VEC

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VEC M1 (Vehiculo de Exploracion de Caballeria): Light Cavalry Scout Vehicle


Statistics

Main gun: 25mm Bushmaster
Ammunition Stowage: 170 ready/250 stowed
Default Ammunition: 121/179 M791 APDS-T, 49/71 M792 HE-I-T


Coaxial machine gun: 7.62mm MG-3S
Ammunition Stowage: 250 ready/850 stowed
Default Ammunition: 250/850 7.62mm NATO


Grenade Dischargers: Grenades
Ammunition Stowage: 2 ready/2 stowed
Default Ammunition: 2/2 Smoke


Armour protection:
Frontal Turret Armour: Thin. Protected vs HMG
Frontal Hull Armour: Thin. Protected vs HMG
(no information within SB documentation)


Combat Mass: 13.7 tonnes
Engine Power: 310hp Scania DS9 6-cylinder diesel
Height 2.51m
Top Speed: 72kph

General

Based off of the BMR-600 series of 6x6 APCs, the VEC (aka the Pegaso VEC 3562 or BMR-625 VEC) serves as a light cavalry reconnaissance vehicle for the Spanish army. Entering service in 1980, the VEC was originally armed with the Rheinmetall Rh-202 20mm cannon, but was upgraded to the current M242 Bushmaster during the 1990s. A coaxial MG-3S 7.62mm machine gun and six Wegmann grenade launchers round out its weapons systems. The modeled version is the VEC-M1 upgraded in the late 90's with additional passive armor and a new diesel engine.

Vehicle crew is three: driver, gunner, and vehicle commander, along with a two man scout section carrying (M136) AT-4 anti-armour weapons and 5.56mm rifles.

The VEC is typically employed as part of a light armored cavalry platoon consisting of: one platoon command vehicle (VEC), two scout sections of two VECs each, and a two vehicle section of Centauros, although in certain units the Centauros are replaced by a four man motorcycle squad.

Thermal Signature

VEC TIS image, front-right VEC TIS image, rear-left

General

  • 25mm Bushmaster gun, dual feeds
  • Unstabilized, but power traverse (25deg/sec, 40deg/sec if TC overrides)
  • no laser, no ballistic computer
  • 7.62 coaxial

Crew Positions

TC

Gun elevation lock
Turret azimuth lock

The TC has a TI sight extension and a number of vision blocks (the 12oc vision block being slightly bigger)

The TC can override the gunner only in yaw, he cannot control gun elevation. The TC cannot fire the gun (electrically), though he can fire it by means of a mechanical crank like on the CV9030/FI.

The turret can only be locked in elevation if it is at +5 degrees. Locking is done by pulling the outer handle, unlocking by pulling the inner handle (the outer handle will snap forward if this is done).


Power Control Panel

Label Description
DISYUNTOR not implemented
TC power panel
TRINCA indicates that the turret is locked in azimuth, elevation, or both. As long as this is the case servos can not be activated!
PRES 12V indicates that 12V power is available (activated by the toggle switch at the turret floor, between TC and GNR)
COMPROBACION LED readout to check various subsystem's voltages. +12V and +24V should be enabled as soon as turret power was enabled, the others should be green as soon as servo power is ON
SERVOS push buttons to enable/disable servos, plus a LED indicating status. Note that it takes 2 seconds for the servos to come on
LANZAGRANADAS safety switch, status LED and push buttons for the smoke grenades. There's one left and one right salvo available
VENTILADOR will forcibly activate the turret fan. Note that this fan will additionally activate whenever the COAX is fired using the electrical trigger (then it will run for about 60 seconds). The fan will not go on if the COAX is fired using the backup trigger.
SEGURO switch and LED to toggle and check COAX safety. Note that both COAX and main gun can be active at the same time; if the GNR presses the trigger, both will fire.
3 knobs to increase/decrease light intensity (not implemented) and a light test button

Weapon Control Panel

Label Description
AVISO DE RECARGA this shows, for each feed, if the end-of-belt limit (13 KE, 23 HE) has been reached and allows the TC to override this.
TC weapon panel
SELECCION DE MUNICION allows the TC to select either HE or AP. Note that if the selected munition was changed, one last round of the previously selected munition type will be fired!
ARMADA light this will be lit if the main gun both has power and is armed
RETENDA light this will be lit if the gun thinks that it's correctly loaded (ie will not light up if the gun is in the 'MISFIRE' position)
TENSION toggle and light this will power the gun and feed system - the blue LED should be lit if powered
SEGURO controls main gun armament state
CADENCA controls gun rate of fire (single shot, low and high ROF)
3 knobs to increase/decrease light intensity (not implemented) and a light test button

TI

Brillo reticulo - allows to change reticle brightness (not yet (?) modelled)

Gun

  • Feed select knob - unlike the CV9030, the TC can only change the selected feed manually if the gun is not powered (if TENSION is OFF).
  • Gun crank handle - works just like on the CV9030

Gun cover

Gun cover with open access hatch
  • if the vehicle starts out as 'combat ready' this cover is removed by default
  • if the vehicle starts 'combat unready' the cover is mounted and will have to be removed (this is usually done by the crew ASAP as it allows easier access to the gun in case of errors)

Gun cover removal takes 2 minutes (or 5s with 'Wait Times' damage). It can be initiated by pressing the 'Move Gun Cover' (R) hotkey.

If the gun cover stays mounted the TC can still access the feed select knob via the small access panel (clicking on it will move it out of the way). He can also manually crank the gun.

Initial gun loading

If the vehicle starts out as non combat ready, or if it was completely shot out, the process to load is as follows:

  • press the trigger once
  • the gun will go into 'MISFIRE'
  • press the trigger again
  • the gun will go into 'SEAR'
  • if you press the trigger now the gun will fire (note that if the ROF was not 'singleshot' and the trigger were held down the gun would continue firing now!)

Gunner

The Gunner has a TI (2 magnifications, 12.3deg, 4.1deg FOV), a daysight (2 magnifications, 1x/8x) and a unity vision block. There are two panels (weapon status and TI) plus two additional controls: a crank to open/close the ballistic shield (covering both TI sensor and unity sight) and a knob allowing the opening of the link eject door (if this is not open firing is not allowed!). Note that the GNR can open the hatch and slam this door shut again (though it's not necessary to do that. Note that right now the doors is not visible from the GNRs viewpoint when outside the hatch..).

If enabled by the TC the GNR has power steering; otherwise hand cranks have to be used. The system enforces certain minimum pitch values in order to avoid hull collisions (note that these are not active if servos are OFF! However damage is not modelled).

The GNR can use binoculars if unbuttoned.

The GNR has a palm switch on the control handle (it's actually a 'button switch'), the gun is fired by means of a foot pedal. There's also a mechanical backup trigger for the COAX, located to the right of the foot pedal. In order to fire that, a safety lever (located above the trigger) has to be raised and turned (this is a single click).

  • The low-mag TI sight will show the high-mag's field of view using brackets; the high-mag sight will just show a standard NATO reticle.
  • The day sight will show a ballistic reticle for APDS and HE for various distances. It has no provision to estimate range or lead.

Weapon Control Panel

This panels serves exclusively to show the state of the weapon systems; the gunner can not change its state (only the TC can do this!)

Label Description
ARMA These lights are lit if the corresponding weapon (7.62 or 25mm) are armed. Note that both can be armed at the same time; in which case both will fire if the electrical trigger was pressed.
GNR weapon panel
MUICION Shows, for each feed, if the end of belt was reached (upper row) and if the end of belt stop was overridden (lower row).
FUEGO HABIL 25 weapon ready to fire - requires the link door to be opened, safety to be off, power to the gun
MUNICION HE HE feed selected
MUNICION APDS KE feed selected
VENTANA ABERTA link ejection door is open
ON SERVOS servos are active
The buttons along the bottom edge are used to decrease/increase illumination (not implemented) and to light up all lights (for testing).

TI Control Panel

the TIS control panel

The upper light will be lit green if the sensor has cooled down sufficiently. The lower one just shows if power is available.

The SISTEMA knob allows to select either TEST mode, NORMAL operation mode or HOMOGENIZATION (boresight) mode. Only NORMAL mode is functional, the other show dummy output.

Contrast, Focus and Homogenization modes are not functional.

TIS power toggles it either on or off (there is no standby mode)

There is supposed to be a red floodlight in the center of the panel but due to render limitations this is not modelled. It would always be on when the TI is enabled.

Coax

The COAX brass is collected in a chute in front of the gunner's control handles. It has to be periodically emptied, as otherwise the COAX will jam (it can hold about 350 rounds). This activity takes 50s (or 5s with 'Wait times' damage applied). While this is ongoing, the little door at the bottom of the chute will be opened. This activity can be initiated by pressing the 'Empty Shell Bag' (R) hotkey.

Driver

  • the driver has ballistic shields for his vision blocks (which can be operated using the 'ballistic shield toggle' hotkey)
  • the door in the back can IRL only be closed if the engine is running (not modelled in SB)


Appendix

Startup

TC

  • enable turret power (12V and 24V, located at the floor between GNR and TC) - check on power panel that +12V and +24V show green
  • unlock turret elevation
  • unlock turret azimuth - check that the 'trinca' light on the weapon control panel is OFF
  • enable servos (only possible with locks disengaged) - check on power panel that the four readouts next to +12V and +24V are also green. Note that it takes 2s for the servos to come on
  • enable weapon power ('tension') - check that the blue light (at least) on the weapons panel is ON
  • set main gun safety to OFF - the light indicating the selected feed should be ON

Gunner

  • open ballistic shields
  • open link eject door - check that the VENTANA ABERTA light (and, depending on the TC arming the main gun, the HABIL FUEGO 25 light) on the weapon control panel is lit. You cannot fire the 25mm gun with the link eject door closed
  • power on the TIS
  • put first round into chamber (optional)

Reference

Hotkeys

  • 'Move Gun Cover' (R)
  • 'Clear Brass' (R)

Damages

  • 'Wait Times' - instant reloading, short gun cover and brass clearing time, instant TIS cooldown
  • TIS
  • Turretdrive
  • GPS
  • GAS
  • Main Gun
  • COAX