CASE FOR ADOPTION OF LIGHT WHEELED ARMOURED VEHICLES (IFV)

CASE FOR ADOPTION OF LIGHT WHEELED ARMOURED VEHICLES (IFV) FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST BH (coin operations only) BY NIGERIAN ARMY

1. MOBILITY (OPERATIONAL MOBILITY AND TACTICAL MOBILITY)
most light wheeled armoured vehicles fall into the category of less than 25 tonne or so, with the exception of a few, which gives them a distinct advantage against the heavier tanks, therefore with respect to operational mobility the lighter wheeled armoured vehicles have way better ability to swiftly allocate and relocate forces within a theatre of operation or inter-theatre of operations.

On roads the rolling resistance of armoured wheeled vehicles equals only 2 % of their weight. Consequently, wheeled vehicles need less fuel and can cover longer distances by road before they need to be refuelled. This advantage of wheeled vehicles disappears, however, when they move off roads. Then their fuel consumption may be at least as high as that of tracked vehicles of equal weight. Still, if patrolling and area control missions are emphasized, road travel predominates and, thus, the advantage of fuel economy accrues to the wheeled class.
The fact that wheeled armour can cover longer distances faster than tracked vehicles are complemented by yet another advantage: There is much less fatigue for their occupants because the wheeled platforms do not suffer the vibrations generated by tracks. Wheeled armoured vehicles tend to excel in speed on the road, of course, but also in open terrain, if it is fairly negotiable. When it comes to zigzagging and acceleration, the advantage also seems to go to wheeled armour. It is true that most tracked vehicles can pivot in place, while wheeled vehicles cannot (except for those with brake-steering). Otherwise, however, wheeled vehicles are more easily steered and their running gear is more responsive. Compared to a tracked counterpart of equivalent weight and engine output, we can expect a wheeled platform to have not only higher speed, but also better acceleration.

Tactical mobility
Good Tactical mobility is needed when a force is in immediate contact with its adversary. Direct confrontation with an enemy imposes at least two mobility requirements:
Good off-road mobility is an important precondition of being able to evade enemy action and exploit unexpected avenues of approach.
Agility a combination of high speed, good acceleration, and the ability to zigzag is also key to being able to respond flexibly to rapidly changing opportunities and challenges.

2. FIREPOWER VERSALITY
Depending on the wheeled armoured vehicles tonnage they can be equipped with
25mm auto cannons,
30mm auto cannons,
35mm auto cannons,
40mm auto cannons,
57mm auto cannons,
105 mm rifled or smooth bore guns
Together with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and sometimes anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).
Some come equipped with 30, 40, 76, or 81 mm grenade launchers.
Almost all IFVs have smoke grenade dischargers for concealment.

Nowadays RCWS stations are available both hull penetrating and non hull penetrating fitted with most of the above mentioned weapons. Most of the wheeled armoured vehicles comes with latest optronics for the driver and commander.
Commanders panoramic sight together with the gunners sight provide very good hunter killer capability both in day and night conditions.

3. VARIANTS VERSALITY
A wheeled armoured vehicle can be the common base for a large number of specialized variants like
1. Wheeled armoured ambulance carrier
2. Wheeled armoured mortar vehicle
3. Wheeled armoured troop carrier
4. Wheeled armoured amphibious vehicle
5. Wheeled armoured command & communication vehicle
6. Wheeled armoured infantry fighting vehicle (IFV)
7. Wheeled armoured infantry mobility vehicle (IMV) or protected patrol vehicle (PPV)
8. wheeled armoured Assault gun (when fitted with 105mm gun)
9. Wheeled armoured tank destroyer (when fitted with ATGMs and related sensors)
10. Wheeled armoured recon vehicle fitted with LORROS (long range recon and observation system)

4. COSTS
Wheeled armoured vehicles are relatively cheaper than their tracked counterparts. They are simpler and made more use of relatively inexpensive parts or sub-systems (such as engines and tires) from civilian production chain. For the price of 10 MBTs you can buy around 25-30 wheeled armoured vehicles
After all QUANTITY IS ALSO A QUALITY

Wheeled armoured vehicles main advantage is low OPERATIONAL COSTS.
They are less expensive to operate. Wheeled vehicles tend to consume significantly less fuel (and other lubricants) than tracked armoured vehicles of equal weight. Their relative lightness and reduced logistical needs together give the wheeled family an edge over the tracked in strategic mobility and tactical mobility via the cost factor involved in the transportation and operational usage .also maintenance requirements also are less burdensome.

THE 100 MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

1. Can tanks be used for patrolling?
(Disadvantage: increased cost of operation, increased wear and tear, low operational availability, longer maintenance overhauls etc.)
2. Can tanks be used for recon missions?
(Disadvantage: you can hear for miles the racket caused by the tanks)
3. Can tanks guarantee adequate situational awareness?
(Disadvantage: present T72 tanks with the army lack the sensors for adequate situational awareness)
4. Can the tanks guarantee 100% or even 50 % kill probability against a group of highly mobile targets like TECHNICALS?
(disadvantage : present T72 tanks lack hunter killer capability , by the time the first kill is made , the targets will be all over the place running away from it , target acquisition will be very difficult and even if the next target is acquired moderate static to mobile and even lower mobile to mobile target engagement capacity will  result in very few kills. here the number of tanks involved in the operation is a important criteria, considering the larger theatre of operations and low number of tanks  available with NA results into a not so favourable operational scenario.)

NOTE:: tanks are claimed by their manufacturers to engage targets up to 5000m, that claim is true under test conditions only. Most of the time terrain, weather conditions, on board sensor capability etc. limits target engagement range of tanks to less than 2000m only.

5. Is it worth the cost to fire expensive shells from tanks than use less expensive medium calibre ammo?
(Disadvantage: T72 tanks firing AT shells at TECHNICALS is overkill , when a burst from 25mm calibre onwards auto cannon will do the same with better results  )

NOTE: 25mm to 40mm calibre auto cannons have ammo belts which contain tracer rounds after every 4-5 armour piercing / high explosive rounds which give the gunner a pretty good idea of the impact point which is not possible with higher calibre guns like 105mm or 125 mm guns.

Etc etc

NOW YOU ALL DECIDE :D :D