CM-37 Black Bear - 105mm assault gun

The 108th National Defense Budget of the Republic of China was sent to the Legislative Yuan for review in October 2018. The Ministry of National Defense Armaments Bureau compiled a budget of nearly 800 million yuan. It planned to develop a prototype of the "105-mm wheeled cannon-car" in five years. It is understood that this plan will be based on the Yunbao second-generation car, hope to develop a gun with sufficient penetration and power and advanced turret. The military hopes to start the plan smoothly in 2019.

The Armaments Bureau developed an assault gun configuration with a 105 turret for the Yunbao wheel-type car, but the armored combat training command of the armored unit is the so-called "armored fighting vehicle", which must be a crawler-type main vehicle. The main gun on the top is a low-pressure gun. The penetrating power and power are insufficient. The wheel-type car cannot replace the tracked vehicle. Considering that the wheeled armored vehicles have not been favored by the generals of the armored military divisions, mainly the main battle vehicles, and worrying that the traditional crawler vehicles will be replaced by the wheeled turrets, and the R&D units will adopt the recommendations of the generals with academic background.

While the National Army prepared a confidential budget and was preparing to purchase 108 M1A2 main vehicles for the United States, the Armaments Bureau still budgeted to develop a "105-mm wheel-type gun". The general said that the National Army developed the Cloud Leopard eight-wheeled vehicle on its own, and deployed it in the Army's mechanized infantry ["machine-walking"] brigade and the gendarmerie constitutional battalion. In fact, it is a model of the US Army's "Strike Brigade."

The generals disclosed that the National Army had nearly a thousand tracked-type main combat vehicles, including the M60A3 and CM11. In addition to the Army armored brigade, it is also assigned to the Army's aircraft brigade; the Marine Corps chariot camp originally used the M41 light chariot in the early years. The M60A3 was also used. However, the tracked vehicle is slow moving. In recent years, the Hanguang exercise war games found that the Army Aircraft Brigade had replaced the Yunbao armored vehicle with a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour. However, the overall mobility had not improved, and it is difficult to implement cross-regional reinforcement. The M60A3 tracked tank with a speed of only 32 kilometers per hour was in need of a fast-moving cannon.

Taiwan's road resources are abundant. The Cloud Leopard has become the main combat tool for the fast-moving mobile units of the Army. The infantry quickly arrives at the area where it is needed, and enters the battle. It has become a new mode of combat coordination. The tactical use of firepower support tasks such as the joint operations of the three armed forces and cross-regional operations, although the tactical direction of the national army has changed to the "conservation area" due to the style of the chief of staff, the tactical orientation has changed, and the future of wheeled armored vehicles is also affected.

The Armaments Bureau still budgeted for research and development, apparently still considering the needs of the main battle forces on the ground, but the development must overcome the the fact that the low-pressure gun's penetration and power are insufficient. The Armaments Bureau plans to allocate 770.84 million yuan in 108-112 years to develop a 105-mm round-type gun artillery vehicle. It will start a project of 110.945 million yuan in 2019. In the early days, the Cloud Leopard had originally produced a 105-mm gun-type assault gun (middle), but it was not favored by the army armor.

The purpose is to replace the core of the Taiwan military, which is already half a century old, the M41 light tank. The main weapon is the M68A1 105mm tank gun, with an effective range of 2,000 meters and an ammunition supply of 32 rounds. It uses a semi-automatic loading mechanism, a two-way stabilizer, a turret electric transmission, a thermal imaging scope, and a GPS system. The Taiwan military believes that this kind of self-propelled gun "can deal with most armored targets of the PLA except the new main battle tanks."

Taiwan has a lot of changing hilly terrain, and there is very little chance of a tank battle in the European plains or the Middle East desert. Therefore, as long as the defensive national army can effectively plan the deployment of the main battle tanks, Armored firepower, practical combat drills, can play the advantages of terrain and familiarity with the battlefield environment, foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, carry forward the advantages of the defensive forces in the ground, and make up for the disadvantages of the main battle tank equipment.

The first publicly available sight of the CM-37 105mm assault gun was at the 2007 World Trade Show, but this is only the initial proof-of-concept vehicle. The chassis will then be substantially modified. The CM-37 had problems with suspension and handling the recoil of a large 105mm gun. These problems have to be fixed before production goes forward. According to the original concept of the Armaments Bureau, it is planned to use a CM-32 chassis with a closed rotating turret to become a medium-caliber assault gun. According to computer simulation, the CM-32 can easily install a 90mm low recoil turret made in Switzerland (for the piranha series of wheeled armored vehicles) without changing the body structure; however, the Army believes that the suppression force of the 90mm gun is insufficient, so the Armaments Bureau Finally decided to use a modified M-68 105mm tank gun (the CM-11/12 and M-60A3 main battle vehicles of the National Army are equipped with this type of main gun). The rotation of the turret and the body pitch are driven by a digitally controlled electric servo.

It has a two-axis stabilizer and is semi-automatically loaded. The observation system includes a gun imager that integrates an infrared thermal imager, a daytime optical observation device, and a vehicle length. The full-period daytime aiming instrument, the radio control system includes a central control computer, a digital ballistic computer, a laser range finder, a GPS-equipped positioning and navigation system, and a digital communication system, with the ability to shoot between the road and the night combat capability. According to this configuration, the CM-32 assault gun will have the same level of firepower as the M-48H/M-60, and with the high road maneuverability, it can achieve the rapid response capability that the national army's active main vehicle can't handle, to make up for the protection.

Although the CM-32 assault gun used a muzzle retractor and a strong hydraulic retracting mechanism to alleviate the huge recoil of the 105mm high-pressure main gun, its overall launch stress is still too large for the eight-wheeled armored vehicle. The barrel can't deviate from the midline of the car at a large angle. When the tilted terrain is launched, there will be a rollover. The stability and safety of the shot during the trip cannot be compared with the stable main chariot. Therefore, there are not many wheeled armored vehicles equipped with 105mm high pressure main guns, and most of them are big guys weighing more than 25 tons (such as French Vextra 105), otherwise they are planned to be assault guns (such as Italian Sagittarius, French AMX). -10RC).

After several studies, the 202 Bureau of the Armaments Bureau decided to significantly change the body structure of the CM-32, including lowering the height of the car and moving the engine room to the rear of the car to match the installation of the 105mm turret. In addition, it also replaced the engine with higher power. This project is named after another kind of conservation animal "black bear" in Taiwan. If successfully adopted by the military, the "Black Bear" will be equipped with the Light Warfare Battalion and the Reconnaissance Unit of the Marine Brigade and the various mechanized units of the Army, replacing the old M-41 light chariot.

Before the "Black Bear" officially entered the engineering research and development stage, the 202 factory first used the existing CM-32 P1 prototype with a 105mm turret as proof of concept. The concept car was completed in the first half of 2007. The main gun of this car was modified with the M-68 105mm gun, replaced with a new muzzle retractor and a more powerful retreat, the rolling pressure is not reduced, and the rear seat stroke is extended to reduce the recoil. As for the turret, which is developed and integrated by the Lianqin 202 factory, it is welded by bullet-proof steel plate.

The appearance is similar to the newly developed welded turret in the past. The appearance of the battle center is 63 A light-duty chariot (large-scale modified version of M-41). The difference is that the turret tail is further lengthened to accommodate the larger rear seat stroke of the 105mm tank gun. The top of the turret near the gun shield also has a prominent shape to accommodate the stroke of the gun body. Because this turret is an advanced concept study conducted by the Lianqin 202 factory at its own expense, the limited funds are mainly used for the development and integration of electromechanical, radio control and weapon systems. Therefore, the production of the turret shell is relatively rough, and there are many unloaded nails on the surface. Weld seam. The turret has a total weight of 5,500 kg.

The turret and the body are both servoed by a motor-driven mechanism. The turret has a two-axis stability system. The main gun has a pitch range of -10 to +17 degrees. The turret has a gyro rate of about 40 degrees per second. The main cannon magazine at the rear of the turret. There are 25 rounds of artillery shells that are manually loaded; the entire vehicle is equipped with four crew members, including the captain, driver, gunner and loader. The gunner sight is located at the upper right of the turret. It is integrated with a third-generation infrared thermal imager, CCD TV camera and laser range finder. There is a coaxial machine gun on the left side of the gun shield. There is a 12.7mm air defense machine gun in front of the hatch on the left side above the turret. A set of eight-piece smoke bomb launchers are installed on each side of the turret. The cross-wind sensor above the turret appears to be from the M-60A3.

The prototype was tested in Yilan in June 2007; the test was purely to assess the tolerance of the CM-32 body to the rear recoil of the gun. A total of 15 shells were fired, and the first five rounds were halved. The 10 rounds are fully loaded and the horizontal orientation of the turret covers each angle (including the right and left sides of the most easily flipped). As a result, the test was quite successful, the prototype was not damaged, and the turret ring that was considered to be the most likely to be disintegrated was also intact. The worst case predicted by the rollover, turret rollover, etc. did not occur, and the CM-32 was initially proved. The feasibility of carrying a 105mm turret. Although the preliminary concept test is still successful, the subsequent "Black Bear" project had no following.

In the August 2011 World Trade Day Defense Exhibition, the Taiwan Armaments Bureau also exhibited a 105mm low recoil turret equipped with a porous muzzle retractor; the turrets on display were not placed on any of the chassis, possibly It is the relevant test prototype of the previous CM-32 assault gun plan. According to the on-site information, the turret has a total weight of 6.5 tons. It is internally built with three people. It uses an electric servo device. The gun has a pitch range of -3 to +15 degrees. The turret tail can accommodate 14 rounds of 105mm shells. The semi-automatic loading is used. The M-68A1 tank gun was modified and equipped with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, a 12.7mm long machine gun and a set of smoke bomb launchers on both sides of the turret. Similar to the CM-32 guns exhibited in 2007, the top of the top of this turret is equipped with a similar gunner's seat integrated photoelectric sight, but there is still no independent full-length captain. The front of the turret is wedge-shaped, and the elastic properties are still considered. However, the shape of the turret side and the back is still monotonous and straight, and it is very large. It is obviously only a development prototype.

At the end of May 2017, the news came out that the Naval Command confirmed that in response to the threat of hostilities and operational needs, the Navy�s five-year force reconstruction plan was included in the Marine Corps� strength building plan, including the purchase of 60 improvements with 105mm artillery. Type clouded leopard armored car. This improved clouded leopard equipped with 105mm artillery was developed by the Arms Bureau 209. Compared with the original Yunbao armored personnel carrier chassis, the steering and suspension suspension systems have been changed, and the external armor is strengthened. The tightening is much lower and the center of gravity is lower. According to the military, the price of each Yunbao armored vehicle chassis is between 60 million and 70 million Taiwan dollars, and the 105mm artillery system developed by the 209 factory of the Armaments Bureau (including the turret and the vehicle's shooting control) costs about 100 million Taiwan dollars. So, the cost of each Cloud Leopard 105mm gun is between NT$150 million and NT$200 million. The purchase of 60 105mm Yunbao armored guns will cost NT$12 billion in total, which is still relatively low compared to outsourcing.

Because the Army still has the demand for eight-wheeled guns, the Armaments Bureau has also developed a new eight-wheeled gun for the Army's operational needs. Although the 209 factory of the Armaments Bureau has developed the M1 prototype of the second generation of Cloud Leopard, in order to meet the tactical needs of the new gun, the Armaments Bureau has developed a new design of the "M2 prototype" to the Swiss piranha (Piranha). The armored vehicle is the target. The military internally calls the M2 prototype a "real clouded leopard II", which can be unveiled in 2019; the M2 prototype car chassis is completely different from the M1 prototype.

By the end of 2020 it was planned that two prototypes were scheduled to be completed before 2023. According to the 2021 Ministry of Defense (MND) budget, the Armament Bureau has set aside NT$768 million (US$ 27 million) to develop prototypes of a number of artillery vehicles between 2019 and 2023.