Country of Origin: France

Notes: The AMX-32 was produced for export to be a tank less expensive and complicated than the AMX-40, but more advanced than the aging AMX-30 series. The AMX-32 incorporated the then-new composite armor, but retained the 105mm gun and coaxial autocannon. The fire control suite was improved, as well as the night vision equipment. The commander’s cupola is fixed, but the mounted machinegun can be swiveled, aimed, and fired from under armor protection. It was unfortunate for the AMX-32 that the AMX-40 and Leclerc came along when they did; most countries desiring French tanks waited for the AMX-40, then decided to wait a little longer for the Leclerc. As a result, the AMX-32 never went into production.

Country of Origin: France

Notes: The AMX-40 was initially designed for the export market, and it was demonstrated in several countries in the Mideast. However, at about the same time, France was developing the Leclerc, and several other countries were developing new tanks with better armor and technology. By 1990, the AMX-40 was no longer being offered. The layout is conventional, but it does have composite armor. There are 6 smoke dischargers on either side of the turret.

Twilight 2000 Notes: As they are armed with the same 120mm gun as the M-1A1 Abrams, they were the logical choice to send to the Middle East with the Foreign Legion.

Country of Origin: India

Notes: This was to be the newest Indian tank, and was to take the Indian armored forces into the 21st century. It was designed with the help of Germany and the Netherlands. It is is significant improvement in armor protection and armament over the Vijayanta and even the T-72M1s that the Indian Army also uses. The Arjun uses a modern third-generation fire control system and composite armor, as well as a 120mm Rheinmetall gun, and has good night vision, as well as significant NBC protection.

Those are the good things. There have been problems with the engine; it was originally supposed to be a gas turbine, but the Indians could not make the engine work. They then intended to replace it with an indigenous diesel engine developing the same horsepower (1500 hp), but the engine only developed 500 horsepower. Further development and the addition of turbochargers increased the output to 1000 horsepower. India then scrapped the entire indigenous engine idea and bought 1400-horsepower diesel engines from Germany.

Everything seemed solved, but then the Indians ran out of money. At the same time, cheaper tanks became available from the former Soviet Union, and India decided to equip their forces with those instead. Officially, the Arjun is still being developed, but it will probably never see active military service, though the chassis is being used for the Bhim SP artillery gun.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The Arjun was built, but only a mere 42 were made.

Country of Origin: United States

Notes: This vehicle does not exist beyond some demonstrator models, though General Dynamics still offers the upgrade package.

Twilight 2000 Notes: General Dynamics produced a modernization upgrade package in the years before the Twilight War, and with storm clouds on the horizon, many countries that already used the M-60A3 purchased the package and had their vehicles fitted with it. The upgrade package consists of new armor, a more powerful engine, better transmission, and improved fire control system with ballistic computer, gun stabilization, and safer ammunition storage. Among the customers were certain units of the US Army National Guard, some of who were still using M-60A3s in the front line role; they called the modified M-60A3 the M-60A3E1. Cost of the upgrade kit is only one quarter the basic cost of the complete vehicle. Ammunition storage is similar to the M-1, in that ammunition hits in the turret do not destroy the vehicle; instead, all the ammunition is destroyed and 50 concussion hits are applied to the crew. The Modernized M-60A2 has lugs for reactive armor (HF, TF, TS).

Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist.

Country of Origin: Germany

Notes: The Leopard 2-140 was designed as a possible new version of the Leopard 2A4, using a developmental 140mm smoothbore main gun developed by Rheinmetall.  Though the idea showed much promise in computer simulations, and the standard 120mm Rheinmetall gun used by most Western tanks was proving increasingly ineffective against the frontal armor of potential adversary tanks, the new gun was never actually fitted to any Leopard 2, and the potential cost of the upgrade sounded the death knell for the Leopard 2-140.  The Leopard 2-140 has in fact not actually made it off the drawing board (or in this case, the computer); only computer studies have been done, though the 140mm has been tested from static mounts with satisfactory results indicating it is more effective than a 120mm or 125mm gun.

The layout of the Leopard 2-140 is conventional, identical to that of the standard Leopard 2, with the driver at the center front and commander and loader’s hatches on the turret deck. The Leopard 2-140 is equipped with composite armor in the front and spaced armor on the sides. It has a fire control computer with a laser rangefinder. The gunner and commander have a thermal imager; the driver has a passive IR periscope. The Leopard 2-140 also has most of the improvements of the Leopard 2A5, including a GPS system, a CITS (Commander's Independent Thermal Sight), electric gun controls and turret controls, the driver's hatch which slides to the right instead of the left, and the blow-out panels on the ammunition bins.  It does, however, lack the armor upgrade of the Leopard 2A5, as well as the handy rear-view TV camera for the driver.  Of course, the most noticeable difference between the Leopard 2-140 and a standard Leopard 2 (the variant upon which the Leopard 2-140 is based) is the experimental Rheinmetall 140mm smoothbore cannon, fed by an autoloader instead of a human loader. The main reason the autoloader was added was the large size of the breech and recoiling mechanism of the new gun; the autoloader takes up less room than a fourth crewmember, and also allows a higher rate of fire than would be possible using a human loader to heft the heavy 140mm rounds.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The Leopard 2-140 was a developmental weapon, which was supposed to be an improvement over the Leopard 2. The first dozen models were assigned to the 5th Panzer Division for field-testing and evaluations. However, orders followed shortly after the first 10 tanks had been delivered that the unit was to move out and cross the border into Poland to engage the enemy.

The Leopard 2-140 gave a good account of itself, its 140mm gun allowing it to engage the enemy at longer ranges than normally would be possible. However, it suffered from the fact that not enough ammunition was available for it once they crossed over into Poland, and soon Leopard 2-140s were operating on limited supplies. Severe fighting in Poland took its toll on the 5th Panzer Division as a whole, and the Leopard 2-140s were no exception -- three were lost in fighting in Poland and two more lost in fighting the Italians when they returned to Germany in 1998. The fate of the other two Leopard 2-140s that were supposed to be shipped to the 5th Panzer Division before they moved out to Poland is unknown.

An interesting fact about the Leopard 2-140 (in the Twilight 2000 world) is that their crews often referred to the Leopard 2-140 as the "Leopard 2A7," though it never actually received any official designation from the German Army.

Merc 2000 Notes: The Leopard 2-140 was never developed due to budgetary concerns.

Country of Origin: Germany

Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is a product of the imagination of the designers at GDW.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This version of the Leopard 2 was developed at the same time as a number of experimentations with casemated turrets; the same experiments in NATO led to vehicles such as the various RDF tanks and M-1A4 Abrams IV "Giraffe," and similar experiments in Russia led to the T-94, T-95, and the Kliver turret. The Leopard 3’s built (about 65 in all) entered service with the 1^st and 10^th Panzer Divisions as early as 1993, at first with scout elements, then in regular tank battalions. They acquitted themselves well in battle, especially when fighting from hull-down positions, but their lack of numbers meant that any losses hurt, and by 2000, they were a bit scarce. The Leopard 3 has three hatches for the driver, gunner, and commander, all on the front deck.

Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist in the Merc 2000 timeline.

Country of Origin: United States

Notes: This vehicle grew out of General Dynamics’ experimentation with the FMBT (Future Main Battle Tank) concepts, but was never built. I've heard some rumors that there is an upgrade to the M-1A2 that will be designated the M-1A3, but this vehicle is not it.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Also known as the "Giraffe," the Abrams IV is a standard M-1A2 chassis with a greatly modified interior and an unmanned casemate turret mounting with a standard 120mm gun or an L/55 version of the 120mm gun. In either case, the M-1A3 is equipped with all the improvements of the M-1A2SEP, as well as a more powerful engine. This, combined with its lighter weight, give the M-1A3 a leap in mobility over other M-1A2-based designs. Always rare in the Twilight War, with only about 150 of them being built, most of the Giraffes were deployed to divisional cavalry squadrons in the Middle East, though some 30 late production Giraffes were issued to the TXNG’s 49^th Armored Division, and about 10 showed up in USMC service in Europe (though it is a mystery how the Marines got them, since they were never officially issued to Marine units). The driver’s hatch is moved to the front left deck, and the commander’s hatch to the front left deck. The gunner uses the commander’s hatch.

Country of Origin: United States

Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; in fact, I made it up myself!

Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle is a progressive development of the M-1A2SEP, mounting a heavier caliber gun, coaxial cannon in addition to the machinegun for less armored targets, and a commander's weapon mount that can use a variety of weapons. The vehicle is equipped with 2^nd generation thermal imaging, a VIDS system, and an IR jammer. Most of these vehicles never made outside of the continental US, though it is estimated that about 10 were deployed to Europe, and another 20 to the Middle East. Most of these vehicles were used against the Mexicans (where most of the combat against them resulted in lopsided slaughters in favor of the US side), and to Alaska and Canada to combat the Russian invasion.

Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist.

Country of Origin: United States

Notes: Though General Dynamics has been aggressively marketing this hybrid, they have not yet found any buyers.

Twilight 2000 Notes: In the late 1990s, the US Army and Marines were faced with the problem of large amounts of M-60A1 and A3 tanks that were outclassed in performance, especially with deficiencies with its fire control system, and night vision suite. At the same time, it was realized that large amounts of retired M-1 turrets were available when the US Army switched over to the M-1A1 and later models in the starting in the late 1980s, and that the lighter M-60 chassis with its diesel engine were more fuel-economical, and that the chassis of existing M-60 tanks were still quite serviceable. Someone did the math, and discovered that M-60 chassis can be quite easily modified to accept M-1A1 turrets. Starting in 1997, some 250 M-60s were modified to this standard, and type-standardized as the XM-60A5; however, they were more commonly known to their crews as the M-60-2000, or Abrams Junior. Some 75-90 were sent to the European and Middle Eastern Theatres, but most did not make it out of the continental US, and most were sent to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to fight the Russian invasion, and about 40 were sent to the American Southwest. Most of the hulls were equipped with side skirts, and most also used reactive armor in an attempt to match the superb armor protection of their turrets.

Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle program was eventually dropped due to lack of buyers.

Country of Origin: Croatia

Notes: This is an M-84A4 with a new welded turret with a bustle for additional ammunition storage. The armor is thickened and improved and lugs for reactive armor are fitted to the TF, TS, HF, and HS. The vehicle is also fitted with an integral Geiger counter and has a laser detection system that automatically launches smoke grenades in the path of an incoming laser signal. As of 2003, there were still no production vehicles; by 2006 there were only a few prototypes, shown at virtually every major arms show and yet finding no buyers, mostly due to the glut present in the MBT market from cheap Russian tanks and Chinese and Ukrainian upgrades to existing tanks.

Twilight/Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist.

Country of Origin: Egypt

Notes: This is a heavily modified T-55 built by Egypt, and altered almost beyond recognition.  The Ramses II has a US-style suspension similar to that of the M-60A3, uses the same engine, transmission, and drive train as the M-60A3, carries the same 105mm gun, carries more fuel internally, and adds IR vision for the gunner and driver as well as image intensification for the commander and a laser rangefinder with ballistic computer for the gunner. Armor has been added and most of these tanks also carry side skirts. The vehicle has been radiologically shielded, has an NBC overpressure system, and mounts 6 smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret. The hatch layout has been retained, but the Ramses II is nearly one meter longer than the T-55. By 2006, the Ramses II had still not entered production, but development continues; it may, however, never be mass-produced, since Egypt herself has access to better tanks, and cheaper T-55 upgrades are available elsewhere.

Twilight 2000 Notes: About half of Egypt’s aging T-55 fleet have been modified to this standard.

Merc 2000 Notes: Budget cuts have scuttled this program.

Country of Origin: Sweden

Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life, beyond a wooden full-sized model.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Designed shortly before the war, the Strv-2000 was put into production during the Twilight War since the supply of Leopard 2A5s stopped when Germany decided it needed them more than the money from exports. The vehicle features state of the art night vision, full gun stabilization and fire control, a large caliber gun, and a coaxial cannon for engaging soft targets and lighter AFVs. Normally, only APFSDS or APFSDS-T ammunition was carried for the main gun, since the type of targets normally engaged by HEAT, HE, or WP ammunition would be engaged by the coaxial cannon or machinegun. The Strv-2000 was perhaps the most heavily armed and armored ground vehicle in the world in the Twilight War.

Merc 2000 Notes: This vehicle does not exist.

Country of Origin: Egypt

Notes: These are simply standard T-62s fitted with a laser rangefinder, better stabilization, and in some cases, an alternate gun. They are evaluation pieces and no actual restocking has yet been done; it may in fact never be done, as better tanks and better upgrades are available in many places in the world at a lower cost.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Most 115mm-armed Egyptian T-62s have had the laser rangefinder and increased stabilization added. About a fourth have different guns, mostly 105mm.

Merc 2000 Notes: Most of this work has been cancelled.

Country of Origin: Russia (Soviet Union)

Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is based on a rumored design for "the next Soviet main battle tank," rumors that started appearing in the late 1970s and persisted until the early 1990s.

Twilight 2000 Notes: First encountered by scout elements of the 6^th Ranger Battalion in the Ukraine in 1996, The T-94 was a radical departure from previous Russian tank designs, one that had been long rumored, but never seen by the West until that point. The long, low chassis houses the crew, ammunition, and a gas turbine engine that is actually reliable, not too mechanically complicated, and does not gulp fuel at too high a rate, though it is very expensive to produce. The hull is topped with a casemate turret for a 125mm gun and coaxial machinegun. The crewmembers are all housed in the front of the hull, with the gunner operating the main gun and coaxial through a TV camera mounted beside the gun and downlinked to the gunner’s and commander’s positions. There are auxiliary sights at these positions, but accuracy is severely degraded with these sights (+1/Good). The HF and HS can be fitted with ERA, and the T-94 is also equipped with the Shtora-1 countermeasure system. In addition, most of them are also fitted with the Arena active defense system. The T-94 is a fast and deadly tank that, thankfully for Western armies, was not developed in time to be produced in large numbers.

Country of Origin: Russia (Soviet Union)

Notes: There is a T-95, but details of it have not yet been released, nor have pictures.  At any rate, this is not the real-life T-95.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The T-95 tank was begun as a program to design an improved T-80/T-90 tank that would standardize the manufacturing plants, which were producing two different models. The design borrows from the T-80 MBT for its chassis; designs seen in combat were based on the T-80UM (which is equipped with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA), a more powerful engine, better computerized fire control system, and thermal imaging systems and sights). The major difference is the addition of an automatic loading, low-profile turret that is armed with a 135mm smoothbore cannon, and is NBC-sealed.

The T-95 has been fitted with an experimental model of the T-90s Shtora-1 Countermeasure system. It is designed to detect the presence of an enemy laser beam (used for targeting); upon detection of a laser beam, it immediately launches a series of smoke charges to obscure the beam.

The T-95 was first seen in late 1994 by spy satellites of the National Reconnaissance Office, and was first seen in combat in the summer of 1997 by elements of the US 43rd Infantry Division. It is known to be capable of using the AT-11 Reflecks missiles of the T-90, in addition to its normal ammunition, and a special 135mm Thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) round that was designed to be used against light armored vehicles in convoys. The T-95 has picked up the nickname of "Dragon" from NATO troops, due to its ability to cripple and kill foreign-made tank designs.

Country of Origin: South Africa

Notes: The Tank Technology Demonstrator is basically a tank awaiting funds. Most of the design work has been completed, but SANDF simply doesn’t have the money to produce or acquire any new tanks.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Though this South African tank entered series production as the Twilight War picked up, the experimental name stuck (though normally abbreviated to simply the "Tech;" it never received any official designation from the SANDF). The TTD was meant to provide a match for the T-72 tanks that more and more of its neighbors were receiving from the Russians. To this end, an advanced vehicle was designed incorporating composite armor and advanced targeting systems, as well as the ability to use reactive armor. Three versions were designed (in increasing rarity), one armed with a 105mm gun, a 120mm gun, and a 140mm gun. The 140mm-armed version is very rare, perhaps 5 of the total being built with this gun. The TTD features a laser warning system that automatically launches smoke grenades in the path of an incoming laser. Ammunition storage areas feature blow-off panels that protect the crew from an ammunition explosion, and if an ammunition explosion occurs, the vehicle is not destroyed and the crew is not killed, but each member of the crew receives 50 concussion hits.

Merc 2000 Notes: This program has been shelved indefinitely; the South Africans have instead acquired Sabra tanks from Israel, along with a few Merkava Mk 1s.

Country of Origin: Jordan

Notes: This is a Tariq retrofitted with a kit provided by the US firm Cadillac Gage. The kit converts the Tariq into a low-profile tank with a casemated main gun. The gun has an autoloader and the number of crew is reduced. The crew rides in the hull. The gun is a new Rheinmetall gun. The vehicle is much lighter, has a lower profile, and better performance. The lugs for reactive armor on the hull are retained (HF, HS). As of 2006, this is still an experimental project, hampered by a lack of funding and any real need for the tank by the Jordanian armed forces.

Twilight 2000 Notes: About 75 of these modifications were carried out before the Twilight War.

Country of Origin: Romania

Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is a product of the Twilight 2000 designers at GDW.  (It is seen in Twilight 2000 publications as the "M-81," but I felt that the designation "TM-810" is closer to a real Romanian designation.)

Twilight 2000 Notes: Originally an experimental modification of the TM-800, the TM-810 was placed into production in earnest after Romania switched sides to NATO, and needed a tank to combat some of the more advanced Russian and Eastern European designs. It is e