Modelling > Land

Scorpion (CVR(T)) family (and Scorpion turret users) - Ideas and Inspiration

(1/20) > >>

Weaver:
Ideas and Inspiration thread for anything to do with the British CVR (T) series of light armoured vehicles.

Real world vehicles are/were:

Scorpion light tank with 76mm gun
Scorpion 90 : Scorpion with 90mm Cockerill gun
Scimitar light tank with 30mm RARDEN cannon
Scimitar Mk.2 : Scimitar turret on Spartan chassis for enhanced mine protection in Afghanistan
Sabre light tank with 30mm RARDEN cannon (Scorpion hull with Fox armoured car turret)
Jordanian Scorpion : Scorpion refit with 30mm 2A72 cannon + 4 x ATGW (not sure if this is in production or prototype only)

Spartan APC : 3 crew plus 4 dismounts
Samson ARV : Spartan hull with winch and spades
Spartan Milan : Spartan hull with twin Milan turret
Striker ATGW vehicle : Spartan hull with 5-round Swingfire box plus reloads
Sultan command vehicle : Spartan with higher roof, radios map boards and a tent
Samaritan ambulance : Sultan hull with ambulance gear

Stormer APC : Spartan with extra road wheel and 8 x dismounts
Stormer load carrier : Stormer with flat-bed back.
Shielder : Stormer flat bed with Shielder automatic mine-laying system
Stormer HVM : Stormer with 8 x Starstreak SAMs
Stormer 30 : lowered hull with OTO-Melara Hitfist turret mounting 30mm Bushmaster cannon + 2 x TOW (prototype only)


Current or former users: Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Chile, Honduras, Iran, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, UAE.

Weaver:
Jordanian Scorpion:



Stormer 30:



Scimitar Mk.2 (Scimitar turret on Spartan chassis):



Spartan MCT with Milan turret:

Weaver:
So, whiff ideas....

US Scorpion : what if the US armed forces had bought the CVR(T) series?

Light tanks : it's hard to see the US Army going for either the 76mm or the RARDEN, though the USMC might see the value in the 76mm (light fire-support). The probable US option, assuming a 1970s/early 1980s buy,  would be a 25mm Bushmaster I think. US requirements might also have lead to an early introduction of a stretched Stormer-style hull and that might have carried a Delco turret with a 25mm and 2 x TOW.

APC and derivatives : the US always seems to prefer 12.7mm over 7.62mm for APC weapons, so US version of the Spartan et al would probably have low-profile cupolas with manual .50 cal Brownings instead of the tall British Mk.16 cupola with it's remote GPMG.

ATGW : this is an interesting one: would the US have fitted TOWs on the 25mm Scorpion, or an infantry-style launcher in a roof hatch on the Spartan? It's hard to see how you could get a hammerhead unit onto a Spartan, given that it was capable of over-balancing an M113 given half a chance.

Weaver:
More Whiff ideas.....

The Scorpion turret seems to have been quite adaptable to other hulls: the Canadians used them on a MOWAG Piranha chassis as the Cougar and the Australians put them on M113s as a recce/fire-support vehicle (MRV). So what else could have been done?

Aussie equivalent of the Berlin Brigade FV432s, with a Scimitar turret on an M113 hull.

British equivalent of the MRV with a Scorpion turret on the FV432.

British fire-support vehicle with a Scorpion turret on an Warrior hull (76mm or 90mm).

M113 with the Striker's Swingfire system, i.e. a 5-round box on the rear hull with reloads inside.

Scimitar turret on a Saladin hull (i.e. a Fox that doesn't fall over on cross-slopes...)

Scorpion/Scimitar turrets on French hulls such as the Panhard AML and ERC series.

Canadian recce vehicle with Scimitar turret.

Rickshaw:
In the early-mid-1980s there were strong rumours that the Australian Army was about to buy MRVs with Scimitar turrets.  It always seemed a logical progression from the Scorpion turreted FSV.  However, nothing seemed to come of it.  Instead they purchased ASLAVs instead (but only after the direct intervention of the then Minister of Defence Kim "Bomber" Beazely. )

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page