Armoured fighting vehicle
An
armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military
vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted
weapons. Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged
terrain.
Armoured fighting vehicles are classified according to their intended role on the battlefield and characteristics. This classification is not absolute; at different times different countries will classify the same vehicle in different roles. For example,
armoured personnel carriers were generally replaced by
infantry fighting vehicles in a very similar role, but the latter has some capabilities lacking in the former.
Successful general-purpose armoured fighting vehicles often also serve as the base of a whole family of specialised vehicles, for example, the
M113 and
MT-LB tracked carriers, and the
Mowag Piranha wheeled AFV.
|
A T-72 main battle tank clad in reactive armour bricks, in Georgian service. |
A
tank is a
tracked, armoured fighting vehicle, designed primarily to engage enemy forces by the use of
direct fire. A modern
main battle tank is distinguished by its high level of firepower, mobility and armour protection relative to other vehicles of its era. It can cross comparatively rough terrain at high speeds, but is fuel, maintenance, and ammunition-hungry and is
logistically demanding. It has the heaviest
armour of any vehicle on the battlefield, and carries a powerful weapon that may be able to engage a wide variety of ground targets. It is among the most versatile and fearsome weapons on the battlefield, valued for its
shock action against other troops and high
survivability.
See also:
Tank classification.
|
The M113, one of the most common tracked APCs, on duty during the Vietnam War |
Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of
infantry. They usually have only a
machine gun although variants carry
recoilless rifles,
anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), or
mortars. They are not really designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry the troops to the battlefield safe from
shrapnel and
ambush. They may have
wheels or
tracks. Examples include the American
M113 (tracked), the
British FV 432 (tracked) the
French VAB (wheeled) and the Soviet
BTR (wheeled). The concept was fully realized by the Canadian Army in Normandy in 1944 with the invention of the
Kangaroo. Previous APCs were either semi-tracked (
halftracks) or too small to effectively move a section/squad of infantry (such as the Universal Carrier).
The first attempt to carry troops in an armoured tracked vehicle was made by the British in the First World War, a lengthened
Mark V that could house a squad of infantry while still armed as a tank. Post-war, the idea was largely dropped in favour of trucks and lightly-armoured
half-tracks, which were widely used during the Second World War. During WWII there were some experiments into heavily armoured carriers, such as the
Kangaroos, converted by stripping turrets from tanks. After the war, there was a shift away from half-tracks to tracked or wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs), usually armed with a machine gun for self-defence.
Modern
IFVs are well-armed infantry carriers that allow the infantry inside to fight from within the vehicle. They are different from earlier APCs by their heavier armament allowing them to give direct-fire support during an
assault, firing ports allowing the infantry to fire
personal weapons while mounted, and improved
armour. They are typically armed with a twenty-millimetre or larger
autocannon, and possibly with
ATGMs. IFVs are usually
tracked, but some wheeled vehicles fall into this category, too.
Specially-equipped IFVs have taken on some of the roles of light tanks; they are used by reconnaissance organizations, and light IFVs are used by airborne units which must be able to fight without the heavy firepower of tanks.
By comparison the Israeli
Merkava is a main battle tank with the ability to carry a section of infantry.
|
Soviet SU-152 assault gun, mounting a 152-mm gun. |
Various types of
artillery pieces have been given their own integral transport by mounting them on armoured,
tracked or wheeled chassis. This lets them keep up with the pace of
armoured warfare, and gives them nominal protection from
counter-battery or
small arms fire. Like towed artillery, a battery of
self-propelled guns must still set up in a relatively safe area to perform
fire missions, but they are able to relocate more quickly.
Assault guns are self-propelled artillery pieces intended to support
infantry in the direct-fire role. They usually have a large-calibre gun capable of firing a heavy high-explosive
shell, effective against dug-in troops and fortifications.
Self-propelled anti-tank guns, or
tank destroyers, are used primarily to provide
antitank support for
infantry or
tank units, in
defensive or
withdrawal operations. They may mount a high-velocity anti-tank gun or sometimes an
antitank guided missile launcher, or ATGM.
Tank destroyers cannot fulfil the many roles of tanks; they are much less flexible, and usually lacking in anti-infantry capability. But they are much less expensive to manufacture, maintain, and resupply than tanks.
Gun-armed tank destroyers have been largely supplanted by the more general-purpose tanks since Second World War, but lightly-armoured ATGM carriers are used for supplementary long-range antitank capabilities, and to replace tanks in light or
airborne forces.
|
Polish TKS tankette, armed with a single 7.92-mm machine gun. |
A
tankette is a small armoured fighting vehicle with a crew of one or two, similar to a tank, intended for infantry support or reconnaissance. Most had no
turret and were armed with one or two
machine guns, or rarely with a heavier gun or grenade launcher. Tankettes were produced between about
1930 and
1935, but the concept was abandonded because of its limited utility and vulnerability to antitank weapons. Their role was largely taken over by armoured cars.
A classic design was the British
Carden Loyd Tanketteâ€"many others were modelled after it. Japan was among the most prolific users of tankettes, producing a number of designs, which they found useful for
jungle warfare.
See also
Universal Carrier.
*
Tank (main battle tank, MBT)
*
Armoured personnel carrier (APC)
*
Infantry fighting vehicle (IFV)
*
Self-propelled guns:
**
Self-propelled artillery**
Assault gun**
Tank Destroyer*
Self-propelled anti-aircraft*
Armoured car*
Tankette*
Armoured train*
AerosanNot AFVs, but often considered together with them:
* Support vehicles (not strictly
fighting vehicles):
**
Combat engineering vehicle (CEV)
**
Armoured recovery vehicle (ARV)
**
Armoured vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB, also called a bridge-layer)
* Unarmoured fighting vehicles:
**
Technical, a civilian truck mounting a support weapon
**
Tachanka, a horse-drawn machine gun carrier used in the
Russian Civil War**
Katyusha, a series of truck-mounted
multiple rocket launchers
*
Armoured warfare*
List of armoured fighting vehicles*
Tank classification*
Vehicle armour
