Python main battle tank

The Python (Tipsprek: Pyton), officially the "Python" Armored Battle Crawler (Tipsprek: Panserestridkruper «Pyton») abbreviated as '''Psk. Pyton''', is a Tiperyn that was introduced in 1982. It is the second most modern main battle tank in Tiperyn service, alongside the new Taipan main battle tank and more numerous but older Black Mamba main battle tank.

Conceived as Tiperyn's high capability tank for the modern battlefield, the Python was intended to be introduced as new and supplemented by upgraded Black Mambas featuring the same gun and similar advances in optics and computerization. It featured the new 5-inch (127mm) tank gun and was the first Tiperyn main battle tank to be powered by a multifuel gas turbine engine which was licensed from Kayan manufacturer KIA.

A significantly upgraded version, the Python B, was introduced in 2003 as a response to the influx of new main battle tank designs being fielded by numerous rival nations in the 1990s.

Design
When the idea that would lead to the Python was conceptualized in the 1970s, the Tiperyn Realm Defence envisioned it as a high performance, fast, well-armed, reasonably armored main battle tank with advanced systems that would be used for deep exploitation and pursuit. It would be less numerous than a complementary low-capability tank that would be based on an pre-existing design, but with improved armor, armament, and electronics. The latter would be used for most tank functions, including general infantry support, while the Python would in theory be used for high intensity conventional operations and amphibious breakouts.

Armament and autoloader
The main armament of the Psk. Python is the Stk. 75(5t) 5-inch (127mm) L/48 rifled tank gun, replacing the smoothbore Stk. 53(4t) L/54 4-inch (102 mm) tank gun used on the legacy Mamba main battle tank. Both the gun and gunner's sight are stabilized along two axes to increase accuracy and decrease correction time when on the move. This hydroelectric stabilizer was designed with the requirement of guaranteeing reliable hits against targets out of 1.5 kilometres while travelling cross country with less reliable capability out to 2.25 kilometres. The Tiperyn Realm Defence fields a variety of tank rounds, including 127mm APFSDS, HEAT-FS, HE-Frag, smoke, and canister. In the Psk. Python B, 127mm gun-launched anti-tank guided missiles with tandem HEAT warheads and laser guidance are also useable. A new variant of this missile introduced in 2015 give the Python top-attack capability, useful for tanks obscured behind slopes.

Ammunition for the Stk. 75(5t) is one piece and loaded via a crescent carousel autoloader with 28 ready rounds vertically loaded. After firing, spent cases are ejected out the rear of the turret through the bustle and over the chain rammer. The maximum reload rate is one round every 6 seconds if the round chosen is the next one in the carousel, or up to 12 seconds if the gunner chooses a round that is at the end of the carousel. However, the autoloader is capable of cycling through rounds in either direction to maximize time efficiency on the reload and will do so automatically based on the gunner's ammunition selection. Standard practice is to tailor the load order based on the expected need for a specific mission, which could include alternating APFSDS, HEAT-FS, and HE-Frag evenly with a handful of smoke on the far end for a multirole loadout. The crew is separated from this autoloader — which is situated completely on the left side of the turret basket — by a firewall that prevents ammunition explosions from burning out the crew. Blow out panels are located over the ammunition stowage to channel a blast out of the tank. In addition to the 28 ready rounds, 8 rounds are held in reserve in the bustle. These rounds are not accessible by the crew during combat, but rather are intended to give the crew an immediate ammo reserve to reload the autoloader during lulls in combat.

The Pstk. Python, the assault command vehicle variant of the Python also known as the Storm Python, meanwhile is equipped with a shorter 5-inch (152mm) gun-launcher. This vehicle is typically commanded by the second-in-command of a Tiperyn tank company and provides the tank unit with enhanced anti-structure support. Additionally, the initial production Storm Python could fire gun-launched anti-tank guided missiles from day one. The Storm Python's autoloader is basically the same as the standard Python's, but modified for the much larger round. It holds 23 rounds in its ready mag, but unlike the Python it has no separate reserve. The Storm Python is typically loaded out with HEAT-FS, HE, and smoke rounds, as well as gun-launched ATGMs.

In addition to its main armament, the Python is equipped with a coaxial 6.5mm general-purpose machine gun. The commander's cupola also has provisions for mounting of a medium or light machine gun. Starting with the Python B, a remote weapon system mounted on the rear of the turret was instituted that is capable of mounting a 15mm heavy machine gun or automatic grenade launcher.

Protection
As the focus of the Python design was speed, armor was mainly focused for fighting in a hull down position — predicted by the Tiperyn Realm Defence to be among the few situations when the Python would be fighting stationary for prolonged periods of time during a conventional conflict. Much of the Python's development was to optimize it for firing accurately on the move to reduce its own vulnerability. Thus, armor is focused on the turret from the front aspect. Its hull armor from the front aspect was fairly advanced at the time it was introduced in 1982 and could protect against most 100-115mm APDS rounds. However, by 1990 with the introduction of new 3rd generation main battle tanks, its low glacis armor was considered lacking. Still, its upper glacis is at a sufficient angle that most APFSDS penetrators will shatter before penetrating and from 1982 to 1990, the Python was among the most well protected tanks in the world.

Initially, the glacis armor of the Python was an array of sandwiched High Hardness armor (HHA) steel and glass textolite. The initial glacis array was an outer 50mm HHA layer, with an inner 100mm glass textolite layer, followed by a 50mm HHA layer. However, the glacis armor area is able to take a variety of inserts, and the materials used have been upgraded over time, biased towards lighter and stronger materials. The turret meanwhile consisted of two outer layers of steel with hollow cavities for the insertion of armor layering. Initial production variants of the Python produced for Tiperyn and Agrana y Griegro featured sandwiched layers of glass textolite and ceramic plates. Exports variants feature sandwiched plates of cast steel armor with silicon carbide balls in suspension which, although much cheaper to produce, only has slightly inferior armor performance. Side armor was rated to stop 105mm APFSDS within a 60° frontal arc for the initial production.

While current armor protection figures are not publicly available, the Tiperyn Realm Defence has puported the Python is able to defeat modern 120mm APFSDS from the front. The Python Bs in particular made significant upgrades to the Python's armor layout, and added extra provisions for slat armor, applique steel panels, and explosive reactive armor (ERA) following combat experience in Afghanistan. The Tiperyn Realm Defence also reports that the Python is capable of defeating from the side most light anti-tank weapons and rocket propelled grenade launchers it has encountered during the Nasiri Civil War. Protection was even further enhanced with the introduction of a hard kill on the Python B2 that is reportedly able to defeat HEAT and HE projectiles in a 360° arc through the use of explosively formed projectiles. The APS originally implemented with the B2 is not able to defeat kinetic projectiles, like APFSDS penetrators, but there is speculation that the new APS implemented on the Taipan main battle tank may. It is unclear if this system will be included in further Python upgrades.

Variants

 * Psk. Python A (1982) - Initial production variant.
 * Psk. Python B (2003) - Upgraded production variant. All Python As in Tiperyn service are currently being converted to Python Bs
 * Python B1 - Added a remote weapon system controlled by the commander; an independent thermal site for the commander; a Forward-Looking Infra-Red gunsight; upgraded optics and target solution equipment for the gunner; increased turret armor from the front aspect; provisions for slat armor to defeat HEAT munitions; and the ability to fire gun-launched laser beam riding anti-tank guided missiles. Also improved autoloader reliability and replaced original production engine with a newer and higher power gas turbine engine to cope with the increased weight.
 * Python B2 - Added a hard-kill and additional provisions for add-on explosive reactive armor to counter man-portable light anti-tank weapon hits from the side.
 * Pstk. Python (1984) - Command and assault gun variant of the Python equipped with additional radios and armed with a 152mm gun-launcher. Issued to company and battalion headquarters at a one-to-one ratio with a Psk. Python. Colloquially referred to as the Storm Python. Designation is modified by the chassis it is based off of. Thus, Pstk. Python As are assault/command tanks based on the Python A main battle tank.

Current operators

 * Agrana y Griegro - Operates the Python A1 and Python B2.
 * Selengeria - Operates 51 Python A1s.
 * Tiperyn - Operates all variants up to the Python B2. Currently in the process of converting Python As to Python Bs.

Failed bids

 * Austrasia - Python A took part in a tender for a new main battle tank in the early 1990s, but lost to the Panzer Valens.

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

 * H90-Kastellax
 * Panzer Valens
 * Type 84 Dougram
 * M/96 Hulthas
 * VrdK 90.M Râs
 * M.97 Chevalier