Nov 10, 2021

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

Today, we’d like to tell you about the first prize that’s coming in the next Battle Path we call Wars of the Past. It is the 2S38 Derivatsiya Armored Fighting Vehicle.

As you might have guessed, the name Derivatsiya stands for “Derivation” – Russian nomenclature can be pretty strange. It is, for all intents and purposes, a modified BMP-3 chassis with an AU-220M turret featuring a powerful 57mm gun. It was developed by Kurganmash and, according to some sources the Syrian experience played a large part in the project.

The name actually refers to the whole program to develop a fire support vehicle capable of engaging both flying targets (especially helicopters) and ground targets. According to some reports, it can also intercept MLRS rockets in flight, but one should take such claims with a grain of salt.

The first such concept appeared in 2015-2016 in the form of BMP-3-57 Derivatsiya, which was a BRM-3K Rys (“Lynx”) mated with an earlier version of the AU-220M Baykal turret.

If you’re wondering what on earth is the BRM-3K – it’s basically a modified BMP-3 from the early 1990s. The designation BRM stands for “combat reconnaissance vehicle”, which already implies its purpose. It is a dedicated recon vehicle that entered service in 1995 (it would only appear in public in 1999) with its turret armed with a 30mm cannon only, but fitted with advanced sensors and optics, including a thermal imager and a surveillance radar. The hull differences between the BMP-3 and the BRM-3K are not that huge – the BRM hull doesn’t have a troop compartment, no bow machineguns, a different hatch layout and a few other smaller details. Only a small number of these vehicles have been ever built, which is why the model is quite obscure today.

Much like the American Griffin series, the Derivatsiya was not intended as a production vehicle. Instead, it was a technology demonstrator – a proof of concept, if you will.

Unlike the Dragun, which was also unveiled at the Armiya 2015 expo, the Derivatsiya did not had its internal components moved around (whereas the Dragun had its engine moved to the front). The two platforms are therefore different, even though some websites mix them up, especially since the Dragun was also offered with an unmanned turret with a 57mm gun (albeit a different one, even though the two are related).

The AU-220M module (developed by the Burevestnik bureau) has been around for a while, at least since 2015. It weighs some 3.2 tons. It was modified for ground use from a naval turret (57mm is typically a naval caliber) and is fitted with the 2A90 57mm rifled automatic cannon with the following properties:

Rate of fire: up to 120 rounds per minute
Maximum gun depression: -5 degrees
Maximum elevation: +75 degrees
Ammo carried: 148 (or up to 200 according to some sources)
Range (flying target): 200 to 6000 meters
Range (ground target): up to 3000 meters
Maximum flying target altitude: 4500 meters
Maximum flying target speed: 500 m/s

The gun uses several types of ammunition of the 57x348SR 281-series family, including:

53-BR-281 APCBC-T
53-OR-281 HE-T

It’s worth noting that these rounds are pretty ancient – they have been developed in the 1950s for the 57mm S-60 anti-aircraft gun. On one hand, this allows Russia (and any potential buyers) to utilize old ammunition stocks. On the other hand, the ammunition is fairly obsolete. However, more ammunition types are planned, such as programmable multi-purpose ammo as well as guided ammunition.

There’s also a 7.62mm PKT machinegun (or a 12.7mm machinegun) with 200 rounds. The turret is fitted with a variant of the Shtora soft-kill APS, only instead of the typical IR projectors it works as combination of a laser warning receiver and smoke deployment. The optics for the turret is a system called 1PN147 OES-OP – quite a modern one.

The vehicle is still powered by the UTD-29 500hp 10-cylinder diesel engine located in the back, allowing for the maximum speed of 70 km/h. It is also amphibious. It weighs 21.5 tons, has a crew of three and protection levels similar to a standard BMP-3 (that is, aluminum armor while the turret is made of steel). Frontally, the hull should be protected against 30mm ammunition. Its side armor can protect the crew from heavy machineguns and shell fragments, but that’s about it. The thick side slabs that look like ERA are in fact armored floaters, not ERA.

An unknown number of prototypes have been built between 2015 and 2020 – perhaps a dozen or so. Each one of them is slightly different since the vehicle is still going through an evolution process, so there is no one “correct” Derivatsiya – our model is based on a 2020 prototype. The vehicle is currently undergoing state trials that are supposed to last at least until 2022.

In Armored Warfare, the 2S38 Derivatsiya will be a Tier 8 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle.

But before we tell you more about it, here’s the usual disclaimer:

The numbers below are very preliminary as the vehicle has not been properly tested. They are sure to change and should only be discussed as an indicator of how we’d like to set the vehicle up.

With that being said:

We want to set up the Derivatsiya as an AFV and TD hybrid with the potential to hunt down and destroy enemy Light Tanks. Starting with protection, there isn’t really much to look at. A poorly armored chassis (frontal protection versus 30mm autocannons) with some additional armor on the sides (we’re currently discussing how we are going to tackle that part), an unmanned turret and a rather standard soft-kill APS.

Mobility-wise, it’ll be, well, okay. We’re looking at the maximum speed of 70 km/h and the 0 to 32 km/h acceleration of 4 seconds (which will be possible to upgrade to 3.4 seconds using Battle Path’s Workshop), average agility... definitely not the highlight of this vehicle.

Where things start to get fun is the firepower. We have a very powerful 57mm 2A90 autocannon that will have two shell types (well, three, but we’ll get to that):

AP (500mm penetration, 88 damage)
HE (44mm penetration, 130 damage)

With the rate of fire being 225 rounds per minute, we’re looking at some 15700 points of damage per minute. If this doesn’t compute, it’s because the vehicle will be using the new Autocannon Overheat mechanism. You’ll be able to fire 40 rounds before the gun overheats, followed by 3 seconds of cooling.

But that’s not all. You’ll be able to use the Workshop mechanic to unlock several additional progression modules. First, you’ll be able to choose between:

Improved rate of fire to 350 rounds per minute at the expense of longer 5 second cooling (if you prefer burst damage playstyle)
Improved cooling so that you can fire 80 rounds without overheating instead of 40 and the cooling time gets shorter as well (2.4 seconds), but the rate of fire stays the same (if you prefer sustained damage playstyle)

Both these upgrades bump your damage output to roughly 18000, so it really is a matter of preference.

Additionally, there will be a very special round unlocked the same way – the UAS. This round will have the following characteristics:

PELE shell type (with all its corresponding mechanics)
375mm of penetration, 80 damage per shot

Additionally, this shell will have limited guidance (the way the kinetic shells of Griffin 120mm do). It will be possible to use it together with the abovementioned upgrades, so you’ll effectively be trading some penetration and a bit of damage for the limited guidance ability and PELE characteristics.

There are two more things that need to be said about this vehicle’s firepower:

The gun will also have a rather uncomfortable maximum depression of -5 degrees. You’ll have to position yourself carefully
The vehicle will feature the Improved Propellant module, reducing penetration loss over distance (and thus increasing its mid-range effectiveness)

And last but not least, there’s the utility factor. The vehicle will start with 30% camouflage and 430m of viewrange. There will be two additional modules affecting this aspect. You will be able to choose between the two following upgrades:

Improved Thermal Optics (better spotting through foliage)
Improved Camouflage (lower camouflage penalty when firing the gun)

In summation, as you can see, you’ll be able to configure this vehicle in several different ways. There will be the burst damage and active “hunter” option highly suitable for PvP, or there will be the sustained fire while staying hidden option that will fit the PvE needs nicely.

In its core, however, the Derivatsiya will remain a short-to-medium range heavy AFV with a decent pool of hitpoints. Consider your options carefully.

We hope that you’ll enjoy this vehicle and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Nov 8, 2021

In Development: Autocannon Overhaul

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

Update 0.38 will not only bring a new season called Exodus, but a lot of new features with it – the Wars of the Past Battle Path, PvE improvement, a new Special Operation and more. But today, we’d like to tell you not about a new piece of content, but about a mechanics change that’s coming as a part of the great vehicle overhaul (the Tier 1-6 part of which was introduced recently). This time, we’ll be overhauling autocannons.

But first a little bit of background. One of the main points of criticism with the way things are right now is the limited capacity of autocannons and the whole way penetration, damage per shot and rate of fire interact with each other. The current system has major limitations that aren’t as obvious on lower Tiers, but become a serious problem on high-Tier vehicles.

When you have roughly the same type of autocannons and give them better and better shells with more damage to compensate for the improvements in health pools and MBT armor over the Tiers for the autocannons to keep up, you end up with ridiculously high sustained damage outputs on Tier 9 and Tier 10.

We tried to compensate this via the introduction of limited autocannon clips (which were also intended to rein in the out-of-control low Tier SPAAG vehicles such as the XM247), but this didn’t really work out either as this solution turned out to be quite unpopular. Those pesky magazines always empty in the middle of a firefight, don’t they.

That is why we decided to introduce the Gatling gun overheating mechanics to all the autocannons in the game.

The general mechanic is very simple and you are familiar with it. Each autocannon will have an overheat bar with two sections. The more you fire, the fuller the bar gets and when you overheat your weapon, you’ll have to wait a couple of seconds for it to cool down.

What’s new is the way the bar will work (even for rotary cannons). The bar is now separated into two parts. Below 60% heat, the mechanic works as you’re used to – you fire and the bar goes up. You stop firing and it goes down, potentially all the way to zero.

At 60%, the gun switches to the Emergency mode. In the Emergency mode, the gun continues to fire until the bar is full and when it fills completely, the gun starts cooling down... until it reaches that 60% threshold again. You can then let the gun cool down even further (even all the way to zero), or you can start firing again using the Emergency portion of the bar. In other words, it basically works like a second, smaller clip. It sounds more complicated than it really is – check out the image to see how it works in the game.

With that being said, we are planning on adding some specific rules to the whole thing.

Generally speaking:

The higher the caliber, the faster the gun heats up and cools down
In order to make the differences between vehicle classes more pronounced, we’ve introduced a new module called “Improved Weapon Cooling”, intended for the Tank Destroyer class and unlocked by default, which will double the amount of shells fired before the gun overheats
Tank Destroyer autocannons take longer to cool down

A few examples, per caliber and class:

20mm autocannons (100 rounds, 2.5s full cooling)
30mm autocannons (AFV: 50/2.5s, TD: 100/3.76s)
40mm autocannons (AFV: 40/2s, TD: 80/2.5s)
50mm autocannons (AFV: 40/2s, TD: 80/2.5s)

And so on. Furthermore:

Some specific AFVs will feature the Improved Weapon Cooling module as well
MBTs with coaxial autocannons are set individually
Specific weapons like the 30mm RARDEN (Scimitar, Fox) or the 57mm autocannon of the Begleitpanzer 87 will still use the old clip mechanic
The rate of fire of practically all vehicles will be adjusted to match the new mechanism (for some vehicles it will be reduced while other vehicles such as the BMPT series will see an increase)

In summation, this change should improve your gameplay experience by not having to mash the reload button ever so often, all the while keeping the gameplay balanced. We are looking forward to your feedback and hope you’ll find these changes satisfactory.

See you on the battlefield!

Nov 4, 2021

Offer: Eastern Bloc Week

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

Today we’ve prepared the following items for you:

Object 490 Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank
Nakidka skin for T-90MS
BMPT Mod.2000 Military Bundle
Motherland bundle with the T-90A Motherland skin
Russian Airborne Camouflages
BM Oplot Tier 9 Premium Main Battle Tank
M-95 Degman Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
ZUBR PSP Tier 7 Premium Tank Destroyer
BWP-2000 Tier 7 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle
MT-LB S8 Tier 6 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle
Iron Crate (with new Key mechanics)

Between November 4 and November 11, 2021, the following items will be available:

Object 490

The Object 490 Main Battle Tank was an advanced concept from the waning days of the Soviet Union. Designed in the 1980s, it represented a radical departure from the MBT paradigm. Its distinct wedge-like shape, along with the fact that the crew was located in the back, offered unparalleled levels of protection. But the most interesting part of the design was its double suspension paired with two engines, allowing the vehicle to stay mobile even after suffering significant damage. However, the conclusion of the Cold War put an end to this design, along with many other advanced Soviet projects. You can learn more about this vehicle in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Object 490 Tier 10 Premium MBT is perhaps the best armored vehicle in the game. It’s a true behemoth that is almost impossible to slow down, let alone knock out, and concentrated effort is required to stop one of these things when encountering them on the battlefield. The combination of extremely thick armor and a powerful 152mm gun makes this tank incredibly deadly, even though these advantages are balanced by its mediocre agility and the fact that its gun is only forward facing. This MBT is ideal for you if you prefer slow, methodical advances while dealing massive amounts of damage with each shot. If you keep your flanks secure, you’ll be all but impossible to stop.

The Object 490 MBT is available in our Web Shop via Loot Crates. Collect 100 blueprint pieces from these crates to obtain the vehicle.

Nakidka Skin

Nakidka is a special system, developed in the early 2000s in Russia by the “NII Stali” military research institute in Moscow. In its core, it’s a camouflage made of an undisclosed radio-absorbing and IR-dampening material, intended to make large vehicles such as tanks easy to conceal on the battlefield, even from radars and thermal imagers. The model we have decided to implement in Armored Warfare comes from 2012, when an upgraded Nakidka system was demonstrated on a T-90MS MBT intended for export. You can read more in our dedicated article.

The skin is available as a part of the Nakidka Bundle, which contains the following items:

Nakidka skin for T-90MS
5 Platinum Loot Crates
1.000 Gold

BMPT Mod.2000

The BMPT Mod.2000 is, as its name suggests, one of the earliest models of the famous Russian BMPT series, also known under the name “Terminator.” The word BMPT stands for “tank support combat vehicle,” which is exactly what the machine was designed for – to accompany tanks to battle and support them (predominantly in urban environments) against enemy infantry. It consists of a MBT-class hull (a modified T-90 one) and an unmanned turret, armed with a single 30mm automatic cannon and a single four-tube launcher for Kornet-E ATGMs. This particular model was shown to general public in 2000, but didn’t get much attention. It was overhauled almost immediately to the iconic twin-autocannon configuration that’s being used to this day.

The BMPT Mod.2000 Military Bundle includes (apart from the vehicle itself), the Uralvagonzavod real-life camouflage. This camouflage has been used by the company during various events and expos to promote its prototypes and futuristic projects. It therefore fits the UVZ BMPT prototype from the year 2000, even if it appeared years after the vehicle itself. It also fits the rest of the BMPT series available in the game, including the progression Ramka-99 variant. Additionally, the bundle contains a free decal that can be typically seen on various military parade vehicles of the Russian army.

Motherland Bundle

This is a special World War Two-themed skin for the T-90A Tier 8 progression MBT. Featuring a considerable amount of covering foliage, this skin will make your tank blend nicely into any environment lush with bushes and trees. The T-90A MBT itself is an excellent short to medium range combat vehicle, capable of disposing of all the enemies it encounters with relative ease. You can learn more about it in our dedicated article.

The Motherland Bundle contains the following items:

Motherland skin for the T-90A Tier 8 MBT
3 days of Premium Time
1.000 Gold

This bundle is available via the MY.GAMES Market. If you own any of the vehicles and purchase the bundle, you will receive their price in Gold. Please note that in order to use the skin, you need to own the T-90A progression MBT.

Russian Airborne Camouflages

We’ve also prepared three historical camouflages for you that are based on real life Russian military patterns. You can read more about those in our dedicated article.

As usual, the camouflages can be used in any environment and are available together in a single discounted bundle.

BM Oplot

The Oplot is a heavily upgraded T-84 Ukrainian Main Battle Tank, which is based on an older design called T-80UD. It is currently the best tank the Ukrainian military industry can offer. You can read more about its history in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the BM Oplot is a Tier 9 Premium Main Battle Tank with a playstyle similar to the T-80U. Power-wise, it’s roughly on par with the T-90MS of the same Tier, but it has a very unique ability. Its advanced Duplet armor consists of several ERA layers, making it able to negate more than one HEAT shell impact. It takes several precise hits aimed at the same location to break through it, making it a very resistant vehicle on the battlefield.

M-95 Degman

The M-95 Degman is an advanced Croatian prototype MBT, developed during the 1990s and 2000s. It is based on the previous Yugoslavian project, the Vihor MBT, which in turn has its roots in the improved T-72M series produced in former Yugoslavia. You can read more about its history in a dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the tank is relatively fast and fairly agile while carrying some potent firepower for its Tier. In fact, its owners can choose from two powerful guns:

125mm 2A46 Russian-style smoothbore gun, known from many Russian MBTs
120mm CTG NATO-style smoothbore gun that you know from the Challenger 1 Falcon MBT

It’s worth noting that the 120mm shells have higher penetration values and the gun can also fire Falarick ATGMs while the 125mm gun has higher damage per shot. Both guns will feature good handling as well as overall performance to offset the vehicle’s weakness, which is its mediocre armor. The Degman must rely on its mobility and firepower to survive, making it an ideal vehicle for aggressive, daring players.

ZUBR PSP

The ZUBR was a Czech privately-funded project by PSP Bohemia from the 1990s to develop a successor platform to the aging Soviet-era BMP-series IFVs and various other obsolete specialized vehicles. Even though it was quite advanced for its time, it was ultimately unsuccessful due to the end of the Cold War and the subsequent cuts in European military budgets, including the Czech one. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the ZUBR PSP is a Tier 7 wheeled Premium Tank Destroyer. What makes it fairly unique is the fact that you can choose from two different weapon systems for this vehicle:

Cockerill CT-CV turret with 105mm gun
Four-barreled TOW ATGM launcher

Each of these weapons changes the gameplay style of the vehicle considerably and it is up to you, how you configure this powerful machine.

BWP-2000

The BWP-2000 IFV was a Polish attempt from the mid-1990s to develop a replacement for the license-produced BMP-1 in the Polish military, since it was getting obsolete by that point. Its protracted development led to its cancellation at the onset of War on Terror, leaving Poland without a modern tracked IFV to this day. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the BWP-2000 is a Tier 7 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle armed with 60mm cannon as well as a set of ATGM launchers. When it comes to AFV playstyle, the BWP-2000 is definitely more of an infantry carrier and fire support vehicle than a scout due to its large size and powerful armament as well as the ability to deploy Mechanized Infantry. It can take quite a bit of punishment and deal it in equal measure.

MT-LB S8

The MT-LB S8 (also called Strela-10 RSZO) was unveiled only recently as the means for Ukraine to combine two items they did not need by themselves in order to use them effectively during the Civil War. The first one, not quite useful to the Ukrainians by itself, is the Strela-10 self-propelled SAM – its deployment is quite limited due to the fact that the separatist forces do not have any air force. The second item is an aircraft or helicopter rocket pod that is used to fire 80mm S-8 unguided rockets. Together, they form an ad-hoc rocket launcher. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the MT-LB S8 is a unique Tier 6 Armored Fighting Vehicle. What makes it stand out? Its armament, of course. This AFV does not have a lot of armor, nor is it incredibly fast, but it can fire its two full rocket pods (each has 20 rockets) within 30 seconds or less. The rockets have HEAT-MP projectiles and are absolutely deadly against practically any target, but especially against those without composite armor. On the downside, the rockets are unguided and quite inaccurate. This vehicle is not for the faint of heart!

Iron Crate

We’ve prepared for you an additional offer this week. The Iron Crate is available on MY.GAMES Market with 50% discount!

The mechanics are very simple. This crate allows you to win one of the vehicles listed in its description (or its value in Gold if you have it already). The crate contains some very rare vehicles (with some new ones!), including the Object 195 Tier 10 Premium MBT.

For a full list, please visit the MY.GAMES Market Iron Crate page. We’re implementing a new mechanic to the MY.GAMES Market Loot Crates (no worries – the in-game crates will remain the same). The mechanic is simple – instead of purchasing the Loot Crates, you purchase keys to them, which you then use to unlock them.

However, please note:

Discounts do not apply to Loot Crates, but rather to Keys
It is possible to buy multiple keys for a single chest type
Keys belong to individual Loot Crates (that is, a key to a Commander Loot Crate purchased now is not guaranteed to work on a Commander Loot Crate a month down the line)
Keys can be found in a separate Market section

We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Nov 3, 2021

Historical Skins – BMPT RSP

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

December is coming soon and with it, another easy to complete event we’ve prepared for you, this time called Whispers of Frost. If you’re familiar with other such events such as the earlier Riders on the Storm one, you’ll feel right at home. However, we’ve made one upgrade to the whole thing – there will be daily rewards instead of stages, so you’ll get to earn more stuff!

As is customary in December, the event will be winter-themed with its main prizes being modeled after real-life Russian vehicles, camouflages and units. The first prize we’d like to tell you about will be the main one – a special skin for the BMPT Mod.2017 called RSP, or Russian Service Pattern. First, let us give you a little background, which should hopefully explain why we chose the BMPT Mod.2017 as the skin platform. As you probably know already it was Russia where the “tank escort” vehicle class was born (following the Afghanistan experience) and we discussed it at length in our dedicated article.

The first of the modern Terminators appeared in public in 2000 (that’s the model we have in the game under the name BMPT Mod.2000), but the single cannon configuration stayed around very shortly and in 2003 or so, it was replaced by the iconic twin-cannon and twin-launcher one that we know and love from another in-game vehicle, Ramka-99. This type underwent military trials in 2005 but despite its cool name and iconic appearance, the Russian military didn’t really want it in service. The reasons for that were both financial and tactical – there was no real doctrine developed for this kind of vehicle.

Fast forward a decade, Uralvagonzavod didn’t give up on the concept. First came the BMPT-72 Terminator-2 on the T-72 chassis, but it didn’t find any customers despite the attractive concept. A better promotion was required, resulting in the return to the T-90A chassis combined with a modernized turret (based on the BMPT-72 one). This new Terminator pattern had no official name, but was generally referred to as “Syrian pattern” because, as a part of a major photo op, it was deployed in Syria during the Russian intervention in 2017. Despite some reports, it did not actually participate in any combat. The easily recognizable part here was the “soft” bag ERA that would later be adapted for the T-72B3 MBT. We have this BMPT variant in the game as BMPT Mod.2017.

And this is where we’re finally getting to our skin.

It is a fact that many advanced Russian weapons are developed with export in mind in one form or another. It’s not that Russia wants to sell everything abroad – the fire sale years are long gone – but for a lot of equipment (excluding truly strategic stuff), there’s an export version available and in a number of cases, Russia hopes that foreign customers help to foot the development bill (a typical example would be the SU-57). How wise is this strategy is a matter of debate (when China buys exactly two pieces of your modern fighter jets, the reasons for that are pretty obvious), but such is the way of things.

But for the ultimate power move in export is to actually use what you are trying to export. After all, why would anyone buy something from Russia the Russian military is reluctant to use?

And this is exactly how the Russian Service Pattern Terminator came to be. In 2017, a contract was signed between the Russian Federation and UVZ to deliver an undisclosed amount of BMPTs (likely 10-12), which officially entered service in the April of 2018 with the 90th Guards Vitebsk-Novgorod Tank Division and have been used by it ever since, having also participated in the large Zapad 2021 exercise. From the tactical or strategic point of view, its introduction serves no practical purpose, but it is an excellent promotion for any potential customers.

There are some relatively small differences between the 2017 pattern and the 2018 pattern, which include:

Different stowage boxes
Different frontal armor layout
Additional autocannon cover similar to the BMPT-72 model

Otherwise, both vehicles are based on a T-90 series hull and have a crew of five.

So far, the only country to have adopted the BMPT (besides Kazakhstan, which uses an older model) is at least formally Algeria, but whether the trade really happened is a question.

The official designation is a matter of debate as nobody is truly sure how these vehicles are officially referred to in the Russian army. They are generally simply called BMPT, but even some official sources claim otherwise – the September 2021 issue of Armeysky Sbornik (an official Russian Ministry of Defense magazine) called it “Terminator-2”. This is why we decided to go with the Russian Service Pattern name.

We hope that you’ll enjoy the skin and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!