Soviet MT-LB vehicle armored troop-carrier 1/35 SKIF 214

Soviet MT-LB personnel carrier vehicle armored troop-carrier
1/35 scale plastic model kit
SKIF 214

Package include:
Photo Etched set
Decals
Gum tracks
Plastic parts
Assembly guide

Manufacturer: SKIF (Ukraine)
Scale: 1/35
Material: Plastic
Unpainted, Unassembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box

The MT-LB (многоцелевой тягач легко бронированный, mnogotselevoy tyagach lekhko bronirovannyi / multi-purpose light-armoured towing vehicle) is a Soviet multi-purpose fully-amphibious armoured personnel carrier which was first introduced in the 1970s. Initially the vehicle was known as M 1970 in the west.

In the 1970s the Soviet Central Auto and Tractor Directorate embarked on a development program to replace the AT-P series of artillery tractors (that were based on the ASU-57) with a new generation of vehicles. The MT-L was developed to meet this requirement based on the PT-76 chassis. The MT-LB is the armoured variant of the vehicle. Entering production in the early 1970s, it was cheap to build, being based on many existing components including the engine which is actually a truck engine. It was built at the Kharkov tractor plant in the USSR as well as Poland and Bulgaria.

Description

The crew, a driver and a commander/gunner sit in a compartment at the front of the vehicle, with the engine behind them. A compartment at the rear enables up to 11 infantry to be carried or a cargo of up to 2,000 kg. A load of 6,500 kg can be towed. The vehicle is fully amphibious, being propelled by its tracks in the water.

A small turret at the front of the vehicle fits a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun with 360 degree manual traverse and an elevation of -5 to +30 degrees. The vehicle is lightly armoured against small arms and shell splinters with a thickness of 3 to 10 mm of steel. The infantry compartment has two hatches over the top, which open forwards. There are 4 firing ports - two in the both sides of the hull, the other two in the rear twin doors of the infantry compartment.

The driver is provided with a TVN-2 infra-red periscope, which in combination with the OU-3GK infra-red/white light search light provides a range of about 40 m. All vehicles include an NBC system.

MT-LB
Type	Armored personnel carrier
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Specifications
Weight	11,900 kg
Length	6.45 m
Width	2.86 m
Height	1.865 m
Crew	2 (+ 11 passengers)
Armor	14mm max.
Primary armament	7.62mm PKT machine-gun 2,500 rounds
Engine	YaMZ 238, V-8 diesel 240 hp at 2,100 rpm
Power/weight	20 hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	500 km (road range)
Speed	61 km/h (road) 30 km/h (off-road) 5 to 6 km/h (in the water)

Users

•  Armenia - 75
•  Azerbaijan - 196
•  Bangladesh - 80+ (Captured during Op. Desert Storm & are ex-Iraqi and after that many were bought))
•  Belarus - 66
•  Bulgaria - 812
•  Czech Republic - Only Strela-10
•  Finland - 98 MT-LBV
•  Georgia - 80
•  Iraq (The new Iraqi Army , Kurdish Peshmerga) - 61
•  Kazakhstan - 200
•  Lithuania - 10
•  Macedonia - 10
•  Moldova - 62
•  Niger - 67
•  Poland - 352
•  Russia - 4,800
•  Serbia - Only MT-LBu variants and 13 9K35 "Strela-10".
•  Sweden - 460 (Called Pbv 401, former East German, bought 1993)
•  Ukraine - 2,090
•  United States - unknown

Former Operators

•  East Germany - 721 Bulgarian-made MT-LB's, 32 SNAR-10 and 36 Strela-10M. Passed on to the successor state.
•  Soviet Union - Passed on to successor states.
•  West Germany/ Germany - taken from GDR's army, all scrapped or sold to other countries.
•  Yugoslavia - SNAR-10 and Strela-10. Passed on to successor states.