Weighing tower
A weighing tower (also: Wiegenturm ) is a turret for a tank , in which the cannon is rigidly installed, and the inclination of which can also be adjusted (instead of the cannon in normal rotating turrets). For this purpose, the tower on the slewing ring is placed on two bearing journals. These are used to change the height alignment range.
The rigidly installed cannon does not move against the turret - except for recoil - and is embedded in a tubular cradle . The advantage is that higher firing speeds can be achieved and the installation of a self-loading mechanism and a fire control system is much easier.
However, the disadvantage is that the inclination of the entire tower requires more energy and the inclination adjustment range is significantly smaller than with most other tanks. Since these disadvantages outweigh the advantages of battle tanks , the weighing tower has not caught on with them.
Series-produced tanks with weighing turrets were the French EBR-75 reconnaissance tank, the French light tank AMX-13 and the Austrian Kürassier tank destroyer based on it . Main battle tank prototypes, such as the French AMX-50 and the American T54E1 based on the M48 Patton , were not mass-produced.