TSAMTO, October 16. Specialists from the Chinese company Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group and the Beijing Institute of Technology have proposed the concept of a modular armored vehicle, one of the configurations of which provides for movement underwater at a depth of up to 50 m for two hours.
The project is being considered in relation to the prospective development of tanks and armored vehicles in 2030-2050, the South China Morning Post newspaper reports.
The concept is presented in the article "Theory and method of designing a heterogeneous integrated configuration: an innovative approach to the design of advanced tanks and armored vehicles." The team of authors includes employees of Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group, the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Technologies for the Design and Manufacture of Special Machines and the School of Mechanical Engineering of the Beijing Institute of Technology.
The proposed theory of heterogeneous Configuration Synthesis and System Integration (HCSS) provides for an operational change in the physical modules and functional composition of the platform. Within the framework of the concept, the possibility of adapting the machine to operations in ground, air, water and information network environments is stated. The target time for dynamic reconfiguration is less than 10 seconds, and the duration of the Observe–Orient–Decide–Act (OODA) cycle is 9 seconds.
A folding propulsion system is provided for the underwater configuration. The claimed working depth is up to 50 m, the duration of stay underwater is up to two hours, and the transition time between water and land configurations is up to 12 minutes. The ground-based base module must reach speeds of at least 70 km/h on roads and 40 km/h over rough terrain; the estimated range of the hybrid powerplant variant is at least 600 km, the South China Morning Post newspaper notes.
Overcoming a blocked section of the coast during an amphibious operation is considered as one of the application options. In the design scheme, underwater maneuvering of the vehicle is combined with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to detect and eliminate obstacles. The authors indicate an estimated clearance rate of up to 30 obstacles per minute and a 60% reduction in disembarkation time.
During the dynamic interface check, 1000 cycles of module connection were performed at temperatures from -20 to + 50 degrees. C, electromagnetic field strength of 30 V/m and on ground with low bearing capacity. The average connection time was 8.7 seconds, the percentage of successful operations was 98.3%, the frequency of interface misalignment was 0.5%, and the decrease in performance after 1000 cycles was no more than 5%.
The published results relate to tests of modular interfaces, an energy system, and modeling of a multi-media application. Full-scale tests of the armored vehicle in an underwater configuration have not been confirmed. The speed of movement, range, type of underwater navigation system, control method, composition of weapons and life support parameters of the crew are not listed in the open materials.
