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

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 11 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 is seated directly behind the driver. This makes the BSCh-6 something of an oddity compared to most other Menghean APCs, which have a 2+11 crew/passenger arrangement. It was originally a product of the BSCh-6G's layout, in which the vehicle itself has no turret but instead relies on the dismounts to operate onboard weapons.

Passengers enter and exit the vehicle by means of a three-part hatch in the hull rear: two doors fold to the sides, and the upper section folds up and forward. The dismounts then climb over the top of the engine compartment and drop off the back of the vehicle. This procedure is similar to that of the BMP-3, except that ther are no hatches over the passage over the engine. The BSCh-6's passenger compartment is also somewhat less cramped than that of the BMP-3, as there is no large turret for the forward two passengers to squeeze around. Passengers can also exit through two large hatches in the roof of the vehicle, and the driver can squeeze out of his forward hatch.

Armament

As designed, the BSCh-6 lacked any dedicated gunner or commander. Instead, the passengers would operate three forward-facing machine guns. The first two are located on the front corners of the hull, and are operated by the dismounts to the right and left of the driver. These GCh-77 machine guns have no sights for their gunners, who instead correct fire using the machine guns' tracers. The third weapon is a special machine gun firing port in the center of the rear crew hatch, which folds up to form a makeshift gun shield for one dismount standing behind it. None of these weapons can engage targets more than 30 degrees to either side of the centerline forward.

This arrangement was initially deemed suitable for a beach assault vehicle, but the MoND later judged that it left the vehicle too vulnerable to flanking attacks, even on a conventional battlefield. 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" adds a larger turret with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun and a 30mm grenade launcher, modeled after the turret used on the BSCh-4D. In both vehicle variants, the squad sergeant typically operates the turret, delegating command of the dismounts to one of the corporals (sangdŭngbyŏng) in the squad.

The remaining dismounts are provided with six firing ports, three on each side of the vehicle, all sized for the JS-67 assault rifle.

Protection

The BSCh-6 is armored against 12.7mm fire over the 60-degree frontal arc, and small-arms fire from all angles and ranges. It has a CBRN protection system, but the seal is rumored to be of relatively poor quality, owing to the many large firing ports.

Variants and derivatives

IMCh-S Jwi

The IMCh-S (Sohyŏng Ilbanjŏgin Muhangwedo Charyang, "Small Universal Tracked Vehicle") is a multipurpose utility chassis derived from the BSCh-6. It has a vertically "cut-down" hull without the raised roof around the troop compartment, and as a result measures just 1.57 meters to the roof rather than an already low 1.85 meters. This makes it an ideal basis for tank destroyers and light tanks, which also suffer less heavily from the rear-engine arrangement. In all other respects, the IMCh-S Jwi is mechanically identical to the BSCh-6, meaning that it can use the same spare parts and factory tooling. THe list of variants below includes variants using the IMCh-S hull.

Operators

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 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 2001, Polvokia's new government signed a contract for the purchase of 500 BSCh-6s. These Polvokian vehicles bear the local designation M01. The M01 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.

• Argentstan
• Republic of Innominada
• Menghe
• Polvokia