TAMSE VCA 155 (Vehiculo de Combate de Artilleria de 155mm)

History of the TAMSE VCA 155 (155mm gun)

In the 1970s, the Argentine government commissioned the German company Thyssen-Henschel (now Rheinmetall Landsysteme) to develop a modernized, standardized tracked vehicle chassis based on the German Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). The result was two headliners, including the main battle tank TAM and the infantry fighting vehicle VCTP.

This led to several other limited production variants, including the VCA 155 (Vehiculo de Combate de Artilleria de 155 mm = "155 mm artillery fighting vehicle").

The VCA 155 attaches the turret and main gun armament of the Italian 155mm self-propelled OTO-Melara Palmaria to the chassis of the TAM medium tank. To accommodate the turret, the TAM's fuselage was lengthened and an additional set of wheels were added.

The sides of the fuselage are vertical instead of slightly sloping like the TAM/VCTP, and the rear fuselage fairing slopes inward. The main gun and integrated recoil/mounting system are housed in a boxy turret superstructure with the commander's cupola, crew hatch, turret cover and communications antenna.

The main gun is centrally fitted with a smoke vent and a muzzle brake with double baffles. The internal volume of the turret allows 23 shells and a total of 28 x 155 mm projectiles to be accommodated in the turret. The turret is also equipped with 8 smoke grenade launchers, divided into two groups of 4, mounted on either front. The landing gear remains largely the same, save for the addition of a pair of wheels and an extra idler to compensate for the lengthening. The drive sprocket is in the front and the chain idler is in the rear.

The engine remained front-right mounted, forcing the rider to be in front of the left of the fuselage. A team of four or five people (including the commander, gunner, and ammunition handler) formed the turret crew.

An optional machine gun can be mounted on top of the turret for self-defense against infantry or low-flying aircraft.

All in all, the 44-ton VCA 155 has a range of 320 miles and a top speed of 34 mph. The versatility of parts proved to be a plus, as did the long-range firepower of the Italian 155mm gun.

The VCA 155 rivals other SPGs in service around the world in all appearances - most notably the ubiquitous American M109 Paladin series.

The production of the VCA 155 vehicle was taken over by TAMSE in Buenos Aires for a total of 25 vehicles. However, budget constraints limited purchases to 19 units as of 1995, after which the TAMSE line was discontinued.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

28x155mm projectile

500 x 12.7mm ammo

1,000 x 7.62mm ammo

Changes