Hybrid vehicles - how likely/possible?

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I realize that "Going Home" and "Escape from Kalisz" aren't very far apart chronologically but there is three years of pretty savage road-warrior style combat going on in Central and East Germany, so I wonder how feasible it would be for local combat groups to engage in vehicle hybridization for the sake of firepower? Like, if a BMP1 hull was a write off, but everything in the turret still intact, could it be mated to a LAV25 hull with a reasonable hope of working?

I mean, obviously, "anything's possible" but I mean really, within the realm of feasibility.

I realize that some things (M1 hull with T72 turret for example) are out of the range of possibility but what kinds of things like that would be do-able? Assuming, say, the combat group in question had the mechanics with the skill and access to an M88 for lifting capability...

I ask because the Libyan uprising this past summer saw pickup trucks sporting BTR turrets, flat-bed trucks with SNEB rocket packs strapped on, and so forth.

I mean, if my choice as a commander of a unit that had until late 1998 had functioning tanks and I was about to be ordered to roll up the southern flank of the 143rd Guards Army in Central Poland and my choice was doing it with horses, motorcycles and humvees with a handful of command LAV25s and M113s to pick up the survivors or at least try to rebuild some of those vehicles as assault guns, I know what I'd do.

[Legbreaker]

I wouldn't put an M1 with T-72 turret aside so quickly. Given the right tools and competent engineers/mechanics it could be done, although the question of why on earth would you want to remains (better to mount the turret in a static position temporarily and hope a hull comes available).

I can however see a multitude of other mixes happening. Just look at some of the vehicles already in existence in just Australian usage - M113 hull with Saladin or Scorpion turret is just one example.

The M1 hull in your example might have been turned into an engineering vehicle (bridge layer perhaps or recovery vehicle), could have had a 40mm Bofors AA welded to the top, or turned into an MRLS type system. Anything is possible although if it's still in organised military service it would be more likely to have been stripped for it's parts by 2000 to keep more complete vehicles in operation.

Almost anything can be mated to anything else (provided the base vehicle is strong enough), the only question really is how long will it take and what resources will it consume. If several months are available and skilled engineers (and tools) on hand, I can see quite a number of "conversions" happening. However your average travelling group of PCs isn't likely to be very successful - they usually don't have the time, skills or resources to devote to it.

Looking at the post Kalisz area, it would be feasible for local militias to start fielding some interesting systems by winter, provided the Poles and Soviets didn't pick the place clean first.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

I believe the critical factor is the size of the turret ring and then after that, how much weight/recoil etc. the ring can cope with. Can any of the resident tankers add more info on this?

[ArmySGT.]

Technicals?

I think it not unlikely you would see the usuals. The HMG pedestal welded into the bed of a pick, or the bed removed and the ZPU2 or ZPU 23-2 welded on. The Recoiless rifle mounted to the pickup and the occasional towed piece pulled by a farm tractor.

The AFV such as an M1 without a turret might be turned in to a Infantry support vehicle (Israeli style) by welding GPMG or MGL mounts fore, aft, and both sides with a mine roller up front.

Look up all the Israeli conversions of Shermans and Centurions for inspiration.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Well lookee here - I was googling "bmp-1 turret ring diameter" and found a short but informative thread here:

http://208.84.116.223/forums/index.php?showtopic=35129