ZB 298 radar for the Chieftain Mk.3

[TerikG2014 1,389]

Another angle of the ZB289 cheiftan once again credit to Ed Francis 

[Flame2512 3,384]

I'd like to suggest the addition of the ZB 298 surveillance radar to the Chieftain Mk.3, in the forum of an unlockable upgrade. The ZB 298 was a small Pulse Doppler surveillance radar which would detect moving objects, both on land and in the air, out to a maximum range of 10 km. In game this radar would be useful to detect enemy tanks, as well as helicopters and aircraft. In real life the radar could also be used to detect people and was apparently nicknamed the "wiggle watcher" at one point after an army spokesperson made the (certainly exaggerated) claim that it could tell the difference between a man and a women walking across a field based on "the amount of wiggle on the blip". The British Army used the ZB 298 under the designation Radar GS No 14 Mk 1 (or just Radar No 14 Mk 1); it was primarily used on a tri-pod by infantry, but could also be fitted to a wide range of vehicles.

 

ZB 298 on the Chieftain

The image below comes from a sales brochure for the ZB 298, included in the 1972 edition of the British Defence Equipment Catalogue. It shows the ZB 982 fitted to the turret of the Chieftain tank.

 

Additional  information

Here is the sales brochure description of the ZB 298, it does a better job of summarising things than I would do.

Spoiler

 

Here are also some more photos of the ZB 298:

Spoiler

From the sales brochure

 

From Crypto Museum

 

From Radar Tutorial

 

ZB 298 Specifications

Here are the sales brochure specifications for the ZB 298. The main points are:

• 50 m minimum range / 10,000 m maximum range
• 360° azimuth coverage
• ±20° elevation coverage

 

Spoiler

 

Conclusion

A radar for detecting other ground vehicles can already be found in game on the Khrizantema-S. The Chieftain Mk.3 obviously does not carry ATGMs, and the ZB 298 does not have a tracking mode (it's just a search radar), so it will be somewhat less useful than the Khrizantema-S' radar. However having 360° coverage the ZB298 would be useful, particularly on open maps, to alert you to the presence of enemy tanks / helicopters which you might not have noticed. By making the radar an unlockable modification players could choose whether they want to take it or not (the downside being the increased silhouette of the vehicle).

 

Sources

• British Defence Equipment Catalogue - Third Edition - October 1970

Spoiler

This is an official sales Catalogue for British Defence exports, published by the MOD.

 

• New Scientist 24 August 1972 edition

Edited March 13, 2022 by Flame2512

[Thatz 635]

Open for discussion 
It would also be nice to see more history or information about the radar mounted to the tank (if possible, not needed just I think it would be nice to have a bit more information)

[Flame2512 3,384]

6 minutes ago, Thatz said:

It would also be nice to see more history or information about the radar mounted to the tank (if possible, not needed just I think it would be nice to have a bit more information)

 

Thanks. I'll see what I can dig up, though the Chieftain mount seems to be rare. From what I can tell it was typically mounted on a tripod or on various FV432 variants. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Flame2512

[Thatz 635]

Just now, Flame2512 said:

 

Thanks. I'll see what I can dig up, though the Chieftain mount seems to be quite rare. From what I can tell it was typically mounted on a tripod or on various FV432 variants. 

Not gonna lie I looked it up and was in the same boat and I was like hmm maybe this was a one off but if you can't find anything don't worry about it.

[nathanclawfish 647]

5 minutes ago, Thatz said:

Not gonna lie I looked it up and was in the same boat and I was like hmm maybe this was a one off but if you can't find anything don't worry about it.

I dont even think that image is a photo, it looks like a promo mock up  sketch, just from how the tree and ground in front of it look, along with how its missing details which have been simplified, like the road wheels, tracks, and the geometry of the stuff on the side of the hull should be picked up by even a photo taken on a battered nokia. 

[Thatz 635]

9 minutes ago, nathanclawfish said:

I dont even think that image is a photo, it looks like a promo mock up  sketch, just from how the tree and ground in front of it look, along with how its missing details which have been simplified, like the road wheels, tracks, and the geometry of the stuff on the side of the hull should be picked up by even a photo taken on a battered nokia. 

You might be right but it might just be on a day after rain and water is on the ground and the photo is over exposed 

[TheNexonRegime 429]

1 minute ago, Thatz said:

You might be right but it might just be on a day after rain and water is on the ground and the photo is over exposed 

 

Yeah, the ground has that watery shine to it.

[Flame2512 3,384]

7 minutes ago, nathanclawfish said:

I dont even think that image is a photo, it looks like a promo mock up  sketch, just from how the tree and ground in front of it look, along with how its missing details which have been simplified, like the road wheels, tracks, and the geometry of the stuff on the side of the hull should be picked up by even a photo taken on a battered nokia. 

 

 

It is a black and white photograph from 1970 which was printed into a catalogue, then scanned to PDF, and by the looks of things the whole PDF has been through lossy compression (there are various compression artefacts dotted around if you zoom in). So it's not a great quality any more.

 

The top image here is definitely a photograph, you can see the compression evident in the image.

Spoiler

 

If I zoom in on the PDF the compression is painfully visible:

Spoiler

 

 

[nathanclawfish 647]

16 minutes ago, Flame2512 said:

 

 

It is a black and white photograph from 1970 which was printed into a catalogue, then scanned to PDF, and by the looks of things the whole PDF has been through lossy compression (there are various compression artefacts dotted around if you zoom in). So it's not a great quality any more.

 

The top image here is definitely a photograph, you can see the compression evident in the image.

Hide contents

 

If I zoom in on the PDF the compression is painfully visible:

Hide contents

 

 

I would not say it is a bad photo, it looks more in line with the other promotional illustrations like those found in the vehicle section like this one from 296:

 

 

compared to an actual photograph taken from 304

 

 

Additionally the description of the image doesnt make sense, as it says it is the typical mount placed on the chieftan, which when you compare it to the photo with the typical mount that clearly isnt the case, as it lacks both the tripod, and seems to be like 3 plus feet taller then the normally stubby standard unit.

[Flame2512 3,384]

21 minutes ago, nathanclawfish said:

Additionally the description of the image doesnt make sense, as it says it is the typical mount placed on the chieftan, which when you compare it to the photo with the typical mount that clearly isnt the case, as it lacks both the tripod, and seems to be like 3 plus feet taller then the normally stubby standard unit.

 

I would take the wording to mean "this is how it is typically mounted on a Chieftain" (i.e. the Chieftain mounting system is different to the tripod), not "this is what the typical tripod looks like when fitted to a Chieftain".

 

Plus the description literally says "The photo shows a typical mount on a Chieftain tank". By comparison the caption of your image from page 296 says "The Commer 2-ton heavy-duty pick-up is the ideal general-purpose personnel carrier; illustrated with soft-ground tyre". Generally where-ever there is an illustration instead of a photo it states that it is an illustration.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Flame2512

[Flame2512 3,384]

47 minutes ago, nathanclawfish said:

and seems to be like 3 plus feet taller then the normally stubby standard unit.

 

Not sure what you mean here. According to the Brochure the radar head is about 0.5m tall, and the chieftain is 2.87 m tall at the top of the cupola. That means the height of the Chieftain is ~5.6 radars. If I draw out the height of the radar next to the Chieftain we can see that sure enough the tank in the photo is about 5.6 radars tall, so everything is in proportion.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Flame2512

[nathanclawfish 647]

50 minutes ago, Flame2512 said:

 

Not sure what you mean here. According to the Brochure the radar is about 0.5m tall, and the chieftain is 2.87 m tall at the top of the cupola. That means the height of the Chieftain is ~5.6 radars. If I draw out the height of the radar next to the Chieftain we can see that sure enough the tank in the photo is about 5.6 radars tall, so everything is in proportion.

 

 

im refering to the mounting for it, the actual unit is right its the stand. 

 

 

Regardless of all of that though is the fact the tank pictured is not a Chieftain MK.3 and is instead a mk.2, based on the NBC filter package on the back of the turret, and the cupola mounted on the top.  As regardless of if it is a photo or not there is a glare depicted on the periscopes, which was one of the major corrections between the mk.2 and .3.  either way I pity the loader, poor sod has another job to do when he already has half a dozen.

Edited March 17, 2022 by nathanclawfish

[Milocat 4,848]

+1, this would be a neat upgrade to see in the game.

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

Ok, this is brilliant. +1

[TerikG2014 1,389]

same system mounted on a verity of vehicles the FV432 seems to be a mockup but to my knowledge  the other two are operational. (Credit Ed Francis)

Edited March 22, 2022 by TerikG2014

[TerikG2014 1,389]

Another angle of the ZB289 cheiftan once again credit to Ed Francis 

[Flame2512 3,384]

Great images

15 hours ago, TerikG2014 said:

same system mounted on a verity of vehicles the FV432 seems to be a mockup but to my knowledge  the other two are operational. (Credit Ed Francis)

 

10 hours ago, TerikG2014 said:

Another angle of the ZB289 cheiftan once again credit to Ed Francis 

 

Great images

[TerikG2014 1,389]

18 hours ago, Flame2512 said:

Great images

Thanks 

[CubicSquare 156]

Radar is always a neat addition. Would love to see this in-game!