12/26/18

Are Formerly Fantasy Coaxial Autocannons Set To Become A Common Reality?

I'm sure everyone reading this are already aware of the funky Stridsvagn 2000 and its 40mm cannon mounted alongside the widely tested (at the time - prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union) 140mm gun, or the two T-72M2 Moderna prototypes fitted with either two 20mm guns (one on either side) or a single 30mm gun on one side.
None of these has actually made it into operational service, and so the largest coaxial secondary armament on MBTs remained the 12.7mm.

T-72M2 Moderna prototype with 2 mounts of 20mm cannons.


It made a lot of sense to stick to only MMGs or HMGs at best. These were possible to pack with a large quantity of ammunition, and were often more than enough for the anti-infantry or anti-material role they took.

Additionally, since the only two schools of tank design were roughly:

  • Soviet approach - Use every inch of space to make the tank as small as possible.
  • Western approach - Use a human loader (with the exception of Leclerc and K2) and assign certain free space for crew comfort only.
Neither could really allocate the space necessary to mount an autocannon that would be both far larger in itself and would take several times the space that ammunition took. 
In some cases, even 12.7mm machine guns were deemed too space-hungry.

But now there are a few factors that could both necessitate the use of an autocannon, and alleviate some of the issues around its implementation:
  1. By 2021 at least 2 serially produced MBTs should become operational with an APS capable of defeating large caliber KE munitions - The Merkava 4 Barak and T-14.
  2. The T-14 is the reference threat for NATO countries in MBT development.
  3. Kill on first round is still the go-to approach in weapon design.
  4. No APS, operational or conceptual, is able to defeat medium caliber munitions fired in bursts.
  5. 2-man crews will substantially increase the amount of total usable space.
  6. Unmanned turrets will similarly increase the amount of turret-specific usable space.
  7. With a decrease in weight of tanks and increase in their physical protection, as well as the approach to a boundary to which conventional 120mm guns and munition can be upgraded, increased gun diameters such as the Rheinmetall 130mm may have a real chance at becoming operational. Such guns will inevitably have a lower ammo capacity. An autocannon will both deal with softer, less important targets, and will serve as an APS neutralizer.


Strv 2000 had only 29 main gun shells, and so the use of an autocannon to deal with some soft targets became a necessity.

As you may have guessed, my opinion that autocannons for MBTs should be re-evaluated, arises from the advancements in APS technologies and the need of a certain weapon to be an APS-neutralizer.

Damage caused by two 35mm KETF projectiles, visible all over the turret.
Right now is an amazing opportunity to start thinking about adding autocannons to MBTs.
The new generation of MBTs should start materializing around 2027 to mid 2030's. By that time, there could be well over 1,000 MBTs or AFVs globally with an anti-KE APS in service (300 Merkava tanks plus several hundred Namer and Eitan if they also get a new APS, plus an unknown number of T-14 and T-15 vehicles) even if we don't take into account western developments that are likely to move to anti-KE APS at some point during that time.