Bernd
12/12/2019 (Thu) 02:57:44
No.33018
del
Iraq and the UAE also expressed interest, and the latter held a lesser-known competition in July 1988. The Ariete, Challenger, AMX-40, Osório and a Chinese tank were present. The Osório was only tested for movement, with turret results from Saudi Arabia taken for granted. It did better than the Ariete. Ultimately the UAE settled for the Leclerc rather than any of those.
There were other projects pursued at the same time. The Cascavel/Urutu platform was used as a base for the Sucuri, a tank destroyer meant to carry on wheeled platform development, conduct reconnaissance and follow armor on the flanks. Like the Osório, CAD was used by designers. Many parts were from commercial trucks, making maintenance easy. Initially designated EE-17, the later model was named EE-18 or Sucuri II.
The 384 hp Scania DS 11 Diesel engine could speed its 18 tons to 110 km/h. Conversely, the armor couldn’t stand much more than shrapnel and small arms fire. The turret was designed by Engesa with experience from the Osório project and its rotation was stabilized. It sported an Oto Melara 105 mm L7 rifled gun capable of firing HEAT and sabot rounds. It could knock out older tanks, though by the late 80s it lacked the firepower to take on the most recent designs. Like the Osório, there was an advanced fire control system with an onboard computer and night vision aswell as laser telemetry on the periscopes.
The earlier EE-17 had a weaker engine -the 300 hp Detroit Diesel 6V53T- and an overall worse French-made turret, with a higher profile, half an extra ton of weight and no ability to use sabot rounds.
The Brazilian Army was uninterested in the Sucuri and as there wasn’t a dramatic interest in its concept it found no buyers abroad. A single prototype was built and was later scrapped, with the gun given back to Oto Melara. However, its suspension is now used in the Mercedes Benz L 1519 truck used to haul artillery pieces.