Patagón

VC Tan Patagón

A "Patagón" tank at the Argentine Army Exhibition, May 2008
Type Light tank
Place of origin  Argentina
Service history
Used by  Argentina
Production history
Designed early 2000s
Number built 5 (including 1 prototype)
Specifications
Weight 16.5 tonnes (18.2 short tons; 16.2 long tons)[1]
Length 5.582 m (18 ft 3.8 in)[1]
Width 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) [1]
Height 2.88 m (9 ft 5 in) [n 1]
Crew 3 (Commander, gunner, driver)
Armor base: 8 mm (0.31 in)
maximum: 40 mm (1.6 in) [n 2]
Main
armament
 105 mm rifled gun
Secondary
armament
 7.62×51mm NATO co-axial machine gun
Engine Steyr 7FA / 6-cylinder diesel engine [n 3]
300 hp (220 kW) [1] [n 4]
Power/weight ?? hp / tonne
Suspension torsion bar, 5 road wheels
Operational
range
 520 kilometres (320 mi)[1] [n 5]
Speed 70 km/h (43 mph)[n 6]

The "Patagón" tank is a light tank developed in Argentina during the early 2000s, expected to enter service with the Argentine Army. It is based on a SK-105 Kürassier chassis with a refurbished AMX-13 turret. The project was cancelled in late 2008.

Development

"Patagón" prototype displayed at the Argentine Army Exhibition in May 2008. Note placard with technical data summary.

In 2003 the Argentine Army defined goals for increasing its capabilities, among them nationalizing the manufacturing of its equipment; the VC SK-105 "Patagón" tank upgrade project was part of that effort.[2] It was planned to convert and upgrade up to 40 vehicles at an expected cost of USD 23,4 million in the period 2005-2009; these vehicles were going to be assembled in Comodoro Rivadavia and provided to the army units based in the Patagonia.[2][3]

The vehicle is composed of a SK-105 Kürassier chassis which mounts a refurbished FL-12 oscillating turret armed with a 105 mm gun, obtained from obsolete AMX-13 tanks. Both vehicles were in service with the Argentine Army in the early 2000s. Most of the Patagón technical specifications are similar to the SK-105.[4]

The Patagón prototype was unveiled on 22 November 2005; however the project was cancelled in late 2008, as it was considered uneconomical.[4]

Production

As of late 2014 four units have been completed, in addition to the prototype unveiled in 2005.[4]

Operators

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Data for SK-105, assumed unchanged for Patagón.
  2. ↑ Data for SK-105, assumed unchanged for Patagón.
  3. ↑ Data for SK-105, assumed unchanged for Patagón.
  4. ↑ The SK-105 data shows 320 hp, however the placard on the displayed Patagón indicated 300 hp with a similar engine.
  5. ↑ The SK-105 data shows 500 km, however the placard on the displayed Patagón indicated 520 km with a similar engine and no indication of increased fuel tankage.
  6. ↑ Same data for both SK-105 and Patagón.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Placard with data for Patagón tank displayed in Argentine Army Exhibition May 2008 – see in this article and in Commons.
  2. 1 2 "Patagón: el tanque de fabricación argentina que fue presentado ayer". DERF – Agencia Federal de Noticias (in Spanish). Santa Fé, Argentina. 2005-11-23. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  3. ↑ "Argentine Army tank assembly plant in Comodoro". MercoPress. Montevideo, Uruguay. 2005-11-24. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  4. 1 2 3 "Argentina abandona el proyecto de blindado Patagón". Infodefensa – Información Defensa y Seguridad (in Spanish). España. 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
  5. ↑ The Military Balance 2010; Page 175.

Sources

Online
Bibliographical

Further reading

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