Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

MLI-84

1985 COLD WAR MODERN

History

The Romanian state borrowed from Soviet-era armor doctrine and utilized local industry to design, develop and produce the "MLI-84" equivalent to the BMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). Like the Soviet version, the Romanian version features a flat hull, traditional track and wheel drive system, and is operated by a crew of three with built-in troop transport capabilities. It entered service in 1985 and continues to serve in the more modern "M" form (see below).

Design work on the series ran from 1982 to 1985, with 178 eventually produced.

The whole vehicle weighs 17.6 tons, the barrel is 7.3 meters long, 3.3 meters wide and 2.9 meters high. Its crew consists of a driver in the front left of the hull, followed by the vehicle commander and the gunner in the turret.

Since the engine is nested in the front right, there is room to transport eight combat-equipped infantrymen to the rear of the hull. The turret (the missile-capable 73mm automatic cannon initially seen on the Soviet BMP-1) was mounted on the hull roofline, as were the entrance and exit hatches (with associated sights). Entry and exit doors are located on the rear hull, facing the troops in the rear compartment.

Armor protection is good against small arms and artillery spray up to 12.7mm caliber, but little else. Self-defense is provided by 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine guns, in addition to any personal weapons carried by the soldier (these are fired from available muzzles along the sides of the hull).

6 smoke grenade launchers allow the vehicle to self-monitor its movement on the battlefield.

By comparison, the BMP-1 weighs 13.2 tons and has a barrel length of 6.7 meters, a width of 2.94 meters, and a height of 2.1 meters.

Power comes from a local Romanian 8-cylinder 1240 DT-S diesel engine with 355 hp. The landing gear consists of six twin-tire wheels located on one side of the hull, the drive sprocket is located in the front, and the track idler is located in the rear of the hull. Three track wheels are located in the upper area of ??the sides of the fuselage.

With inherently good maneuverability and off-road capability, the MLI-84 can achieve road speeds of up to 65-70 km/h and a range of 550-600 km - suitable qualities within the confines of modern armored warfare. The vehicle also has an inherent, low-ready amphibious mass (like many Soviet-era vehicles).

The original production model was simply referred to as "MLI-84". Modernization has recently (2005) introduced the "MLI-84M" with its Israeli OWS-25 weapon station replacing the original Soviet-style turret.

The final system consisted of a 25mm Oerlikon automatic cannon, 1 7.62mm machine gun and 2 9S415 / 9M14-2T "Malijutka-2T" / "Spike" anti-tank missiles, giving the vehicle good firepower to simultaneously target the internal " Soft" and "hard" targets for attack range. The brand also carries eight smoke grenade launchers, powered by a 400-horsepower American Caterpillar C9 diesel engine.

These changes result in road vehicles that are slightly heavier, slower, and have a higher profile. Amphibious preparations are also tighter than the original production version.

Using the MLI-84 as a common chassis, other variants obtained by the Romanian Army include the battalion-level MLI-84M PCB ("Punct de Comanda Batalion") armored command vehicle, the MLI-84M TPET ("Tractor" Pentru Evacuare Tehnica") Armored Rescue Vehicle (ARV) and MLI-84M VEM ("Vehicul de Evacuare Medicala") battlefield ambulance. The ARV model lost the turret but gained three heavy powered crane arms and a winch, as well as a large number of lockers.

Ambulance The vehicle model is also unarmed, carrying the fuselage superstructure of the battalion command vehicle.