and to Serve

More achievements will be added along with the two remaining American Dream Special Operation missions. This season also comes with a new, Arizona-themed Garage.

Contract Mission Campaign

A new Contract Mission campaign awaits you in Update 0.30. Based on your positive feedback, the campaign will feature similar mechanics to the Moscow Calling one, allowing you to obtain the main prize without having to collect Loot Crates or blueprint pieces. The only major difference will be that, for the American Dream Contract Campaign, we are removing the missions that require ramming.

The new prize will be a Tier 9 Premium Tank Destroyer called Stryker ADATS – a Stryker chassis with a turret featuring not only very fast ATGMs, but also unguided rockets.

It's worth noting that if you obtained the ZUBR PSP prize vehicle during the earlier Moscow Calling contract but have not completed its upgrade objectives, the American Dream contracts will also count towards those.

Consumables Redesign

We've decided to significantly simplify and adjust the consumables system in order to make it more interesting and easier to use. Each consumable will have only two types – basic, which will be free to use and available for everyone, and improved, which will be available for Credits.

We will also be removing some of the least used consumables (the cheapest ones called Repair Kit and First Aid Kit). The free consumables will always be available for every vehicle, will become installed by default and will also be automatically refilled after their use in battle (the automatic refill ticker was therefore removed). The removed consumables will be compensated in full.

The respawn feature in PvE will no longer be consumable-dependent and will be available to every player for a small Credit fee. All PvE modes will allow for two revivals upon your vehicle's destruction.

PvE will also offer one free ammunition refill by every player – simply press Q (the same way a Wildcard would be activated in Global Operations) and the feature is activated.

Previous PvE only consumables (Field Repair Kits) will now heal the vehicle. They will no longer repair its modules and heal its crew members – for that, the standard overhauled consumables will be present.

Internal Damage during Collisions Overhaul

We've significantly overhauled the way damage to crew members and internal vehicle modules works when the vehicle is ramming, being rammed or falls from some height. Earlier, the system worked using the "all or nothing" principle where these components, upon receiving damage, made a saving throw and either were either completely destroyed (ignoring Commander's skills or other internal module durability boosters) or were left untouched.

This caused some strange cases such as getting your VBL destroyed after only a small fall because both its crewmembers died.

From this update, internal modules only start getting damaged if you receive a ramming or fall hit worth 25% of your hitpoints and the damage to them is affected by various additional considerations such as Commander skills, module hitpoint bonuses and other such modifiers. In other words, receiving a ramming or fall hit worth 30% of your hitpoints will only lead to minor module damage while getting hit for 90% of your hitpoints will result in massive internal damage.

General Changes

• Significantly overhauled the smoke generator deployment
• Daily PvP Contract Missions now require at least ten players per team in battle and won't work with fewer (AI vehicles in low-Tier PvP do not count as players)
• Improved the performance of all thermobaric ATGMs – their bonus damage was improved to 66% with a major bonus to the radius of module damage (which now corresponds to the standard damage radius)
• HEAT shells now cause a 2m wide blast wave (4m for HEAT-MP), which affects the game environmental objects such as walls and fences
• Doubled the blast wave radius of HE and thermobaric shells and warheads
• Tier 3 retrofit from Leclerc can now be unlocked in PvE
• The Battalion Contract Mission that required you to kill 1000 enemy vehicles now only requires you to kill 200 with each player vehicle kill counting as five kills for its purposes
• Fixed the shell impact visuals
• Fixed a number of issues that caused the game to crash

Vehicles

New Progression Vehicles

New progression vehicles were added to Oscar Faraday's vehicle pool:

• Griffin 50mm Tier 8 AFV – unlocked from the Leclerc Prototype, this Griffin will be the heavy IFV version of the program. Gameplay-wise, it will feature a tremendously powerful and accurate automatic cannon, allowing it to snipe at longer distances
• M113 Hellfire Tier 9 TD – unlocked from the Griffin 50mm, this fragile but potent vehicle will feature multiple Hellfire ATGM launchers, allowing it to devastate its targets at long distances
• TTB Tier 9 MBT – unlocked from the M1A2 Abrams, this vehicle represents the future of the Abrams MBT, at least the way the American developers saw it in the 1980s. With its unmanned turret and a plethora of upgrades (including a hydraulic suspension), you will have to see the "what if the Cold War never ended" Abrams future in action
• M48 GAU-8 Tier 10 TD – unlocked from the TTB, this vehicle will feature a brand new mechanic that is coming to Armored Warfare – a rotary cannon. Spin those barrels and let the enemies experience several dozen rounds per second

Additional Progression

We added optional Active Abilities as additional progression elements to the following Tier 10 vehicles:

• T-14 Armata
• Merkava Mk.4M
• Leopard 2AX
• Type 99A2

The T-14 Armata also received a Mastery skin using mechanics similar to the Leclerc T4. Please visit each vehicle to find out more about their upgrade conditions. It's worth noting that the new Tier 10 vehicles introduced in this update also have access to additional progression elements.

And last but not least, all Tier 9 and Tier 10 Light Tanks received a new module called Improved Gearbox, adding 15 km/h to their maximum speed. It can be obtained for all Light Tanks by unlocking it on any single vehicle that has it available or getting it directly by obtaining the VT-5 or M8 Hades Premium vehicles that will have it unlocked by default.

Wilk XC-8 PELE Redesign

One of the most common pieces of feedback brought up recently by you is the performance of Wilk's PELE shells, especially in the Global Operations mode. We've decided to overhaul this shell a bit in order to bring its performance closer to what we envisage. It is not our intention to "nerf it to the ground" (without it, the Wilk would be quite mediocre), but to adjust its interaction with enemy armor to make the shell less toxic. With that being said:

• It will still deal increased damage to internal vehicle modules thanks to its fragmentation ability (a cone of 30 degrees instead of the usual 5 degrees for APFSDS)
• It will still deal damage upon non-penetration but the armor at the impact point is taken more into account
• It can now ricochet

In summation, the round will require better aim to deal its full damage.

General Changes

• Somewhat increased the initial acceleration of all vehicles
• Reduced the Light Tank tendency to drift
• All MBTs now lose twice as much camouflage when moving. Additionally, MBTs with gas turbine engines lose camouflage faster and take longer to recover it
• A number of shells had different properties on different tanks, even though they were fired from identical guns. We rebalanced them to perform the same – specific changes are listed for each vehicle separately
• Rebalanced the Soviet 30mm 3UBR10 shell (used mostly be Soviet autocannons) – penetration improved from 168mm to 185mm
• Rebalanced the Soviet 30mm 3UBR11 shell (used mostly be Soviet autocannons) – penetration improved from 186mm to 205mm
• Rebalanced the Refleks ATGM and unified its parameters for all vehicles
• Fixed an issue where vehicles that have the ability to fire two missiles at once (Kornet-EM etc.) could not do so
• Fixed an issue where the visuals of some models decreased in the recent season compared to their introduction (for example, Magach 5)
• Reduced the damage taken from having your engine on fire for the following vehicles – ASCOD LT, T-72B3, BVP-M2 Šakal and Sprut-SD
• Improved the visual effect of APS
• ASCOD LT and T92 Light Tank now start with Level 1 crews instead of Level 5 upon purchase
• Improved the visual quality of the M8 series
• Added a new infra-red searchlight model for the M60 Patton series
• Added a new smoke generator visual effect for those vehicles that use it
• A number of vehicles had incorrect (excessively high) chance for their engines to start burning when hit, which we corrected
• The visual effect where a turret gets ripped off by an ammunition explosion is now no longer limited to actual ammo rack detonation, but can also occur if the killing alone deals a lot of damage. The higher the damage, the higher the chance of this event occurring
• Fixed the appearance of the Techno camouflage
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to see the ATGM launchers in sniper mode for the entire BMPT series
• Fixed a number of smaller visual vehicle issues (smaller texture adjustments etc.)
• Fixed a number of smaller issues with Armor Inspector models

AFT-10

• This vehicle now has an animated active ability

AMX 10 RCR

• This vehicle no longer has a hard-kill APS, only a soft-kill one

B1 Draco

• Fixed an issue where this vehicle's unmanned turret took full damaged
• Added 25mm thick add-on armor plate to the turret
• Improved the visual quality of this vehicle's model
• Fixed an issue where this vehicle missed its gunfire effects on every second shot

BM Oplot

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 905 m/s to 915 m/s

BMD-1

• PG-15VS HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 1000 m/s to 1050 m/s

BMD-1P

• PG-15VS HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 1000 m/s to 1050 m/s

BMP-3M Dragun

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 905 m/s to 915 m/s
• 3VOF22 HE shell flight velocity increased from 500 m/s to 850 m/s
• 3UBK14 Refleks ATGM flight velocity reduced from 350 m/s to 300 m/s

BMPT Terminator Prototype

• Fixed the incorrect autocannon recoil animation

BMPT Terminator (Ramka-99)

• 9M120F thermobaric missile blast radius was increased from 3m to 6m

BMPT-72

• This vehicle's ATGM launchers can now depress and elevate

BMPT Mod. 2017

• The armor value of soft ERA bags increased from 1mm to 30mm
• 3UBR11 autocannon AP shell replaced by 3UBR10

BVP Šakal

• The vehicle can now elevate its ATGM launcher to +23 degrees and depress it to -7 degrees

Expeditionary Tank

• M774 shell received 25% bonus to causing fires due to its depleted uranium core
• M774 shell flight velocity increased from 1502 m/s to 1509 m/s

FV510 Warrior

• Improved the visual quality of this vehicle's model

K21 XC-8

• This vehicle can now deploy a 360 degree smoke screen
• DM12A2 HEAT shell flight velocity reduced from 1635 m/s to 1180 m/s
• Improved the visual quality of this vehicle's model

LAV-600

• M774 shell flight velocity increased from 1494 m/s to 1509 m/s

Leclerc Prototype

• The radius of its smoke grenades was increased to be twice as big and now corresponds to the one of the Leclerc T4
• Engine grilles are now a part of the vehicle's collision model

Leclerc

• Fixed the twitching of a part of the model with the AZUR armor kit installed

Leclerc T4

• The collision model of the turret now corresponds to the visual one
• Fixed the collision model of the side ERA screens

Leclerc T40

• Fixed minor issues with the collision model of this vehicle

Leopard 2A5

• Improved the visual quality of this vehicle's model
• Fixed an issue where the installed APS would not appear in the Armor Inspector window

Leopard 2 Revolution Wallbreaker

• Fixed the appearance of decals on this vehicle

M-95 Degman

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity reduced from 1140 m/s to 915 m/s
• 3VBK25 HEAT shell maximum damage bonus reduced from 35% to 30%

M2A3 Bradley

• Fixed an issue where this vehicle's turret wouldn't fly off even after an ammo rack explosion

M8 Buford

• Fixed an issue where it was impossible to damage this tank by APFSDS or HEAT shells when firing at its turret hatches

M8 Thunderbolt

• Fixed an issue where the first slot decal would not appear on the vehicle

Merkava (All Vehicles)

• Internal fuel tanks no longer catch fire when damaged

MTLB S-8

• Increased this vehicles time to drown when under water from 10s to 20s

Object 640

• Fixed an issue where this tank was missing the ammo rack blow-out panels mechanism, allowing it to take reduced damage from ammunition explosions
• 3VBK27 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 750 m/s to 905 m/s

OT-65A Vydra

• Fixed an issue where this vehicle's gunner and commander optics did not appear in the Armor Inspector feature and could not be damaged in battle
• Fixed this vehicle's exhaust effect
• Fixed an issue where the engine fire effect was missing

PL-01

• Updated the vehicle's visual model

Rooikat 76

This vehicle received a new, more powerful hybrid power pack, allowing it (apart from accelerating better and improving its maximum speed) to drive very fast in reverse and to turn on the spot thanks to the drive's electric engines installed in its wheel hubs.

Sprut-SD

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 910 m/s to 915 m/s

Stingray 2

• M883 shell flight velocity increased from 1455 m/s to 1494 m/s

T-15 Armata

• 9M133F thermobaric missile blast radius was increased from 3m to 6m

T-64 Mod.76

• 3VBM9 shell flight velocity reduced from 1785 m/s to 1750 m/s

T-72B3

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 905 m/s to 915 m/s
• 3VBK25 HEAT shell maximum damage bonus increased from 25% to 30%

T-90A

• 3VBK25 HEAT shell flight velocity increased from 905 m/s to 915 m/s

Type 99

• Fixed an issue where the Type 99 MBT had a visible gap between its hull and its turret

Type 99A2-140

• Fixed an issue where this vehicle's hull traverse did not appear correctly in its Garage UI

Wilk XC-8

• Overhauled the PELE shell of this vehicle (see above for details)
• DM12A2 HEAT shell flight velocity reduced from 1635 m/s to 1180 m/s
• DM12A2 HEAT shell damage increased from 565 to 575

Global Operations

• Used consumables no longer refill upon respawn (please note that repair points will still replenish them)

Player versus Environment

• Improved the AI vehicle spawn pool with multiple new machines
• Black Sea Incursion, Special Operation 2: your allies are now driving tanks with better protection on Extreme difficulty
• Moscow Calling, Special Operation 3: the times for the destruction of each truck have been corrected
• Operation Hydra: fixed the issue that made it possible to fall through a bridge

Alabino Proving Grounds

• Vehicle targets now have the correct amount of hitpoints as a player vehicles would instead of the reduced amount that appears on AI opponents in PvE
• The map now features more vehicle targets of the MBT class
• Vehicles targets now share Tier with the vehicle driven by you

User Interface

• We overhauled the way the death screen that appears upon your vehicle's destruction looks
• You can now invite your last PvE match's players to form a platoon at the end of the match through the results screen
• Vehicle status panel now features up to three active Commander abilities
• Updated the bundle acquisition window appearance
• For Global Operations match results, in the Team performance tab, the targets spotted column was replaced by a support damage one
• Fixed the Elite Loot Crate and Special Operation (War Games) Loot Crate description in order to correctly display which Battle Coin drops carry over to the next Battle Path and which do not
• Changed the battle UI lower left screen corner icon for the following vehicles – AMX-10RCR, 2S3 Akatsiya, Centauro 155 and BMD-1
• Fixed an issue where not all upgrade modules would have their Experience value displayed
• Changed the penetration and damage icons in the Garage UI

Issues and Corrections

• Fixed an issue where an incorrect modifier is applied to inactive vehicles' results in the detailed battle results window
• Fixed an issue where progression vehicles with skins installed had incorrect elements present on their icons and in their descriptions
• Fixed an issue where the Support Fire medal was awarded even after losses
• Fixed an issue where the Contract Mission that requires you to win several battles in a row had incorrect modes listed for its completion
• Fixed an issue where some installed modules appeared as uninstalled in the Garage UI

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

In our previous article, we’ve talked about the history of the Griffin program and mentioned that one or more vehicles from it would appear in the game. And, surely enough, you already had the chance to test the first of these during the Update 0.30 PTS – the Griffin 50mm. This is an IFV variant of the Griffin, armed – as its name suggests – with a powerful 50mm cannon. Let us take a closer look at it.



In Armored Warfare, the Griffin 50mm will be a Tier 8 progression Armored Fighting Vehicle and a heavy one at that. Weighing 40 tons, it will be powered by an 800hp engine, giving it the maximum speed of 70 km/h and the agility equal to another heavy Tier 8 AFV, Marder 2.

Actually, there’s a lot the Griffin and Marder 2 AFVs have in common – you can imagine the Griffin as a progression counterpart to the Premium Marder 2 (and vice versa). Perhaps the most notable thing that connects them is the lack of ATGM armament.

Instead, the Griffin is armed with the abovementioned XM913 50mm autocannon that is capable of delivering tremendous punch thanks to its potent APFSDS ammunition. But that is just the beginning of its abilities because using a new, unique mechanism. Instead of a steady rate of fire the Marder has, this gun fires in extremely accurate rapid three round bursts. Each of the shells in the burst has higher penetration than the last one – this simulates the effect of compromised armor integrity when three APFSDS rounds hit exactly the same spot.

In other words, the vehicle operates as an “autocannon sniper” and foregoes the traditional rate of fire in favor of accuracy, which can be further enhanced by module unlocks. When stationary, all three shells are practically guaranteed to hit the same spot but the Griffin can decimate its targets even when moving, such is the precision of its Bushmaster gun. And last but not least, the gun also has excellent depression and elevation values (-15/+55), making it very easy to bring all that firepower to bear.



A proper sniper needs another thing to be effective – camouflage, and the Griffin has plenty to offer in this regard. Not only is its base camouflage value above average for its Tier and class, the Griffin features an active camouflage system, providing it constantly with the same bonus as if it was hidden behind a bush. Additionally, this bonus stacks with other foliage bonuses and makes the vehicle incredibly stealthy.

Being an AFV, the Griffin can, of course, also spot enemy targets and designate them for other players. The spotting ability is enhanced by a Thermal Imager (reducing the effectiveness of enemy attempts to hide behind bushes), but it is the designation ability where the Griffin truly shines. Unlike other AFVs, the Griffin can use its advanced electronics systems to designate every target within a certain range (150 meters) as long as it is stationary or moving very slowly. This ability can, however, be triggered only once per five minutes and lasts 25 seconds. It is therefore best used strategically.

Finally, there’s the matter of protection. Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in Armored Warfare do not feature thick armor and the Griffin is no exception, even if its frontal plating is thicker than that of most AFVs. Instead, it has to rely on stealth and mobility, even though it has at least enough hitpoints to withstand an impact or two as well as a hard-kill Iron Fist APS available.

In summation, what you have here is a very mobile autocannon sniper with the ability to penetrate unusually thick armor thanks to its special mechanics. It can creep up quite close to the enemy, courtesy of its camouflage systems, and designate them for its allies to light up, even though such tactics are inherently risky. It can also stay behind the front line as a designated marksman, peppering anything that’s not the thickest MBT frontal armor with precise bursts.



But that is still not all. During the American Dream season, the Griffin will receive another special ability that we are planning to unveil after the launch of the update.

We hope that you will enjoy this unusual vehicle and will see you on the battlefield!

On the 24th of September 2019, starting from 8:00 CEST (23rd of September, 11 PM PDT), the server will not be available for 5 hours due to the application of Update 0.30.



Please note that the content of this major update will be disclosed in a separate post.

Commanders!

The Oktoberfest celebrations are in full swing and, to make them even more entertaining, we’ve prepared a contest for you!



This time, it's more of a freestyle competition – simply create something connected to Oktoberfest in any way. What should it be? Well, that's something we'll leave up to you. Bake a pretzel. Build something from beer bottles. Take a photo of yourself in lederhosen or dirndl. Draw an Oktoberfest tank. Anything goes, as long as it’s connected to the event.

When you’re ready, please submit your creation (or a photo of it) to our dedicated Discord channel until October 4, 16:00 CEST. We’ll judge your creations based on their originality or effort. The submitters of four best creations will receive the following prizes:

• First place: Marder 2 Tier 8 Premium AFV, German PSO camouflage
• Second place: Kampfpanzer 70 Tier 6 Premium MBT, German PSO camouflage
• Third place: Leopard 2AV Tier 6 Premium MBT, German PSO camouflage
• Fourth place: German PSO camouflage

When submitting a photo, please make sure that it contains a paper with your in-game nickname. Any non-photo submission must contain your in-game name as well.

Please pay attention to the following rules:

• This contest ends on October 4, 2019, at 16:00 CEST (7 AM PDT)
• Only one submission per user is allowed
• The submissions must not use any copyrighted parts or assets and must be 100 percent created by the submitting user (yes, we will check)
• The winners will be decided by the Armored Warfare Community Manager team
• The submission must not be in breach of Armored Warfare Terms of Service and of Discord rules – offensive and otherwise unacceptable submissions will be disqualified
• Meta Games members of staff reserve the right to refuse any submission at their discretion
• If a winner already owns one or more of this contest’s prizes, he or she will receive their prize in Gold instead
• Winners may, instead of receiving a Premium vehicle or camouflage prize, choose to receive their price in Gold instead (choosing a different Premium vehicle or camouflage directly is, however, not an option)

We hope that you will enjoy the contest and will see you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

The Cold War was an arms race era with both sides – the NATO and the Soviet Union – constantly developing new platforms and devices to outperform the other side’s military. Recently, we’ve discussed the American DIVAD program, launched to counter the threat of Soviet airplanes and helicopters and, today, we’d like to introduce you to another such program – only, this time, the goal was to combat Soviet tanks.



Probable directions of a major Soviet attack as imagined by the NATO in 1976

A Soviet armored assault on Europe was considered by the west to be the most likely world war level scenario practically since the late 1940s – and for a good reason. Not only did the Warsaw Pact at the height of its power own thousands of tanks, but some spots between the West Germany and its eastern counterpart were practically ideal for such an incursion. With the Soviet satellite countries securing its flanks, the Soviet Union was thought to have been able to orchestrate a rapid breakthrough, after which its armored legions would pour into the German industrial heartlands.

The United States Army dedicated a lot of resources to combating this threat in a series of programs, some of which would end up with some very interesting results, although few of these would ever see further development after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Some of them, however, would.



Modern APFSDS Round

The idea behind the program we are going to discuss today was to kill enemy tanks with kinetic energy. Naturally, you might think that’s nothing new – that’s what most people usually imagine as the “standard” way of destroying tanks practically since the First World War. However, in order to do that, you need cannon that can fire the projectile with sufficient energy for it to penetrate the target. In other words, what you are left with is a very heavy weapon system with a lot of recoil, which cannot be mounted on light platforms. After all, that’s why all the other tank killing means (such as HEAT warheads) were developed. But what if you could fire kinetic projectiles without needing all that?

At least that’s what the U.S. Air Force thought when, in 1981, it awarded a contract to two companies typically associated with military aircraft technologies – Vought and Lockheed – to produce what was referred to as a Hyper Velocity Missile (HVM). The HVM was intended for ground attack aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt or a ground strike variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet.

The concept was fairly simple. It would be a missile launched from an aircraft, which would be released as any other anti-ground missile (such as the popular AGM-65 Maverick) but would feature a kinetic penetrator instead of an explosive warhead. Upon launch, the missile would accelerate to several times the speed of sound in order to match the velocity of a modern kinetic APFSDS shell, roughly 1500 m/s (Mach 4.3). For comparison, the flight velocity of a Maverick AGM was roughly 320 m/s (five times lower). The target would then be destroyed not by an explosion or a HEAT penetrator, but by the penetrator’s kinetic energy.

The advantages of such a system were obvious. For one, at roughly 5 to 9 thousand USD per piece, it was to be relatively cheap, at least compared to the Maverick (which did cost over 200.000 USD a piece by the end of the 1990s). It would of course be quicker to aim, more accurate and practically impossible to intercept or survive. With multiple launches of the same rocket per aircraft “pass” possible thanks to the ability of such a system to rapidly target and engage the enemy even at high speeds, the survival rate of the striking aircraft would rise by a lot. At least, that was the theory.



HVM Illustration

Both companies developed their own HVM demonstrators, both with roughly similar properties, in the mid-1980s.

The Vought HVM weighed roughly 30kg, had 96mm in diameter and was 2920mm long. Its top flight velocity was over 6000 km/h (1715 m/s, very high even for a cannon-fired APFSDS round). A single A-10 or an F-16 would carry two launchers with 20 missiles each. The armor penetration levels would, of course, be extreme – such a missile would be able to penetrate any tank on the battlefield. Each missile was guided by an infra-red sensor system that would send it course information via a laser. It’s worth noting that the missile was not stabilized by fins, but rather by rotation and was aimed by thrust vectoring.



Rocket Thrust Vectoring Demonstration

The Lockheed HVM was lighter (20kg per missile), shorter (2030mm) and its diameter was lower too (89mm). Nevertheless, it flew just as fast as its Vought counterpart and was equally as potent.

Both systems were tested around the end of June 1982 in White Sands (New Mexico) with the tests continuing for the next couple of years. The Vought system was deemed superior. The HVM program was eventually adopted by the other branches of the military and allegedly became a major source of interdepartmental disagreements. As a result, in 1987 or 1988, the U.S. Air Force dropped out of the program, which led to further financing problems. The HVM program was subsequently canceled.

This left Vought and Lockheed hanging and wondering what to do with a fairly advanced technology, developed on American taxpayer’s dime. It would be a shame for it to go to waste. Luckily, the U.S. Army had a program that could use such a weapon, albeit in a ground role.



Vought HVM Prototype

The program was called Advanced Antitank Weapon System (AAWS) and its goal was, as its name suggests, to develop modern anti-tank weapons. This program ran from the late 1970s and was divided into two large sub-programs – the AAWS-M (Medium), focusing on infantry-carried anti-tank weapons (mostly guided missiles), and the AAWS-H (Heavy), focusing on heavier platforms in order to replace the ITOW system.

Interestingly enough, both parts of the program had almost nothing in common with each other and the AAWS-M part ended with the introduction of the Javelin ATGM.

As for the AAWS-H, Vought (together with Texas Instruments) decided to enter it with an up-scaled version of its HVM missile called Kinetic Energy Missile (KEM). The sub-program itself was subsequently split into two competing directions:

• Kinetic missiles (represented by KEM)
• Tandem HEAD warhead missiles (represented by Emerson Electric’s modified Hellfire and Hughes’ TOW)

Each approach had its own advantages and drawbacks. The drawbacks of HEAT-based guided missiles are well known and, at first glance, kinetic missiles (being theoretically cheaper, so fast they are practically impossible to intercept as well as more destructive) do seem like a much better choice. The immunity to enemy active protection systems (which was an emerging threat in the late 1980s) was seen as especially desirable.

However, kinetic missiles have one major disadvantage, which is their minimal range.



Vought AAWS-H Model

Standard TOW missiles have a minimum range of 65 meters, as do the Javelins. Kinetic missiles’ minimum range was between 300 and 500 meters. This might not seem like a big deal (given the long-distance role these vehicles were to play), but add bad weather to the mix and you might get in some serious trouble.

As for the AAWS-H sub-program, what followed was an incredible mess of events because it would eventually catch all sorts of anti-tank projects, drifting in the 1980s and 1990s between various departmental structures. Even the story behind the KEM itself is rather complicated

The missile was developed for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle platform in 1988. The Bradley AAWS-H proposal by Vought included a heavily modified IFV with retractable roof. At first glance, the vehicle resembled a normal Bradley, but a turret with four KEM missiles would elevate from the roof itself and would aim them where needed. The KEM missiles would then be fired at the desired targets using a Texas Instruments Fire Control System. As for the missiles themselves, as we mentioned above, they were larger than the original HVM, as follows:

• Length: 2794mm
• Diameter: 162mm
• Missile weight: 77kg
• Range: 4km

The missiles were propelled by solid fuel rocket engines and would reach Mach 4 in flight. Penetration values are unknown, although at this level of kinetic energy, nominal RHAe penetration made little sense – the missile would just destroy everything on the battlefield. Thus modified, the Bradley would have a crew of three men and would carry four missiles in the launcher itself and eight more in the hull.

And here’s where things get really fun. The Vought development ran until 1992 when its parent company (LTV Corporation) got into some serious financial trouble. As a result, it was forced to sell off its Vought division to another company called Loral Corporation, which was a part of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. The KEM program therefore fell into the hands of Vought’s biggest erstwhile competitor, Lockheed Martin.



Loral Vought LOSAT on Bradley Chassis

And the Lockheed engineers weren’t sitting on their hands either. They were working on their own version of a kinetic missile under the name of Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank (LOSAT), the development of which ran in parallel to the KEM until 1992, when both projects unified under Lockheed. This is why the names KEM and LOSAT are sometimes (if somewhat incorrectly) used interchangeably. Until that year, they were two different projects, but from 1992 onwards, Vought’s AAWS-H project was referred to as Loral Vought LOSAT.

Lockheed’s LOSAT also started in 1988 as an AAWS-H competitor. Similar to the KEM project, the LOSAT counted on re-purposing one of two potential tracked chassis:

• Bradley Fighting Vehicle (a prototype was actually built)
• Armored Gun System (or, more specifically, the XM8 Light Tank)

The Armored Gun System variant was presented in the 1990s after the Bradley platform was rejected and consisted of a launcher of 12 missiles on a modified AGS chassis with a crew of three men.

Just like the KEM, the Lockheed LOSAT missiles were up-scaled compared to the HVM program, as such:

• Length: 2850mm
• Diameter: 162mm
• Missile weight: 80kg
• Minimum Range: 400m
• Range: 5km (some sources mention 7km or even more)
• Average flight velocity: 1500 m/s

The testing began in 1990 and showed much promise, but the early 1990s were not the best time for innovative military programs anywhere. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ease, with which the U.S. Army disposed of the Iraqi one in the Gulf (until that time, Iraq was thought to have had one of the most powerful non-superpower militaries in the world), many of the programs got de-funded by 1993, including the LOSAT.



LOSAT on AGS Chassis

The program didn’t get canceled completely though (unlike so many others), it simply received less money, effectively demoting it from a search for the next anti-tank service vehicle to a technology demonstrator one. For that purpose, a simple Humvee got adapted in 1996 to carry four of these missiles that received the MGM-166military designation.

The firing trials were fairly successful but despite that fact, the American Department of Defense sought to de-fund the expensive project even further to the point of cancellation.

Its saving grace turned out to be 1997 Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program. At this point, the project was practically privately funded by Lockheed in an effort to impress the military enough to once again pick up the tab – and impress they did because the LOSAT project defeated 75 other prospective projects to come on top.

As a result, a new seven-year contract for further LOSAT development was signed in 1998, five of which were dedicated to development and two to testing. During these five years, the LOSAT missile flight velocity was improved to incredible 2200 m/s while being reduced in size. This variant delivered monstrous 90 MJ of impact energy (for comparison, an average 1990s APFSDS round delivered around 6 MJ). This improved version received a new official military designation in 2002: MGM-166A.



LOSAT on AGS Chassis

The 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg was charged with military tests starting from 2002 and, between 2002 and 2004, a series of live launches was conducted, each ending with the destruction of its target, be it a tank or an IFV. The missiles did indeed perform very well and the military ordered over a hundred of them during those years with four hundred more ordered in the early 2004.

But it was not to be. In 2001, the world changed once again with the September 11 attacks and, by that time, fighting enemy armor was no longer considered a priority. The War on Terror had started in full and it would be another decade before the U.S. military priorities would shift again. The LOSAT project itself was canceled in the summer of 2004.



LOSAT Humvee Demonstrator

Interestingly enough, even before the original LOSAT was canceled, Lockheed Martin would receive additional funding for an offshoot called Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM), the purpose of which was to make the LOSAT ) more compact. The CKEM was a part of the ill-fated Future Combat Systems program, which already probably gives you an idea of how it went.

Nevertheless, Lockheed Martin succeeded in making the LOSAT smaller and capable of engaging even some flying targets (mostly helicopters). The CKEM missile had the following characteristics:

• Length: 1500mm
• Missile weight: 45kg (half of LOSAT)
• Minimum Range: 200m (half of LOSAT)
• Maximum Range: 10km (double of LOSAT)
• Average flight velocity: 2230 m/s (or higher)
• Impact energy: 10 MJ

It is not known how many were built or tested, but one definitely destroyed a T-72 tank with ERA at 3400 meters in 2007. Despite this success, the program was, once again, canceled with the rest of the FCS projects in 2009 and has not been revived since.



CKEM Humvee Demonstrator

Either way, as you already know, the MGM-166 LOSAT (on M8 Thunderbolt chassis) will be making an appearance as a Tier 10 Tank Destroyer in Update 0.30, featuring some unique mechanics that we’ll tell you more about in the near future. But will it remain the only vehicle with kinetic missiles to be introduced to Armored Warfare?

Time will tell... but until then:

See you on the battlefield!