Marder Medium Tank

[Ukro Turk]

The Marder Medium Tank RI (Republic of Indonesia) is a demonstrator project developed and designed by the German Company Rheinmetall Defence to meet an Indonesian armed forces requirement for a light tank. This new light tank is based on a modified Marder 1A3 IFV (Ifantry Fighting Vehicle) chassis. It was unveiled during the defense exhibition IndoDefence 2016 in Jakarta, in November 2016. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence in Jakarta contracted with Rheinmetall to supply the Indonesian Army with tracked armoured vehicles, logistical support and ammunition. Besides 103 Leopard 2A4 MBTs, Rheinmetall is supplying Indonesia with 42 upgraded Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicles, 11 armoured recovery and combat engineering vehicles, together with the accompanying documentation, training resources and logistical services. With the Marder Medium Tank RI, the German Company Rheinmetall offers a new solution fully compatible with the current Marder 1A3 and to reduce operating and maintenance costs. Due to its high mobility the Marder Medium Tank RI can be deployed together with the Leopard 2A4 main battle tank or in support of other armoured fighting vehicles. Thanks to its lighter weight, it provides the tactical versatility vital for dominating current and future battlefields and other scenarios, e.g. urban warfare.

Armament
The Marder Medium Tank RI is fitted with a three-man Leonardo (Oto Melara) Hitfact II electrically stabilized turret, with a 105 mm/L52 gun as main armament. The cannon has an elevation of +15º, depression of -6º and 360º turret traverse. A bore evacuator, for quick self-cleaning of the barrel after each fire action, and a thermal jacket to avoid strains due to temperature variations, complete the barrel configuration. Due to its light weight and the low recoil force of the gun. the turret can provide the fire power of a main battle tank with great accuracy, without impairing the tactical and strategic characteristics of mobility of the vehicles. Second armament of the turret includes a 7.62 mm machine gun coaxially mounted, a 7,62mm or a 12.7 mm machine gun pintle mounted, and a set of Smoke Grenade Launcher (SGL) (option). The commander and gunner are both able to operate the main and secondary armament, which can be reloaded from the safety of the fighting compartment.

Design and protection
The Marder Medium Tank RI uses the chassis and hull of the Marder 1A3 IFV, with the driver at the left front, the engine compartment to the right and turret in middle. This light tank has a crew of four, driver and commander, gunner and loader in the turret. The hull offers high level of protection against firing of small arms and medium caliber ammunition. The chassis is also protected against IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and mine blast. The turret frame is made of ballistic aluminum alloy; steel armour plates and composite material are installed to reach the required protection level.
Mobility
The Marder Medium Tank RI is based on a modified Marder 1A3 IFV (Ifantry Fighting Vehicle) chassis but motorized with upgraded MTU diesel engine developing 490kW of power and upgraded with a new suspension for improved mobility. The torsion bar suspension each side consists of six dual rubber-tyred road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front, the idler at the rear and three track-return rollers. The first, second, fifth and sixth road wheel stations have a hydraulic shock-absorber. The upper parts of the suspension is protected by armour plates. The Marder Medium Tank RI can run at a maximum road speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.
Accessories
Standard equipment of the Marder Medium Tank RI includes day periscopes, passive night vision devices, thermal sight, air conditioning system and NBC collective protection for the entire crew. The HITFACT® digital FCS (Fire Control system) of the Marder Medium Tank RI includes gunner's self-stabilized Day and night IR thermal cameras with integral eye-safe laser rangefinder, a meteo and a vertical reference sensor suite, a Laser Warning (LW) (option) and a Day optical sight, as a back-up. The Commander can control the turret and gun movements and can perform the target search and detection, irrespective of the turret traversing movements, through either the self stabilized Panoramic sight with Day TV camera and IR Camera including situational awareness and full hunter capability modules or the Turret on Turret (optional) which combines the Day and Night vision with the remote use of a 7.62mm machine gun.

Specifications
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Armament
One 105 105 mm/L52 gun , one 7.62 coaxial machine gun and one 7.62mm or 12.7mm air defense machine gun
Country users
Demonstrator
Designer Country
Germany

Accessories
Day periscopes, passive night vision devices, thermal sight, air conditioning system, NBC collective protection for the entire crew, computerized firing control system, laser rangefinder, and Panoramic sight.
Crew
4
Armor
Protection against small arms caliber, medium caliber ammunition, mine and IEDs
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Weight
35,000 kg
Speed
65 km/h
Range
500 km
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Dimensions
Length: 8.48 m; Width: 3.35 m; Height: 3.07 m

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