Horjin Combat Vehicle 56

Horjin Combat Vehicle 56

Type:	Multi-Role Armoured Fighting Vehicle
Place of origin:	Elijah's Rest (Normark), Natopia

In service:	1656/1657
Used by:	Raspur Pact

Designed:	1655/1656
Manufacturer:	ESB Group (Keltia)

Weight:	17.0 tonnes
Barrel length:	Varies by type
Crew:	3 (1 Commander, 1 Gunner and 1 Driver) + up to 8 passengers (Varies by type)
Main armament:	CV56(N): 40 mm Autocannon CV56(S): 35 mm Autocannon CV56(E): 30 or 35 mm Autocannon
Rate of fire:	Varies by type
Effective range:	Varies by type
Maximum range:	Varies by type
Secondary armament:	External mounting for x2 remotely operated anti-tank guided missile launchers

The Horjin Combat Vehicle 56 (CV56, Horjin Stridsfordon 56, Strf56) is a family of Sxiro-Natopian tracked combat vehicles designed by ESB Group Keltia during the mid-1650s and entered production in Normark in 1656. The CV56 platform design is an evolution of the Horjin AFV which has been in service continuously around the world with a number of world militaries since 1635. The Horjin was a rugged and versatile vehicle, appreciated for its survivability and off-road handling, however during the War of Lost Brothers, particularly in the arduous conditions of northern Keltia, it became increasingly apparent that a major overhaul was required in response to changing battlefield requirements.

Vehicle capabilities

The Natopian version of the main infantry fighting vehicle is fitted with a turret equipped with a 40 mm autocannon. Shirerithian and export versions are fitted with 30 mm and 35 mm autocannons. Developed specifically for the Keltian sub-arctic climate, the vehicle has very good mobility in snow and wetlands while carrying and supporting eight and six fully equipped dismount soldiers. Other variants include Forward Observation, Command and control, Anti-air, Armoured Recovery, Electronic Warfare and so forth.

The CV56 has been designed with modern protection, armament and network enabled solutions integrated in the modular designs from the outset. The basic armour of the CV56 is a ceramic appliqué armour that provides protection against improvised explosive devices, explosively formed penetrator munitions and 30 mm caliber armour piercing rounds. All CV56s are fitted with a ballistic impact liner, which covers the interior spaces and provides protection for the troops inside against shrapnel and anti-personnel artillery munitions.

The CV56 can be also fitted with cage armour, which provides protection against tandem-charge and shaped charge warheads. The CV56 is fitted with a nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) filtration system accompanied by a chemical detector and radiation detector systems. A specialist pheromone scrubber was also added to the Natopian and Shirerithian variants of the CV56. The CV56 also uses heat-absorbing filters to provide temporary protection against thermal imaging (TIS), image intensifier and infrared camera (IR). The CV56 was designed to produce a very low and very compact structure to minimize radar and IR-signatures.

Anti-mine protection has been substantially enhanced from the baseline Horjin CV35 with the CV56 now being designed with crew survivability expected after contact with high order (10 kg TNT) anti-tank mines.

The optional countermeasure systems of the original CV35 have been carried over into standard modular designs of the CV56. The CV56 is equipped with the Galen Electro-Optical Projectile Disruption system (ES-22) and the Gaelen Early Warning Laser System (ES-23). The Gaelen Chaff Jamming Countermeasure System (ES-24) is also installed to counter electronic threats. On the undercarriage of the CV56 features an Anti-Mine Degaussing System (ES-25) installed to handle anti-tank mines on the ground.

ES-22 - The Electro-Optical Projectile Disruption system is an anti-tank missile countermeasure. The ES-22 is a radiation dazzler which causes IR, UV and heat seeking missiles to detonate early or lose their guidance path by overloading their sensors.

ES-23 - The Early Warning Laser System is an optical laser receiver which alerts crew members when the tank is targeted or “painted” by a laser guidance system or rangefinder. The ES-23 is directly tied into the E-22 to activate the E-22 so that the threat can be neutralised.

ES-24 - The Chaff Jamming Countermeasure System uses a long rang broad frequency jamming system to disable electronic guidance and communication systems. The classified Mobile Unit Communication frequency is left unjammed.

ES-25 - The Anti-Mine Degaussing System uses a large degaussing array to disable magnetic anti-tank land mines which might be planted on the ground. The sudden degaussing of the mines causes them to stop functioning either permanently or until the degaussing field as passed on (along with the AFV itself).

Battlefield awareness and secure communications are facilitated by the ES-26 VERITAS telex-relays integrating Panopticon information feeds directly into the CV56's vehicle commander's control console and head-up display.

Operational use

The Horjin AFV was designed to keep pace with heavy and gravimetric armoured formations as part of a combined arms force. It is also intended to be capable of performing scouting functions and of providing close armoured support to infantry in squadron (company) level attacks.

The Horjin is designed to carry into battle the typical eight-man mechanised infantry squads favoured by the allied militaries. These squads are supposed to dismount in denser terrain to scout out enemy positions and ambushers, maintain defensive perimeters, and flush adversaries out of buildings and other built-up areas that the Horjin can’t reach.

By 1665 large numbers of the CV56(S) had accumulated in the vehicle parks of the Imperial Forces and four thousand of these were dispatched by the Prince of Modan to the borders of the Republic of Inner Benacia in an effort to coerce that wayward confederacy and its defacto dictator, Dzarfeis Serverem Labeśx°emć'e, into aligning its defence and foreign policies with those of the Raspur Pact.

In spite of the interruption to production manifested by the Kalirion Fracture the Horjin CV56 would go on, by 1677 AN, to have become an exceptionally numerous vehicle, with 14,893 of all variant types having rolled off assembly lines in the Mishalan and Sårensby arsenals. Primarily used by the armed forces of the Raspur Pact, the Horjin would go on to enjoy further success with another 7,800 manufactured under licence by Sanama Arms Industries.

Although originally envisaged as a means of conveying an infantry squad into battle the Horjin, by its ubiquity and by the evermore manifest failings of the notorious spidertank and gravtank families of armoured fighting vehicles, found itself pressed into a myriad of roles, including fire support, armoured reconnaissance, tank-hunting, and electronic warfare to name but a few examples. Happily, like its eight-wheeled antecedent, the CV56 proved to be a versatile and adaptable platform that formed the backbone of the Pact's armoured forces whilst the next generation of main battle tanks matured and entered production during the late 1670's.

The Benacian Union Defence Force expected to have the last examples of the Horjin Combat Vehicle 56 in its inventory withdrawn from service by 1730 AN.