TTV-95

TTV-95 family of armoured vehicles
Place of origin	Elatia
Service history
In service	1995-present
Used by	Elatian Army
Production history
Designed	1990-92
Produced	1994-present
Specifications
Weight	12.5-16 tonnes
Length	6.63m
Width	2.8 m
Height	2.8 m
Crew	3
Passengers	9
Armor	Welded steel
Main armament	See text
Engine	8-cylinder air-cooled turbo-diesel 320 bhp
Transmission	Independent wheel
Operational range	800km on roads
Speed	85 kph on roads

The TTV-95 is a family of Elatian light armoured vehicles. First entering servince in the mid-90's, it has since become a common vehicle of the Elatian Army's mechanised infantry.

Conceptualisation

The Elatian Army of the 1980's was conceptualised for a large scale tank war against Belfras under NBC conditions. The Elatian TTV-72 troop carriers had light armour, with little attention paid to IED defence. In spite of their low cost, they were chronically unavailable and many ostensibly mechanised infantry units were transported in little more than potato lorries.

The Great Freeze of the mid-80's led to a significant reduction in the army's numbers as the massed conscript force disintegrated. What was left of the army was left to fight with improvised combat units against a bewildering variety of rebels in the provinces. In this complex operational environment, the vulnerability of Elatian light armour became readily apparent. The lack of bayonet strength in infantry units led to armour being used to close assaults in complex terrain held by determined guerillas, with predictable results. In particular, petrol-engined APC's became shunned by the troops, owing to their propensity to burn.

In the efforts to consolidate and reorganise the Elatian Army, which began in the late-90's and were somewhat complete by the mid-2000's, the Elatian Army fielded a number of new armoured vehicles to address the weaknesses of legacy platforms. The TTV-95 is a type of new armoured personel carrier, possessing greater mobility and firepower, to enter service during this era.

Design

The TTV-95 family is derived from a six-wheeled truck chassis and shares a number of components with civilian vehicles. This reduces its overall manufacturing and maintenance costs. Compared to previous Elatian light armour, it has a spacious cabin, capable of accomodating nine dismounts as opposed to the previous seven. Its diesel engine is reasonably powerful and are less likely to burn than its old petrol counterparts. The vehicle is capable of flotation and possesses a pair of propellers for amphibious mobility.

It is in the realm of survivability that the new vehicle shows the greatest improvement. For the first time in Elatian history, a v-shaped lower hull is implemented in order to increase its resistance to mines and IED's. In its unaugmented form, the TTV-95's armour is resistant towards heavy machine guns from the frontal arc. Applique armour modules, which are fitted as standard to all infantry carrier and assault gun vehicles outside of the Naval Infantry, allows for resistance towards HMG fire from all quarters, at the cost of rendering the vehicle unable to float.

The TTV-95 is overall a useful and cost-effective vehicle which was designed and produced within a very short period of time, in order to meet the army's urgent operational requirements. However, it is likely to be merely a transitional platform. With the success of the IBV-05, it is likely that all high readiness units will transition to the new 8x8 vehicle with significantly greater armour protection in the coming decade.

Variants

The IBV-95 design has spawned a number of variants. The most important of these include the following:

TTV-95

This is the basic APC variant, equipped with a shielded 12.7mm HMG. Although originally intended for use by the Ecclesia Guards and other paramilitary units as an internal security vehicle owing to its low cost, it is also commonly being used in place of the more sophisticated TTV-95A as a troop carrier amongst lower readiness regular army units.

TTV-95A

This is the standard infantry carrier model, capable of embarking eight dismounts. Its armaments are contained within a one-man turret, equipped with a modern fire control system featuring a new ballistic computer. It possesses a stabilised 30mm autocannon, a 7.65mm co-axial machine gun, as well as up to four Kornet anti-tank missiles.

TTV-95G

The TTV-95G is an assault gun, designed to provide the Naval Infantry with heavy fire support. It is equipped with a 105mm rifled gun, as well as co-axial 30mm autocannon and 7.65mm machine gun. Generally, the vehicle is able to carry 30 main gun rounds, including 16x HE-frag rounds which may be programmed for airburst, 16x HESH rounds, 4x Bastion anti-tank missiles and 4x canister rounds.

TTV-95M

The TTV-95M is a self-propelled mortar variant, equipped with a 120mm Nona mortar turret.

TTV-95T

The TTV-95G equips the brigade-level anti-tank company. It is armed with a twin-rail launcher for Kornet missiles, plus twelve reloads within the cabin.

TTV-95D

The TTV-95D is a specialised HQ vehicle for MANPADS platoons. Such a platoon has a TTV-95D vehicle equipped with an early-warning radar, plus three ordinary troop carriers, each containing three MANPADS teams.

TTV-95R

The TTV-95R is a dedicated reconaissance vehicle. Essentially similar to the infantry carrier, it is in addition equipped with a detacheable reconaissance suite which contains a ground search radar and a FLIR unit. A scout team of four may be carried in the rear.

Other variants

Other variants of the vehicle include company and battalion HQ, electronic warfare, drone carrier, ambulance, armoured recovery vehicle, armoured engineering vehicle and NBC-reconaissance vehicle.