TNT
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| TNT | |
|---|---|
 TNT | |
| Type | Multi-purpose amphibious armored vehicle |
| Place of origin |  Zacapican |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1959 - present |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Production history | |
| Designer | NTT 114 |
| Designed | 1957 |
| Manufacturer | Cuauhquetztia |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 11.9 tonnes (13.1 short tons; 11.7 long tons) |
| Length | 6.45 m (21 ft 2 in) |
| Width | 2.86 m (9 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Armor | 15 mm |
Main armament | 12.7×108mm machine gun 30mm autocannon 30mm automatic grenade launcher |
Secondary armament | 7.62×51mm machine gun |
| Engine | V8 diesel engine producing 240 hp at 2150 rpm |
| Power/weight | 20 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
Operational range | 500 km (310 mi) (road) |
| Speed | 61 km/h (38 mph) (road) 30 km/h (19 mph) (off-road) 5 to 6 km/h (3.7 MPH) (amphibous) |
The TNT (Nahuatl: 𐐓𐑊𐐰𐑆𐐰𐐿𐐰𐑌𐐨 𐐤𐐬𐐸𐐶𐐨𐐷𐐰𐑌𐐷𐐬 𐐓𐐯𐐹𐐬𐑆𐑋𐐰𐑊𐐸𐐶𐐨𐑊𐐨, Tlazacani Nohuiyanyo Tepozmalhuili, literally "All-Purpose Armored Carrier") is a Zacapine armoured fighting vehicle used by the Zacapine Army and Marines as well as export clients such as Pulacan and Itayana. The vehicle is fully amphibious and capable of crossing various types of terrain impassable to other tracked vehicles. The design of the TNT is highly modular, facilitating maintenance and field repairs as well as enabling a high level of modification for versatility across combat and non-combat roles. The TNT was one of the first indigenous armored vehicles designed in Zacapican and the first project completed by the NTT 114 design bureau, incorporating many existing components from the budding Zacapine automotive industry to cut down on development and manufacturing costs. More than 15,000 TNT armored vehicles have been produced by Cuauhquetztia since 1959, 6,000 of which are currently in service with the Zacapine military.
Development
The TNT project was the result of a long running nativisation initiative to bring the production of all key military hardware to domestic plants. Since the mid 1920s, the Zacapine military had been importing early armored vehicles for testing and use by the armed forces. Army officers, notably Colonel Milit Tzacol, championed the protected mobile fire concept of the tank and the accompanying push to fully motorize the armed forces. These officers likewise pushed for the development of native Zacapine designs to replace the imported equipment, both in order to remove the military's reliance on outside powers and to produce equipment better suited to the highly diverse and difficult environments found in Zacapican. All of these early efforts ran into the same stumbling block, the as yet underdeveloped Zacapine industries of the era which was not well suited to produce tanks and other complex armored vehicles. The TNT project was the result of these earlier failures. Military designer Necuametl Mizyaotl was assigned the task of developing an indigenous vehicle better suited to the limited production capabilities of Zacapine military industries of the age, being designated the Director for the newly created NTT 144 bureau and given resources to pursue his task.
Mizyaotl's first draft designated Tepozpilli (TPL-1) was based on concurrent developments in armored vehicle design from around the world, in particular the advent of the armoured personnel carrier concept.