I may be misremembering something I read, but weren't the cavalry T50s equipped with dual .30 MGs, while the LRV T50s had a .50 and a .30?

Really it appeared a bit random in my experience as an infantryman. Most the buckets I rode in had the .50/.30 but a handful (usually older machines) had the twin .30's. Mostly it seemed to come down to what guns were available and functional in the unit's armoury at the time.

To further add to what Legbreaker said, the choice of whether to fit two .30 cals or a 30/50 combo or even a single .50 cal usually came down to the unit itself and what they felt was the best mix.
The first Armoured Recce unit I joined typically had all the T50 turrets armed with the 30/50 mix and extra .30 cals were mounted on the designated APC in the Troops (on pintles at the rear so that the Assault Troops being carried could use them from the read hatch).

Typical structure of the Recce Troop in the 1980s onward was five vehicles comprised of 2x MRV, 2x LRV, 1x APC. A Section of Assault Troops was carried to allow recce tasks in areas the vehicles couldn't access but they were also expected to carry out minor demolitions and engineering work in support of the vehicles.

That's more of a roll hazard than a 577...

Let me try something...get back to you tomorrow...

this might not be the best fit but I just found this image to day.

Well, I didn't find what I was looking for on my hard drives, but I did find this
https://euro-sd.com/2020/02/articles...mbat-vehicles/

Which, among other things seems to say that most Western European, Canadian, US, Australian, Swedish, Finnish, and Kiwi 6x6 and 8x8 vehicles with a turret are designed to accept a wide variety of other turrets designed for other 6x6 and 8x8 turreted vehicles.

Not exactly what you were looking for, but useful information.

And let me try something else I just thought of... be back again tomorrow.

MT-LB Plus...
 

Seems you can slap just about anything on top of an MT-LB. Both Russians and Ukrainians have been mounting all sorts of weapons that would have been widely available in the T2k timelines on the top decks of MT-LBs.

So far, I've seen:

ZU-23-2 (RU & UAF)
Vasilek auto-mortars (UAF)
MT-12 Rapira AT gun (UAF)

And, for a more modern timeline, a Turko-Ukrainian SEDAR remote weapon station (UAF)

Pics: Rapira at left, and Vasilek in armored barbette (improvised) at right.

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Best I've got is that the Grizzly/Piranha 1 had a 1m turret ring. Whether this stayed the same as the vehicle design morphed to LAV-25 I can't tell.
https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcont...67&context=cmh

Possibly / probably not the info. required but this links to the What If modellers forum... and the theme is turret rings:

https://www.whatifmodellers.com/inde...7093#msg507093

That really does look too much turret on too little a vehicle... but...

Go with me on this but the WWII Matilda tank turret to me works on the M113. I know I stuck one on one... :o

The WWII, etc, Stuart turret 'works' too...

It's not all that surprising - the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer is on an MT-LBu chassis (7 roadwheels instead of 6). If a very slightly bigger variant can carry around a 122mm artillery gun and its ammunition, the MT-LB should be capable of carrying a fair bit of kit itself.

For the ZU-23-2 in particular, Iraq had two different versions of an MT-LB with ZU-23-2, one open mount for use as a SPAAG and one closed turreted mount for use as an infantry support vehicle.

The MT-LB is like a slightly more professional-looking technical - if it's at all possible to physically mount a particular weapon on it, someone has probably done so somewhere.

Ukrainian Ark
 

Although not really an example an armored fighting vehicle per se, this thread seems to be the most appropriate place for it.

This UAF battlefield medical vehicle- which looks like it just rolled out of Damnation Alley- is based on a BTR-60 chassis but looks nothing like the original.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...edical-vehicle

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From the Ukraine Weapons tracker Twitter account:

"An interesting Russian MT-LB variant was captured by the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of Vuhledar, #Donetsk Oblast - the APC was upgunned with a 2M-7 naval turret with 2 KPV 14.5mm heavy machine guns, originally intended to be installed on patrol boats and trawlers."

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status...HQls0Ub9SBiG2A

That's a good amount of firepower for an APC, but the addition of the naval turret nearly doubles the height/profile of the MTLB.

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MOUT (military operations in urban terrain) modification? Gives you a higher inclination (I am assuming) in addition to higher volume of fire.

Good thought. The photo in the Tweet showed it on Ukraine's steppe, but that doesn't mean it isn't intended for MOUT.

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My money still is on "what was available". The vehicle seems to belong to one of the self-proclaimed proto-states in Donbas. They get the hand-me-downs Russia won't even give to it's mobilized troops.

70 year-old armored tractor + 80 year-old naval guns =
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=70c72160112c

"In early March, photos circulated online depicting MT-LBs with 2M-3 naval turrets welded to their roofs. The 2M-3 is two 25-millimeter auto-cannons, one atop the other in an enclosed casing. The 2M-3 made its debut in 1953."

https://i.redd.it/z8wnauspljla1.jpg

This is an upgrade (?) on the modified MT-LB mentioned upthread. From the piece:

"The first of these weirdo MT-LBs started showing up in Ukraine last month. On or before Feb. 3, Ukrainian forces in Vuhledar captured from hapless Russian brigades a 13-ton, two-crew MT-LB sporting a 2M-7 gunboat turret.

The 2M-7 is an over-under pair of 14.5-millimeter machine guns behind a steel shield. It entered service with Soviet forces in 1945."

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The optimistic assumptions I have read about this particular conversion is that

• Perhaps 25mm Ammo is relatively plentiful in current stores (thought not manufactured since 1984)
• Increased elevation allows interception of drones (though ammo is not proximity fused)
• Up-gunned for urban warfare
• A feel good weapon for masses of cannon fodder (added in edit)

Or they are simply scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Edited ammo info after getting more information.

Russian 25mm 2M-3M naval gun emplaced on a Russian ATS-59G artillery tractor.

Oh Tovarisch! We have cannibalized too much of the Army for this war!

Well 'Tovarisch'.. have we cannibalized the Navy yet?

#RuzzianLife

Russian "Rhino"
 

Another Rapira mounted atop an MTLB, this one with a wrap-around gun shield. The whole thing is somewhat reminiscent of a German Nashorn self-propelled AT gun from WW2.

And still no overhead cover…

Baby's Got... No Back.
 

Rear view of the "assault APC" based on the T-64 chassis. I sure hope it keeps its "front toward enemy".

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In Ukraine, UAF T-62 chassis are being converted to heavy IFVs by fitting them with BMP-2 turrets. At left is an image of a workshop where this FrankenAFV is being produced. On the right is a Algeria's version of a T-62 heavy IFC, these fitted with B05Ya01 Berezhok turrets.

Reportedly, Ukraine also converts some T-62s into ARVs to support its upcoming offensives.

I don't see the point? Isn't a T-62 MBT more useful for offensive operations than a IFV?

Maybe they see 115mm as the .41 AE hipster caliber of tank guns.

- C.

Might be a case of ammunition...the 115mm gun is not really as widespread as the 100mm or 125mm. Most of the users are not very pro West, or haver their own troubles to expend ammo on.

T-62 also has no autoloader, so they'd have to train another crew member for each tank crew. And only 42 are known to have been captured, which puts a pretty sharp limit on how many Ukraine could field (their last pre-war T-62 left service in 2000). I'm actually a little surprised they didn't all become ARVs or bridge layers (the other conversion Kharkiv had offered), since even as a HAPC they can only equip a small number of units with the vehicle.

BMPT-62
 

Apparently, the Ukrainians plan to use the T-62+BMP-2 Franken-AFVs as infantry support vehicles- not as heavy APCs, as first reported. That makes more sense, conceptually. It would appear that the BMPT-62's raison d'etre is similar to that of the Russians' BMPT Terminator- to provide assault infantry with direct fire support, especially during MOUT. It looks like the WW2 era assault gun concept is making a bit of a comeback.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=4f5b799684a3

Aside from the 30mm autocannon and 7.62x54mmR coax, we don't yet know if the UAF's BMPT-62s will pack any additional armament. I would reckon that they will add some sort of tube-launched ATGM, like the Algerians do with their own BMPT-62s (see post #65 for a pic), to give it the ability to take on enemy MBTs, if necessary.

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Evolution of a Franken-AFV
 

This latest article calls the Ukrainian [BMPT-62] Terminator "a Frankenstein's Monster of captured Russian components." As you can see from the photo in the article, the Ukrainians have added reactive armor. I don't see an ATGM launcher yet, but that would probably be added on in one of the last stages of fitting out.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=6c30c9f15357

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Isn't the canvas bag covering the mount for the ATGM launcher? That sure looks like the area where the launcher usually is on a BMP-2 turret.

Maybe
 

On top of the turret roof? Yes, that's where BMP-2's traditionally mount an AT-5 Spandrel ATGM launcher. I'm not sure that's a canvas bag, though. It looks like an open turret roof hatch to me.

But you're right, it could be an ATGM mount. I was thinking that the Ukrainians might want to mount ATGM's on the turret sides, like the Algerian BMPT-62 in the photo upthread. AFAIK, the old roof mount required the operator to expose himself in order to launch/guide the missile. Newer systems allow the operator to remain "safely" inside the vehicle while operating the missile system. I thought that was what the Ukrainians would be going for.

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BMPT-62 in UAF Digi-cam
 

This BMPT-62 looks ready to roll towards the front line. Surprisingly, I still don't see any evidence of an ATGM mount. I hope these things don't run into any Russian MBTs.

High-rise BRDM-2
 

This one doesn't make any sense. Raise the profile (making it a bigger target) to accommodate a few passengers? I don't think this one is going to catch on.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=7735d366318e

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Russian Variety Pack
 

Here, we see a BTR-80 with UB-32 S-8 rocket pods, a MT-LB with a naval 140mm A-22 rocket launcher taken from a Zubr LCAC, and an MT-LB with improvised track side armor and twin DShK. I'd never considered it before the current conflict (does it have a name yet?), but it's interesting how many obsolete naval weapon systems the Russians have mounted to MTLBs. I reckon this is something one would see in the T2kU, as naval forces run out of fuel.

Yet another MTLB mod

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fz4ALF1agAIkp4K?format=jpg

Would not want to be on the mortar when the rocket launcher is fired.

Great thought! The tech is there to do an early version of C-RAM (essentially a ground mount 20mm phalanx that shoots HE instead of APDS) in the T2KU. If you could ensure power and ammo supply, you could even do expedient versions.

MTLB w/ D44 85mm divisional gun
 

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