Future Armoured Troop Carrying Vehicles

  • Sebastian Balos University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad
  • Vencislav Grabulov Institute for Testing Materials-IMS Institute, Belgrade
  • Leposava Sidjanin University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad
Keywords: Heavy armoured vehicles, protection, mobility, cost, logistics

Abstract

Present-day reliance on wheeled and tracked armour personnel carriers (APCs) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), may be changed in the future. Shaped charge grenades and impovised explosive devices (IEDs)represent a considerable threat, even to well protected main battle tanks (MBTs). Paradoxically, the crew of wheeled and tracked troop-carrying vehicles is numerically three to four times larger than that of MBTs, however, their protection in all aspects is significantly lower. Therefore, heavier vehicles may get more attention in the future, where sharing the chassis and a number of components with MBTs could provide significant reductions in procurement costs and maintenance, as well as a simplified logistics in relation to the latest tracked. Obviously, the IFVs mobility of heavy vehicles would be lower than that of lighter vehicles. However, by applying various degrees of modular armour protection, a significant rise in strategic, operational, and tactical mobility could be achieved. Such heavy tracked vehicles, built on a common chassis as MBTs, may equip the future heavy brigades, which will be in contrast to the lighter wheeled vehicles included in rapid deployment brigades. As a result, tracked personnel carrying vehicles may extinct in the future.

Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(5), pp.483-490, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.550

Author Biographies

Sebastian Balos, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad
He has received his MSc degree in 2009 and currently pursuing PhD degree in the field of nonhomogenous spaced metallic armour involving ballistic testing and optimisation. He is working as an assistant in the Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia. His current research activity is in the field of material science, particularly ballistic protection, polymer, ceramics and archaeological metallurgy. Furthermore, his special field of interest is the layout of armoured vehicles, particularly MBTs and IFVs.
Vencislav Grabulov, Institute for Testing Materials-IMS Institute, Belgrade
He has received his PhD in the field of characterisation of weld defects in 1995. He is Chief General Manager at the Institute for Testing Materials-IMS Institute, Belgrade. Before 2008, he managed a large number of projects of ballistic protection developement at the Military Technical Institute in Belgrade. The developement of protective materials and joining technologies for domestic M-84 MBT and M-80 IFV, as well as dual hardness steel and aluminium alloys are of special importance.
Leposava Sidjanin, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad
She has received her PhD in the field of characterisation and micromechanism of fracture of ferrous alloys in 1983. She is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia. Her current research includes optimisation of chemical content and process parameters of austempered ductile iron (ADI) material, ceramic materials and military vehicles.
Published
2010-08-24
How to Cite
Balos, S., Grabulov, V., & Sidjanin, L. (2010). Future Armoured Troop Carrying Vehicles. Defence Science Journal, 60(5), 483-490. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.550
Section
Review Papers