Taipan main battle tank

The Taipan, officially designated the "Taipan" Armored Battle Crawler (Tipsprek: Panserestridkruper «Taipan») in Tiperyn service, is a jointly developed Tiperyn and Koryese that was introduced in 2020. It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Koryese Unified Armies and Tiperyn Realm Defence. It is named after the —a highly venemous snake indigenous to Koryeo—both keeping in line with the Tiperyn military's practice of naming tanks after snakes and symbolizing the collaboration between the two countries on the project.

The Taipan was developed to provide the Tiperyn and Koryese militaries with a 21st century main battle tank taking advantage of new technologies, an innovative layout, and the new 152mm smoothbore gun that was selected for the program in 2011. Tiperyn intends to replace its Python main battle tank with the Taipan in its premiere Realm Guard tank regiments and the entirety of the Fleet Marine Corps by 2030, with the Python being issued to regiments currently equipped with the retrofitted Black Mamba main battle tank. Tiperyn plans on procuring 1,224 Taipans to meet this goal, for a total of $6.4 billion. Each Taipan is expected to have a unit cost of approximately $5.2 million for the 2020 fiscal year.

Primary
The main armament of the Taipan is the FrK 11 (6t) 152mm L/38 gun launcher manufactured by Tiperyn firm Wexford Gunworks. The gun, ammunition, and autoloading system development comprised Tiperyn's most significant contribution to the Taipan project. The gun was developed in the late 2000s in response to a tender from the Tiperyn government a new gun that could fire large-bore anti-tank guided missiles to replace the 127mm tank guns in service at the time. Intended to match or exceed the performance of more widespread 140mm guns that proliferated from the 1990s to the 2010s, Tiperyn and Koryeo intend to field single-piece (APFSDS),  (HEAT), smoke, and anti-personnel rounds with the FrK 11 (6t) in addition to an anti-tank guided missile with an operational range of up to 8,000 metres.

The most capable tank-killing munition used by the Taipan is the PPR 09C (6t) anti-tank guided missile. The PPR 09C (6t) is equipped with a tandem HEAT warhead reported as being capable of penetrating up to the equivalent of 1,200 mm of (RHA) at ranges up to 8,000 metres. Additionally, APFSDS rounds saw considerable improvements to penetration going from the FrK 81 (5t) 127mm gun to the FrK 11 (6t), with estimated values of RHA-equivalent penetration increasing from about 800 mm to 950mm. This was largely due to the increased propellant volumes and longer penetrators afforded by the 152mm shells. As Tiperyn had adopted improved performance rounds for its 127mm guns through their lifespan, similar modifications are expected to be adopted in the future to meet future requirements. The larger bore was chosen in part to give designers more flexibility with regards to new munitions development to continue to exceed extant 120mm and 140mm guns.

While anti-armor performance increased substantially, the new gun posed a number of challenges that necessitated an entirely new tank design. Chief among these was weight and the size of the shells' effect on ammunition capacity, which were addressed through the use of an unmanned turret. Although the weight of the shells necessitated a new autoloading system, this wouldn't significant impact Tiperyn or Koryese doctrine as both nations had been fielded autoloaders for decades. The decision to go with an unmanned turret was partially influenced by the need to increase ammunition capacity, with the extra space in the turret basket being dedicated to the second half of the autoloading system bringing the tank's total ammunition capacity to 24 rounds or missiles. It also reduced the total protected volume of the turret, increasing survivability, decreasing the tank's profile in a hull down position, and offsetting the increased weight of the gun and recoil system to a degree.

The autoloader of the Taipan is similar in concept to that used on the Python, although the Taipan essentially mirrors the Python's autoloader (doubling capacity) and modifies the layout to allow for a more compact turret interior. Shells or missiles are stored vertically in two half-circle magazines on either side of the gun. The gunner is able to select a specific round type, after which the appropriate magazine cycles to bring the desired round to the rear of the magazine near the loading tray. The tray brings the round from a certical to a horizontal position besides the gun roughly parallel to the breach. The round is then pulled into the bustle, where it is shifted to bring it inline behind the gun. A chain rammer then forces the round into the breach and the breachblock locks in place automatically, readying the gun to fire.

As used on the newest marks of the Python, and as experienced during Taipan trials, modern autoloading systems are incredibly reliable with Tiperyn and Koryese military officials judging the likelihood of breakages in combat to be low to neglible. Meanwhile, the autoloader enables the Taipan to be outfitted with its large 152mm gun as well as increasing survivability by decreasing turret size and protected volume.

Operators

 * Koryeo — The Koryese Unified Armies have received 20 Taipans for testing purposes in alpine and tropical conditions. These pre and early production vehicles are expected to serve as prototyping, developmental test beds and training tanks rather than fully fledged combat units. Koryeo intends to outfit armoured regiments of the Banner Armies first before transitioning the Colonial Marines to the Taipan, who will instead continue to operate the upgraded Type 94 until then. As of June 2020, the Unified Armies have 800 additional Taipans on order.
 * Tiperyn — The Tiperyn Realm Guard and Fleet Marine Corps have received 20 Taipans as of mid-2020 with an additional 1,204 on order combined.
 * Realm Guard: 10 Taipans in service with 800 on order. The Realm Guard intends to outfit 5 out of 11 of its active-duty Tank Regiments (162 tanks per regiment) for a total of 810 Taipan tanks. The remainder of active duty Tank Regiments will receive modernized Python main battle tanks while reserve-duty regiments will continue to use the older Black Mamba.
 * Fleet Marine Corps: 10 Taipans in service with 404 on order. The Fleet Marine Corps intends to outfit all 6 of its Marine Strike Brigades (42 tanks per brigade) and 1 Tank Regiment (162 tanks) with the Taipan, transferring its Pythons to the Realm Guard.

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

 * H90-Kastellax main battle tank
 * M.97 Chevalier main battle tank