Tanks of Tiperyn

Tiperyn tank development shortly before its entry into the Grand Campaigns in an effort to counter the heavy usage of artillery and machine guns on the Northwestern Front. This effort was accelerated following the escalation of the Grand Campaigns into a global conflict in 1919, with Tiperyn taking ques from other powers in their early light tank designs. After the war into the mid 20th century, Tiperyn heavily invested into its nascent tank corps, fielding new light tanks for armored reconnaissance and medium tanks as its main armored fighting vehicle. Tiperyn was an early proponent of the or universal tank concept, adopting its first main battle tank during the Great Kesh War. This was largely an outgrowth of its medium tank doctrine which had grown to use medium tanks for all tank roles due to the armor and armament deficiencies of light tanks, Tiperyn's bias against the use of heavy tanks for expeditionary warfare, and the new advancements in tank technology.

Pre-Grand Campaigns motorization, 1900-1919

 * Tiperyn was an early proponent of motorization, experimenting with truckborne and bicycle units as early as 1903 and widely implementing trucks as replacements for the horse for low-level logistical functions as early as 1911.
 * Tiperyn saw relatively rapid benefits from motorization of logistics, with trucks able to carry much more weight over greater distances quicker than the mules that had been used. They were intended to replace the horse as the supply link between rail and the frontlines initially, with it being clear that distances between the two could vary heavily without guarantee of robust rail infrastructure abroad.
 * Motorization was partially political. Tiperyn was undergoing a industrial/technological renaissance from the 1890s to the 1930s, being among the first nations to pioneer aircraft and the mass production of wheeled internal combustion vehicles. The Cardinal of Values at the time was interested in motorization as a propaganda tool, depicting the Tiperyn armed forces as one of the most modern in the world. Empress Fedde, who assumed the throne in 1901, was particularly interested in technological novelty and the new wave of internal combustion, being heavily influential in amplifying the voices of low-level officers who proposed the idea. Although the Realm Guard offered stiff institutional inertia, the motorization of some elite elements of the Holy Guard—which the Empress controlled directly—and its elevation in national propaganda motivated some duchy's officer staffs to cave to pressure.
 * Tiperyn military attaches observing both Vallisian and Teutonic forces during the first years of the Grand Campaigns left an impression. On the Vallisian side in particular, observers noted how in two instances Vallisian commanders quickly mobilized under-prepared forces through the commandeering of civilian cars and trucks to take advantage of a vulnerable, over-extended Teutonic advance.
 * Simultaneously with motorization, the Realm Guard was undergoing a streamlining of its corps system to increase cooperation between the different branches (artillery, infantry, cavalry, etc.). This lead to a bleeding over of motorized doctrine from the infantry branch into the artillery and cavalry. Armored cars units became common as both means of rapidly transporting howitzers in support of infantry in artillery units attached to the infantry—supplementing larger truck or horse towed artillery pieces—and mobile machine gun bunkers in the cavalry intended to exploit breakthroughs and in the infantry to escort motorized troop movements.

Car warfare in Artemia, 1919-1926

 * After a couple years of fighting, armored car battle groups were created composed of armored cars armed with machine guns or howitzers. These were used primarily used on the western fronts to exploit breakthroughs created by motorized infantry and artillery. Horse cavalry was commonly used on the Kesh theatre, but less so in Tiperyn service in Artemia
 * Motorization of infantry was accelerated after the formation of armored car battle groups so follow-on infantry could be quickly brought to the front to hold the ground that armored car battle groups had taken.
 * Stagnation and rough terrain on the southwestern front, led to the development of caterpillar tracked armored vehicles to breakthrough. Poor terrain and underdeveloped road networks made the use of armored cars less than desirable, so medium tanks (like the Whippet) and horse cavalry were used to exploit breakthroughs. These were not heavily used elsewhere, but their ability to cross more difficult terrain was seen as very desirable as infantry made breakthroughs, albeit successfully, with heavy casualties. Early Tiperyn tank development was not so much motivated by making a heavy breakthrough tank, but to give armored cars superior cross country capability.
 * The tactical use of motorized infantry on the battlefield was theorized at this time but not applied due to terrain difficulties and lack of protection. Infantry were almost exclusively transported from railheads to the frontline in trucks, however, by 1924.

Mechanization of the Cavalry Branch, 1926-1940

 * Experience during the Grand Campaigns prioritized fast armored vehicles in replace of cavalry that could exploit breakthroughs and travel relatively protected from machine gun fire or shrapnel.
 * A desire to use armored cars off road led to late 1920s and 1930s light and medium tanks to be able to be driven on roads without tracks
 * Tiperyn saw overall positive outcomes from reforming its old corps system (e.g. Infantry Corps, Artillery Corps, Cavalry Corps) into a new regimental system with integrated regiment groups. Prioritized highly mobile infantry and artillery to complement armored car sprearheads. Also more reliable trucks for logistics services to keep exploitation forces fuelled.

Development of the Tank Branch, 1940-1949

 * Tiperyn medium tank (and later main battle tank) doctrine was primarily an outgrowth of making fast cruiser tanks that could defeat much heavier medium and heavy tanks, and be moderately protected against tanks and anti-tank guns. Prior to observation of Modrovia forces during the Curgov Revolutionary War, Tiperyn's main benchmark for protection was defeating anti-tank rifles
 * Main battle tank concept basically directly succeeded medium tanks with the obsolescence of light tanks, although Tiperyn wouldn't apply it until during the Kesh War. Influenced by Modrovia's early 1947 adoption of an MBT

PsF King Cobra
The PsF King Cobra, officially the Pânserefjochtreau «Keningskobra», was adopted in 1954 as Tiperyn's first main battle tank. First fielded at the height of the Great Kesh War, the King Cobra was developed largely as a response to Teutonic heavy and medium tanks fielded by Mihrani militants in southern Nasiria which often outgunned existing Tiperyn medium and light tanks. Tiperyn's doctrine built off of Modrovian tank doctrine, considered by some the origin of the universal tank concept, both due to the applicability of the concept to Tiperyn's strategic situation and as a reaction to the threat of great power conflict following a number of naval confrontations between Tiperyn and Modrovia in August 1950. The King Cobra was intended to replace all tanks in Tiperyn's inventory in main armored formations, which included multiple marks of light and medium tanks with soon to be cancelled heavy tanks in development. The King Cobra was a modified version of a medium tank which had been in development prior to the Realm Guard's tender for a universal tank in 1952 and that could be quickly procured. It was known as a flawed design, although innovative in some ways, and was largely considered a stopgap before a superior design could be fielded. It would be replaced within three years by the PsF Mamba, which had been designed from the ground up as a universal tank and applied much of the knowledge gained from the King Cobra's combat experience.

The King Cobra was armed with a new 3.5-inch (89mm) L/56 rifled cannon—replacing the older 3-inch (76mm) fielded on the inter war era PsF Cobra medium tank—and a coaxial 6.5mm medium machine gun. The King Cobra lacked the assistant driver and loader positions of the Cobra and was the first tank in Tiperyn service to feature an autoloader. The revolver magazine autoloader was a Koryese design, although the King Cobra was its first mass produced implementation. It featured two revolver magazines stored in the turret, holding a total of 12 rounds, with 20 additional rounds stored throughout the hull. The reduction in crew size, and thus interior space in the turret and hull, reduced the overall protected volume in the tank increasing its survivability when compared to the Cobra. Under perfect circumstances, the King Cobra was able to get is first 12 shots off in quick succession. While revolutionary for the time, making the King Cobra among the first tanks to feature an autoloader, the feature was not without its drawbacks. The rammer mechanism on the autoloader proved to be highly unreliable during the Kesh War, often reducing it to a semi-automatic loader requiring the commander to finish loading the gun after the autoloader brought up the round from the magazine. Additionally, if all 12 of the rounds in the magazines were expended, the autoloader could only be reloaded from the outside of the tank, meaning the King Cobra would either have to retreat or the commander or gunner would have to manually load spare rounds from the hull. Some of these issues would be addressed with the adoption of the PsF Mamba in 1957. Although decently mobile, with a top speed of 49 kph (30 mph), the King Cobra suffered from poor operational mobility due to a limited range of 97 km (60 mi) on paved roads. This was somewhat mitigated by the habitual use of fuel trailers, but was ultimately not entirely rectified prior to the adoption of the Mamba.

The King Cobra saw extensive use on both fronts of the Great Kesh War, serving concurrently with older tank designs in Tiperyn service and being provided as military aid to both Asharistan and Selengeria during and after the war. Although replaced by the Mamba in 1957 shortly before a surge on the eastern front of the conflict, the King Cobra continued to serve concurrently with the Mamba for a decade before being entirely phased out. The King Cobra was heavily exported to Tiperyn's less developed allies as surplus after the war.

PsF Mamba
The PsF Mamba, officially Pânserefjochtreau «Mamba», was Tiperyn's second main battle tank introduced, but its first that was designed from the ground up as a main battle tank. The Mamba was pressed into service in 1957 shortly before Tiperyn forces redeployed from the western front of the Great Kesh War to Selengeria to combat encroaching Kodeshian forces. The 40-tonne tank featured numerous improvements when compared to the short-lived King Cobra it replaced, including improved mobility, armor, armament, and autoloader. Like the King Cobra, it featured a three-man crew (driver, commander, gunner) although reliability improvements made to the revolver magazine autoloader design made the lack of a human loader less of an issue.

The Mamba built on limited combat experience against Modrovian main battle tanks fielded by Kodeshia and Mihrani forces, with the King Cobra vulnerable to their 90mm guns and often unable to penetrate them. While not a catastrophic issue, as approximately only 5% of tank combat on the western front of the Great Kesh War involved fighting other tanks and an even smaller proportion involved combat against tanks that outmatched the King Cobra, it was predicted that combat on the eastern front would be a different story. Thus, the Mamba featured front armor that could withstand 90mm armor-piercing shells at range, although protection elsewhere was sacrificed due to a premium on mobility and keeping a relatively small profile. The armor was broadly composed of glass-reinforced plastic sandwiched between layers of steel, providing up to 400mm of RHA equivalent armor against kinetic rounds on the front turret and 290mm on the front hull. Additionally, a new 4-inch (102mm) L/54 smoothbore tank gun replaced the 3.5-inch (89mm) of the King Cobra.

The Mamba was updated in the form of the Mamba B in 1959, with added accommodation for spaced armor, an upgraded engine to handle the resulting 3 tonnes of weight, improved optics, and updated communications equipment. It was updated again in 1963, this time featuring upgraded turret armor, upgraded fire control system, gun stabilization system, laser ranger finder, and internalized infrared systems

The Mamba's first combat-use was in Selengeria during the Great Kesh War, having been issued to Tiperyn tank regiments that were bound for that theatre towards the end of the war. A small number of Mambas remain in Tiperyn service today, although most have been upgraded to the 1980s Black Mamba standard.

PsF Black Mamba
The PsF Black Mamba, officially the Pânserefjochtreau «Swartemamba», was introduced in tandem with the PsF Python in 1982 as a modernization of the older Mamba main battle tank. A large number of improvements were made from the Mamba to the Black Mamba, including upgraded armament, armor, optics, communications equipment, autoloader, and a side-mounted 25mm autocannon for anti-aircraft and anti-material duties.

The Black Mamba is armed with the same 5-inch (127mm) rifled tank gun as the PsF Python. Additionally, it is outfitted with the same autoloader as the Python with ammunition stored in the turret basket within a protected compartment separate from the commander and gunner. This replaced the antiquated revolver magazine autoloader that was first used on the King Cobra in the 1950s.

As of 2020, the Black Mamba is the most numerous tank in Tiperyn service, supplementing the PsF Python in Realm Guard and Fleet Marine Corps tank regiments.

PsF Python
The PsF Python, officially the Pânserefjochtreau «Pyton» is Tiperyn's most advanced and newest main battle tank.