CC-87 Jacaré

The CC-87 Jacaré is Maracatibean developed by IMV in the 1980s to serve the Maracatibean Army.

History
In the 70's, the Maracatibe Army planned to acquire a new Main Battle Tank, considering that the (old tank) inserts, even modernized, were obsolete. The government even supported an initiative by Montenegro Veículos Blidados, which had experience in the development of armaments, such as the armored car Sapo Armado, in 1970. However, the economic crisis experienced during the second half of the 70s and the first half of the 80s: retraction of GDP, unemployment, very high inflation and very high public debt, caused the only prototype built by Montenegro to be abandoned by the Institute of Technology of the Forces Armed. The "Capivara" project, as it was called, consisted of a medium tank armed with a 105mm cannon. At the time, Montenegro S.A saw the bankruptcy, because it had bet a lot on the civil vehicle factories opened with State incentive, but whose sales failed. Several of the company's projects, including its own manufacturing facilities, have been sold to other private companies. Military projects, including Capivara, were transferred to the army.

With the crisis and the failure in the development of the armored vehicle, the Maracatibe Army considered extinguishing its tank strength to prioritize the development of its jungle units, arguing that the heavy vehicles do not have great employability in the dense jungle terrain of Maracatibe. In 1984, however, the army entered into a partnership with IMV to revive Capivara. Due to the limited state resources, the project was almost entirely private, as IMV was betting on exports. The Capivara continuation, however, did not leave the paper, since the IMV engineers completely remodeled the program and started the CC-87 Jacaré.

The CC-87 Jacaré, unlike Capivara, would be a Main Battle Tank, and its final version provided for the installation of a 120mm cannon, although the 105mm cannon developed for Capivara was initially used. Its armor was developed by IMV itself, with the help of foreign companies. In 1987, the Maracatibe Army announced an interest in the acquisition of the vehicle, and it underwent a series of tests with other MBTs of the time and medium tanks. In the end, the CC-87 Jacaré had highly satisfactory results, and added to the fact that it was national, it was chosen to replace the tanks [] and serve the Maracatibe army. The first units arrived in the year 1990. Subsequently, vehicle units were offered to Mursland, which [...]

Design
The Jacaré was equipped with an engine produced by IMV, the IMV-T500, which had 1,200 hp, and its transmission and suspension are foreign, being imported from []. The cannon was initially 105 mm, the same used by Montenegro Capivara, being replaced in the second batch by a 120 mm cannon also developed by Maracatibean Arsenal. The vehicle's armor is composed, constructed from aluminum, steel, carbon fiber and ceramic. Subsequently, from an upgrade, the armor also became reactive. This shielding is capable of protecting the vehicle against direct impacts from guns larger than 120 mm. Its crew consists of four members, commander, driver, gunner and loader. It had a computerized system for assisting and correcting shots, which measures the speed and distance of the intended target, the speed and direction of the wind, the general atmospheric conditions and self-reconfigured these calculations according to the type of ammunition used. The pilot and commander periscopes have night vision, and the tower has been equipped with a system to stabilize and compensate for unevenness. All of these electronic systems gave the Alligator a very high shooting accuracy, with the hit rate being over 95%, with a maximum deviation of 50 cm from the target point. At the top of the tower is a thermal camera with a 360 ° rotation, and the commander can look for a second target while the sniper fires. In the 2nd and 3rd generations, electronic systems received considerable upgrades, further increasing the accuracy of shots.

The chassis is a welded monobloc composed of monometallic and bimetallic structural armored plates. It is divided into a compartment for the crew and another at the back for the power pack, where the engine and transmission are, with three caps in bimetallic armored steel and steel grates at the entrances and exits. The compartments have sound insulation and are separated by a fire resistant door. Driving is on the left front of the hull, with the driver having a control panel on the left and more information on another panel available with the hatch open and the seat raised. In the tower are the loader, on the left, and the sniper and commander on the right, with hatches for the loader and commander. The hatches open backwards. Evacuation hatches also exist at the bottom of the housing. At the front are headlights and towing handles.

It's crew has the security of an NBC system consisting of total isolation from the cabin, creating a controlled internal environment, for the protection of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Among these devices, the manual opening of the cannon is mentioned as an example, keeping the loader out of contact with the outside atmosphere. A system has been installed that detects laser radiation from enemy rangefinders and indicates the direction with a precision of 45 degrees. The neutralization of the opponent's laser rangefinders was completed by the 66 mm smoke grenade launchers, six on each side of the vehicle.

Its first engine was diesel, the supercharged IMV T300 in the V12 configuration, of 2,300 revolutions per minute, which guaranteed a power of 1,100 hp, expanded to 1,300 from the use of the IMV T400 in Generation II and for the current 1,500 in Generation  III, an upgrade that resulted in an increase in the speed and efficiency of the vehicle even with the increase in weight resulting from the modernizations. The electrical system initially had a generator of 28 volts and 18.2 kW and eight batteries of 12 volts and 100 ampere hours, it was also improved in the two consecutive generations. The engine is twelve-cylinder with direct fuel injection, displacement of 21.63 L and consumption of 200 g / kWh. The tanks have a capacity of 1380 L. Operation at high temperatures was a priority and there are fans next to the engine, under the roof of the housing. There is an electronic engine power control device. It monitors engine water and automatic transmission oil temperatures and lowers power when the heat is too great. Well-trained technicians can change the engine in just 20 minutes.

The braking is done constantly thanks to a microprocessor that calculates the desired speed and deceleration and controls "the actuation of a retarder integrated in the transmission" and combined "with the main hydraulic and emergency brake set". In addition to this system, innovative for the time of Generation I, there is an emergency hydraulic brake and a manual parking brake.

The rolling gear consists of tracks, twelve wheels, two tensioners, two drivers and six rollers to support the upper tracks. The caterpillars are manufactured by IMV itself, each strip with 92 shoes made of high abrasion resistant steel, connected by double pin and connectors with extension to reduce the pressure on the ground, each shoe made of two removable rubber pads. A steel tape in the middle of the connections connects to the rails. Hydraulic shock absorbers are on the first, second and sixth support wheels. The support wheels and tensioners are cast in steel of high abrasion resistance and rubberized, while the support rollers are cast in steel and rubberized. Assembly and disassembly take 40 minutes, and the set lasts 8,000 km in Generation I. After two modernizations, the duration of the set has been extended to the current 10,000 km, which has reduced maintenance costs.

Generations I, II and III (current)
Over the 34 years of use in the Armed Forces (1987 to the present), the CC-87 Jacaré has three versions, each updating the previous one: Generation I (1987-2000), Generation II (2000-2014),  Generation III (2014-). During the development of its generations, components such as the engine (which currently stands at 1,500 hp) were replaced, in addition to its night vision and shooting systems, ballistic computer for gun control and gun stabilization, and communications, which were all  exchanged for more modern systems to ensure that Jacaré is a match for other MBTs. The current, composite and reactive armor was added between Generation II and Generation II and improved in Generation II, to withstand greater impacts. All of its crew protection systems have also been modernized, increasing their safety. In its Generation III (2014-today), its transmission has been replaced by an automatic transmission, and its reactive armor has been replaced by an improved version of the previous one, constituting a greater efficiency against anti-tank projectiles of double warheads at the same time in  which decreases the penetration power of APF / STS kinetic projectiles by more than 50%. The composite part of the armor also had its composition changed. Its smoke grenade launching system was automated, as these shots occur as soon as the vehicle is illuminated by a laser, greatly hindering the aim of laser-guided anti-tank missiles. The Generation III cannon consists of the second generation of the cannon used in Generation I and II, and thanks to innovations in its aiming and stabilization system, it is 10 to 15% more accurate than the previous one. In addition, it can fire almost all types of projectiles for 120 mm cannons, including the anti-tank missile [] with a range of up to 4 km. The sighting system at the commander's disposal has been completely redesigned, with new optics and new infrared cameras, allowing for greater definition and vision of the target. It is capable of locking multiple targets simultaneously.

Operators

 * Maracatibe: Maracatibe operates 296 CC-87 Jacaré. In 1990, the first 90 units of the vehicle were delivered, and at that time, Maracatibe planned to operate 130 CC-87 Jacaré's. The last 40 arrived between 1990 and 1993, the year in which the Army encouraged the acquisition of another twenty units until 1998. In 2000, the Army of Maracatibe ordered another hundred Generation II vehicles, which were delivered until 2004. The last 46 units were  ordered between 2010 and 2020.