Model 34 Arjun Medium Tank
It is of important interest to the Commune to establish a tank force which is capable of meeting the Imperialist armies in the field, and this policy has been pursued over the last several years with French support for training, design, and production. The French established a joint tank training camp in the Commune, and the Commune has purchased a fair degree of material for training and equipped its armored car divisions with French units. However, not all of the tanks that the Commune produces can come from France, since the Commune is vulnerable to being cut off from French supplies during a war, and it has to be able to produce its own tanks (although not all of them: assumptions have been that any heavy tanks which are produced will rely on French purchases). French and Bharatiya Commune engineers have thus been working on the establishment of a tank design for the Commune, supposed to be an indigenous medium tank design, to serve alongside a light tank design for usage in new armored divisions.
This has resulted in the Model 34 Arjun, named after a hero from the Indian classic Mahabharata, which is the standard new tank design of the army, supposed to be used as a medium tank. It is based on French design input, which handled much of the technical aspect, but included quite a number of modifications to match Indian conditions and interests, which has resulted in a vehicle very much different from the French counterparts. Alongside light tanks it is supposed to form the mainstay of the armored forces of the Commune.
This medium tank is relatively conventional looking for this era, rather boxlike in shape, with a slightly sloped frontal glacis, front-mounted turret which can rotate 360°, although it has to be turned by hand (something which the Commune is rather vigorously in the process of trying to change, as soon as it can start producing the electric motors that would work to rapidly switch it around and actually mass produce them) which limits its ability to quickly react to targets. Partly for this reason, the gun is partially able to be detached from the mantle and move around freely, giving a limited freedom of movement with it.
To begin with the armament, it was not expected that in India there would be much in the way of tank combat against enemy tanks faced. The Dominion of India and the Princely Federation are both less industrialized than the Commune, which makes it harder for them to field mechanized units. Thus, instead of being equipped with higher velocity 37mm or 47mm guns, it was decided that the focus should instead be on lower velocity, but higher caliber weapons, capable of firing more effective high explosive rounds. On the Model 34, this came in the form of a 70mm cannon, recalling the previous British 70mm mountain gun which had been used, firing 5.7 kilogram rounds from an L/20 bore. This can be depressed down to -12 degrees and elevated to 20 degrees, and a total of 60 rounds are carried, and it can carry high explosive, smoke, and armor piercing. The muzzle velocity of around 400 meters per seconds means that it has a somewhat decent armor piercing capability, although it is certainly not as effective as a smaller caliber, but higher velocity, dedicated anti-tank gun. The turret ring diameter is 148cm.
Secondary armament consists of x2 7.7mm machine guns, with one mounted co-axially, and the other mounted for usage by the driver on the frontal hull. In addition, a third machine gun is generally carried and can be used by the crew for anti-aircraft fire, fired outside of the hatch of the main turret. A total of 3,000 machine gun rounds are carried.
Another change vis-a-vis the French was an increase in the number of crew. The French have had severe problems with manpower, which have required them to have smaller crew sizes. For the Commune, with its population of more than 120 million, manpower is.... not a bottleneck. Thus, the crew size of the vehicle is 4, with a commander/gunner, loader, radio operator, and driver. The commander/gunner and loader are in the turret, while the radio operator and driver are below. The radio operator can also pass rounds up to the personnel in the turret. The commander has a cupola with a hatch which he can open to stand out of, as well as having vision sights for him himself. He also has a wide-area sight for the gun, and a precision sight. The driver has his own vision slits as well, and headlights for night-time operations.
Reduced armor compared to tanks designed for the European battlefield is the order of the day, and the vehicle has 20mm of frontal armor, and 15mm on all other surfaces. This is enough to survive shrapnel, machine gun fire - and even heavy machine gun fire at some ranges - but it is not enough to enable it to stand up to dedicated anti-tank guns at normal combat conditions. There has been some concern which has been expressed about this, but for now the armor level remains the same. This armor is slightly sloped on the front which increases the thickness, but not really that much, and is riveted.
Mobility is provided for by a 140 horsepower petrol engine, with a rear-positioned drive train. The suspension on the vehicle is a bell crank model, which doesn't permit very high top speeds to be fair, but then as a medium tank instead of a light tank this isn't viewed as too great of a problem - well, the French Commune's light tanks are noted as being, by contrast, not very fast, but the Bharatiya Commune is more conventional with their tank designs so far. A five-speed drive system with 5 gears forward and 2 in reverse, and the tracks have a width of some 35cm, narrow but not that great of a problem in the flatlands of India. There are 8 road wheels, all of rather small size. The onboard petrol reserves provide for an autonomy of 180 kilometers, and top speed is 30 kilometers per hour.
Weight:
Length: 5.55 meters
Height: 2.35 meters
Width: 2.4 meters
Crew: 4 (commander/gunner, loader, machine gunner/radio operator, driver)
Armament: x1 70mm l/20 breech-loading rifled tank gun with 60 rounds
x2 7.7mm machine guns with 3,000 rounds total
Armor: 20mm frontally, 15mm on the sides
Motor: 140 horsepower petrol engine
Suspension: bell crank
Range: 180 kilometers
Speed: 30 kilometers per hour
Trench-crossing capabilities: 2.07 meters
Slope climbing capacities: 35 degrees and/or a 1.05 meter obstacle
Fording depth: .8 meters
This has resulted in the Model 34 Arjun, named after a hero from the Indian classic Mahabharata, which is the standard new tank design of the army, supposed to be used as a medium tank. It is based on French design input, which handled much of the technical aspect, but included quite a number of modifications to match Indian conditions and interests, which has resulted in a vehicle very much different from the French counterparts. Alongside light tanks it is supposed to form the mainstay of the armored forces of the Commune.
This medium tank is relatively conventional looking for this era, rather boxlike in shape, with a slightly sloped frontal glacis, front-mounted turret which can rotate 360°, although it has to be turned by hand (something which the Commune is rather vigorously in the process of trying to change, as soon as it can start producing the electric motors that would work to rapidly switch it around and actually mass produce them) which limits its ability to quickly react to targets. Partly for this reason, the gun is partially able to be detached from the mantle and move around freely, giving a limited freedom of movement with it.
To begin with the armament, it was not expected that in India there would be much in the way of tank combat against enemy tanks faced. The Dominion of India and the Princely Federation are both less industrialized than the Commune, which makes it harder for them to field mechanized units. Thus, instead of being equipped with higher velocity 37mm or 47mm guns, it was decided that the focus should instead be on lower velocity, but higher caliber weapons, capable of firing more effective high explosive rounds. On the Model 34, this came in the form of a 70mm cannon, recalling the previous British 70mm mountain gun which had been used, firing 5.7 kilogram rounds from an L/20 bore. This can be depressed down to -12 degrees and elevated to 20 degrees, and a total of 60 rounds are carried, and it can carry high explosive, smoke, and armor piercing. The muzzle velocity of around 400 meters per seconds means that it has a somewhat decent armor piercing capability, although it is certainly not as effective as a smaller caliber, but higher velocity, dedicated anti-tank gun. The turret ring diameter is 148cm.
Secondary armament consists of x2 7.7mm machine guns, with one mounted co-axially, and the other mounted for usage by the driver on the frontal hull. In addition, a third machine gun is generally carried and can be used by the crew for anti-aircraft fire, fired outside of the hatch of the main turret. A total of 3,000 machine gun rounds are carried.
Another change vis-a-vis the French was an increase in the number of crew. The French have had severe problems with manpower, which have required them to have smaller crew sizes. For the Commune, with its population of more than 120 million, manpower is.... not a bottleneck. Thus, the crew size of the vehicle is 4, with a commander/gunner, loader, radio operator, and driver. The commander/gunner and loader are in the turret, while the radio operator and driver are below. The radio operator can also pass rounds up to the personnel in the turret. The commander has a cupola with a hatch which he can open to stand out of, as well as having vision sights for him himself. He also has a wide-area sight for the gun, and a precision sight. The driver has his own vision slits as well, and headlights for night-time operations.
Reduced armor compared to tanks designed for the European battlefield is the order of the day, and the vehicle has 20mm of frontal armor, and 15mm on all other surfaces. This is enough to survive shrapnel, machine gun fire - and even heavy machine gun fire at some ranges - but it is not enough to enable it to stand up to dedicated anti-tank guns at normal combat conditions. There has been some concern which has been expressed about this, but for now the armor level remains the same. This armor is slightly sloped on the front which increases the thickness, but not really that much, and is riveted.
Mobility is provided for by a 140 horsepower petrol engine, with a rear-positioned drive train. The suspension on the vehicle is a bell crank model, which doesn't permit very high top speeds to be fair, but then as a medium tank instead of a light tank this isn't viewed as too great of a problem - well, the French Commune's light tanks are noted as being, by contrast, not very fast, but the Bharatiya Commune is more conventional with their tank designs so far. A five-speed drive system with 5 gears forward and 2 in reverse, and the tracks have a width of some 35cm, narrow but not that great of a problem in the flatlands of India. There are 8 road wheels, all of rather small size. The onboard petrol reserves provide for an autonomy of 180 kilometers, and top speed is 30 kilometers per hour.
Weight:
Length: 5.55 meters
Height: 2.35 meters
Width: 2.4 meters
Crew: 4 (commander/gunner, loader, machine gunner/radio operator, driver)
Armament: x1 70mm l/20 breech-loading rifled tank gun with 60 rounds
x2 7.7mm machine guns with 3,000 rounds total
Armor: 20mm frontally, 15mm on the sides
Motor: 140 horsepower petrol engine
Suspension: bell crank
Range: 180 kilometers
Speed: 30 kilometers per hour
Trench-crossing capabilities: 2.07 meters
Slope climbing capacities: 35 degrees and/or a 1.05 meter obstacle
Fording depth: .8 meters
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