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TD6M1 Angon

The TD6M1 Angon is a superheavy tank destroyer, assault gun, mobile coastal artillery, and self-propelled artillery of the Khertland army fulfilling a unique mixture of roles. It features a massive 183mm cannon designed to be able to penetrate armor of even battleships on a mobile platform. This performance was also expected to lend itself to defeating even the heaviest of tank armor that is being fielded. Such a massive gun would also be used for breaking through heavy fortifications should the need arise.

The TD6 Angon is by far the most expensive and largest ground combat vehicle Khertland has ever procured and its widely publicized appearance during the 'Liberation Day' parade. The display of its imposing frame has been heavily used as propaganda material. That is in spite of the system's rather spotty reception within the military circle. Although the Angon had performed as expected and met all requirements, it haven't proved decisive in exercises. The results were comparable to what was achieved with the much lighter Ato tank destroyers.
And when it came to anti-shipping, some had argued that existing platforms could do the job adequately enough. Nonetheless, the 183mm provided greater ranges and substantially better post-penetrating effects on target. This combined with its high penetration and a reasonably fast rate of fire proved to be a highly lethal combination.

The army wanted coastal defense systems they could employ against any potential amphibious landings. It was better to fight the enemy before they got to shore. Normally this should have been in the realm of the navy but due to current political climate, the army had received most of the funding leaving the navy somewhat incapable of fulfilling this role. At 183mm, it was at least comparable to that of heavy cruisers and so could provide a mobile deterrent against any coastal incursions. This was an area the army had always wanted to be further developed. The plan is to use the Interitus missiles to strike at the largest and most powerful naval targets leaving them more vulnerable to coastal artillery and smaller but more numerous missile strikes against said target and its escorts.

The development of a super heavy tank destroyer and the assault regiment concept predated the coastal defense concept however. The idea had a long troubled history with the Assault regiment originally envisioned early in Khertland army's modernization as a formation that did not rely on outmaneuvering the enemy. Instead there was concerns of large fortified lines or landships that would be able to deal with any multi-pronged attacks. The solution was thought to be concentrating any multi-faceted attacks onto one vector to overwhelm the enemy locally. This was the basis for the Assault regiment but it was eventually disbanded due to the belief that there was no such "unflankable" threats in the foreseeable future.
As some point it was briefly revived as a proposed type of specialized formation instead primarily as a contingency measure but due to lack of funding, it was never fielded and existed only on paper. Fast forward to the modern day, the presence of super heavy tanks among potential adversaries have prompted the employment of the Angon in double duty as a tank destroyer.
The Angon as a result was designed with moderately good frontal armor to help it survive a frontal tank on tank engagement. In addition to the possible need to siege and bombard fortified areas, it had good range for the assault and artillery role. The gun was hoped to be able to knock out even the most powerful tanks in just one or two hits at substantial distances. This required improved accuracy, and possibly even a supporting vehicle for spotting. This was why the Esturion received a reconnaissance variant.

The Angon is a large open top assault gun with a rather large crew of 8. A commander, driver, 2 gunners, and 4 loaders. The driver sits on the front left with his/her own dedicated hatch. The commander usually stands behind the vehicle in operation but otherwise sits behind the driver when on the move. Meanwhile one of the gunner spots and range the target sitting in front of the right gunshield. This information is relayed to the second gunner behind the gunshield and aims the gun accordingly.

For reloading, there is a conveyor type ammunition rack between the gun and driver position. It has blow out panels and a access hatch for loading new rounds inside. The conveyor ammo rack help cycles ready ammunition that gets pulled out by a electrically powered toothed chain. The cycling of a new round is done by one of the loaders which help moves the projectile from the ejection port to the loading tray. The loading tray is balanced onto a crane with weights balancing the entire assembly. This allow it to be easily manipulated by a second loader. The tray can be freely rotated so it can be adjusted to the same angle as the gun. Once the tray is secured to the breech area, a 3rd loader can then attach the rammer system. The ramming rod is U shaped with one end for ramming the entire projectile into the breech. The other end is for attaching to a hydraulic system that mechanically pulls the rammer and thus the projectile into the breech. The hydraulic action is done by the 4th loader who also is responsible for opening and closing the breech. This entire process is done quickly and in a synchronized fashion to allow for a respectable rate of fire.

Due to the size of the gun and vehicle, it was determined not feasible to have a fully automated loading system as that would require extending the length even further on a already long vehicle that has difficulty turning. Unlike a turreted vehicle, the loading system would have to account for the azimuth change of the gun as the ammo rack is fixed in the hull while the gun could move freely. A autoloader capable of loading at all angles of elevation and azimuth proved too complex. One solution was to have the autoloader attached to the gun itself, similar in concept as oscillating turrets. However, the gun was already heavy enough that it needed hydraulics to elevate it, having a autoloading system attached to the gun would be mechanically infeasible not to mention the lack of ready ammunition.

The most compact means of loading was actually to have human loaders do the work outside the vehicle but the loading speed would suffer. To try and get the best of both worlds, a automated autoloading system was still implemented but only up to the point of pulling the round out of the ammo rack. The rest of the process was done with mechanical assistance. The primary reason for the slow reload of such a round was its size and weight. As its a open top and open back vehicle, the crew had as much room as needed to manipulate the round. For the weight, the simple yet balanced crane system allowed the round to be essentially weightless thus allowing just one person to be able to manipulate the round.
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Basic specifications:
Cost: 43,242
Blocks: 388
Weight: 75,605
Volume: 1,064 cubic meter
Length: 28m
Width: 9m
Height: 8m
Speed: 20 m/s

Gun:
Caliber: 183mm (366mm actual)
Projectile: Frag
Penetration: 2m of HA 4m beams
Rate of Fire: 15 rpm

Armor:
Front: 6m HA
Side and rear: Minimal to none

Ratings:
Total firepower: 55
APS: 55
Armor: 8.5% (3666 materials)