BSCh-6
| BSCh-6 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Armored personnel carrier |
| Place of origin | Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1985-present |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars | Polvokian Civil War Innominadan Crisis |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1976-1983 |
| Manufacturer | Gogyŏngbuk 2nd Vehicle Plant |
| Produced | 1984-present |
| Variants | numerous (see text) |
| Specifications (BSCh-6N) | |
| Weight | 12.2 metric tonnes |
| Length | 7.02 m |
| Width | 3.03 m |
| Height | 1.89 m to hull roof |
| Crew | 1 (driver) |
| Passengers | 11 (10 in squad + 1 gunner) |
| Armor | welded steel plate |
Main armament | 12.7mm GCh-75Ch HMG |
Secondary armament | 2× GCh-77 GPMG bow MG |
| Engine | DSK-7122 6-cylinder diesel 210 kW (282 hp) |
| Power/weight | 23.1 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 35 cm |
Operational range | 700 km |
| Speed | 70 km/h (road) 11 km/h (water) |
The BSCh-6 (formal designation: 6호 분대 수송 장갑차 / 六號分隊輸送裝甲車, Ryuk-ho Bundae Susong Janggabcha, "No.6 Armored Squad Transport;" short designation: 분수차-6 Bunsucha-ryuk) is a type of tracked armored personnel carrier developed in Menghe. Originally developed for the Marine Infantry of the Menghean Navy, it is relatively uncommon in its APC variant, but it forms the basis for a large number of other specialist vehicles, such as tank destroyers, scouting vehicles, and anti-air vehicles.
Development
Until the mid-1980s, the Marine Infantry of the Menghean Navy lacked an effective amphibious armored fighting vehicle. The BSCh-3 and BSCh-5 appeared in some mechanized Marine formations, but they were not well-liked because of their poor seaworthiness and low swimming speed. These IFVs also had below-average passenger space, with the BSCh-5 carrying only seven dismounts. The Marine Infantry favored maximizing the number of personnel aboard, as this would bring more dismounted firepower to the beachhead.
Initially, the Menghean Ministry of National Defense resisted demands for a dedicated Marine vehicle. In order to avoid the incompatible supply chains which had plagued the IMA and IMN in the Pan-Septentrion War, the MoND had gone to great lengths to set up a common procurement system for the Menghean Armed Forces. In the end, the MoND relented only with the understanding that the Menghean People's Army would also introduce the BSCh-6 as a replacement for the BSCh-2.
The design of the BSCh-6 mainly catered to the interests of the Naval Infantry. Unlike most tracked APCs, it places the engine in the rear of the vehicle, with the crew and passenger compartment in front. This layout assisted with seakeeping by giving the vehicle a slight nose-up pitch in the water. It also allowed for the installation of two waterjet propulsors in the rear of the hull, which in turn resulted in a faster swimming speed than the vehicle could achieve simply by spinning the tracks. The BSCh-6 also has a relatively low profile, measuring just 1.85 meters to the hull roof. This makes it a smaller target on the beachhead and during its inland advance, and allowed the designers to concentrate more armor on the front of the hull at a lower cost in weight.
The vehicle entered production in 1984, but the Menghean People's Army dragged its feet in approving new orders, instead favoring the BSCh-4 and BSCh-5. During the 1990s, there was renewed discussion about replacing BSCh-2s with BSCh-6s, but as the Menghean Socialist Party narrowed down the Army's budget to support economic growth, the Army eventually scrapped its tracked APC hulls altogether. The Army did, however, continue purchasing BSCh-6s for the Y35B1 SAM vehicle, which kept the BSCh-6 in limited production as a special-purpose vehicle. After the Polvokian Civil War, Polvokia placed a large order for BSCh-6 APCs, keeping the type in production until Menghean defense spending surged again in the mid-2000s.
Design
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Layout
Compared with other Menghean APCs and IFVs, the BSCh-6 has a rather unconventional layout. The engine and transmission are located in the rear of the hull, with twin waterjets capable of propelling the amphibious vehicle at 10 kilometers per hour when swimming. Though the engine used in the BSCh-6 is slightly weaker than the one in the BSCh-5, the vehicle has better performance owing to its lower weight. The rear-engine layout and lack of a turret also make for better amphibious performance, as the vehicle's center of gravity is centered, lower down, and further aft.
The crew compartment is located immediately forward of the engine, and consists of eight outward-facing seats, six of which face firing ports on the sides. Two additional passengers are seated further forward, on either side of the driver. The eleventh passenger, usually a lieutenant, platoon sergeant, or sharpshooter, is seated directly behind the driver.
Passengers enter and exit the vehicle by means of a three-part hatch in the hull rear, though they can also use hatches on the roof. Both of these methods leave the squad exposed to small-arms fire, a drawback which led the Army to minimize its orders of the type.
Armament
While the vehicle as originally designed lacks a main armament, variant "N" adds a commander's cupola modeled after the type on the JCh-5 main battle tank. This comes equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and can be aimed from within the vehicle by means of a periscope or fired from a standing position with a hand crank. Variant "D," which is rare outside testing units but appears to be entering service with the 9th Army, replaces this with a single-man turret equipped with a GCh-77 machine gun and a JMB-38 automatic grenade launcher. It is standard procedure for the 11th crew member to disembark in battle to support the squad, at which point the vehicle remains unarmed unless one of the riflemen is kept behind to provide supporting fire.
All APC variants have an additional firing port on the top section of the rear-exit door, which when folded upward serves as a gun shield. Usually this position is manned by the squad's machine-gunner, who can use it to support the squad during the assault. This is especially common on G variants, which lack the forward HMG cupola and offer the rear gunner a clearer field of fire. On training exercises, demonstration units have also proven the feasibility of firing shoulder-mounted rocket launchers from the
On G and N variants, the passengers seated alongside the driver have GCh-77 medium machine-guns mounted in ball mounts on either side of the hull. These are aimed using tracer rounds only, and mainly serve to suppress of forward targets. On nearly all supporting vehicles, including all vehicles exported to Polvokia, these firing ports are absent. Owing to the poor accuracy of the guns, in some vehicles they are faired over; vehicles modified in this way are designated BSCh-6G1, -N1, or -D1.
Protection
As an APC, and more specifically an APC designed to evade concerns with mobility and amphibious performance, the BSCh-6 is only thinly armored. It can withstand armor-piercing rifle-caliber rounds over the frontal arc from regular combat ranges, but is vulnerable from the sides and rear, and offers no protection against HMG fire and autocannons.
The BSCh-6 does come with a minimally effective CBRN protection system, but leaked reports from field tests suggest that even with the overpressure system active contaminants could still enter through the many firing ports, especially on earlier units manufactured to looser tolerance levels.
Service
Within the Menghean Army, the BSCh-6G and -6N are relatively uncommon, with most motorized infantry units using the BSCh-7. They are, however, standard in some divisions assigned to the 6th, 9th, and 12th Armies, which would have to fight in flood-prone or mountainous terrain. The Menghean Army mainly uses the BSCh-6 for its support vehicle variants, which are widespread in a number of roles.
In 1992, Polvokia signed a contract for the purchase of 500 BSCh-6 vehicles, and successfully negotiated a production license in 1998. Polvokian vehicles bear the designation M92 and are produced in the city of Gorny Kray. The M92 currently serves as the main APC of the Polvokian Army, and comes in a number of innovative variants not seen in Menghe, with most carrying 14.5mm HMGs or roof-mounted 30mm autocannons.