Tanque Argentino Mediano

Tanque Argentino Mediano

The Tanque Argentino Mediano is a medium tank in service with the Argentine Army. The vehicle was developed by a German and Argentine team of engineers. It was based on the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle chassis. The TAM has never seen combat, although 17 VCTPs were deployed to Croatia for the UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission.

About Tanque Argentino Mediano in brief

Summary Tanque Argentino MedianoThe Tanque Argentino Mediano is a medium tank in service with the Argentine Army. The vehicle was developed by a German and Argentine team of engineers, and was based on the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle chassis. The TAM has never seen combat, although 17 VCTPs were deployed to Croatia for the United Nations UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission. In total, over 280 such vehicles were built, including armored personnel carriers, artillery and mortar pieces. The new tank’s firepower requirements were met by fitting a Royal Ordnance L7A1 105 mm main gun. This gun was later replaced by the modified Rinmetall’s Rh-105-30 Model 1. The gun’s hydraulic recoil mechanism has an extended length of 580mm to absorb the recoil force. It is locally built to absorb 34-tonnes of recoil force and can be elevated to 18 degrees to depressed to 18 -7 degrees on the TAM. The tank designers also had to take into account Argentina’s existing infrastructure, including railroad capacity, bridges and road capacity, as well as the country’s varied terrain. In 1973 the Argentine Ministry of Defense drew up a series of requirements for a tank to enter service in the 1980s. The armored vehicle would weigh no more than 30 tonnes, move at a maximum speed of 70 kmh, and cover at least 500 km on roads.

It would be armed with a modern 105-mm main gun, two machine guns, and grenade launchers. Argentina procured 80 AMX-13 light tanks from the French government, manufacturing around 40 AMx-13s and 60 AMX -VCIs at home. The French AMX30 and German Leopard 1 were also examined as possible replacements for the Argentine Sherman fleet. The T-34 was designed to replace the Sherman V Firefly. It was built by the German company Thyssen-Henschel and has a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) The TAM and VCTP were manufactured for the Peruvian Army, only to be integrated into the Argentine army when Peru canceled the contract. It also competed for other export orders, but the TAM was ultimately not exported. In late 1973 the Proyecto de Tanque Argentine Mediano was founded with the goal of designing and developing a tank for the Argentinian Army. It was hoped that European technology could stimulate Argentine industry so the country could produce its own armaments in the future. The TAM series includes seven different variants, such as a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer and a self- Propelled mortar vehicle. It has a range of 10,000 km. Unlike the Rh-30, the FM K 4 does not have a muzzle brake K4 does not has a muzzle cannon built for the FM 4o K4.