Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1281650
the shaped charge conical liner and disrupts the focusing effect or damages the grenade by damaging its body and the internal insert that transmits the piezoelectric fuse impulse. The sha- ped charge focusing effect does not appear at all, or the pene- tration capacity is diminished by more than 70%. The effective- ness of this type of armor very much depends on the type of grenade hitting the armor and on the angle at which the grena- de hits it. For LASSO-styled protective systems, the tests car- ried out at the Military Institute of Armament Technology have shown that the total effectiveness varies to up to 40% at hit an- gles of around 80°. One needs to remember though than in the remaining 60% of cases, even when the fuse was activated, the shaped charge effect would be disrupted in most of the cases thus having a diminished penetration capability, possibly charge disrupted like that could even be too weak to penetrate the main armor. The suspension in the Rosomak vehicle is independent of each of the wheels. The ground clearance can be adjusted for transport or movement. The suspension travel is as long as 450 mm. The ground clearance can be adjusted by the driver within the range between 200 and 250 mm. Rosomak's brakes are also one of its advantages - three-circuit system (one for the parking brake and two for the primary braking system) is coupled with ventilated disc brakes. The first two axles of the vehicles can turn. All wheels can be pumped from the compressor and they feature run-flat tires. The off-road capabilities and ride comfort have been unprece- dented in the case of Rosomak, surpassing many of the tracked platforms. Only when the terrain got rough or swampy the Rosomak was becoming inferior to tracked counterparts. The vehicle is powered by a liquid-cooled Scania D1 12 56A03PE die- sel engine, with direct injection and a turbocharger. The peak power is 483 HP in the combat mode. During normal operation, the engine produces 400 HP and it meets the Euro 3 norm. The fuel system includes two primary fuel tanks holding 135 and 140 liters, an intermediary tank holding 29 liters of fuel. The power is transmitted via an automatic ZF 7HP 902S gearbox with seven gears for front movement and one reverse gear. Retarder is available as well. Rosomak APC also packs a ton of extras. Diagnostic/measure- ment systems, winch with 50 m of cable that can be set in the back or the front part of the vehicle, towing hooks and road li- ghting system are all available. The vehicle also features a com- prehensive air filtering/ventilation/air conditioning system pro- vided by Fazer, protecting the crew from the CRBN threats. A parking heating system is available as well. The contamination is automatically detected by the Pimco Cherdes sensor. Should a nuclear explosion be detected, the engine would be automati- cally turned off, with air intakes being shut and UOW Pandora system covers are shut over the driver and commander observation systems, thanks to explosive car- tridges. Filtering/ventilation systems are also launched automatically. The communications are provided thanks to the Radmor RRC-9500 radio and the WB Electronics FONET inter- com. Rosomak also has the Honeywell TALIN 3000 INS suite installed, coupled with the extra Hertz GPS module. The AMV vehicle Polonized as Rosomak, when it was selected and when the production was launched, has pro- bably been the best wheeled APC in the world to have entered service. The lack of any serious design flaws, a well-developed design that also has proven its worth in domestic conditions altogether creates an image of a vehicle that could be an object of jealousy. However, it should be said that some circles wanted to shut down the pro- gram. In 2002 - 2004 the fate of the vehicle was still uncertain. Even the official rolling out ceremony did not end the black PR campaign around the vehicle that was going on starting from 2002. Soon, some events unfolded that completely changed Ro- somak's image. VEHICLES