While the leading tank-building powers are thinking and wondering whether or not they need a fourth-generation tank, a small, and not at all a tank-building country, Jordan, can get off the ground. A tank with an uninhabited combat module instead of a turret has already been built and is being tested in this country. It is these modules that are the main feature of the fourth generation tanks.
Oddly enough, despite the revolutionary nature of this news, it is discussed rather sluggishly. This is due to the fact that there is practically no information on this car. Apparently, it is classified. It is only known that this is a joint development of the Jordanians and South Africans.
This combat module has so far been developed for the bases of the British Chieftain and Challenger tanks. In general, this is not surprising. Since both South Africa and Jordan in the past were guided by the purchase of British tanks.
The concept of a turret with a small front area has attracted the attention of tank designers for many years. It provides a significant reduction in the size of the target that tanks represent for enemy weapons, and, therefore, the probability of hitting, especially when they take up defensive positions - a "tank in a trench" behind the crests of hills or other terrain. Moreover, it forces all crew members to be placed in the hull, where, being lower in the tank, they will be safer.
The advantages of turrets with a small front area are shared with the advantages of a remote mount of the gun on a carriage. They should not be confused with the latter, which they are superior in other respects, including a lower silhouette, better ballistic shape and less reflective surface.
I could not find the name of the tank. But the combat module on it has the name - "Falcon" (Falcon). Perhaps the tank itself will receive the same name. The development of this combat module was personally supported by King Abdula II of Jordan.
Major work was carried out by the Jordanian design bureau King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) in collaboration with a number of South African and other firms. The KADDB was established in August 1999 to provide the Jordanian Armed Forces with scientific and technical services and long-term R&D activities that will help organize industry in Jordan. The main collaborator in the development of the Falcon turret was the Pretoria-based Mechanology Design Bureau (MDB), whose knowledge and experience gained in the creation of South African armored vehicles. MDB was responsible for, among other things, the structural and mechanical design of the tower. His participation, along with the participation of other South African firms, is currently part of the Project Merlin program (a Jordan-South African military industry collaboration). However, the main role in the development of the Falcon tower was played by Swiss and British firms. One of the main goals of the development of the Falcon tower was to increase the firepower of the tank fleet of the Jordanian Ground Forces, which has four main types of tanks. The oldest of these is the Tariq, a significantly upgraded British-made Centurion tank armed with a 105mm L7 rifled cannon. The second is the US M60A3, armed with the US 105mm M68 cannon, a variant of the British L7 cannon. The third type is the Khalid tank, a modification of the British Chieftain tank with a more powerful power plant, armed, like the Chieftain tank, with the 120mm L11 rifled cannon. The fourth and most modern type is the Al Hussein, a former British Army Challenger 1, similar to the Khalid, with the exception of the additional Chobham special armor and hydropneumatic suspension.
The Falcon combat module is equipped with a 120mm smoothbore cannon (CTG) capable of firing the same ammunition that is fired by modern Western tanks, including M1 tanks in the Egyptian, Kuwaiti and Saudi forces and Leclerc tanks used by the United Arab Emirates.
Developed in Switzerland by RUAG Land Systems, this gun is considered by many to be the most promising among other 120mm guns. In particular, the CTG cannon uses steel of significantly higher strength than competitors.
This confirms the ultimate tensile stress of its steel, which is 1300 MPa, compared to the 1030 MPa steel used for the production of the widely accepted 120mm smoothbore guns from Rheinmetall and the 850 MPa steel used in the previous generation L7 tank guns.
As a result of the design improvement, the mass and dimensions of the 120 mm CTG cannon were not much more than the mass and dimensions of the 105 mm L7 cannons and significantly less than that of the 120 mm Rheinmetall cannon. Thanks to this, the CTG cannon fully meets all the requirements for replacing 105-mm cannons on old tanks. First of all, it is going to be used in the modernization of the Swiss Pz68 tanks, it is also planned to install it on the American M68 and M60A3 tanks.
But back to our tank. He has a crew of 2 people. Judging by the triplexes, aiming and observation devices, the commander with the gunner are to the right - to the left of the gun in the hull. Those. the crew is, in fact, under the tower. The loading mechanism is located in the turret aft niche. In my opinion, this is a very good solution for the survival of the crew in the event of an ammunition explosion. Ammunition should detonate over the head of the crew members, thus leaving them unharmed (naturally, as far as possible with such a powerful explosion).
Actually, that's all that is known about this car. Since the car is experimental, then, for sure, there will be further refinement. At least for the appearance of an anti-aircraft machine gun or some other anti-aircraft systems, I do not see any obstacles.
By the way, in the last photo, in my opinion, the tank is depicted in South African camouflage? This is also the only photo of the Chieftain-based Falcon combat module. In all other photos, it is installed on the Challenger.
