Autoloader
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An auto-loader or autoloader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery. The term is generally only applied to larger weapons that would otherwise have a dedicated person or persons loading them; the mechanism that automatically loads automatic weapons is not considered an auto-loader.
An auto-loader, as its name suggests, extracts a shell and propellant charge from a magazine, loads it into the chamber of the gun, and closes the breech. It can and often does replace the loader. Theoretically, by automating the loading process, it should streamline and speed up the loading process, resulting in a more effective fighting machine. Also, since an auto-loader can take up less volume inside a tank than a human, it allows for a lower profile, saving weight and making the tank harder to hit. However, auto-loaders on tanks often fail to live up to these promises and even when they do, they are often to the detriment of other factors that determine combat effectiveness in the real world.
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[edit] History
Auto-loaders were developed at the beginning of World War II. Their first combat use was in tank-buster aircraft such as the 75 mm-equipped Henschel Hs 129. Auto-loaders in the modern sense bear the closest similarity to those fitted to aircraft. Every Soviet and Russian derived tank since the T-64 main battle tank has used an autoloader, allowing a significant decrease of weight and size. Their use has been mostly shunned by American and British tanks, although the American T22 medium tank was one of the first to use an autoloader.
[edit] Issues with autoloaders on ground vehicles
In the modern era, autoloading is ubiquitous on any large (3–5 inch, or 76.2 mm–127 mm) naval gun. The size of the shells, when combined with the more elaborate autoloading facilities available in the wider spaces of a ship, makes an autoloader much faster than human loaders. For example, the US 5"/38 Mark 12 can load about 20 rounds per minute.[1] The Soviet/Russian AK-130 (twin barrel 130 mm), using autoloading, can achieve up to 40 rounds per gun per minute.[2] The Italian 127 mm/5" Compact has similar performance. Another example is the USS Des Moines 8-inch guns, which can fire 10 rounds per minute when other guns of the same caliber can only do 2 rounds per minute.
The advantage in speed, resulting in greater firepower, makes autoloaders the logical choice for ships. The contest, however, is a lot closer for ground vehicles.
[edit] Reliability
Experiences with the reliability of autoloaders in tanks have been mixed. Some Soviet models, such as the T-64, have had very reliable autoloaders, while others, such as the T-72, have had less reliable autoloaders.[citation needed] The American M8-AGS (cancelled) autoloader was supposed to work quite well, while the Stryker Mobile Gun System's autoloader is supposed to be poor.[citation needed] In any case, it is quite unlikely that an autoloader can be as reliable as a human loader. If the autoloader fails, manual loading becomes very awkward because the autoloader takes up most of the required space.
[edit] Rate of fire
A modern autoloader for a 120–125 mm caliber weapon in good condition can achieve about 10–12 rounds per minute. This rating may or may not include the time required to bring the gun to the appropriate loading angle (if required) and then bringing it back up to firing angle after loading. This is fast, but not quite as fast as a human loader, for which claims of 15 rounds per minute (at least for a short time) are made.[citation needed]
On the other hand, the very newest autoloaders claim to match this rate of fire.[3] Furthermore, it is considered atypical to engage more than a few targets per minute in a tank. The autoloader may also have an advantage over rough terrain that may jar the human loader enough to disrupt his loading cycle.
For weapons above 125 mm, the increased weight of the round pushes this issue decisively in favor of the autoloader. For 6-inch self-propelled artillery, for example, autoloaders can typically achieve 8–12 rounds per minute, while humans typically achieve 4 rounds per minute. For sustained bombardments, this may not be so important for sustained firing rates for artillery is typically only 1–2 rounds per minute, but the rapid-fire capability is vital to shoot-and-scoot tactics to deliver enough fire and then avoid the rapid counterbattery response provided by modern counterbattery systems.
[edit] Survivability
Another issue is survivability:
The most common autoloaders store their ammunition in the turret basket, increasing the possibility of a catastrophic explosion should the armor around the hull or turret be penetrated. More armor protection, and isolation/separation of the ammunition from the crew compartment has traditionally been available in tanks with a human loader, which can decrease the possibility of cook-off, or protect the crew in case of an ammunition explosion.
For example the M1 Abrams was designed to protect the crew from cook-off, and this is accomplished by storing the main gun ammunition in a compartment at the rear of the turret, which is separated from the crew by a rapidly power operated armored door, which is only opened for a couple of seconds each time the loader needs to grab another round, and the top of this compartment has special roof panels that are armored against outside attack, but are much less resistant to pressure from inside, so that if this compartment is penetrated by enemy fire, these panels will vent the explosion generated by the ammunition burning, while protecting the crew. Other western designs from the later cold war era to the present with manual loading have similar protective features. In contrast, the Soviet tanks of the cold war era which employ autoloaders store the ammunition on a carousel in the middle of the crew compartment, where any penetration by enemy fire is likely to incinerate the crew and blow the turret right off the top of the tank.[citation needed]
However, some newer autoloader designs also store the ammunition in an isolated compartment in the turret bustle, with blow off panels on top and the ramming mechanism underneath or in the middle. This allows for much better crew protection, but is disadvantaged because the loading mechanism located in the ammunition compartment reduces the available space and number of rounds that can be carried considerably compared to a similar sized compartment without machinery. With such a design, the loader crew member can be eliminated, but only half the ammunition can be carried ready, in the compartment with the autoloader. Therefore, such a tank usually stores additional ammo in compartmentalized storage at the bottom of the fighting compartment, like older manual loading tank designs. This storage can be surrounded by water, and compartmentalized to some extent, but the reduced crew must still transfer this ammunition to the autoloader at some point. However, such a design can also allow for the rapid replacement of the autoloader and reloading of the ready ammunition by making the compartment at the rear of the turret a modular component that can be easily replaced with appropriate support equipment, similar to how the US MLRS system is reloaded, but possibly even faster. Another possible advantage is that the door that separates the turret can only be large enough for one round of ammunition to slide through, rather than extending across the entire rear of the turret as in the case of the M1 Abrams - this could save additional mass and reduce the power necessary to operate the door, by using less massive armor for the same level of protection, since it would be part of the turret instead of a sliding component in a heavy frame.
[edit] Size
Autoloaders are often implemented in an attempt to save on tank size. The T-64 is an example of this. The current generation of tanks using autoloaders (Russian T-90, Japanese Type 90, Chinese Type 98, French Leclerc) all weigh between 45–55 tons. Tanks that do not use autoloaders tend to weigh in the 55–70 ton range (American M1A2 Abrams, German Leopard 2, British Challenger II).
[edit] The relative value of the fourth crew member
Autoloaders are often criticized for replacing the fourth member of the crew. The loader represents a lookout, emergency backup driver/gunner, mechanic and sentry, all of which are lost when replaced with an autoloader.
On the other hand, this saves on training costs per tank. It can also be argued that while the loader has marginal utility in all these auxiliary roles, his primary role can be replaced with a machine quite well, so he can be reassigned for greater overall utility. For example, in a tank platoon of three tanks, a switch to autoloading means three outstanding crew members. They can man a fourth tank, which will arguably go a long way towards compensating for any autoloader weaknesses. They can also be retrained as dedicated mechanics, or as a SAM team to provide anti-air protection.
