Jaguar Heavy Tank

The Jaguar Heavy Tank is a Venezuelan Army Heavy tank featured in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview
"This modernized tank has heavier armor and an upgraded coax cannon."

- Stockpile caption

The Jaguar Heavy Tank is one of the three (or four with the Dragon Lance) most durable tanks in the game. The Jaguar Heavy tank is an upgraded version of the Jaguar Tank. The upgrades consist of an improved 120mm cannon, a coaxial 20mm cannon replacing the .50cal, and explosive reactive armor (ERA) bricks for extra protection.

The Jaguar Heavy Tank is rare, two are encountered initially during the 'Paint the Town' contract, and then more are encountered during 'Get Solano' during the Villa attack. Otherwise, this VZ tank is not seen until Solano's demise in the final contract of the game. The Jaguar Heavy Tank can be purchased from the Pirates for $125k.

Specifications

 * Unlocked by:
 * Cost: $125,000
 * Fuel: 160 gallons
 * Guidance: Smoke
 * Delivery: Helicopter

Tactics
The Jaguar Heavy's armor and armament place it as a top tier tank in the early game since it has the heaviest armor available. After the foreign invasions, it will become evident that it is no match for the Iron Mountain Heavy Tank and Diplomat Heavy Tank in terms of mobility, armor and firepower. The only upside to the Jaguar Heavy Tank is its comparatively low price of $125k compared to $425k of the AN and PLA tanks. The Jaguar's VZ disguise is also a bonus but it becomes less useful towards the end of the game as the mercenary's opponents will become the Chinese or AN forces.

A Jaguar Heavy Tank inflicts a tiny 10% or more damage to the Iron Mountain and Diplomat Heavy Tanks. Conversely, it only takes one shot from the two former to obliterate the Jaguar Heavy, which then really brings into question its classification as a Heavy Tank (the ERA is probably outdated).

It is easy to take this tank down with other armed tanks, attack helicopters, launchers and C-4.

Real Life
The Jaguar is based on the French GIAT AMX-30B2 BRENUS as it looks as if the tank has received the Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) BRENUS pack.

Could possibly be a AMX-40  that has been outfitted with the Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) BRENUS pack. The AMX-40 featured a lightly armoured hull and good mobility reminiscent of previous French MBTs with a powerful 120 mm cannon. It however failed to attract interest and sales, rendering the project a failure, being discontinued in 1990. Only four AMX-40's were ever produced.