The ASCOD VAC (tracked support vehicle) has finally been approved by Spain to replace its fleet of mortar carrying M113 TOA. It features a GMOS turret by Escribano in an ASCOD II chassis by Santa Barbara Sistemas, subsidiary of GDELS. The GMOS is a crewless turret equiped with a 120mm mortar capable of direct shooting, plus carrying a wide array of sensors and comms to integrate the vehicle on the army wide network and defensive measures like the remote controlled machinegun turret.
The vehicle already made the tests shortly after the success of the Castor engineering vehicle on the same chassis, but until now we didn't have confirmation that it would get bought. So now, finally we can say this is the newest member of the ASCOD family (Who notably also competes against Rheinmetal's prototype to replace the Bradley in USA's current trials.) and for now also the most modern european mortar carrier.
Cool. When do they start getting it?
The plan only specifies the first phase (the ones that replace the M113 TOA) should be in service before the end of this year. And first round of tests ended before the anouncement. So I guess the answer is "now".
Oh wait until he hears the other EU countries have similar programs or have vouched to make them... M113 will get yeeted from the arsenal pretty much everywhere civilized in a couple years.
sparky is weeping
fucking hideous turret
It's a breech-loading mortar they never look good.
how silly to put a bloop gun on a tank
Man, these new IFVs just keep getting fatter and fatter. At some point you might as well just make a full fledged tank with full sized troop compartment not unlike the merkava.
for the last time
Merkava does not have dedicated troop compartment
you can squeeze in like 2 dudes in the rear hatch space and ammo bin if you unload the ammo first
wtf are you on about? The ASCOD II Chassis is the same size as the ASCOD I. Picrel. The only difference is they hacked it up so its more open and modular and changed the internals.
for comparison here's the Castor, the ASCOD II engineering vehicle, during testing. Its really not that big I think the perspective and just how tiny the turret is might be throwing you off.
>tfw your stupid cunt bought the ASCOD II as a """light""" tonk
>it's not light since it's at 40t
>also came with a gay 105mm
>Spaniards and Bongs cough up a 120mm gun
KWAB
Bongs had nothing to do with the VAC. Both Santa Barbara and Escribano are spanish and its being bought by the spanish army.
Also this isn't a 120mm gun its a 120mm mortar. Pretty different.
Not that there isn't a 120mm ASCOD II tank, there is, its called the MMBT.
But notably both the MMBT and the Sabrah 105mm light tank are 33t as is the VAC, Castor, etc, as this is the limit set for armor upgrades.
The only 42t ASCOD II is the british AJAX, and the weight is the reason it sucks so much as it goes well past Santa Barbara's maximum weight for the chassis. You might have confused it with the Sabrah because the brits claim the AJAX is also a "light tank", despite its gun being a 40mm autocannon.
What are the benefits of a mortar versus a howitzer?
Its not about benefits. They have different roles. The name of OP's vehicle should say it all. Tracked SUPPORT vehicle.
Mortars are 105-120mm pieces so they can carry their own ammo and go with the troops, they're used for close fire support, in the case of picrel for mechanized, so they opperate at company level.
Howitzers are 152-155mm pieces so they require a larger logistical chain but fire larger proyectiles much farther, so they operate at higher levels and don't usually follow the troops for close fire support, instead bombing from afar. Most armies have both.
I guess it makes sense since mortars are lighter but have shittier range. Then again, I wonder if there could still be standardization, like having both mortars and howitzers use 150mm rounds, maybe even design the howitzer so that it can fire mortar rounds if needed.
Maybe the Spaniards can cut and weld the hull plates to the correct dimensions this time
Needs a combo Javelin+SPIKE version
Then another with Stinger+Mistral, ignore the garbage Shitstreak
raging that starstreak vaporised ruskie pilots without them even being aware
test
Steel>aluminum
You'll be glad to know that while the armor is modular and many composites are being tested, the base model for the ASCOD II uses rolled steel armor indeed.
Or did you just assume all new western IFVs are by necessity aluminum because pierre spray said so?
The Piranha V and its spanish derivative Dragón are also rolled steel by default btw. And its armor is also modular with composites being used for extra armor. So between that and others like the CV90 just using composites by default, most EU IFVs aren't aluminum. And if USA picks GDEL's offer theirs won't be either.