Difference between revisions of "AGS"
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== Description == | == Description == | ||
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' --> | <!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' --> | ||
| − | The ' | + | The usage of the [[M551]] Sheridan airborne/reconnaissance tank in combat in places like Vietnam enabled the United States to gather experience on what they liked or didn't like about lightweight armored vehicles in combat operations. This allowed the United States to establish the baseline requirements when opening the Armored Gun System (AGS) program to find a replacement to the M551 for their airborne forces. One contender in this contest was Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM), which produced their own AGS design in the early 1980s. Their design was submitted and was distinguished for its unmanned turret when compared to competitors like the [[CCVL]]. However, the CCVL ended up winning the AGS program and the TCM AGS design was not adopted. TCM continued to utilize their AGS design for export sales attempt after the program's conclusion. |
| + | |||
| + | Introduced during [[Update "Winged Lions"]] as a reward for the [[wt:en/news/7469-event-operation-w-i-n-t-e-r-en|2021 Operation W.I.N.T.E.R.]] event, the AGS presents a unique platform for American operators with its unmanned turret on top. The sheer small size of the turret sticking on top of the hull makes this vehicle extremely survivable in a hull-down position as enemies would struggle to incapacitate the vehicle due to the tiny target the turret presents, and the right attack angle needed to damage the critical components and crew in the AGS hull. With a -10 degree gun depression, the AGS can be quite useful in hull-down positions against enemies as well. That said, if the AGS gets targeted by anything equipped with autocannons and above, they will quite easily shred it apart. So the AGS is best used once an ideal hull-down location can be found that hides the hull but exposes the turret, but don't plan to stay very long lest artillery or a bomb finds the AGS' position. | ||
== General info == | == General info == | ||
| Line 13: | Line 15: | ||
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}} | {{Specs-Tank-Armour}} | ||
<!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' --> | <!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' --> | ||
| − | + | The Teledyne Light Tank is primarily made out of Aluminium alloy 7039 all around. The sides are covered by two sets of composite screens. However, it's important to note that the TCM AGS is a light tank and its survivability is suboptimal. | |
| − | '''Armour type:''' | + | '''Armour type:''' |
| − | + | ||
| − | * | + | * Aluminium alloy 7039 |
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| Line 23: | Line 25: | ||
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof | ! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | Hull || | + | | Hull || 38.1 mm (25°) + 12.7 mm (59-77°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 25.4 mm (82°) ''Upper glacis'' || 25.4 mm ''Top'' <br> 25.4 mm ''Bottom'' || 25.4 mm (11°) || 25.4 mm |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | Turret || | + | | Turret || 25.4 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 25.4 mm || 25.4 mm || 25.4 mm |
| − | |||
| − | |||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
| Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%" | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | ! colspan="5" | [[M68A1 (105 mm)|105 mm M68A1]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | | + | ! colspan="5" | [[M68A1 (105 mm)|105 mm M68A1]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || Reloading rate (seconds) |
|- | |- | ||
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer | ! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer | ||
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced | ! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced | ||
| − | ! | + | ! Autoloader |
|- | |- | ||
! ''Arcade'' | ! ''Arcade'' | ||
| − | | rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+16° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 38.1 || 52.7 || 64.0 || 70.8 || 75.3 | + | | rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+16° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 38.1 || 52.7 || 64.0 || 70.8 || 75.3 || rowspan="2" | 5.00 |
|- | |- | ||
! ''Realistic'' | ! ''Realistic'' | ||
| Line 67: | Line 67: | ||
==== Ammunition ==== | ==== Ammunition ==== | ||
| − | {{:M68A1 (105 mm)/Ammunition|M456A2, M416, M393A2, M774, | + | {{:M68A1 (105 mm)/Ammunition|M456A2, M416, M393A2, M774, M833}} |
==== [[Ammo racks]] ==== | ==== [[Ammo racks]] ==== | ||
| Line 114: | Line 114: | ||
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal | ! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | Coaxial || 3,000 (200) || 941 || | + | | Coaxial || 3,000 (200) || 941 || - || - |
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
| Line 121: | Line 121: | ||
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | <!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | ||
| − | This tank is a flanker, first and foremost. Your gun is worse than the average in effectiveness, you only win fights if your enemy fails entirely, and you need weak spot hits to | + | This tank is a flanker, first and foremost. Your gun is worse than the average in effectiveness, you only win fights if your enemy fails entirely, and you need weak spot hits to destroy enemies frontally. Your best advantage is your turret, if you can find positions where the enemy can only hit your barrel, enemies attacking you with APFSDS will be nearly unable to destroy you, and enemies have to swap to high explosive ammunition or bring in close air support to remove you. |
| + | |||
| + | Use the AGS's excellent mobility to get to key points or flank the enemy and try to get into hull-down areas, when attacking enemies keep in mind that you don't have that much armour and your low crew count will get you easily knocked out by a single shot. When flanking, hit the enemy with a side shot and move around them; if they have a pintle-mounted MG or autocannon, use side scraping so you don't get penetrated. If you get spotted, you have smoke grenades at your disposal: use them and pull back to allied tanks. | ||
| + | |||
| + | If you must take an engagement, push an enemy moving towards your left, using your forward engine and transmission to potentially take hits for you, while also moving your driver out of harms way. You must also be greatly careful about ammo expenditure, if you are caught in a fight and spend your entire autoloader, you have to wait a substantially long time to get ammo back. You cannot reload if the autoloader is empty, and as such, you would not be able to fight back at all. It is best then to disengage and bide time until your ammo is replenished. | ||
=== Pros and cons === | === Pros and cons === | ||
| Line 130: | Line 134: | ||
* Unmanned turret grants a better survivability when hull-down | * Unmanned turret grants a better survivability when hull-down | ||
* Effective mobility | * Effective mobility | ||
| − | * | + | * Good gun depression |
* Laser rangefinder | * Laser rangefinder | ||
* 5 second reload is faster than most competing tanks | * 5 second reload is faster than most competing tanks | ||
| + | * Fast horizontal and vertical targeting speed | ||
| + | * Reasonable sight magnification (x2.6-x8) | ||
'''Cons:''' | '''Cons:''' | ||
* Little to no armour, with frontal weak spots | * Little to no armour, with frontal weak spots | ||
| − | * Gun | + | * Gun, while passable, needs to hit weak spots on most medium tanks it faces frontally, and can easily net poor damage results. |
* Low-calibre machine guns are of little use | * Low-calibre machine guns are of little use | ||
| − | |||
* Its 1st generation thermal sights are vastly inferior to those of other encountered vehicles, such as the [[T-72AV (TURMS-T)]] | * Its 1st generation thermal sights are vastly inferior to those of other encountered vehicles, such as the [[T-72AV (TURMS-T)]] | ||
| − | |||
* Ammo rack is placed far into the back of the vehicle, being hit while on the move can prove accidentally fatal | * Ammo rack is placed far into the back of the vehicle, being hit while on the move can prove accidentally fatal | ||
* Gun only reloads from ready rack, if the ready rack is empty gun cannot reload until a shell is loaded into the ready rack, thus making extended engagements difficult | * Gun only reloads from ready rack, if the ready rack is empty gun cannot reload until a shell is loaded into the ready rack, thus making extended engagements difficult | ||
Latest revision as of 08:34, 13 July 2024
AGS
Contents
Description
The usage of the M551 Sheridan airborne/reconnaissance tank in combat in places like Vietnam enabled the United States to gather experience on what they liked or didn't like about lightweight armored vehicles in combat operations. This allowed the United States to establish the baseline requirements when opening the Armored Gun System (AGS) program to find a replacement to the M551 for their airborne forces. One contender in this contest was Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM), which produced their own AGS design in the early 1980s. Their design was submitted and was distinguished for its unmanned turret when compared to competitors like the CCVL. However, the CCVL ended up winning the AGS program and the TCM AGS design was not adopted. TCM continued to utilize their AGS design for export sales attempt after the program's conclusion.
Introduced during Update "Winged Lions" as a reward for the 2021 Operation W.I.N.T.E.R. event, the AGS presents a unique platform for American operators with its unmanned turret on top. The sheer small size of the turret sticking on top of the hull makes this vehicle extremely survivable in a hull-down position as enemies would struggle to incapacitate the vehicle due to the tiny target the turret presents, and the right attack angle needed to damage the critical components and crew in the AGS hull. With a -10 degree gun depression, the AGS can be quite useful in hull-down positions against enemies as well. That said, if the AGS gets targeted by anything equipped with autocannons and above, they will quite easily shred it apart. So the AGS is best used once an ideal hull-down location can be found that hides the hull but exposes the turret, but don't plan to stay very long lest artillery or a bomb finds the AGS' position.
General info
Survivability and armour
Smoke grenades
Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle
Armourfront / side / back
Hull38 / 25 / 25
Turret25 / 25 / 25
Crew3 people
Visibility90 %
The Teledyne Light Tank is primarily made out of Aluminium alloy 7039 all around. The sides are covered by two sets of composite screens. However, it's important to note that the TCM AGS is a light tank and its survivability is suboptimal.
Armour type:
- Aluminium alloy 7039
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 38.1 mm (25°) + 12.7 mm (59-77°) Front glacis 25.4 mm (82°) Upper glacis |
25.4 mm Top 25.4 mm Bottom |
25.4 mm (11°) | 25.4 mm |
| Turret | 25.4 mm Gun mantlet | 25.4 mm | 25.4 mm | 25.4 mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Speedforward / back
AB81 / 17 km/h
RB and SB73 / 16 km/h
Number of gears6 forward
2 back
Weight19.1 t
Engine power
AB1 145 hp
RB and SB600 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB59.9 hp/t
RB and SB31.4 hp/t
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 81 | 17 | 19.1 | 930 | 1,145 | 48.69 | 59.95 |
| Realistic | 73 | 16 | 531 | 600 | 27.8 | 31.41 | |
Modifications and economy
Repair costBasic → Reference
AB3 579 → 5 991 
RB3 415 → 5 716
SB4 548 → 7 613
Total cost of modifications212 600 
352 000
Talisman cost2 800 
Crew training200 000
Experts710 000
Aces2 100
Research Aces1 080 000
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
140 / 170 / 220 %
232 / 232 / 232 %
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Laser rangefinder
Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder
Night vision device
Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.
Thermal imager
Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night
Main armament
105 mm M68A1 cannon
Two-plane stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving
Autoloader
Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader
Ammunition30 rounds
First-order8 rounds
Reload5.0 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 16°
| 105 mm M68A1 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Autoloader |
| Arcade | 30 | -10°/+16° | ±180° | Two-plane | 38.1 | 52.7 | 64.0 | 70.8 | 75.3 | 5.00 |
| Realistic | 23.8 | 28.0 | 34.0 | 37.6 | 40.0 | |||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M456A2 | HEATFS | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| M393A2 | HESH | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 |
| M774 | APFSDS | 372 | 370 | 365 | 358 | 351 | 343 |
| M833 | APFSDS | 395 | 392 | 387 | 381 | 375 | 369 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| M456A2 | HEATFS | 1,174 | 10.5 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1.27 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
| M393A2 | HESH | 732 | 11.2 | 0.1 | 4 | 4.31 | 73° | 77° | 80° | |||
| M774 | APFSDS | 1,509 | 3.4 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
| M833 | APFSDS | 1,485 | 3.7 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| M416 | 732 | 11.6 | 16 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the AGS
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 9 (+21) | 1 (+29) | No |
Notes:
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- Rack 2 (autoloader magazine) is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 8 shells.
- This rack gets filled first when loading up the tank and is also emptied first.
- As the AGS is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
- Once the autoloader magazine has been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader with at least one shell.
- The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun. Take this into account when playing.
- Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from rack 1 into rack 2. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.
- The depletion order at full capacity is: 2 - 1.
Machine guns
Ammunition1 000 rounds
Belt capacity100 rounds
Reload8.0 s
Fire rate651 shots/min
7.62 mm M240 machine gun (coaxial)
Ammunition3 000 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reload8.0 s
Fire rate941 shots/min
| 7.62 mm M60D | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 1,000 (100) | 651 | -10°/+20° | -6°/+180° |
| 7.62 mm M240 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 3,000 (200) | 941 | - | - |
Usage in battles
This tank is a flanker, first and foremost. Your gun is worse than the average in effectiveness, you only win fights if your enemy fails entirely, and you need weak spot hits to destroy enemies frontally. Your best advantage is your turret, if you can find positions where the enemy can only hit your barrel, enemies attacking you with APFSDS will be nearly unable to destroy you, and enemies have to swap to high explosive ammunition or bring in close air support to remove you.
Use the AGS's excellent mobility to get to key points or flank the enemy and try to get into hull-down areas, when attacking enemies keep in mind that you don't have that much armour and your low crew count will get you easily knocked out by a single shot. When flanking, hit the enemy with a side shot and move around them; if they have a pintle-mounted MG or autocannon, use side scraping so you don't get penetrated. If you get spotted, you have smoke grenades at your disposal: use them and pull back to allied tanks.
If you must take an engagement, push an enemy moving towards your left, using your forward engine and transmission to potentially take hits for you, while also moving your driver out of harms way. You must also be greatly careful about ammo expenditure, if you are caught in a fight and spend your entire autoloader, you have to wait a substantially long time to get ammo back. You cannot reload if the autoloader is empty, and as such, you would not be able to fight back at all. It is best then to disengage and bide time until your ammo is replenished.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Unmanned turret grants a better survivability when hull-down
- Effective mobility
- Good gun depression
- Laser rangefinder
- 5 second reload is faster than most competing tanks
- Fast horizontal and vertical targeting speed
- Reasonable sight magnification (x2.6-x8)
Cons:
- Little to no armour, with frontal weak spots
- Gun, while passable, needs to hit weak spots on most medium tanks it faces frontally, and can easily net poor damage results.
- Low-calibre machine guns are of little use
- Its 1st generation thermal sights are vastly inferior to those of other encountered vehicles, such as the T-72AV (TURMS-T)
- Ammo rack is placed far into the back of the vehicle, being hit while on the move can prove accidentally fatal
- Gun only reloads from ready rack, if the ready rack is empty gun cannot reload until a shell is loaded into the ready rack, thus making extended engagements difficult
History
The Teledyne AGS was developed by Teledyne Continental motors in the 1980s and competed with the CCVL and the Stingray light tank to get the contract for the US Army's Armored Gun System program which was looking to replace the M551. The program was seeking to provide air-mobile infantry with a tank that was transportable by a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, and lasted from 1980-1992. Development of the tank began in 1982, and the first prototype chassis was built in December 1983, followed by the turret in 1984. The turret and chassis were first assembled together in April 1985 and were shown at the US Army Armor Conference at Ft. Knox. In 1992, the AGS program concluded with the CCVL, which was re-designated XM8, winning the contract. The Teledyne AGS continued to be marketed by Teledyne until 1996, however it had no buyers.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
Unmanned Turret Tanks: Showcasing New Tech discusses the AGS at 03:08 - War Thunder Official Channel
See also
- Other vehicles with unmanned turret
External links
| USA light tanks | |
|---|---|
| LVT | LVT(A)(1) · ○LVT(A)(1) · LVT(A)(4) |
| M2 | M2A2 · M2A4 · M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.) |
| M3/M5 Stuart | M3 Stuart · M3A1 Stuart · M3A1 (USMC) · M5A1 · M5A1 TD · ▃Stuart VI (5th CAD) |
| M22 Locust | M22 |
| M24 Chaffee | M24 · M24 (TL) |
| M18 Hellcat | M18 GMC · M18 "Black Cat" · Super Hellcat |
| M41 Walker Bulldog | M41A1 |
| M551 Sheridan | M551 · M551(76) |
| M3 Bradley | M3 Bradley · M3A3 Bradley |
| Wheeled | M8 LAC · T18E2 · M1128 · M1128 Wolfpack |
| Other | M8A1 GMC · T92 · T114 · HSTV-L · CCVL · XM8 · XM800T · AGS |
