M63 'Waheela' Main Battle Tank Series [MT]

The M63 series is a main battle tank produced by the United Defense Conglomerate in Mallaska and originally intended to become a potential standard main battle tank for the nations of the Northern Confederation. Known by its native Mallaskan manufacturers as the 'Waheela' (A large fearsome bear-dog native to Mallaska) as well the 'Snow Wolf' by other foreign operators, the M63 was originally designed in 1997 and developed over ten years into its modern form to replace the M61 Leopard 2 and older M58 Ocelot main battle tanks in Mallaskan and Northern Confederation service.

The M63 has numerous variations developed for specialized purposes.

• M63A1 - Standard production combat vehicle

• M63BL - Bridgelaying variant

• M63AR - Armored recovery variation omitting turret for provisions to recover other disabled tanks.

• M63ABV - "Assault Breacher Vehicle" variation featuring reinforced mine-clearing plow attachment, remote weapons stations, and main gun removed in favor of mounting a MICLIC system in the turret for clearance of minefields, and additional frontal armor ERA add-ons. This vehicle is intended particularly for clearing minefields and destroying potential IEDs threatening an armored column.

• M63A2 Urban Battle Package - Variant with shortened gun barrel, multiple surveillance cameras, spotlight, and remote weapons station developed specifically for use in urban combat environments.

The M63 utilizes a high-hardness steel, titanium weave, tungsten, and ceramic composite armor to protect it against multiple threats faced in the modern battlefield. This is intended to defeat most modern penetrators at least frontally as well as a majority of HEAT warheads. Additional armor such as ERA Blocks and and RPG cage can be fitted at expense of increased weight.

Along with the tank's large helping of modern armor, the tank features a soft-kill APS system which can detect incoming projectiles and autonomously emit an infrared-blocking smokescreen to hide the tank's radar, infrared, and optical signatures or expel chaff to divert incoming missiles. The system warns the crew of any incoming projectiles and will take the necessary actions autonomously. As a result of this, the M63 is heavily protected against any threat the modern battlefield can throw at it.

The M63 primary armament is the Mallaskan-designed Dagor M551 140mm low-pressure gun, newly developed and introduced as a replacement for the Rheinmetall 120mm gun utilized on previous tanks. The barrel is chrome-lined and viable for a service life of up to 2,000 rounds of ammunition with modern propellants, and the gun utilizes a hydraulic recoil system. During testing it was found that the new larger 140mm ammunition was to large and heavy for the average tank loader to handle, increasing crew fatigue over time. As a result the Waheela project includes autoloader assistance as such reducing crew requirements to only three personnel, a factor greatly pleasing a skilled-manpower lacking Mallaskan Army crewing many vehicles with common conscripts.

The stout TMPS-12 APFSDS 140mm round was developed in tandem with the M551, weighing about 70 lbs and utilizing a depleted-uranium penetrator, resulting in a highly effective anti-armor round. We weapon is also capable of firing an assortment of other more common rounds such as all-purpose HEAT rounds, smoke dispensing rounds, and more recently the TMAP-1 anti-personnel canister shell. While the 140mm rounds maintain a lower muzzle velocity compared to contemporary 120mm rounds, the 140mm round maintains far greater inertial power.

The vehicle's commander also has the ability to mount a weapon on their hatch for usage against enemy combatants. This armament may include a Browning M2 .50 HMG, FN MAG GPMG, and up to a H&K GMG 40mm Grenade Launcher. These armaments are not exhaustive, and the commander's armament is largely to be determined by the customer. Mallaskan variants as standard mount an M2A1 15mm heavy machinegun, a domestic upgrade of the Browning M2. Coaxial armament is as standard a 15mm M2A1, as standard 15x115mm Mallaskan ball ammunition is ballistically matched to the trajectory of 140mm HEAT and AP shells. In addition to the coaxial and commander's weapons, many Mallaskan examples are field-modified with additional anti-infantry weapons such as an additional M2A1 mounted in a fixed position above the main gun.

The M63ABV Assault Breacher Vehicle is a variant omitting the primary 140mm main gun in lieu of provisions to utilize a MICLIC mine clearance system housed within the turret. This variant is specialized in clearing a path through minefields for armored columns and destruction of road-blocking debris. This variant features a large armored mine-clearing plow as well as additional frontal armor add-ons to reduce threat of IEDs and landmines.

The M63A2 Urban Battle Package is an upgrade of the Waheela specifically for use in urban combat environments with its M551 main gun barrel shortened, remote weapons stations, infrared imaging, plow attachment, spotlight, and cameras mounted for a 360-degree view around the vehicle. UBP vehicles also have the capability to utilize Boomerang gunfire-locating systems as well.

An example of an M63A2 UBP in concept urban camouflage

Mallaska and the Northern Confederation

The M63 Waheela has been adopted by the NorCon as its common Main Battle Tank as a replacement for its stock of Leopard 2s.