The reason why ACEC was interested in electric armoured vehicles was that they produced the transmission system for the French Crotale SAM system 4x4 vehicles. These had an odd requirement, in that they needed a lot of electrical power for the radars when they were stationary, with no drive to the wheels, but very little when they were moving and the engine was revving highly and producing lots of power (the SAM system could only be operated when the vehicles were stationary). Normally, such a vehicle would have an auxilliary generator, but that would be dead weight when it was driving, so they came up with the idea of having a single diesel generator which could feed electric power to the wheels or the radars as required, and ACEC got the contract.

@BenjaminDamien

3 ай бұрын

They also had good track record in electric-diesel train engine (and of course pure electric. They for instance developed the engines for the french TGV)

@alecblunden8615

3 ай бұрын

I presume the button on the driver's floor was to start the ICE.

@LasOrveloz

3 ай бұрын

@@alecblunden8615 That would be a bit weird, since one could see a driver accidentaly pressing it during driving the vehicle, and starter motors reeeeaally like when you engage them on a already at speed spinning engine. Although, there could be a cutoff that disables the button if the engine is already running.

@alecblunden8615

3 ай бұрын

@@LasOrveloz It was quite common in cars. My Aunt had a mid 60s Mini with the feature.

My EE Prof always joked "There are no electrical problems, only mechanical problems in electrical systems." and that you couldn't break electricity but you could break wires and all the other pieces of the system. lol

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

Oh well that makes all the difference.

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

He's absolutely correct. My instructor taught me the same, and that advice has proven to be accurate during my 40 years of experience.

Poor old Chieftain looks as if he has been trying out those Belgian beers the previous night. They are lethal man. You can't drink them in pints or you end up getting too pissed hahah.

@alltat

3 ай бұрын

15% ABV that tastes like 5%. It's a dangerous country indeed.

@gwtpictgwtpict4214

3 ай бұрын

@@alltat Yeah, you really need to check the ABV on Belgian beers, really easy to trip yourself up, both figuratively and literally.

@samholdsworth420

16 күн бұрын

Plus they're full of wheat and make you feel like s*** 😜

@samholdsworth420

16 күн бұрын

Why would drinking beer make him angry? Lol

@sketchesofpayne

4 күн бұрын

​@@samholdsworth420 in the USA and Britain, "pissed-off" means angry. In the USA "pissed" is shorthand for pissed-off. But in Britain "pissed" means "drunk" (for whatever reason).

Watching you turn yourself into Chieftain-gami never gets old. Thank you for just assuming a small person like yourself is going to fit.

I don't know this vehicle at all, but you had me at Cobra

@mikeynth7919

3 ай бұрын

I think GI Joe would have issues with that.

@mhraen

3 ай бұрын

Wonder if it comes in blue?

@First-Name_Last-Name

3 ай бұрын

Aw, should have made a "command vehicle" version, just so they can call it the "Cobra Commander"

@BenCarpenterWrites

3 ай бұрын

😂 same

11:38 Note that the Belgian army only selects smaller people as armoured vehicle drivers.

@jeremywilliams5107

2 ай бұрын

A recent project to upgrade à turret on a light car had a restriction of 5'7" on the crew...

Somehow GI Joe always knew France would team up with Cobra.

@Real_Claudy_Focan

3 ай бұрын

*belgium*

@Morkhard

3 ай бұрын

Yep the well known British GI Joe fighting the migthy French Cobra.

@nvelsen1975

3 ай бұрын

@@Real_Claudy_Focan Same difference.

@JohnHughesChampigny

3 ай бұрын

@@nvelsen1975 No. Belgium is beer, fries and chocolate. France is wine and cheese. Belgium is better at small arms, France makes nukes.

Did not expect Formula 1 trivia but it is a welcome suprise

@duckrutt

3 ай бұрын

There's a Damon Hill Jordan 199 on his bookshelf so not a huge surprise to me. At least I'm pretty sure it's a 199. The display window on Hot Wheels F1 boxes is kinda small but it has the red/white curb detail.

Fun fact, belgian army still uses AC Generators build by ACEC to these days ! These things are apocalypse proof level of reliable ! Thanks ACEC !

I can't imagine those rubber hatch seals surviving soldiers very long...

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

They aren't any different from the seals used on submarines.

They were build 5km from my house in Charleroi ! The place didnt exist anymore (the shop/factory) and fun fact, Belgian Defense is rebuilding the place for a new barrack complex for medium infantry battalion ! What a fate !

Nice, an AC Cobra with air con and powered seats, Carroll Shelby would have been proud.

@benholroyd5221

15 күн бұрын

I think Toyota would by proud, it's basically a Prius

@13:10 the button on the floor is probably an intercom trigger. The Apache has two that look almost exactly the same: floor mounted, big clicky button. One is for radio push to talk and the other is for intercom push to talk.

@GoldPicard

3 ай бұрын

The Blackhawks had an ICS floor button as well both for the pilots and crew cheifs.

@davydatwood3158

3 ай бұрын

Interesting! Most emergency dispatch centres in North America also use floor mounted push-to-talk radio switches.

@tedferkin

3 ай бұрын

Makes, sense, my immediate thought was some kind of dead man switch.

@DB-yj3qc

3 ай бұрын

​@tedferkin That would probably be a good thing for an electrical powered vehicle. But, as noted by others the radio / intercom system more likely.

Really makes you appreciate MT-LB as a design...

A new Chieftain video!!!

Really needs to be dark blue with an offset white strip running along the top of the vehicle front to back....

Button on floor could be a starter button, like we had under the clutch pedal on the M-151A2

The highbeam switch was used as an engine starting switch on some military trucks

@williamromine5715

3 ай бұрын

And, not just military trucks. I am old enough(82) to remember them on non military vehicles. The floor switch was next to the accelerator so that both could be reached with the same foot when starting the engine.

That thing must have been incredibly loud inside with that engine screaming at 3200rpm ALL THE TIME.

@ratscoot

3 ай бұрын

And for a large displacement diesel engine that’s very high rev.

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

That's not how diesel locomotives work, the engine speed varies with load.

@Stuka87

2 ай бұрын

@@justforever96 Generators require a set RPM for a given voltage. Alternators allow the RPM to vary as they use voltage regulators. And in the video he says the engine was run at 3200rpm.

I can understand why it was too early. Had a car from the early 90's that had electric everything. Which just meant nothing worked and I had no manual control as back up. Took a while to get everything reasonably reliable for civilian use, so we may now be getting to cheap and reliable enough for military use.

@JeffHenry-cq3is

3 ай бұрын

Same thing now

@akmzd6938

3 ай бұрын

There's a reason why the electronics in spacecraft are always pretty primitive compared to consumer products of the same age - if you can't get anyone up there to fix it, it's better to use proven vintage hardware.

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

@@akmzd6938 Spacecraft and airplanes have a higher standard of electrical build quality for the physical connections, and triple redundant systems. No consumer would be willing to pay for that. Everything in the spacecraft business is far from being vintage stuff. The flight computer for Apollo was cutting-edge, as is that for both Falcon and Orion.

Love it. Thanks Chieftain!! 😊 When I heard a few months ago that you were going to be delving into the Belgian collection I was hoping you would cover the Cobra 🐍 Very little about it on KZread, yours is really the first in depth review 👍👍 And as a bonus you have already covered the Timoney and Valkyr💪 fair play to ya🙂

Moving the vehicle with a set of jumper cables to a following vehicle is about as clever as the story about jump starting the auxiliary power unit on a C-130 using a SeaBee truck (which then allowed the engines to start, etc.).

Go Joe! Wait a second... Also you get a bit... Car sick in your AFV. Amazin, I love going into combat nauseous :/

Thank you, Nick for that sneak peek at Belgion electric "tanks"

Great video, Nick...👍

Its a cool hybrid. i like the concept . A good battery, diesel generator. all the torgue

Looks like our fearless leader the chieftain has the top of his turret changing from the well worn “Feldgrau” to a winter camo 👨‍🦳

Lovely to see a vehicle just before computers became ubiquitous. It shows how much of the technological development in the last 40 odd years has been the ghost in the shell.

11:40 when you are walking downtown and there's a man inside a dumpster.

Kudos for your excellent pronunciation of the full name of the ACEC ! FYI "Ets" is short for "Établissement" in French, that is "company" / "corporation". Thank you so much for giving us Belgians an opportunity to discover these forgotten vehicles!

A total of 5 Cobra prototypes were made, 4 APC variants and 1 light tank. The WHI has 4 of the 5 in its collection. Number 5 is privately owned but is a wreck missing one track and it had sustained water damage after 'drowning' during amphibious trials. Funny thing, as you were quite close to the other 2 APC's stored at the Gunfire museum. They're only 100m away in another hangar. Hope we can get one of them restored to working condition one day.

@RedXlV

3 ай бұрын

It's a pity there was no military that ordered either the APC or the light tank, because they seem like they were solid vehicles for the era.

excellent as always!🎉🎉🎉

Great video

28 inch wall is 71cm, respectable enough. Okay an M2 Bradley will climb 3.0 ft (91 cm) but in was introduced in 1982, 5 years later. Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) next-generation armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) was unveiled in June 2016, it can climb 60cm of wall.

Thanks for the info. Always wanted to know about these vehicles

One thing that was found early on with wheeled armoured vehicles and electric motors is the motors are _too_ good when something slipped. This is for direct drive, mind you. If a wheel slipped, there's enough power and torque and instant response that the wheel gets accelerated to a rotational speed sufficient to rip the type off in chunks before the control electronics can react to stop this happening (reducing power and applying braking). So far, the only way around it is put in a drivetrain, which is rather counterproductive seeing that's one of the things you're trying to avoid to save weight. Ever seen a high speed video of a disc being spun fast enough to disintegrate? Yeah, that but with a LAV-25 tyre. So for now they're limited to tracked vehicles like the Ripsaw MS.

Thank you for this Video. Quite some intersing vehicles

The 4 direction toggle switch I most likely for motor direction ei both forward, both reverse, left forward - right rev, left rev - right forward for turning in place based on other electric drive skid-steer vehicles from the 60s-80s..

I'm guessing the light tank wasn't supposed to be swimmable; since it doesn't have the deployable splashguard. But might have been nice to show its rear and see whether it carried the same props and rudders as the APC variant.

Interesting vehicles! Thanks.

Cool concept.

Did I miss track tensioning?

@RDEnduro

3 ай бұрын

I think he said it was a rubber band :)

@mattwilliams3456

3 ай бұрын

I was emotionally crushed at the absence of a dedicated tensioning speech.

Man, At first I thought this would be about the legendary AC Cobra.....

This is one of those "WHAT the hell is that?" Chieftain videos.

@Cybrludite

3 ай бұрын

I looked at the preview pic & and thought it was a BTR-50.

@memonk11

3 ай бұрын

@@Cybrludite BTR-something.

I had some of my guys get motion sick in the back of a M-113 while we tried to stay with a company of M-1 Abrams when the CO said expedite across the washboard desert of Fort Irwin. Not fun, nor combat effective.

@JeffHenry-cq3is

3 ай бұрын

Had the same problem with M60s

@DB-yj3qc

3 ай бұрын

I've seen/ experienced that even in BFV's to there and other places. M113 can be choppy on washboard travel. Probably the reason I haven't experienced being "seasick, carsick or airsick" yet. 🤔👍 Formerly 11B who has been light, mech and heavy mech units.

Bless you! 🤧

Interesting, hadn't realised that they were still trying hybrid vehicles back then. Some of the modern constant speed engines are getting simple enough to be considered for this sort of use now though, there's a two stroke, 4 cylinder, opposed piston (so 8 pistons) one that if scaled up slightly (it only weighs 35 kg and develops something like 120 hp at 500 cc) could be a good fit.

There are pit mining trucks weighing 45 tons that are all-electric now. It's only a matter of time before armor and IFVs have them.

@AsbestosMuffins

3 ай бұрын

mining trucks are a really weird niche that it works in, those things are so heavy the regen actually saves the brakes and extends the service. really maybe theres a better way to do it than trucks to begin with

@johnsteiner3417

3 ай бұрын

@@AsbestosMuffins Most tanks are heavier, so that likely has a lot of parallels.

@McRocket

3 ай бұрын

I'm waiting for All-EV APC's, IFV's, light tanks. Just have the power pack easily exchangeable (like 5 minutes). I believe some large truck tractors use this in Australia. It's high time someone tried it in a military combat vehicle, IMHO. ✌️

@johnsteiner3417

3 ай бұрын

@@McRocket And it narrows down the resources needed to run it.

@allangibson8494

3 ай бұрын

The WW2 Elefant self propelled gun (built as a competitor to the Konig Tiger) used a diesel electric drive train. The amount of copper required scuppered production after a hundred were built by Porsche.

It’s certainly a interesting idea

🎖️💪🏆🤗🙏⭐ Thank you for sharing

Thanks Chief! Gary Owen!

14:27 We, in Charleroi pronounce "ACEC", like "A Sekh" ;)

COBRA!!!!!

@moosemaimer

3 ай бұрын

Make sure you shout real loud or Sarge will make you run laps with Renfro.

I guess Chieftain needs a "if it fits i sits" meme

Can you hook it up to shore power?

@travissmith2773

3 ай бұрын

As long as you feed the correct voltage and amperage yeah.

First off, thank you for nore amazing content! How're you doing? You seem exhausted.

Very interesting,as for motion sickness, I have experienced that in a British 432 apc whilst on exercise in soltau ,it was exacerbated by the smell of unwashed infantrymen (especially in the gentlemans area ,think rancid gorgonzola!🥴🤮🥵,all the best from sunny Troon 😊

Unfortunately without some new advancement in technology, electric drive trains for armoured fighting vehicles are unlikely to become the norm for one simple factor: weight. For relatively small vehicles, an electric drive train is usually going to weigh more than a simply driveshaft. For a locomotive, extra weight is often an advantage, since extra weight equals extra traction, but for an AFV that extra weight would be better used elsewhere, be that in armour or ammo or half a dozen other things. For ships an electric drive train can weigh the same or even less than an equivalent mechanical drive train, particularly if the engineering spaces are located nearer to the amidships rather than at the aft, plus ships are less bothered by the slight weight increase. There's also another aspect, which interestingly these vehicles seemed to have suffered with, namely the extra complexity of an electric drive train. With the extra steps between the engine and the tracks, there's more failure points, so there's always going to be more chance of something braking. Now for ships an electric drive train gives more options, allowing the use of azimuth thrusters, which allowing better manoeuvrability while also eliminating the need for holes below the waterline for the driveshafts. And for locomotives an electric drive train is much easier to use with bogies since you only need an electric connection rather than hydraulic or mechanical linkages.

@JanBruunAndersen

3 ай бұрын

With an electric drive train you can eliminate the gearbox. That equals a lot less weight and complicated mechanical things that can break down.

@fabiogalletti8616

3 ай бұрын

Honestly, Unconvinced - My battery electric vehicle (a Peugout van) weight 80kg more than the same model with a petrol engine. Beefy battery in, a lot of junk, transmission, filters, cables, gears out. And the electric motor, same power but ya' big, in Chieftain unit of measure. I'm not sure a combustion engine that have to do one single RPM regime(+fuel, filters)+two electric motors is much heavier that all the gearboxes, shafts, differentials, and assorted metak junk to bring power from a variable speed engine to final drives.

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

You aren't up to date on electric motors it seems.

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

@@fabiogalletti8616 When the vehicle has an ICE it only needs batteries for starting the engine, and for reserve power should the engine need to be shut down.

The Toyota Prius MT-LB

40 years on, they should have another go. I'd like to know more about the pros and cons and why it has been so attractive an idea but never quite pulled off.

@RedXlV

3 ай бұрын

As near as I can tell, ACEC got it right with the Cobra. It's just that no military was willing to switch to electric drive at the time.

The tank looks like it can still be useful, it just needs upgrades like what the Belgians did with the 100 Leopard 1s they donated to Ukraine.

@JeffHenry-cq3is

3 ай бұрын

Did that ever happen? Thought Germany said no

@gwtpictgwtpict4214

3 ай бұрын

@@JeffHenry-cq3is Have a Google, it looks like something shy of 200 Leopard 1's have been promised / delivered to Ukraine. I've seen footage showing them in service.

Fun fake fact: The track button actually turns on/off the 8-track player for some tunes.

The Diesel/electric concept is a good concept. The problem during WW2 was that the electrics just weren't up to service in an vehicle that was going to get shot at and operate over rough ground. Getting a reliable diesel electric design working on a locomotive is much easier. But with today's tech, there's no reason a diesel/electric drive system would not work and work well.

The lovechild of an M113 and a BTR-60

The foot button looks like a push to talk button for the intercom radio? Just a guess but that's what it does on them Huey helicopters and it's variants.

Sir, that was a very interesting and thought provoking video. Thank you! One interesting side note. In the age of climate madness and CO2 paranoia. There have been huge developments in electrical powered and hybrid vehicles. One rare benefit could be technology is approaching the point where true diesel electric drive for AFV's is actually the preferable form of propulsion. Diesel engines are the most energy efficient ever, as are the various new designs of electric motor. Battery technology has advanced at an incredible pace too. However, the greatest leap forward has been in the computer controlled management systems. Making integration of hybrid drives super reliable. Special thanks going to people such as Elon Musk. The term whispering death may no longer be reserved for those lethal electric powered milk floats of my youth.

In the U.K. Cummins used to use grey ,Perkins blue caterpillar yellow 🤔

8:40 Such a belgian thing to do ! Cheap, smart, effective and 100% out of the box ! (God bless belgian army mechanics)

No Track tension adjustment? Cheers!

Cool review, Chieftain! I never knew about this vehicle before. Anyhow, I think the future of electric armored vehicles may involve removable battery packs which can be switched out quickly, and regeneration via the return rollers and idler whenever steering or braking. A support vehicle with a small diesel engine would tag along behind to provide freah batteries to swap, and recharge the old ones. This of course would take an entire rethinking and rewriting of current doctrine in any nation's army, and won't likely happen for another 50 years. For now, things will probably be diesil electric hybrids, using something similar to current train locomotives and this thing(with the electrical bugs sorted out...omg, power operated seats in a military vehicle, what were they thinking!? I could understand if it was built by Cadillac or Mercedes Benz, since luxury is their priority, but I digress.)

I wonder if there were any safety concerns with a 600 volt electrical system if water got into your swimming vehicle.

@fabiogalletti8616

3 ай бұрын

I can see the problem in reverse: there is for sure a safety to switch off if water get in. But at this point, it's all dead, not only the engine and steering, but radio, swinging seats, lights. How sensible you want that safety switch?

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

They use it in heavy equipment and locomotives and ships all the time so they must have figured it out. Hell they supply trains from overhead cables and rails and they work in the rain just fine.

@kmoecub

17 күн бұрын

If water gets into your amphibious APC your first concern is drowning. Electric safety in water-occupied areas was figured out just about a century ago.

T=Going by all the English labelling, the PC must be the one which went to the US for testing.

Actually, some trains have a (permanent) magnet less DC motor, (100% torque at 0 rom) that switches to AC once you're moving. Not sure if the Diesel drives an Alternator or a Generator, (with the proper circuits to convert to the power type needed) or like the Motors it can transition from DC to AC and back again....

Brave decision to wear that red jumper getting in and out of all these oddball vehicles Nic, I keep expecting you to end up like Hammond in that one doomsday prepper bit from Top Gear where the jumper snags and then slowly unravels throughout the bit.

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

I don't remember that one. You sure it was Top Gear and not one of the other specials he did?

@Ihasanart

2 ай бұрын

@@justforever96 It was actually from The Grand Tour, episode 9 of season 1 from what IMDB says, my brain just misremembered it as Top Gear because Grand Tour is essentially Top Gear perfected and shitty top gear isn't worthy of the name.

Makes me want to move to Alaska or somthing and convert it to a mobile camper that thing's got a Lot of space! Or a mobile recovery vehicle for when people get stuck. And it's got a cummins. The only problem is if the electrical needs to be serviced.... honestly might have been simpler with a hydrostatic drive..🤔 chasing electrical issues on a off-road vehicle is always a way bigger pain in the ass imo.

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

Tracked vehicles always take a ton of maintenance anyway. And you had better be rich already if you want to afford the fuel and stuff to drive one of these regularly.

Really? No one? I guess I will have to then... COOOOOOOOBRAAAAAAA!!!!

150 kW at 400 volts is what my little Chevy Bolt runs on, about 200 HP.

@justforever96

2 ай бұрын

Yes but that is expected to go at freeway speeds. With gearing heavy equipment rarely has much more than a couple hundred horsepower unless it's really heavy. And when you are only doing town speeds your car is only using 20-30 HP most of the time. How often do you run a normal car up to the redline at wide open throttle? That's the only time it's using it's rated power, except at top speed.

The Cobra is like a stubby MT-LB.

@Kedr1987

3 ай бұрын

More like an advanced version of the BTR-50.

@biker6991

3 ай бұрын

Looks like a Spartan CVRT APC.

If the Cobra went into full production. Issues with dimensions and the electric seat adjuster would have been addressed.

want one.. for shopping ofcourse. Loads of space for stuff in the back, can go electric in the "no emmission zone"in our city centre and still annoys the cops because it has no windowwhipers to stick a fine under because i parked it on top of a sh*tty merc. XD

Didn't know ACEC was making military stuff. They were mostly known for their tube radios.

Noice ! New content !

COoooo-BRAaaaaaaaa!

I think one of these is on display on a F16 shelter on a former airbase in the Netherlands?

3200 RPM!!!! OMG that is screaming for a diesel engine!

I had no idea any of these was still around.

@RedXlV

3 ай бұрын

Apparently there's another two of the Cobra APCs storage in another hangar at that same museum. While the one Cobra light tank is, I believe, the only prototype ever built. The tank was also tested with a 25mm autocannon turret for a recon vehicle.

at 20:34, would the pen be a standard feature if this reached production? or just intended for the prototype ?

It looks like BTR-60 had a baby with M113

Perhaps this left foot switch is the so called motor brake and to stall the engine when shutting off? some Mercesdes and MAN trucks I once drove had this

Cutest APC

It looks like Chieftain needs a cup of coffee, or an extremely large whiskey.

hi, is it capable of moving on battery alone?

I am one of those track tension guys.

Translation : "stowed" = "stored" 😜

Sorta off topic, but April 1 is coming up. How about a "Does the Chieftain fit" into a M274 and maybe a OMG its on fire.

Hey i havent played WoT while computer died dont got money get new one right now. I love my Shermans even my Soviet one.

Since when did the chieftain not wanna get in a vehicle so he doesn't mess up his clothes 😁 fun vid as always

Maybe a question for your Q&As but, given how tech has advanced in the civilian world with tiny powerful electric motors, much more sophisticated inverter circuitry and efficient engines, do you think we could make much better version of these series hybrid tanks today?

@TheChieftainsHatch

3 ай бұрын

We are certainly getting closer to that point

nothing about the PC turret in tan on the right?

Steam engines actually haul weight better than either electric or diesel engines, in the context of trains and railways. There was a demonstration a while ago of a single Big Boy hauling a load up a hill that would have taken 6 SD60's.