T
The turret, which was manufactured by SA firm Denel Ordnance houses the Denel 76mm main gun. The decision to use a 76mm instead of a 105mm was because SA neighbours lacked any serious armour that Denel’s high quality munitions couldn’t penetrate and also that the vehicle could carry more 76mm rounds than 105mm rounds.
48 x 76mm rounds are stored in the vehicle. The main gun can be elevated from -10 to +20 degree’s. It can fire APFSDS-T and HE-T. The turret drive and main gun stabilization (provides a fire on the move capability) is all electric which reduces the vehicles thermal signature and risk of injury of crew if the armour is defeated compared to hydraulic turret drives. The turret has a full 360 degree traverse.
The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; lit. '"Red cat"') is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised 76mm high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. It is capable of giving the same performance and using the same ammunition as the Oto Melara 76 naval gun, albeit with new percussion primers.
Rooikat 105
In 1990 an upgrade and redesign programme was started by Reumech OMC to customise the Rooikat for the international market, and by 1994 the development of a Rooikat 105 prototype with a 105mm rifled gun was completed.[18]
The Rooikat 105 is designed for high mobility day and night combat operations. Passive image intensifiers and thermal imaging equipment for night driving, navigation and weapon deployment permit round-the-clock combat operations. The Rooikat 105 is equipped with a GT7 105mm anti-tank gun. The gun fires the full range of NATO full-pressure 105mm ammunition including generation I, II and III rounds. The gun, fitted with a 51-caliber thermal sleeve encased barrel, fires six rounds a minute. There are two 7.62mm machine guns, one co-axial to the main armament and one at the commander's position, for general purpose ground and air defence. The vehicle is equipped with two banks of 81mm smoke grenade launchers, mounted in a forward firing position on each side of the turret. The system is electrically operated. The smoke grenades form a dense protective smoke screen, which can be sustained using an exhaust smoke generator. The digital fire control system takes data from a suite of sensors and provides an automatic fire control solution. Automatic data input includes target range from a laser rangefinder, target speed and direction derived from tracking the target, crosswind speed, weapon tilt and the characteristics of the weapon. Manual data input includes ammunition type and environmental data. The fire control system allows the Rooikat to engage enemy targets while on the move across rough terrain. The time between laser ranging the target and firing is approximately two seconds. Three variations of fire directing systems are offered. The most complex system incorporates a primary stabilised gunner's sight, automatic computation and implementation of ballistic offset of the weapon, electro-mechanical gun control, stabilised main weapon, gunner's sight with day / night channel slaved to the main weapon and an independent panoramic commander's sight.[19][20]
Roikat with 120 mm gun
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