From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MT-LB
Specifications
Weight	11,900 kg
Length	6.45 m
Width	2.86 m
Height	1.865 m
Crew	2 (+ 11 passengers)
Armour	14mm max.
Primary armament	7.62mm PKT machine-gun 2,500 rounds
Engine	YaMZ 238, V-8 diesel 240 hp at 2,100 rpm
Power/weight	hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	500 km (road range)
Speed	61 km/h (road) 30 km/h (off-road) 5 to 6 km/h (in the water)

The MT-LB (многоцелевой тягач легко бронированный, mnogotselevoy tjagach lekhko bronirovannij) is a Soviet multi-purpose fully-amphibious armoured personnel carrier which was first introduced in the 1970s. Initially the vehicle was known as M 1970 in the west.

Contents 1 Development 2 Description 3 Variants 3.1 Polish Variants 4 Users 5 News 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

In the 1970s the Soviet Central Auto and Tractor Directorate embarked on a development program to replace the AT-P series of artillery tractors (that where based on the ASU-57) with a new generation of vehicles. The MT-L was developed to meet this requirement based on the PT-76 chassis. The MT-LB is the armoured variant of the vehicle. Entering production in the early 1970's, it was cheap to build, being based on many existing components including the engine which is actually a truck engine. It was built at the Kharkov tractor plant in the USSR as well as Poland and Bulgaria.

The crew, a driver and a commander/gunner sit in a compartment at the front of the vehicle, with the engine behind them. A compartment at the rear enables up to 11 infantry to be carried or a cargo of up to 2,000 kg. A load of 6,500 kg can be towed. The vehicle is fully amphibious, being propelled by its tracks in the water.

A small turret at the front of the vehicle fits a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun with 360 degree manual traverse and an elevation of -5 to +30 degrees. The vehicle is lightly armoured against small arms and shell splinters with a thickness of 3 to 10 mm of steel. The infantry compartment has two hatches over the top, which open forwards. There are 3 firing ports - one in the left side of the hull, the other two in the rear twin doors of the infantry compartment.

The commander is provided with a TVN-2 infra-red periscope, which in combination with the OU-3GK infra-red/white light search light provides a range of about 40 m. All vehicles include a NBC system.

• MT-L
  • MT-LB
    • MT-LBV Low pressure track version, with 565 mm tracks giving a ground pressure of 0.27 kgf/cm² (26 kPa). Used in arctic regions instead of BMP or BTR wheeled vehicles.
    • MT-LBU Command vehicle with additional radios, land nav, and fold-out canvas tent.
    • MTP-LB Repair version with no turret, an A frame and stowage on the roof.
    • TT-LB M1975 Fitted with folding SNAR-10 Big Fred artillery/mortar locating radar.
    • MT-LBu Reconnaissance version.
    • MT-LBus VHF jamming vehicle. Fitted with R-330P VHF jammer.
    • MT-LBT Artillery tractor version.
    • MT-LB Ambulance with stretchers in rear compartment.
    • MT-LB Engineer Stowage on the roof and a blade at the back.
    • 9A34/9A35 SA-13 Gopher SAM vehicle based on the MT-LB.
    • 9P149 with AT-6 Spiral ATGM.
    • 2S1 122 mm self-propelled howitzer.
    • RKhM Chemical reconnaissance vehicle.

Polish HSW (Huta Satalowa Wola) has a licence to produce MT-LB.

• MTLB - basic APC variant
• WEM Lotos - medical evacuation vehicle
• WPT Mors - technical support vehicle
• TRI Hors - engineering vehicle
• TI Durian - engineering vehicle
• TMN Kroton - mine lying vehicle
• WRE Przebiśnieg - electronic warfare vehicle
• ZWD-1 Irys - command vehicle
• ZWD-10R Łowcza - command vehicle

•  Armenia: 75 in service of the Armenian Army.
•  Azerbaijan
•  Bangladesh
•  Belarus
•  Bulgaria
•  Czech Republic
•  Finland
•  Hungary
•  Iraq
•  Kazakhstan
•  Lithuania
•  Moldova
•  Poland
•  Russia
•  Serbia
•  Sweden (Called PBV 401)
•  Ukraine
•  Yugoslavia

In January 2006 Bob Woodruff was injured when an explosive device damaged the MT-LB he was riding in.

• BMP-1 and 2 and BMP-3
• List of AFVs

• Hull, A.W. , Markov, D.R. , Zaloga, S.J. (1999). Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices 1945 to Present. Darlington Productions. ISBN 1-892848-01-5.

• Huta Stalowa Wola - producer of MT-LB
• Russia upgrades firepower for MT-LB Jane's, 26 September 2006
• http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/mt-lb.htm
• http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/inf/MT-LB.html

Soviet and post-Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after World War II
Tanks IS-3 · IS-4 · T-10 · T-54 · T-55 · PT-76 · T-62 · T-64 · T-72 · T-80 Russian: T-90 · Black Eagle · T-95 Ukrainian: T-72MP · T-80UD · T-84 Armoured personnel carriers Tracked BTR-50 · MT-LB · BMP-1 · BMD-1 · BMP-2 · BMP-3 · BTR-T · BMP-T Wheeled BTR-152 · BTR-40 · BRDM-1 · BRDM-2 · BTR-60 · BTR-70 · BTR-80 Russian: BTR-90 Ukrainian: BTR-4 · BTR-94 Self-propelled artillery 2S1 Gvozdika · 2S3 Akatsiya · 2S4 Tyulpan · 2S5 Giatsint-S · 2S7 Pion · 2S9 Nona · 2S19 Msta · 2S23 Nona-SVK · ASU-57 · ASU-85 Multiple rocket launchers BM-14 · BM-21 Grad · BM-24 · BM-25 · BM-27 Uragan . TOS-1 Russian: BM-30 Smerch Surface-to-surface missiles FROG-7 · 9K79 Tochka (SS-21 Scarab) · R-400 Oka (SS-23 Spider Russian: Iskander(SS-26 Stone) Air defense vehicles Gun ZSU-57-2 · ZSU-23-4 · Tunguska-M1 Missile 2K11 Krug (SA-4 Ganef) · 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) · 9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9 Gaskin) · 9K37 Buk (SA-11 Gadfly) · 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher) · 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) · 9K330 Tor (SA-15 Gauntlet) · S-300 (SA-10 Grumble) Russian: Pantsyr-S1 · 9K38 Buk-M1-2 (SA-17 Grizzly)
List of armoured fighting vehicles by country