BSCh-1

BSCh-1
Side views of the BSCh-1 APC
Type	Armored personnel carrier
Place of origin	Menghe
Service history
In service	1966-present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Polvokian Civil War
Production history
Designed	1963-1966
Manufacturer	Sŭngri Automotive Factory
Produced	1966-1978
Specifications
Weight	11.2 tons
Length	7.56 m
Width	2.66 m
Height	2.63 m
Crew	1
Passengers	13
Armor	Welded steel
Main armament	BSCh-1G: none BSCh-1N: 12.7mm HMG
Engine	Sŭngri Gi-62 120 hp
Power/weight	10.7 hp/ton
Transmission	manual five-speed gearbox
Ground clearance	450mm
Speed	45 km/h (road)

The BSCh-1 is a wheeled armored personnel carrier designed in the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe during the Menghean War of Liberation. It resembles the BTR-40, but it is in fact a domestic design, built on the chassis of the MAZ-502 4×4 utility lorry.

Development

In 1962, while the Menghean War of Liberation was in its late phases, Menghe negotiated a license deal with the Kolodorian MAZ plant to produce the MAZ-502 under license as the Sŭngri Type 62. The lorries were built at a factory in Nungang province, part of the growing rebel-controlled territory in the northern part of the country. Lorries produced at this plant supported the final Menghean offensives into the south of the country, both as logistical vehicles and as front-line troop transports. Troops fitted some of these front-line transports with improvised metal plate armor around the cab and troop compartment, but these were only one-off vehicles rather than standard designs.

During the conflict, Menghean designers at the Sŭngri factory were tasked with developing an armored personnel carrier on the basis of the Type 62. They retained the chassis, drive train, and suspension, but added an entirely new welded steel body.As these changes were more intensive than the improvised applique plating schemes devised by front-line troops, the new APC did not enter service until 1966, two years after the war's end. Nevertheless, the Menghean People's Army ordered it in large numbers, as part of an effort to modernize and streamline the large post-revolutionary force.

Description

The BSCh-1 has a conventional engine-forward layout, inherited from the MAZ-502. Behind the engine are seats for a driver and a passenger, usually a member of the platoon headquarters. The back of the vehicle contains space for up to twelve soldiers, though the Menghean People's Army later adopted a twelve-soldier dismount squad and used the extra space to store equipment. The driver and forward passenger each have side doors through which to exit the vehicle, but the squad members all exit through a large door on the rear of the vehicle.

The hull armor ranges in thickness from 5 to 10 millimeters, and only provides limited protection against small arms fire and shrapnel. During road marches, the metal visors in the "windshield" area can fold up to give the driver a better field of view forward, and the top half of each side door can fold down. These windows are merely open spaces, however, with no glass. When the cab is "buttoned up," the driver can see through open slits in the visor plates, but has no visibility to the right side or the rear. There is a metal plate over the roof of the cab, but the troop compartment is open-topped, and provides no protection against grenades, strafing aircraft, or the elements. Out of combat, the open roof can be covered by a sheet of canvas. The tires were identical to the ones used on the MAZ-502, with an offroad grip pattern but no automatic air pressure management system and no puncture protection.

Early variants of the BSCh-1 had no permanent armament, instead relying on the squad members to use their own weapons. A pintle mount centered over the cab allowed the squad machine gunner to set up his weapon and fire forward, and there were six firing ports for the other riflemen, three on each side. With the canvas top removed, the riflemen could also stand up and fire over the sides of the vehicle. Later models added permanent armament, either in the form of a pintle-mounted 7.5mm GCh-77 machine gun or a 360-degree traversing ring for a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, but these variants were produced in smaller numbers.

The BSCh-1 also suffered from poor offroad mobility. Between the armored body and the passengers and equipment, it was close to the permissible total weight of the MAZ-502, with a power-to-weight ratio of 10.5 hp/ton. It handled poorly in rough, muddy, or frozen terrain, and even on a level road it had a top speed of only 45 kilometers per hour. It also lacked amphibious capability, and had a shallow fording depth of just one meter.

Between its thin armor, lack of armament, and poor mobility, the BSCh-1 was mainly designed as a "battle taxi" APC which could bring its troops to the battle area but would not support them with direct fire. Even in this limited capacity, the Menghean People's Army found the vehicle disappointing, and soon ordered design work on what would become the BSCh-4.

Variants

• BSCh-1G: Original variant with no permanent armament.
• BSCh-1N: Variant with a 12.7mm DShK heavy machine gun in a ring mount over the cab, allowing 360-degree fire.
• BSCh-1D: Variant with a covered metal roof and glass vision slots for the driver and crew members. Mainly used for armed police work.
• BSCh-1DGP: Anti-aircraft variant with a DGP-23-2 twin 23mm anti-aircraft gun. The rear section has hinged metal sides which can fold down into a working platform around the gun.
• BSCh-1DJCh: Anti-tank variant with a 110mm MCh-4 recoilless rifle on a pintle mount over the cabin.
• H10G2B3: Multiple rocket launcher with a 12-tube launcher in the passenger compartment, facing forward. This protected the launcher against shrapnel and small-arms fire, but greatly restricted its permissible firing angles.

Operators

Former operators

• Menghe
• Polvokia
• Qusayn

See also

• BTR-40
• BTR-152