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| OT-90 Tracked Vehicle, Armoured Personnel Carrier |
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In the old Soviet days, when Czech and Slovak was called Czechoslovakia, it was well known quality of military build in this country was better than any other part in the Soviet empire. The Czechs and Slovaks have historically built many military tanks and vehicles and were excellent at building reliable units for the Germans in WWII. Under Soviet control each country had some movement on what was allowed, and not allowed regarding build quality. This is why we like to purchase units where possible from this region.
The Germans were so impressed they decided to have a lot of there military units built in the Czech and Slovak region, such like the famous half track Sdfkz 250 and 251. These were so effective the Czechs put there own Tatra engine in after WWII, and continued building for the Soviets right up to 1972.
No other communist controlled state had this kind of antimony on building or adapting military equipment and many thousands were built.
The letters BVP are Czech abbreviation for the 'Infantry Fighting Vehicle', similar to the BMP abbreviation in Russian. All variants of the BVP (BVP-1 and 2, OT-90, BVP-DTP, “SVATAVA Fighting Reconnaissance Vehicle” and so on…) were manufactured in Czechoslovakia under Russian licence (which they purchased in 1966) under BMP-1. There were two factories in Czechoslovakia both of them located in the Slovakian part of the country. The ZTS Dubnica plant, which exported vehicles to Russia and the PPS Detva factory, manufactured to support the Czechoslovakian Army and export vehicles anywhere else. There were 17,295 units of the basic version manufactured altogether.
OT-90 is the only Czech redesign not available from anywhere else. As a result of the Treaty of the Conventional Armed Forces (Paris 1990), the maximum number of IFVs with a gun over 20 mm was limited to 2,050 units in Czechoslovakia. The Army declared the number at the time to be 4,900 units. The Czechoslovakian government decided to keep all BMP-2s and drastically lower the BMP-1 numbers. In order to quickly purchase enough new vehicles for 250,000 soldiers, the Czechoslovakian government made the decision to continue to use the excellent quality BMP-1 lower body, but remove the 73mm gun and replace it with the now obsolete OT-64 SKOT Armoured Personal Vehicle turret which had a 14.3 mm KPVT machine gun. Hundreds of units were manufactured and all the work was done in Czechoslovakia. This improved new version with 2 front shock absorbers was then named OT-90 M2 and nicknamed "Mr. Havel’s Tigre”. The response had been typically Czech; they would modify an existing design and then make their own alterations and improvements.
So the Czechs or Czechoslovakians as they were then, started to carry out a full refurbishment program. Each unit was totally stripped and everything removed. New tanks were made, fitting all new components; new engine, gearbox absolutely everything - right down to the fire extinguisher! The cost was a staggering 250,000 EUR each. The units were re-manufactured at PPS Detva. The suspension was upgraded and a few minor changes made to the running gear. The weapon was also a problem on the newly named OT-90. The best available was being used and this was the 14.5mm KPVT automatic, whereas the BMP2 had a new 30mm and was a faster acting weapon and had a bigger turret. Since the beginning of the nineties and more quickly after Czechoslovakia split up into the Czech and Slovak Republics, the number of arms carrying soldiers was dramatically reduced to 30-40.000 which is the current level, and thus there was no further demand for the manufacture of these armoured vehicles. Instantly it became uneconomical to continue. Many after refurbishment were moth-balled into long term storage. Nobody knew what to do; a massive amount had been spent.
This is where Russianmilitary come in. I love these units, as its one of those rare occasions where you don’t have to spend £250k to get a new tank. Instead it’s a tiny percentage of that price, but you still having a new tank.
A lot of off-road adventure sites are now buying these, due to their excellent low maintenance and reliability. Ok, they cost more than your average knackered 432, but you are comparing unreliable units that should be weighed in to new – Chat to off road centres and they will tell you maintenance on 432’2 is three hours repairing to one hour driving. My advice is this, why settle for tired boring old 432/9 when you can have an exciting OT-90, with more gadgets that you can poke a stick at.
Some More Interesting facts…
The OT-90 was a conversion from the BMP-1 which improved the technical quality of the vehicle but lowered its fighting value. The BMP in fact is a new category vehicle equipped with its own fixed anti-tank weapon. It is not an APV but IFV. The obsolete OT-810 and BTR-50 were superseded by the OT-64 SKOT APV. The first BMP-1 rolled through Red Square for the first time in 1967. Previous armoured personnel carriers simply transported the infantry to a point near the scene of action, where it dismounted troops to attack the objective on foot. The OT-90 not only has firing ports that allow all of the embarked troops to fire weapons from within the vehicle in relative safety, however they are vulnerable from the rear, as the rear doors are used as fuel tanks.
The layout of the OT-90 is unusual, with the driver at the front left, the commander to his rear and the engine on the right. The turret is in the centre of the hull and the infantry compartments at the rear. The eight infantrymen are seated four down each side, back to back, and enter the vehicle via twin doors in the hull rear. Over the top of the troop compartment there are quick release hatches.
VIDEOS
SPECIFICATIONS
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Unit ID Number:
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551143 |
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Crew:
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3 + 8 Combat Soldiers |
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Engine Type:
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UTD - 20 |
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Eng Layout:
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V6 Quad Valve |
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Eng Starting Primary:
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Air |
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Engine min pre-start:
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Less Than 5 Degrees |
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Engine BHP:
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300 BHP |
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Engine Displacement:
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19,000 cc |
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Engine Torque:
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100 kgm / 981 Nwm |
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Engine Bore x Stroke:
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150 mm x 150 mm |
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Engine Dimension L:
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834 mm |
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Engine Dimension W:
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1,150 mm |
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Engine Dimension H:
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757 mm |
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Dimensions Length:
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7,130 mm |
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Dimensions Width:
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2.940 mm |
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Dimensions Height:
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2,350 mm |
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Fuel consumption:
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787 Ltr / 100 km |
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Fuel Quantity:
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480 Ltr |
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Fuel type:
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Diesel |
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Trench clearance:
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2,200 mm |
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Fording depth:
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Amphibious |
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Max Road Speed:
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65 kph |
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Max Off-Road Speed:
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45 kph |
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Max ascent angle:
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50 Degrees |
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Side slope:
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33 Degrees |
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Vertical obstacle:
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800 mm |
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Ground clearance:
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420 mm |
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Ground pressure:
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0.6 kg / cm2 |
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Weight Combat:
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13,500 kg |
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Weight Empty:
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12,500 kg |
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Eng Power to Wht Ratio:
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178 Gms / Hph |
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NBC Air filtration:
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Yes |
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Brakes Type:
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Hydraulic |
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Track:
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2,760 mm |
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Smoke discharge:
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Yes, Oil |
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Weapons:
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Non |
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OT-90 Promo 1.wmv