The ABC-79M (4x4) (Romanian: ''amfibiu blindat pentru cercetare'') armoured personnel carrier has been developed in Romania and uses some automotive components of the TAB-77 (8 × 8) armoured personnel carrier. Although previously known as TABC-79 (''transportorul blindat pentru cercetare''), it is now known as the ABC-79M.
The ABC-79M is a simplified version of the earlier TAB-77 8x8 armored personal carrier, which was itself a Romanian version of the
BTR-70
The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier (russian: бронетранспортер/ ''Bronetransporter'', or literally "Armoured Transporter") originally developed by the Soviet Union during the late 1960s under the manufacturing ...
. Both vehicles share several common components.
The ABC-79M is fully amphibious, and is equipped with a single water-jet for propulsion. Other equipment includes infra-red night-vision equipment, winch with 50m of cable and capacity of 5,500 kilograms, and central tire pressure regulation. It is also equipped with an engine preheater, to allow the engine to start in severe cold.
It is equipped for nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare and features a 14.5mm
KPVT
The KPV-14.5 heavy machine gun (KPV is an initialism for Krupnokaliberniy Pulemyot Vladimirova (Large-caliber Machine gun Vladimirov), in Russian as Крупнокалиберный Пулемёт Владимирова, or КПВ) is a Soviet de ...
heavy machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition as primary armament. This is supplemented by a lighter
7.62mm machine gun with 2000 rounds of ammunition on board. Both weapons are located in a small one-man turret which is identical to turret of the
TAB 77 and the earlier
TAB 71M
Production is now complete, and the vehicle is no longer available for foreign or domestic sale. It is in use only with second line units of the Romanian military, and there have been no export orders other than a single vehicle purchased by Israel in 1994. No Israeli order followed the trials.
Variants
Variants include:
* TAB-C reconnaissance vehicle
* AM-425 armored personnel carrier
* TAB-79A PCOMA artillery observation vehicle
* TAB-79AR mortar carrier
* ML-A95M vehicle used for the
CA-95M self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon
An anti-aircraft vehicle, also known as a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) or self-propelled air defense system (SPAD), is a mobile vehicle with a dedicated anti-aircraft capability.
Specific weapon systems used include machine guns, ...
Gallery
File:Romanian Armored Personnel Carrier.JPEG, TABC-79 in Bosnia during the Operation Joint Endeavor.
File:Romanian_APC_TAB_C-79_-_01.jpg, TABC-79 at the Land Forces Day 2007 military demonstration.
File:Batalionul 812 infanterie Afghanistan (04).JPG, MEDEVAC version of the TABC-79 in Afghanistan.
File:Batalionul 191 infanterie 03.jpg, TABC-79AR mortar carrier during a military exercise.
Sources
External links
''www.military-today.com''
{{Modern IFV and APC
Romanian Land Forces
Armoured personnel carriers of Romania
Amphibious armoured personnel carriers
Wheeled amphibious armoured fighting vehicles
Military vehicles introduced in the 1970s