Your Ideal Tank Contest

MrVic: German GUAV-30

Nicknamed by the allies “Street Sweeper”
Origins
With the coming of war the German High Command put a call out to anyone capable of designing a city siege tank. With German war machine
in full swing and the vast array of projects already in progress their hopes were find a quick solution. The reward for such a design was a
position in the German High Command with the role of testing the secret weapons development program of Germany.
A young aircraft engineer by the name of simply “Herr Vic”. Herr Vic was dismissed from the Messerschmitt company a few days before this
announcement came out. With his issues with his previous employer being adding to much armor, and heavy armaments to fragile airframes.
This new opportunity presented itself at the perfect time. Herr Vic set out to create a pure engine of destruction.
The starting point had to be a slopped heavy armored hull. His hopes were to withstand close range infantry anti tank weapons and hopefully
limit ease of enemy infantry overwhelming the tank in close assault. The slopes he thought would limit the abilty to scale the tank as it
travel down streets. He made sure to remove the normal hand and foot holds normal tanks naturally have. While he was thinking about infantry
defense he struck upon a great idea grenades! He designed rifle grenade launcher mounted aiming above and in outward angles. If infantry
closed on the tank and got within its fire arcs his tank would be able to strike back. By firing a small propellant charge and a short fused
rifle grenade, the grenade could be propelled 4-10 feet above the tank where it would detonate spraying shrapnel down onto the tank killing
or wounding any would be attackers. With the heavy armor of his tank and the top down shielded view ports it would prove harmless to his mighty tank!.
After these original ideas were down on paper he moved onto issue of protection. He already envisioned sloped and heavy armor but decided
that was not enough. Herr Vic added heavier armor in the top/bottom of the tank. His thoughts were that in a city fight infantry anti tank
fire could easily come from above if not below with mines easily hidden in the debris strewn streets. A last minute addition was side skirting
in hopes to help limit his tracks from being hit or damaged by any attacker. Upon thinking back of a simple weapon he had read being used in
the recent Spanish Civil war. He feared this simple moltov cocktail would undo all his great planning. The big threat was it hitting the engine
vents/intakes and choking out the engine or even creating a much bigger problem a engine fire. He made the addition of extra protection from
such attacks will better designed louvers over his engines exhaust and intakes. To ensure this never stopped his mighty tank he also designed a
secondary intake and venting area under the tank, so that in a attack hitting the upper engine vents they could close them off and vent from
underneath with assistance from electric fans. Realizing cities his tank would be called to clear of enemies would almost always be shelled and
bombed creating a lot of debris strewn streets. His simple solution was to attack a dozer blade not only to clear or bury dug in enemies but it
also provided a safer way to clear mines and a wall of extra armor.
With the basics of protection he moved onto dealing destruction on a scale required to root out stubborn defenders. Being from the realm of
aircraft engineering he was more familiar with those weapon system than those of the standard ground forces. He had always been a fan of the
Rheinmetall MK 108 30mm cannon designed in 1940 for future use in Luftwaffe aircraft. He approached Rheinmetall with a rough concept drawing
of mounting the weapon in a tank. With the weapon system already being extremely compact his only major concern was cooling the weapon as it
was originally designed for aircraft and the high wind speeds in flight ensure it performs at lower temperatures. His idea one created in the
1800’s was the multi-barreled design of a Gatling gun. The rotation of multiple barrels will air cool the weapon and a electric drive motor to
operate it ensures smooth operations. This weapon with a variety of ammunition gave it great diversity, armor piercing, incendiary, and high
explosive. The armor piercing would give it the ability to easily destroy any light armored targets. The high explosive would decimate buildings
and dug in infantry no matter where they were hiding. Realizing he lacked serious punch for dealing with heavier armor his tank would face in
the streets of Europe he decided on adding a hull mounted heavier cannon. He settled upon the 15 cm sFH with a shortened barrel. This weapon
would provide the ability to level fortified positions and much larger tanks with no troubles. Fighting in narrow streets meant accuracy was
not nearly a concern with a shell this large. With his tank complete he won the challenge the German High Command had put forth and Herr Vic
joined the proud few with access to the secret weapons of war!
GENERAL DATA
Other Designations..............GUAV-30 (Street Sweeper)
Manufacturer(s)....................MAN, Daimler Benz, Demag, MNH
Production Quantity..............2 (100 Ordered)
Production Period..................1940-?
Type....................................Heavy Urban Assualt Tank
Crew 4
Length /hull (m)........................7.31 m (24' 3")
Width /with skirts (m)..................2.63 m (8.62 ft)
Combat Weight (kg)...................56500 (62 tons)
Height (m)..................................3
Barrel Overhang (m)...........................0.3
Radio Equipment...............................FuG5
ARMAMENTS
Primary Armament...............Rheinmetall's 30mm Mk108 Electric Air Cooled Rotary
Ammunition Carried................3500
Traverse (degrees)................360 (Hydraulic)
Elevation (degrees)...............-8° to +18°
Secondary Armament...............15 cm sFH
Ammunition Carried.................25
Sight.......................................TZF5a
MOBILITY
Engine Make & Model................Maybach HL230P30
Type & Displacement...................V12, 23.1 liters
Horsepower (max.).....................700hp@3000rpm
Power/Weight Ratio......................10 hp/t
Gearbox..............................7 forward, 1 reverse
Fuel.................................Gasoline (Petrol)
Range on/off road (km)..................250/100
Mileage (liters/100km)................280 on/700 off road
Fuel Capacity (liters)..................720
Speed on/off road......................28/20 km/h
Track Links................................110
Track Width................................35cm
Track Ground Contact....................309cm
Ground Clearance (m)......................0.41
Turning Radius (m)..........................4.5
Gradient (degrees)........................25°-37°
Vertical Obstacle (m).......................0.65
Fording (m)................................0.89
Trench Crossing (m)........................1.51 (4'5")
ARMOR PROTECTION
Armor Detail.........Front...................Side......................Rear....................Top/Bottom
Upper Hull...........80mm@35°..........80mm@90° ...........60mm@60°..........40mm@0°
Lower Hull...........60mm@35°..........75mm@65°............NA........................40mm@0°
Turret..................80mm@round.......75mm@65°............60mm@65°...........30mm@0°
Mantlet..............85mm@round.........NA.........................NA.........................NA
Designer Notes
Well I started this one after realizing I had not done a urban warfare tank yet. With the invention of the gatling gun around 1861 and an
electric motor attached to one around in the late 1800's the birth of a minigun was born. Towards WW2 multi barreled weapons were semi abandoned due to complexity to build and maintain them combined with great advances in gas operated firearms they were seen not as economical. With my design the weapon as compact and well designed but I needed to compensate I thought for air cooling as it was designed for aircraft where that problem naturally solves itself. combined with up to a 650 rpm and armor pen and HE rounds that could clean out most anything it needed to it fit well. That and sticking a rotary cannon on tank is just fun. Tho mine would only operate with 3 barrels. A fun video on what one HE round could do to a spitfire's wing My link
Beyond that I just tried to cover all the bases on size armor ect. Still debating how much ammo I can fit in this thing currently working with a low ball estimate currently.