The use of such an exotic type of armored vehicles as wheeled tanks in the armies of different countries takes place, but in the Soviet and Russian armies this type of combat vehicles somehow did not take root. In the Soviet Union and in modern Russia, attempts were made repeatedly to create a wheeled tank, but with all the variety of armored vehicles, it never came to service.
Unofficially, a wheeled tank is a lightly armored wheeled combat vehicle with heavy weapons. In fact, this is a heavy armored car, usually weighing 16-25 tons, with cannon armament capable of destroying enemy armored vehicles. In some armies of the world, this combat vehicle is used to support infantry on the battlefield, as a tank destroyer, and quite often in local conflicts and counterterrorist operations.
According to its characteristics, this type of armored vehicle can be attributed to the main and light tanks, assessed in terms of firepower, protection and maneuverability. In terms of protection, a wheeled tank will always be inferior to the main tank due to restrictions on weight and load on the chassis; its protection can only be at the level of a light tank against small arms and shell fragments.
In terms of firepower, wheeled and light tracked tanks have already approached the main tanks and quite often tank guns are installed on them. That is, the firepower of all three classes of tanks with the modern development of technology can be made equal, and such samples already exist, for example, "Sprut-SD".
The most interesting question is the maneuverability and mobility of wheeled tanks, in fact, because of which, in some cases, they can compete with their two brothers. In terms of operational mobility and maneuverability, the wheeled tank has high driving characteristics and advantages in terms of the range and speed of movement on highways, hard ground, in flat terrain, not muddy dirt roads, in areas of developed road infrastructure and urban development.
A wheeled tank can easily and quickly be transferred under its own power over fairly long distances without a sharp decrease in its resource. Compared to tracked armored vehicles, this is a serious advantage. In addition, they are often floating and without preparation can overcome water obstacles. At the same time, the wheeled tank is seriously inferior in cross-country ability to its caterpillar counterparts in off-road conditions, in autumn-spring thaw, in mountainous and wooded-swamp areas.
When assessing the operational mobility in columns, especially those consisting of various types of equipment, it must be borne in mind that the speed of movement of the column will be significantly lower than the capabilities of a wheeled tank. In this case, the speed of movement during the day will be 30-40 km / h, and at night about 20-25 km / h. That is, when moving in a column, the advantage of a wheeled tank in speed is practically lost.
Therefore, it is necessary to assess the characteristics of a wheeled tank in comparison with other types of armored vehicles and its advantages in terms of operational mobility in specific conditions of combat use and in a specific theater of operations.
As examples of the implementation of the concept of a wheeled tank abroad, one can cite the heavy armored car "Rooikat", adopted in 1990 by the South African army, equipped with a 76-mm cannon and two machine guns of 7.62 mm caliber. The combat vehicle was intended for reconnaissance, fighting armored vehicles, and conducting anti-guerrilla operations.
The French heavy armored car AMX-10RC was produced from 1976 to 1994 and was in service with the French army. Equipped with a 105 mm cannon and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun. Designed for reconnaissance, anti-armored vehicles, used in peacekeeping operations.
The Italian heavy armament combat vehicle "Centauro" was produced from 1991 to 2006. Was in service with the Italian and Spanish armies. Designed for reconnaissance and fighting armored vehicles. Equipped with a 105 mm cannon, there was a variant with a 120 mm cannon and two 7.62 mm machine guns.
It is best known when used in a peacekeeping operation in Somalia. Numerous defects were identified, after which the car underwent a number of improvements. A batch of these machines was tested in the United States, and two such machines were also tested in Russia in 2012. They showed low performance and did not find further use in the Russian army.
In the Soviet Union, work was also carried out in this direction. Soviet armored personnel carriers were used as a base. In 1976, on the basis of the BTR-70, a self-propelled wheeled anti-tank gun 2S14 "Sting-S" of 85 mm caliber was developed. By 1980, the gun successfully passed the full test cycle, but was not accepted into service.
By the time the work was completed, this gun did not allow to effectively deal with the new enemy tanks that appeared. By this time, guided ammunition "Cobra" and "Reflex" for tank guns of 125 mm caliber had already been created, and the caliber of the gun "Sting-S" was in no way suitable for this type of weapon.
In the mid-80s, a second attempt was made to create a wheeled tank. In 1984, the development and testing of the Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank gun was launched. As part of this work, two modifications were developed for the ground forces, the Sprut-SSV on the MTLB tracked chassis and the 2S28 Sprut-K on the wheeled chassis based on the BTR-90 Rostok being developed.
All modifications of combat vehicles were to be equipped with a 125-mm tank cannon, the most advanced tank sighting system "Irtysh" at that time, and "Reflex" laser guided weapons. All of them had the ability to fire tank ammunition.
This armored personnel carrier was developed for almost 20 years, was officially adopted, but never put into production. Due to the fact that the base chassis did not appear, work on the Sprut-K was stopped.
The Sprut-SD amphibious assault rifle was more fortunate; after 20 years of development and a test cycle, it was adopted by the Airborne Forces in 2006. This combat vehicle is at the level of the main T-72 and T-90 tanks in terms of firepower and is in no way inferior to them, while it was amphibious and parachuted from an aircraft.
For the ground forces, "Sprut-K" on a wheeled chassis never reached it, and such a combat vehicle would obviously not have been in the way. The use of "Sprut-SD" for these purposes is hardly advisable, since the machine is complicated due to the specific requirements associated with its airborne landing.
The experience of work on the Sprut-K and Sprut-SD self-propelled guns proved the possibility of creating a combat vehicle with heavy weapons on a wheeled drive with firepower at the level of the main tank. The third attempt to create a wheeled tank has been made in our time on the basis of a new unified wheeled platform "Boomerang", which was put into service in 2015 to replace the previous generation of armored personnel carriers. On the basis of this platform, tests of the K-16 armored personnel carrier and the K-17 infantry fighting vehicle have been developed and are being completed.
In all likelihood, the concept of the development of "Sprut-K" with the use of a cannon and a complex of weapons of the main tank, allowing to fire tank ammunition, will be taken as a basis. Such a machine will have the firepower of the main tank, surpass it in maneuverability and speed, while being inferior in protection and maneuverability.
When assessing the need to develop such a machine, the army's need for such equipment and its place in the structure of troops should be assessed first of all. According to its characteristics, a wheeled tank will in no way be able to replace the main tank on the battlefield as the main striking force of the ground forces, since it does not provide the same protection and maneuverability as the main tank.
It has advantages - it is maneuverable, high-speed and can cross water obstacles on the move. Therefore, its place is in the niche where the main tank cannot be effectively used. A wheeled tank is not a battlefield vehicle; due to its weak protection and low cross-country ability in difficult terrain, it will quickly become an easy prey for the enemy.
Due to such advantages as operational maneuverability, high speed of movement on highways and solid ground, the ability to quickly force water obstacles without preliminary preparation of the reservoir and the prompt transfer of armored vehicles over long distances, a wheeled tank can be effective in certain conditions of use.
The wheeled tank is unlikely to become a mass combat vehicle. It has a rather specific range of tasks to be solved, where its advantages can be used. This is the use in local conflicts of low intensity, participation in peacekeeping and counter-terrorist operations, in reconnaissance, patrols, combat security, elimination of local breakthroughs and enemy threats, in conditions of flat terrain and developed road infrastructure.
Foreign models of wheeled tanks have been used in a number of local conflicts and have already shown their strengths and weaknesses. The conflicts in the Middle East and especially in Syria have clarified a lot, where, in flat terrain, mobile groups armed with lightly armored vehicles and vehicles with small-caliber cannons and machine guns mounted on them showed the greatest efficiency.
In these conditions, light armored vehicles such as a wheeled tank can really show high efficiency. In addition, light armored vehicles are used there for warfare in urban areas, with accompanying destruction and debris. Here the wheeled tank is easily hit due to its weak protection. Therefore, it is most advisable to use it in tandem with such armored vehicles as the Terminator. The combination of maneuverability, powerful weapons and strong protection of these armored vehicles will make it possible to effectively use them in combat operations in such specific conditions.
