pt-76 Amphibious Tank

During the years immediately after the Second World War, Soviet projectists
developed light all-terrain vehicles as a starting point to incorporate some of the

lessons learned with the light tanks produced in small numbers during the previous
decade. From the beginning, it was decided that the new light tank had to be fully
amphibious. For this, it was included in the specifications a propulsion system
based in two water jets to impulse it across the water and the adjustment of the
volume of the vehicle to allow it to float without using floating screens. Water
jets were placed on each side of the hull with outlets on the rear part and on both
sides of the hull above the rearmost road wheels; inlets were undermeath the hull.
The rear outlets had lids that could be fully or partially closed, redirecting the
water stream to the outlets at the sides of the hull, thus enabling the vehicle to
turn or go in reverse. For example, to turn to the left, the left water jet would
be covered, while to turn to the right, the right water jet would be covered. To
perform a 180 degrees turn, one water jet would aspire water while the other would
expel it out. Before entering on the water, it would be raised a shield in the hull
front to improve stability and navigability and to prevent water from flooding into
the bow of the tank. A tall periscope would allow sight above the shield to the
driver. Speed was limited to 10 kilometers/hour in water.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_soviet_union/pt-76_amphibious_tank.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_soviet_union/pt-76_amphibious_tank.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Side and rear view of the standard PT-76, which was the first amphibious tank
that operated with water jet propulsion.[/span][p]
Unavoidably, the requirement of the tank being amphibious produced as consequence a
tank being quite larger than needed for the strict role of reconnaissance. But this
inconvenience would turn to be positive in many of the support vehicles that were
made based on the original. denominated. The PT-76 (Plavaushiy Tank or Floating
Tank) was seen for the first time in 1952. It had a welded steel hull, armored only
to a maximum of 14 millimeters in the sides and 11 millimeters in the glacis, while
the turret had similar values overall, which meant that this tank was vulnerable to
the fire from any light cannon and even from heavy machine guns. This was so
because its amphibious design allowed for less weight than in regular light tanks.
The PT-76 carried a crew of three and it was armed with a D-56 76.2-millimeter
cannon, having this one an elevation sector between +30 and -4 degrees. As other
Soviet tanks, the PT-76 had the inconvenience of a very restricted depression angle
for the cannon. Equally as the French light tank AMX-13, this vehicle would have
acceptation in small and developing countries, that could not afford to maintain
true armored forces equipped with more powerful and expensive tanks. So, the PT-76
was popular in the small countries that were clients of the Soviet Union. It was
one of the few tanks that the Americans faced in Vietnam and as expected it
resulted very vulnerable against superior tanks and infantry anti-tank weapons. For
example, the 3rd March 1969, four American tanks M-48 destroyed two PT-76 of the
Viet Cong in an encounter next to Ben-Het.[p]
The PT-76 was produced in large quantities and like it happened with the AMX-13,
its chassis was dedicated to many applications, for infantry and support vehicles,
including: the armored personnel carrier BTR-50; the infantry combat vehicle BMP;
the amphibious transport GSP; the airborne self-propelled anti-tank cannon ASU-85
fitted with an 85-millimeter cannon; the self-propelled air defense system ZSU-23-4
fitted with four 23-millimeter cannons; the transporter/launcher vehicle for the
surface-to-surface missiles of the series Frog and the surface-to-air missiles SA-6
Gainful; the SP-74 122 millimeters self-propelled cannon; a bridge-laying vehicle
and a wide range of cargo vehicles. Along the years, the modifications made in the
tanks PT-76 were limited to the cannon. The improved cannon DT-56TM, fitted with
fume extractor and stabilized in two axes, was retroactively installed in all the
PT-76 from the Red Army and the armies of other members of the Warsaw Pact.
Stabilization in the cannon would make posible to aim and fire while on the water.
The PT-76 was used abroad by Afghanistan, Angola, China, Congo, Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Irak,
Israel, Laos, North Korea, North Vietnam, Pakistan, Poland, Syria, Uganda and
Yugoslavia; it entered combat in Africa, Middle East and Far East. Production was
discontinued in the early 1960s in expectance to be replaced by the newer light
tank BMD entering service in the end of the decade. China built a modified version
with the denomination Type 60. Its hull was similar to the original one but it had
a new turret fitted with an 85-millimeter cannon.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/artillery/pt-76_frog-3_missile_launcher.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
artillery/pt-76_frog-3_missile_launcher.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Transporter/launcher chassis for a FROG 3 missile, which could reach up to 48
kilometers and be fitted with a nuclear warhead.[/span][p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_soviet_union/pt-
76_amphibious_tank_cutaway.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/tanks_soviet_union/pt-
76_amphibious_tank_cutaway.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]This semi-cutaway view shows many details and how the commander had to serve as
gunner as well. He uses periscopes to watch around and a telescopic sight to aim
the cannon. The driver uses three periscopes of which one is taller to allow vision
above the frontal shield, which also provided protection against small caliber
bullets and shrapnel.[/span][p]
[box]
Crew: 3[p]
Armament: One D-56 42-caliber 76.2-millimeter rifled cannon; one SGMT 7.62
millimeters co-axial machine gun[p]
Ammunitions: 40 for 76.2-millimeter cannon; 1000 for 7.62-millimeter machine gun[p]
Armor: Up to 14 millimeters in the hull[p]
Length (total): 7.63 meters[p]
Length (hull): 6.91 meters[p]
Width: 3.14 meters[p]
Height: 2.20 meters[p]
Weight: 14 tonnes[p]
Ground pressure: 0.48 kilograms/square centimeter[p]
Engine: UTD-20 Diesel with six cylinders, water-cooled, developing 240
horsepower[p]
Power/weight ratio: 17.1 horsepower/tonne[p]
Maximum speed (in road): 65 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum speed (in cross-country): 44 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum speed (in water): 10 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum operational range (in road): 450 kilometers[p]
Maximum operational range (in cross-country): 260 kilometers[p]
Maximum operational range (in water): 100 kilometers[p]
Maximum surmountable trench: 2.80 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable step: 1.10 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable slope: 60 percent[p]
[/div][p]

pt-76 Amphibious Tank

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

pt-76 Amphibious Tank

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

pt-76 Amphibious Tank

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

During the years immediately after the Second World War, Soviet projectists

developed light all-terrain vehicles as a starting point to incorporate some of the

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.