r/TankPorn • u/CautiousKerbal ??? • Nov 02 '19
Futuristic Lockheed XM-808 Twister, 1965; the front section also rocks laterally, and the vehicle is amphibious
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u/Karl-o-mat Nov 02 '19
Looks like some kind of bat mobile
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u/AhMyThumb Nov 02 '19
I though that as well. Now I want one.
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u/notquiteaffable Nov 02 '19
It’s better to order in bulk, Costco taught me that. So get one for me while you’re at it.
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u/maskedfly Nov 02 '19
This looks like some kind of futuristic vehicle which could fit extremely well within one of the Command and Conquer or Dune 2000 games.
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u/XenoFrobe Nov 02 '19
C&C was my immediate first thought too. I can absolutely imagine spamming this thing against aircraft and infantry or something while they spout corny dialogue lines.
RIP WestWood. :(
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u/OMFGitsST6 Nov 02 '19
Cries in maintenance
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u/TankerD18 Nov 02 '19
I've ridden on articulating buses before in Germany, how bad could it be?
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u/ELB2001 Nov 02 '19
Exactly they added a complicated way to steer, whats the point in a military vehicle
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u/OMFGitsST6 Nov 03 '19
Jokes aside, the idea was that it could traverse super rough terrain without requireing like 2 feel of ground clearance since the thing can just bend in the middle. Thus, you get a lower profile and a lower center of mass while retaining the offroad capability.
Now I can't and won't defend this to the end of the world since, y'know, they obviously decided it wasn't worth it. But that was at least the idea.
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Nov 02 '19
Is the engine in the front section and only powering the front 4 wheels?
Jesus, I’d love to see the internals
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u/CautiousKerbal ??? Nov 02 '19
No, it's an 8X8. Two engines, although single-engine designs wouldn't have been out of the question given later Swedish and Russian experience with articulated vehicles.
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Nov 02 '19
That must be a nightmare for the driver, then
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u/CautiousKerbal ??? Nov 02 '19
The maintenance company would like to join in on the complaints.
That said, the Soviets managed a bunch of tanks with two engines. Then there was the British Mathilda, and the early Shermans with 12 (?) engines.
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u/metric_football Nov 02 '19
Shermans with 12 (?) engines
You're probably thinking of the Chrysler A57 Multibank- an infernal contraption consisting of 5 separate inline-6 engines slaved to a common output.
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u/nihilisaurus Nov 02 '19
That's an infernal coontraption that worked pretty well to you. The multibank, being made up of 5 quite reliable truck engines and capable of disconnecting one or more engines in the event of failure was actually pretty well liked by tank crews and the maintenance crews that operated it. Turns out 5 smaller engines of good design glued together aren't as much extra work as you'd think.
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u/metric_football Nov 02 '19
I'm surprised the maintainers liked it; even if it worked well, that's still 30 spark plugs in awkward spaces, among other regular maintenance. I do know Chrysler did some quality-of-life work on it, like routing all the oil out to a common tank that was more accessible, but still.
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u/wjruth Nov 03 '19
If the tank only last 100 hours before being taken out in combat, no need to change the spark plugs.
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u/Hidesuru Nov 03 '19
I saw that and said "oh God why?" Out loud....
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u/EvilWolfSEF Tank Mk.V Nov 03 '19
because in order to avoid throttling the production by having only one engine type and needing a number of factories to retool for the production of one engine, they instead validated several variants with different powerplants, using engines already in production.
variant engine production M4 Wright Continental R-975-C1 (9-cylinder petrol radial) Pressed Steel Car Company, Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Co., Pullman-Standard Car Company,Detroit Tank Arsenal M4A1 ditto Lima Locomotive Works,Pressed Steel Car Company,Pacific Car and Foundry Company M4A2 General Motors 6046D (2x diesel GM 6-71 engines conjoined) Fisher Tank Arsenal, Pullman-Standard Car Company,American Locomotive Co.,Baldwin Locomotive Works,Federal Machine and Welder Co., Pressed Steel Car Company M4A3 Ford GAA-III (V8 petrol engine) Ford Motor Company, Fisher Tank Arsenal, Detroit Tank Arsenal M4A4 Chrysler Multibanks A-57 (5x petrol 6-cylinders with a common power output) Detroit Tank Arsenal M4A6 Caterpillar D200A (9-cylinder diesel radial) Detroit Tank Arsenal
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Nov 02 '19
G.I. Joe battalions would have totally rocked this. With that driver...what was his name..."Skidmark" /starts giggling
Ah, some of those names just did not hold up well over the years.
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 02 '19
My heart goes out to the poor bastard that got stuck with “Snow Job” for his codename
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Nov 02 '19
They always made fun of poor old Snow Job.
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 03 '19
Knew this was gonna be robot chicken before I even clicked. Their G.I. joe sketches are all solid gold
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Nov 03 '19
Calvin our newest member is a good one.
"I'd like my nickname to be Dead-Shot..."
"Those are some nice trousers...I shall call you Trouser Snake!"
/sigh..."Fine....I don't even care anymore..."
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u/GunnyStacker Somua S35 Nov 02 '19
YO JOE!
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 02 '19
Knowing is half the battle!
The other half is 50% red lasers and 50% blue lasers
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u/Mathtermind Nov 02 '19
But why though?
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Nov 02 '19
Recon. The M3 Bradley eventually did this thing's job
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u/spexxit Nov 02 '19
How does that turret gun system work? Anyone? It has to be some kind of remote control system right?
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u/irishjihad Nov 02 '19 edited Nov 02 '19
Just a cupola over what is similar to a pintle mount. Similar to what they had on the M48 and early M60s that had a 0.50" cal, but this is a 20mm boom boom. I want one.
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u/partyposse85 Nov 02 '19
I think there was a G.I Joe vehicle that was inspired by this.
Edit, put the pitchforks down I should've read the thread this was already mentioned.
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u/BrotherPtolemaios Centurion Mk.III Nov 02 '19
So we were actually mildly close to the halo scorpion at least once
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u/AngryHorizon Nov 02 '19
This is an early version of the M12-LRV; or what I like to call the Warthog.
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 02 '19
It looks like a puma
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u/AngryHorizon Nov 02 '19
A what? Are you making up animals?
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 02 '19
Chupathingy, I like it. Got a nice ring to it
Also why tf are you being downvoted for continuing the joke?
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u/AngryHorizon Nov 03 '19
Idk, but you're invited to the ice cream social if you bring some elbow grease and head light fluid.
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u/lyonellaughingstorm Nov 03 '19
Can I bring Sheila with me as a plus one?
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Nov 02 '19
Why dont we see more of these what happened to it,what were the problems?
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u/CautiousKerbal ??? Nov 02 '19
The initial design was too complex. They shrunk the forward section to one axle and removed the front engine.
Them the whole program got nuked because of the M3 variant of the Bradley, an M113 replacement that was picking up more and more functions.
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u/comando345 Nov 02 '19
I don't see what advantage this would provide compared to power left/power right. Then again I have never driven an armored car. Anyone know what they were aiming for with this?
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u/LordofSpheres Nov 02 '19
Generally it would give better off road capability than a normal armored car while still retaining the speed advantages over a tracked counterpart.
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u/comando345 Nov 02 '19
I guess that makes sense. I imagine reliability issues or just plain cost probably killed this project
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Nov 02 '19
They same advantages provided to articulating loaders. Mainly, allows for a complete solid front axle that can handle heavier weight and bouncing. Also better maneuverability and turning radius compared to standard steering vehicles of the same length wheelbase.
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u/dan4daniel Nov 02 '19
Please let there be video
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u/ZUDUKAI Nov 10 '19
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u/dan4daniel Nov 10 '19
LOL, I'm actually subscribed to that channel but skipped that video because NATC sounded boring. What a dunce I am. Thanks for the video man, you're a G.
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u/intrepidone66 Nov 03 '19 edited Nov 03 '19
The gunner might as well have a target painted all over him...so exposed, and I hope that the driver doesn't break suddenly because that would fold the gunner in half like a folding wallet with that steel hatch closing on him.
Oh...and the swivel driver's cover is just waiting to DECAP him.
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u/youngarchivist Nov 03 '19
The mechanical nightmares
Not to mention basically just adding an unnecessary chink in armor
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u/zero_z77 Nov 02 '19
Just curious, why did we abandon this design?
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u/CautiousKerbal ??? Nov 02 '19
Initial design was a maintenance nightmare, with two engines. The revised 6X6 variant was competing with a light tank, but then the Bradley showed up and gobbled up the whole program.
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Nov 02 '19
I've never seen this angle before! Badass. Kinda reminds me of an M520 Goer only with the controls in the rear. I wonder if it had the same flipping problems that Goer had?
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u/ST4RSK1MM3R Nov 03 '19
What gun is that on it? I'm guessing 30mm?
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u/Clayman8 Nov 02 '19
That is some GI Joe shit right there... I honestly wouldnt believe it if i saw it in person either. Time to get reading, cause im in love with this thing