Urban Combat Vehicle

[Nemesis Lead]

Guys,

I think that many of us have heard about the proposed "urban combat" kit for the M1 tank. For those who do not know, the tank would have (among other things):

1) An "RPG cage" somewhat like the Stryker but with emphasis on the sides and rear instead of the front (which is already very well protected).

2) Gunshields on all externally mounted machine guns.

3) A couple of other minor modifications that I can't recall now.

The has also been talk of developing new ammunition for the 120mm gun that would be better in urban combat--HE (although other nations already have 120mm HE rounds), "beehive", smoke, hyperbaric and HESH shells.

In spite of this, the M1 series of tanks is not purpose-built for urban combat. Issues with the M1 in urban combat include:

1) The gun (designed for high velocity, tank on tank battle) is far too powerful to be fired in proximity of friendly infantry. Friendly infantry can be seriously injured or killed (a low velocity gun is preferrable for urban combat).

2) The M1 is designed for mechanized warfare and has much of its armor up front. It is not designed for "all round" defense (although the M1 is pretty doggone good at this).

3) The tank is too heavy and destroys streets/bridges.

4) The tank is (relatively) loud and enemies can hear it coming from great distances. (Strykers are supposed to be good at "sneaking up" on the bad guys).

5) There is not an "infantry intercom" on the back of the tank to allow infantry to conveniently communicate with the tank crew.

6) The gun cannot aim high enough (e.g., at tall buildings) or low enough (e.g., threats firing from basement windows at close range) to be ideal for urban combat.

In light of all of this, I have heard that several nations (e.g., US, Russia, Israel, and China) are looking into building purpose-built "urban combat vehicles." Does anyone know of any of these vehicles?

[hellfish]

The Russians don't have tanks for this purpose, per se, but they do have vehicles based on tank hulls for this purpose.

The BTR-T/BMP4 is an urban assault vehicle based on the T-55 chassis. The small turret can be swapped out with several different combinations of weapons. I think the vehicle can carry five dismounts.

http://www.enemyforces.com/apc/btrt.htm

There's also the BMP-T, which isn't specifically designed for urban fighting per se, but rather as a tank support vehicle. It's on a T-72 chassis and has a bit more firepower than the BTR-T. I think it also has a modular weapon system, but I'm not sure.

[Nemesis Lead]

Thanks fythinghellfish. Great post.

I have heard the Russians are using a variant of the second vehicle you posted as a dedicated urban combat vehicle (can fire at "tall" and "short" targets). However, it is being criticized for having two rapid fire autocannon instead of a low velocity gun of 100mm+.

The Russians are suddenly interested in urban combat vehicles because they got eaten alive in Grozny (losing 105 of 120 vehicles in one engagement IIRC. This plus the fact that conflicts are increasingly urbanized (as the world is increasingly urbanized) and the US demonstrated that "non-purpose built" AFVs can do very well in urban environments is fueling the calls for decicated urban AFVs.

I know they are on the drawing board, I just want to see them.

[Battlefront.com]

The Israelis converted a number of older, captured Soviet tanks into urban assault vehicles. Some were straight APCs ([url=http://idf-sp.tripod.com/achzrit6.htm][Achzarits]), but others were quite inventive! More for occupation duty than for conventional operations though. Sorry, I don't think I saved the pics and I can't remember what that sucker was called. It was VERY ugly though

Steve

[Hat Trick]

Don't forget this early 80s prototype:

http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/Stripes/UrbanAssaultVehicleTop.htm