The AMX-32 was a French

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

developed by AMX and

APX In computational complexity theory, the class APX (an abbreviation of "approximable") is the set of NP optimization problems that allow polynomial-time approximation algorithms with approximation ratio bounded by a constant (or constant-factor ap ...

in the late

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

as an export tank to fit in a specific market niche of nations with smaller defence budgets. While six prototypes were built, it failed to garner interest for foreign sales.

Armor

The

mantlet A mantlet was a portable wall or shelter used for stopping projectiles in medieval warfare. It could be mounted on a wheeled carriage, and protected one or several soldiers. In the First World War a mantlet type of device was used by the French ...

, the turret sides and the hull noseplate of the AMX-32 are hollow, the outer layers are made of dual hardness steel plates which are particularly effective against kinetic energy projectiles. The frontal armor of the AMX-32 was successfully tested against 57 mm armor-piercing rounds of the

ASU-57 The ASU-57 was a small, lightly constructed Soviet assault gun specifically designed for use by Soviet airborne divisions. From 1960 onwards, it was gradually phased out in favour of the ASU-85. Development history The task to develop a lightw ...

at 500 m range and 75 mm tungsten-cored PCOT rounds fired from the

AMX-13 The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1952 to 1987. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 26 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and re ...

light tank at 1000 m range. The turret side armor can withstand impacts of 23 mm armor-piercing rounds. The turret roof has been thickened in order to be protected from

autocannons An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...

shells fired by

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

s at a steep angle of 30°. In addition, the AMX-32 features six

smoke grenade discharger A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mo ...

s and a dense white smoke screen can be generated by injecting vaporized diesel fuel into the exhaust system.

Fire control and observation

Turret traverse and main gun elevation are powered by an electro-hydraulic drive. The main gun can be stabilized through servo-control; using inputs sent by the stabilized mirror head of the commander's M527 panoramic sight.

Gunner

The gunner uses an

M581 telescopic sight with ×10 magnification with a built-in APX M550

laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...

(a.k.a.

CILAS CILAS is a French company, a subsidiary of Ariane Group, specialized in laser and optics technology, founded in 1966. This high-technology engineering company was the inventor of the particle size analyzer. Today, it develops, manufactures an ...

TCV 80). The possibility of misalignment are reduced as the sight is an integral part of the mantlet. A Thomson CSF DIVT-13 low light television camera (LLLTV) with a ×1 magnification allows night observation up to 1200 m. The image obtained is displayed on two TV monitors (gunner and commander). The gunner also has two episcopes for direct observation.

Commander

The commander has the latest iteration of the TOP 7 cupola with eight episcopes. Each episcope has a button placed under it allowing to quickly bring his sight toward the observed area. A SFIM M527 gyrostabilized panoramic sight with three channels; two daylight (×2 and ×8) and one night (×1) with light intensification allowing night observation up to 300–400 m.

Loader

The loader has at his disposal one left-facing episcope and two rotating periscopes.

Mobility

The AMX-32 was powered by a

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

(then

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

) HS-110-2-SR diesel engine fitted with twin Holset turbochargers and intercooler. The engine is coupled to an automatic, power shifting, SESM Minerva ENC 200 transmission with five forwards and reverse gears.

Prototypes

*P1 : presented to the public for the first time in June 1979 at ''Satory VII'' Exhibition of Military Equipment and Weapons. Like the AMX-30, it retained a cast gun mantlet with a CN-105-F1 105 mm gun. In 1980, it was fitted with a modified turret featuring a new welded mantlet. *P2 : displayed at ''Satory VIII'' arms fair in 1981, the shape of the hull front was modified to improve its ballistic protection. Due to the previous changes, the combat weight of the AMX-32 increased to 40 tonnes.

References

External links

*
Military Today - AMX-32
{{ModernFrenchAFVs Main battle tanks of France Main battle tanks of the Cold War