Ad Hoc AFVs

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by Raellus

The Russians are sending turretless T-62s into battle as ad-hoc APCs.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=2acf61c31d63

They're also removing the crane and winch from T-54-based BTS-2 engineering vehicles in order to make room to carry troops.

The Russians still have the capability to mount turrets to these MBT hulls but, at least for some, they're choosing not to. Therefore, it stands to reason that, in the Twilight War, when industry is ravaged by nuclear war, it would be common practice to convert tanks with damaged turrets to APCs.

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I speculated elsewhere that the guns may have been salvaged for use on vehicles that had shot out their gun barrels. The T-62 uses a 115mm gun that's an oddball caliber for Russia, so unlike a 125mm gun that can be fitted into a T-64, T-72, T-80, or T-90, a 115mm gun production line would be solely for a T-62. I don't think any such lines currently exist. They have a fairly short barrel life (~450 full charge equivalents), and if the optics and other electronics on a mothballed T-62 are the older obsolescent stuff, it may have made more sense to pull the guns to keep modernized tanks in the field and find a different use for the rest of the vehicle.