Cobra medium tank

The Cobra (Tipsprek: Kobra), officially the "Cobra" Armored Battle Crawler (Tipsprek: Panserestridkruper «Kobra») abbreviated as '''Psk. Kobra''', was a Tiperyn first introduced in 1943 during the Great Kesh War. It was the first tracked tank to see widespread adoption in the Tiperyn Realm Defence, other than limited applications of early tanks on the Agranan Front during the Grand Campaigns. The Cobra was the first vehicle to receive the Panserestridkruper designation, replacing the Stridtreker (lit. Battle Tractor) used for earlier Grand Campaigns designs.

The Cobra was the result of a secret requirement issued in the late 1930s for a tracked fighting vehicle to supplement the Krait armored car in harsh off-road environments. This requirement was in anticipation of the invasion of southern Nasiria (executed in 1949), which the Tiperyn government had been planning with the Asharis since the late 1920s. The soft sand deserts in the north and harsh mountainous terrain in the south necessitated something with superior cross country mobility than offered by armored cars in service. The Cobra was designed to fulfill much the same role as the Krait — general close infantry support and exploitation — and began to be issued to infantry and heavy ruitery units in Nasiria beginning in 1945. However, unlike with domestically garrisoned units which adhered to the Krait standard across infantry and ruiteries, the Cobra was initially accompanied by the Rattlesnake light tank in light ruitery service. The Rattlesnake would fulfill the screening and reconnaissance roles in support of heavy ruitery and infantry units.

Equipped with a 3½-inch (89mm) L/18 gun-howitzer, the Cobra was optimized for infantry support, anti-materiel, and anti-fortification work, but possessed an acceptable anti-tank capability with its HEAT round. At the time of its introduction, the Cobra's gun was able to penetrate most contemporary medium tanks' hull from the front with a small margin. Light tanks and most armored cars meanwhile were well within its capability. However, new tanks introduced in the late 1940s and early 1950s quickly outspaced the Cobra's capabilities, which led to the development of the King Cobra main battle tank. As a stop gap — albeit an inadquate one — a portion of Cobras fighting in Nasiria were converted to accept a 2¼-inch (63mm) anti-tank gun from 1951 to 1953. Units would typically consist of mixes of 3½-inch and 2¼-inch Cobras.

Armament
The main armament of Cobras before 1951 was the Khv. 40(3½ T ) Gun-Howitzer firing a 89mm shell.

Variants

 * Psk. Cobra ANEW Tiperyn 40s medium trans-01.png
 * Cobra A1 (1943) - Initial production variant.
 * Cobra A1(B) (1945) - Made modifications to the mudguard and side skirts that rectified an issue with the tracks hitting them once at speeds of 10 km/h.
 * Cobra A2 (1946) - New provisions for applique armor and side skirts. Powerplant received a modest upgrade to help cope with the added weight. The hull-mounted light machine gun and coaxial medium machine gun were replaced with the Mgv. 44 general-purpose machine gun.
 * Psk. Cobra B [[Image:NEW_Tiperyn_40s_medium_57mm_trans-02.png|right|thumb|300px|The Cobra B2, equipped with a 57mm anti-tank gun.]]
 * Cobra B1 (1948) - First production variant with welded rather than riveted construction. Structure for assistant driver/hull machine gunner removed and station was integrated into the hull. Optics upgraded and gun stabilized. Bustle rack added to store a new long-range radio. Wet ammunition stowage added.
 * Cobra B2 (1951) - Stop gap upgrade following confrontations with Goetic and Morovian-produced tanks during the Great Kesh War. The 89mm low-velocity gun-howitzer was replaced with Tiperyn's main anti-tank gun at the time, the 2.25-inch (57mm) to increase armor penetration. More applique armor was added to the design, but the powerplant did not receive a significant upgrade, resulting in slower top speeds.
 * Ktr. Keelback (1954) - An unarmed variant converted from Cobra B tanks that were being phased out in favor of the King Cobra. They were introduced to tow new 89mm anti-tank guns (the same gun that was to be used on the King Cobra) as well as other larger field guns in service. Some were also used as command vehicles in artillery units, with the addition of fire direction equipment, topics and long-range radios.

Former operators

 * Alvakalia
 * Asharistan
 * Kaya
 * Selengeria
 * Tiperyn