TAB-63 (Romanian: Transportor Amfibiu Blindat model 1963, Amphibious Armoured Personnel Carrier model 1963) was an experimental Romanian prototype of an armoured personnel carrier. Basically, the Romanian engineers used the hull of a Soviet BTR-60P armoured personnel carrier and installed a number of Romanian auto parts in it. Although the design never entered production, the prototype represented the predecessor of the TAB-71 model.
In April 1963, the National Defense Council decided to develop a prototype of an armoured personnel carrier equipped with Romanian automotive components. These auto parts were successively installed in the hull of a Soviet BTR-60P (also known as the GAZ-49) at different factories of the local automotive industry. The experimental prototype, designated T.A.B.-63, was equipped with two local-made SR-213 engines, two gearboxes, two transfer cases, two drive shafts, two power take-offs, brakes, hydraulic pumps, parts of the electric system, parts of the centralized tire air pressure control system and a number of support elements of the armoured hull.
The prototype underwent a grueling 15,000-kilometer drive in a military cross country circuit. The amphibious ability was tested for 26 hours. At the end of the tests, the Romanian military engineers stated that if the prototype was equipped with the suitable transmission, it had the same mobility of the BTR-60P model.
Although the TAB-63 never entered production, the experience gained during the development and assembling of this prototype was later used for the production of the TAB-71 armoured personnel carrier.
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, North Korea and North Vietnam.
The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet armored personnel carrier (APC) built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 utility truck. It entered service with a number of Warsaw Pact member states beginning in 1950, and formed the mainstay of Soviet motor rifle battalions until the advent of the amphibious BTR-60 series during the 1960s. BTR stands for bronetransportyor.
The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR stands for bronetransportyor.
The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier originally developed by the Soviet Union during the late 1960s under the manufacturing code GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into Soviet service and would later be widely exported. Large quantities were also produced under license in Romania as the TAB-77.
The BTR-80 is an 8×8 wheeled amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the USSR. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous vehicles, the BTR-60 and BTR-70, in the Soviet Army. It was first deployed during the Soviet–Afghan War.
The BRDM-1 is a Soviet amphibious armored scout car. It was the first purpose-built Soviet reconnaissance vehicle to enter service since the BA-64 and was built on the chassis and drive train of the BTR-40 armored personnel carrier. It is the world's first mass-produced combat vehicle of its class.
The BTR-50 is a Soviet tracked amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank chassis. The BTR-50 was developed in 1952 and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1954. It ceased production in 1970. It has the ability to transport up to 20 fully equipped infantrymen, and can be armed with nothing, a 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun, or a 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun. It saw notable service in the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and most recently in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The BTR-40 is a Soviet non-amphibious, wheeled armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. It is often referred to as the Sorokovka in Soviet service. It is also the first mass-produced Soviet APC. It was eventually replaced in the APC role by the BTR-152 and in the scout car role by the BRDM-1.
BTR (БТР), from Bronetransportyor/Bronetransporter, is any of a series of Soviet or post-Soviet military armoured personnel carriers.
BTR-90 (GAZ-5923) is an 8×8 wheeled armored personnel carrier developed in Russia, designed in 1993 and first shown publicly in 1994. It is a larger version of the BTR-80 vehicle, fitted with a BMP-2 turret. Armour protection is improved compared with the BTR-80, giving protection from 14.5 mm projectiles over the frontal arc.
TAB is the Romanian military designation of armoured personnel carriers. The TAB APCs were based on the Russian BTR series until the early 1990s, with several improvements, including better diesel engines. After 1990, new TAB designs have been developed, such as the RN-94 and the Saur series, but none of these designs entered mass production.
The ZIS-151 was a general-purpose truck produced by the Soviet car manufacturer Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod imeni Stalina in 1948–1958. In 1956, the factory was renamed to Zavod imeni Likhacheva, and new trucks were called ZIL-151 (ЗИЛ-151).
The OT-62 TOPAS is a series of amphibious tracked armoured personnel carriers developed jointly by Polish People's Republic and Czechoslovakia (ČSSR). OT-62 stands for Obrněný Transportér vzor 62 – "armoured personnel carrier model 62". TOPAS stands for Transportér Obrněný Pásový – "tracked armoured personnel carrier".
The Saur 1 is an armoured personnel carrier developed by the Romanian company ROMARM in 2006.
The TAB-71 is the Romanian license-built version of the BTR-60PB. It was produced between 1970 and 1990 by RATMIL. It is the only other license manufacture of the BTR-60PB.
The ABC-79M (4x4) armoured personnel carrier has been developed in Romania and uses some automotive components of the TAB-77 armoured personnel carrier. Although previously known as TABC-79, it is now known as the ABC-79M.
The Patria Pasi is a military armoured personnel carrier. It was the choice of the Finnish Defence Forces to replace its aging Soviet BTR-60s. It was a result of the commercial competition between two Finnish companies, a tractor manufacturer Valmet and the lorry manufacturer Sisu, which won the contract with its prototype.
The Norinco Type 77 is a Chinese amphibious armoured personnel carrier. First fielded in 1978, it is similar to the Soviet BTR-50 in function. Like the BTR-50 designed by putting a higher hull on the PT-76 light tank chassis, Type 77 is based on the Type 63 light tank, which is itself a derivative of PT-76, making both vehicles very similar.