ZTS MTU-34

     In the post-World War 2 world, the Soviets were slow on the uptake on new AVLBs and the Czechs has a tradition of adopting their own designs or modifying Soviet designs.  The MTU-34 is based on the T-34 tank, with the turret removed and replaced by a fold-out two-section bridge, able to span 20 meters and weighting 8 tons, and it can handle 40 tons. The crew is only two, a driver and a commander/bridge operator.  The driver has a position in the glacis plate, with a large raiseable hatch with a vision block in it, that can be propped open to a straight-out position or closed.  The hatch, when open, exposes the entire upper body.  The commander/bridge operator is in a manually-operated cupola, with all-around vision blocks.  There is no weapon mount or weapon carried. The top is largely taken up with the bridge and its erection system. Engine is the V-2-34 38 8 L 500 horsepower engine, with a manual transmission.

*The "turret" is the bridge; no crew casualties are possible, and such results should be treated as misses.  If the bridge is deployed, Config is Stnd.

Nowy Jicin MTU-55 AVLB

     Notes:  The MTU-55A is a Czech AVLB is based on the T-55A chassis.  It is used in place of the MTU-20 in Czech service and alongside the MTU-20 in Russia, India, Iraq, Yugoslavia, and in some Middle Eastern countries.  It uses a stronger bridge that can support 50 tons.  If necessary, a bridge from an MT-72 or MTU-72 can be substituted for the normal bridge carried by the MTU-55A.  The normal bridge can span a gap of 18 meters, weighs 6.5 tons, takes 3 minutes to lay, and 3-8 minutes to recover.  The bridge can support a vehicle weighing 50 tons.

     A pre-production version, the MTU-55, is still in use by some third-world countries. It is often (erroneously) referred to as the MT-55L.  It uses the bridge of the MT-34 on the T-55A chassis; This bridge is actually longer and heavier than the standard bridge, able to span 20 meters and weighting 8 tons, though it can handle only 40 tons.

     As with the T-55A, the MTU-55 series has a V-55 38.88-I 581 horsepower diesel engine with a manual transmission and suspension by torsion bars.  The two-man crew consists of a driver, on the front left, and a commander/bridge operator.  The driver has three vision blocks to the front and slightly to the sides, and the commander has a manually-rotating cupola with all-around vision blocks.  No weapon mount is provided.

*The "turret" is the bridge; no crew casualties are possible, and such results should be treated as misses.  If the bridge is deployed, Config is Stnd.

Nowy Jicin VOP-025 Cancer 55 CEV

     Notes: In this case, “Cancer” is not a disease; instead, it refers to the crab-like planform it has due to its many tools which stick out like a crab when deployed. It is based on a heavily-modified version of the T-55 and is, as I said, heavily-modified to fulfill its CEV role. The Czechs also sell the Cancer 55 as a kit, and this is especially applicable to T-55-based ARVs and RRVs.

     The conversion removes the 100mm gun from the turret; the turret is retained and the main gun slot plated over.  The turret now serves to rotate the main jib, which is on the right side of the turret roof.  The jib can reach out 7.5 meters and has an elevation of +7 meters to

-4.5 meters. The jib can be tipped with a shovel able to raise 0.6 cubic meters per bucketful, a crane head with a capacity with a capacity of 30 tons, an auger able to drill half-meter holes 10 meters in 30 seconds, a large claw able to lift 1 ton, including the ability to place demo charges; and anti-bomb enclosure 2x2 meters in size.  The Cancer 55 has a capstan-operated crane with a capacity of 45 tons, or 90 tons with block and tackle; it has 200 meters of 30mm steel cable.  The front has a half-height dozer blade for bracing the winch or crane or to dig large fighting positions.  The blade also has teeth to dig up road surfaces and concrete.  For further stabilization, stabilizer legs may be lowered between the first and second roadwheels on each side.

     The tool set includes an air compressor, power tools, excavation tools, tracked vehicle and basic tools, A large power hand-held circular saw is carried, as are power jaws (“jaws of life”).  Large boxes on both sides of the rear carry these pieces of equipment.  A large flat area on the rear of the hull normally carries at least 20 kg of plastic explosives and an engineer’s demo chest, along with some personal gear as fits and other items that CEV crews have found necessary in the past.

     Being a T-55 variant, it has the same V-12 water-cooled diesel developing 580 horsepower.  The normal, travelling transmission is automatic; however, manual transmission may be switched to apply more torque when using the winch.

     The crew normally consists of a driver and a commander/crane operator, though seats for two more crewmembers are provided in the hull.  The driver is in the front left while the TC is in the right side of the turret.  He has a cupola with night vision and a pintle for a heavy machinegun and a manually-operated cupola.  The driver also has night vision as well as a backup camera. A small computer provides most relevant manuals and tech papers, and the vehicle has GPS that is tied into a battle and vehicle management system.  On the left side of the turret is a cluster of eight smoke grenade launchers.  The vehicle has NBC Overpressure capability.

*The armored dozer blade has an AV of 12Sp.  Whether it gets hit depends on how high the driver has the blade raised.

Nowy Jicin VT-55A

     Notes:  This vehicle was type standard in the Czech Army until the advent of the VT-72B; it is still used to recover lighter tanks and other armored vehicles.  It is based on the chassis of the T-55 tank, and is similar to the Russian BTS-T-55-T recovery vehicle, and even more so, to the MTU-55A.

     The turret of the T-55 is removed, and the opening replaced with steel plate and a cupola for the commander.  The cupola has manual traverse, but the machinegun cannot be mounted unless the bridge is already deployed. On the right side of the hull roof is a crane that can lift 1.5 tons.  On the rear of the hull deck is a platform that can carry a load of 3 tons.  There are two winches; the main winch is driven by the engine, and can pull 25 tons with 200 meters of cable.  The auxiliary winch has its own motor, can pull 800 kg, and has 400 meters of cable.  The front of the vehicle mounts a full-width dozer blade that can excavate 150 cubic meters per hour.  The VT-55A can normally ford water of 1.4 meters depth, but can be equipped with a snorkel allowing the vehicle to ford 5 meters for 1000 meters.  These vehicles typically carry several tow bars and a 4.2 meter tow cable, as well as welding equipment and toolkits appropriate to its purpose of recovering and repairing smaller tanks and armored vehicles.  The crew compartment has a heater.

Nowy Jicin VT-72M4 ARV

     Notes: Based on a melding of the Russian VT-72 ARV and Czech T-72M4 tank, this ARV is called the VT-72B by the Slovakians.  The VT-72M4 carries a large amount of equipment for the recovery of vehicles or repair of their components as necessary, including the ability to remove an engine, transmission, unitary powerpack, or turret assembly.  A version of this vehicle is used by India, and it is up for sale on the international marketplace by both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. (The VT-72M4 and VT-72B are slightly different, but not enough to matter in game terms. As with most such vehicles, the VT-72M4 has a main winch, and an auxiliary winch.  The main winch has a capacity of 67.4 tons, or 202 tons with block and tackle, and has 100 meters of cable. The auxiliary winch has a capacity of 2.25 tons, and has 400 meters of cable.  The load platform on the rear deck of the vehicle can carry 4 tons, enough for a powerpack for a vehicle like a T-72, T-80, or T-90’s engine. The crane is able to rotate through 330 degrees (from back to front) and can lift 19 tons, enough to lift most tank’s complete powerpacks or turret assemblies.

     Modifications to the chassis for its role include a strengthened undercarriage and drive assembly, the addition of a dozer blade (primarily used for bracing when using the winch) on the front capable of moving 126 cubic meters at a time, strengthened tow hooks and cables, and the addition of a 15kW APU for use when operating the power tools (it is not strong enough to let the winches run off it).  Tools include a “jaws of life”-type force separator, six fire extinguishers, a welding set, an air compressor, a complete set of power tools and power machine tools, a complete set of manual tracked vehicle and wheeled vehicle tools, and two sets of pioneer tools such as shovels, picks, axes, adzes, and prybars.  The VT-72M4 has internal seats for the complete crew of most T-55, T-72, T-80, or T-90 crews (3-4 men and their basic equipment and personal weapons); alternatively, these seats may be used to bring extra mechanics or extra equipment not normally a part of the VT-72M4 equipment set. The VT-72M4 carries two slave cables for powering vehicles which may be able to aid in their own recovery; one of these is five meters long and the other eight meters. (These could not originally be used to power Western vehicles, but modular adapters devised after the Czechs joined NATO allows this.)  The VT-72M4 typically carries up to ten spare roadwheels of various sorts, six tires of various sorts, and five sections of three tracks each, again of various sorts, along with three drive sprockets and three return rollers.

     The VT-72M4 is powered by a Western engine and transmission – the engine being a Perkins 12-1000 turbocharged diesel developing 987 horsepower and the transmission an Allison XTG 411-6-N automatic.  The VT-72M4 used a steering bar which is similar to that of many NATO tanks, and is power boosted.  The brakes are also power brakes.

     The VT-72M4 has a crew of two, a driver who is also at least a tracked vehicle mechanic and often a Wheeled vehicle mechanic also.  The commander is usually a master mechanic.  Both are usually thoroughly versed in the characteristics of their vehicle and equipment.  The commander also usually knows the characteristics of most vehicle they may have to recover.  (The vehicle crews of the vehicle being recovered are also expected to help in their vehicle’s recovery.)  The commander has a cupola with either an NSVT or M2HB mounted on it.  The vehicle is NBC sealed, but most operations will require the crew to leaves the protection of the VT-72M4.  Late in production (or from the start of production for the Indian VT-72C) an air conditioner was built in, with NBC filters.  These were retrofitted to existing VT-72M4s and VT-72Bs in the early-to-mid 2000s.  The VT-72M4 is equipped with GPS navigation and an inertial backup, and a mapping system, as well as a computer with the mechanical and recovery aspects of the various vehicles of Czech, Slovakian, and some NATO vehicles.  In additional, the VT-72M4 has a partial vehicle state computer; it primarily monitors the winches, crane, suspension, and powerpack.

     The Slovakians sold a copy of their VT-72B to India.  India and Slovakia calls these the VT-72C.  The first of these vehicles were built in Slovakia; these served as a template for Indian home production of the VT-72C.  The VT-72C differs from the VT-72B primarily in the language used on the vehicle parts, gauges, and magazines, and the use of Indian electrical systems, hydraulics, and manufacture of most parts, which are slightly different due to indigenous Indian production methods.

     The VT-72M4 has secondary roles of digging fighting positions and delivering large amounts or items of supplies.  The Slovakians and Indians tend not to use their VT-72Bs and VT-72Cs in such a manner, preferring the use of other specialist vehicles.

*Belly armor for the VT-72M4 series is 7Sp.