TS-10

The limited range and excessive weight of the M41 Bulldog were considered to be its greatest shortcomings. Shortly after it entered production in 1951, there were already motions being made to replace it. During the third Questionmark Conference in June 1954, six light tank proposals were put forth that emphasized an increased range and reduced weight. In order to fulfill this, the armor protection of all six tanks was reduced to a thickness of 1/2 inch. The front plates were highly sloped, but the sides were vertical.

The TS-10 was armed with a gun ballistically identical to the 76 mm Gun M32 found on the M41 Bulldog. Its crew size was reduced to three and all members were found in the hull. The turret was remotely controlled by the gunner, which featured a balanced drum that held an automatic loader with a 20 round magazine. It could carry a total of 60 rounds. It was also to utilize the AO-740 engine and was estimated to weigh around 15 tons.

Cross-sectional drawing of the TS-10

The top speed and turret armor are all unknown to me, as is the actual designation of the gun itself. However, I think we can get away with having different versions of the T185 gun, as this was the 76 mm gun in use at the time. As for the speed, that should ultimately be a balance decision, but I don’t think it should be expected to be any faster than the M41 Bulldog. In fact, I’d like to see it placed a little less. As for alternate engines, it’d be very easy to borrow the ones from the TS-8 and TS-32, as they were all part of the same program and should be able to fit.

I would like to give this tank different versions of the same gun which feature different magazine sizes and in turn, different reload times. This gives players the choice between having more rounds at their disposal and having significantly longer reload times, and having fewer rounds and quicker reloads. I would like to give the tank three different guns to offer greater variety. In any case, it should be expected that this tank’s gun, ammo rack, and turret ring will be damaged quite easily, and this should be the case for the rest of the branch.

The TS-10 is the true start of a unique mini-branch in World Of Tanks: high-capacity autoloaders, but with relatively limited ammunition. I don’t think this tank should have 20 rounds in the drum like what was proposed. Testing with the M41 Bulldog at Tier VIII with an 8-round autoloader showed that to be overkill. But then again, the M41 Bulldog is a whole lot less fragile than this tank. I think, if the TS-10 had a long enough reload speed and had a really mediocre platform for its tier, it could be properly balanced. I also think 40 total rounds as opposed to the actual 60 would help out.

I’d expect this tank to handle similarly to the T71, but it would have worse armor and an awful view range given the Commander and Gunner are located in the hull.

Guns: 76 mm Gun T185M1 (autoloader); 76 mm Gun T185M2 (autoloader); 76 mm Gun T185M3 (autoloader)

[Note: the M# designations simply refer to different drum capacities and reload speeds. Their handling and performance should otherwise be identical. Personally, I would like to see the following:

1. T185M1 - 5 rounds, 20~ second reload
2. T185M2 - 8 rounds, 40~ second reload
3. T185M3 - 10 rounds, 60~ second reload

I know there's concern about clip potential. However, more rounds require more time to dump the ammunition, a longer time to reload, and discourages reloading with unspent shells.]

Engines: AO-470 (225 hp); AOI-470 (250 hp); AOI-628 (340 hp)

Turrets (Turret Armor (mm)): TS-10 (??/??/??)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): TS-10 (13.61); TS-10 Improved (13.61)

Hull Armor (mm): 13/13/13

Top Speed: ?? km/h

Crew: 3 (Driver; Gunner/Loader; Commander/Radio/Loader)

Parent: TS-8/32
Children: M-7/6
See Also: TS-26

Sources:

Hunnicutt, R. P. Sheridan, 2015