"Combat buses" … The most famous armored personnel carrier of the eastern bloc is rightfully considered the OT-64 SKOT. This combat vehicle represented its own view of the wheeled armored personnel carrier of socialist Czechoslovakia and Poland. At the same time, most of the military equipment in service with the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries was Soviet, but some samples were created on the ground. It would be strange if the same Czechoslovakia did not use the country's industrial potential to produce its own military equipment.
Development of a wheeled armored personnel carrier OT-64 SKOT
The creation of a wheeled armored personnel carrier with amphibious properties in the countries of the eastern bloc began at the turn of the 1960s. The industrial enterprises of Czechoslovakia were involved in the creation of a new combat vehicle: the Tatra and Prague factories, which were responsible for the development of the chassis and transmission, and Poland, whose enterprises were engaged in the production of hulls and weapons.
It is worth noting that the developed industry of Czechoslovakia, which, even before the outbreak of World War II, managed to organize the production of a huge range of weapons, including tanks, retained its potential. In the post-war years, the assembly of an adapted version of the half-track German armored personnel carrier Sd. Kfz. 251, the Czech version was designated OT-810. From 1958 to 1962, about 1.5 thousand of such armored personnel carriers were produced in the country, the main visual difference of which from German vehicles during the Second World War was the presence of a completely closed hull, there was a roof over the troop compartment.
A new wheeled armored personnel carrier was created, among other things, to replace the half-track OT-810. At the same time, by that time, Czechoslovakia already had a license to produce the Soviet tracked BTR-50P, which received the designation OT-62. The niche of tracked armored personnel carriers was closed, but wheeled vehicles remained, which were promising and had obvious advantages: the chassis was more reliable and simpler than that of tracked armored personnel carriers; such equipment is easier to repair and maintain even in the field; higher speed and range than tracked counterparts.
The creation of an armored personnel carrier with an 8x8 wheel formula in Czechoslovakia began at the end of 1959. The Soviet armored personnel carrier BTR-60, which was developed in the USSR from 1956 to 1959, had a great influence on the designers of the countries of the Eastern Bloc. The design and chassis of the OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carrier (SKOT is an abbreviation of the phrase in Czech and Polish for "medium wheeled armored transporter") was clearly inspired by Soviet work on the BTR-60, but with some external similarity, the vehicles differed significantly from each other. The first large-scale tests of pre-production vehicles took place already in 1961, and by October 1963 the new armored personnel carrier was completely ready and put into mass production. The deliveries of serial armored personnel carriers to the armies of Poland and Czechoslovakia began in 1964.
Serial production of the new combat vehicle lasted from October 22, 1963 to July 1971. In total, about 4.5 thousand OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carriers in several versions left the factory shops during this time. Of these, about two thousand armored personnel carriers entered service with the Polish army. And a little less than a third of the armored personnel carriers produced were exported. For example, in 1968, 200 such armored personnel carriers were ordered by Egypt, and the next year 300 vehicles were ordered by India.
OT-64 SKOT technical features
Although the features of the Soviet BTR-60 were guessed in the new armored personnel carrier, even outwardly the vehicles had noticeable differences. For example, on the OT-64 SKOT, the gaps between the first and second and third and fourth axes were equal. There was a greater distance between the second and third axles. At the same time, the aft armor plate of the hull had a reverse slope of the armor, as was implemented on the last version of the famous German half-track armored personnel carrier Sd. Kfz 251 Ausf. D. Also, it was in the stern armor plate that the designers placed the doors through which the motorized riflemen left the troop compartment. The nose of the combat vehicle was also different, having a characteristic wedge-shaped shape with a lower armor plate, which was distinguished by a smaller inclination to the vertical than the upper armor plate.
The body of the Czechoslovak armored personnel carrier was made by welding from steel armor plates with a thickness of 6 to 13 mm, providing the combat vehicle with only bulletproof booking. For their brainchild, designers from Czechoslovakia and Poland chose the following layout. In front of the hull there was a control compartment with the seats of the vehicle commander and the driver, who had a night vision device at his disposal. The engine compartment was located behind the control compartment. At the same time, the troop compartment occupied most of the middle and aft part of the hull. It could accommodate up to 15 fighters, one of whom was the weapons operator and sat on a special height-adjustable chair, the rest sat on reclining benches along the sides of the hull facing each other. To exit, they could use both the rear double door and two large hatches in the roof of the vehicle's hull.
The heart of the combat vehicle was a Tatra 8-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine, model T-928-14, located in the MTO, producing a maximum power of 180 hp. The engine was paired with a Praga-Wilson semi-automatic gearbox (5 + 1). The engine power was enough to accelerate the armored personnel carrier with a combat weight of 14.5 tons to a speed of 95-100 km / h while driving on the highway, while the vehicle's power reserve was up to 740 km. On the water, the armored personnel carrier moved due to two propellers installed in the aft part of the hull, in the front part there was a special water-repellent flap. The maximum speed of the car on the water was 9-10 km / h.
All wheels of the combat vehicle could be driven, the first two pairs of wheels were steerable. At the same time, the four-wheel drive was plug-in, the armored personnel carrier could operate in 8x4 and 8x8 modes. A feature of the machine was the presence of a centralized tire pressure regulation system, which was at the disposal of the mechanic drive. When road conditions changed, the driver could always change the tire pressure to increase the vehicle's cross-country ability, as well as to pump up the wheels as a result of damage, for example, in combat conditions.
The first version of the armored personnel carrier had no weapons and was used only as an armored transporter for transporting infantry. Then, almost all versions began to install a turret of circular rotation, similar to the one that was installed on the BRDM-2 and BTR-60PB / BTR-70. The main armament in this version was a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun, paired with a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun.
Evaluation of the OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carrier
The OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carrier turned out to be in all respects a successful combat vehicle for its time. Released in a series large enough for European countries, this four-wheel drive amphibious armored personnel carrier remained in service with the Czechoslovak and Polish armies for a long time, and was also in demand on the international arms market. Even during the existence of the Eastern Bloc, it was exported to 11 states, competing with Soviet-made technology. The second peak of export deliveries came already in the 1990s after the collapse of the socialist camp, when the military equipment that was in service with the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries poured into export, being of interest to many developing countries.
Creating a new combat vehicle, engineers from Czechoslovakia definitely relied on Soviet experience with the creation of the BTR-60, but they managed to make an even more interesting vehicle, which in some respects surpassed its Soviet counterparts. First of all, the OT-64 SKOT was superior to Soviet vehicles from a technological point of view. The heart of the armored personnel carrier was a diesel engine, which was borrowed from the Tatra-138 truck. The use of a diesel engine increased the fire safety of the car. In addition, the Soviet BTR-60 used a pair of two gasoline engines, while the OT-64 had one diesel engine, this reduced fuel consumption and increased the cruising range. Another obvious advantage was the simplified design of the armored vehicle, as well as its maintenance and repair.
The advantage of the OT-64 SKOT was the better armor protection, although the differences in the thickness of the armor plates were not so significant. So the body of the BTR-60 was assembled from armor plates with a thickness of 5 to 9 mm, and the body of the OT-64 from armor plates with a thickness of 6 to 13 mm. At the same time, the OT-64 SKOT was significantly heavier, its combat weight was 14.5 tons versus 9.9 tons for the BTR-60. Also, an armored personnel carrier from the socialist camp was distinguished by its large dimensions and a more noticeable silhouette on the battlefield. The height of the armored personnel carrier was 2.71 m (including the tower) or 2.4 m (along the roof), while the total height of the Soviet armored personnel carrier did not exceed 2.2 meters.
The advantages of the OT-64 SKOT were also attributed to its layout with the location of the engine compartment in the middle of the hull, and not in the stern, like in the BTR-60. This solution made it possible to carry out the landing through the spacious swing doors in the aft armor plate of the hull. Motorized riflemen leaving the armored personnel carrier were protected from enemy frontal fire by the entire corps of the combat vehicle. At the same time, on the BTR-60, as well as on the BTR-70/80, due to the implemented layout, the landing is carried out either through the side doors on the sides of the hull, or through hatches located in its roof, while the soldiers are protected from enemy fire much worse. This hereditary design problem, typical of the most massive Soviet / Russian-made wheeled armored personnel carriers, got rid of only on the modern Boomerang vehicle, which is a unified wheeled platform that can also be used as an armored personnel carrier.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the OT-64 SKOT for its time was a fairly successful armored personnel carrier. For a long time he was in service with the countries of the socialist camp, and was also actively promoted for export. It was a simple and reliable amphibious vehicle with high speed and long range. A small part of the OT-64 armored personnel carriers are still in service with the armies and police structures of a number of developing countries.
