Armoured recovery vehicle

Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARM : Armoured recovery vehicle

An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to repair battle-damaged or broken-down armoured vehicles during combat, or to tow them off the battlefield for more extensive repairs.

ARVs are normally built on the chassis of a main battle tank (MBT), but some are also constructed on the basis of other armoured fighting vehicles, mostly armoured personnel carriers (APCs). ARVs are usually built on the basis of a vehicle in the same class as they are supposed to recover—thus, a tank-based ARV is used to recover tanks, while an APC-based one recovers APCs, but does not have the power to tow a much heavier tank.

Contents

1 Development History
2 United States

2.1 M32 and M74 (Sherman Chassis)
2.2 M88 Hercules

3 Britain

3.1 WW2
3.2 Modern
3.3 BARV (Multiple Chassis)

4 Canada
5 Soviet Union
6 Germany
7 Czechoslovakia
8 Israel
9 Mexico
10 Poland
11 See also
12 External links

Development History

The first true ARVs were introduced in World War II, often by converting obsolete or damaged tanks, usually by removing the turret and installing a heavy-duty winch to free stuck vehicles, plus a variety of vehicle repair tools. Some were also purpose-built in factories, using an existing tank chassis with a hull superstructure to accommodate repair and recovery equipment. Many of the latter type of ARV had an A-frame or crane to allow the vehicle's crew to perform heavy lifting tasks such as removing the engine from a disabled tank.

After World War II, most countries' MBT models also had corresponding ARV variants. Many ARVs are also equipped with a bulldozer blade that can be used as an anchor when winching or as a stabiliser when lifting, a pump to transfer fuel to another vehicle, and more. Some can even carry a spare engine for field replacement, such the German Leopard 1 ARV.

Some combat engineering vehicles (CEVs) are based on ARVs.

United States

M32 ARV (HVSS variant) in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. 2005.

M32 and M74 (Sherman Chassis)

M32 - officially, Tank Recovery Vehicle M32, or TRV, based on the Sherman tank's M4 chassis with turret replaced by fixed superstructure, 60.000 lb winch and an 18 feet long pivoting A-frame jib installed. An 81mm Mortar was also added into the hull, primarily for screening purposes.
*M32B1 - M32s converted from M4A1s (some converted to M34 artillery prime movers).
**M32A1B1 - M32B1's with HVSS, later removing the 81mm Mortar and incoporating crane improvements.
*M32B2 - M32's converted from M4A2's.
*M32B3 - M32's converted from M4A3's.
**M32A1B3 - M32B3's brought to the same standard as the M32A1B1.
*M32B4 - M32's converted from M4A4's.

M74 Tank Recovery Vehicle - Upgrade of the M32 to provide the same capability with regards to heavier post-war tanks, converted from M4A3 HVSS tanks. In appearance the M74 is very similar to the M32, fitted with an A-Frame crane, a main towing winch, an auxiliary winch, and a manual utility winch. The M74 also has a front mounted spade that can be used as a support or as a dozer blade.
*M74B1 - Same as the M74, but converted from M32B3s.

See these and other Sherman-chassis recovery vehicles used by Britain, Germany, Israel, Mexico, etc.

M88 Hercules

Britain

WW2

Cavalier ARV
Churchill ARV
Grant ARV
Sherman III ARV I - Amoured Recovery Vehicle conversion of Sherman III (M4A2), similarly Sherman V ARV I and ARV II, but the Sherman II ARV III was a M32B1 TRV (see US ARV).

Modern

BARV (Multiple Chassis)

The BARV is a British military support vehicle, the name coming from 'Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle,' built on the M4A2 Sherman, M3A5 Grant, Centurion, and Leopard 1A5 tanks.

Canada

Ram ARV

Soviet Union

In WWII, some damaged Soviet T-34 tanks were rebuilt as ARVs by plating over the turret ring.

BTS-2 (T-54 Chassis)
BTS-4A (T-54 Chassis)
BREM-1 (T-72 Chassis)
BREM-2 (BMP-1 Chassis)
BREM-L (BMP-3 Chassis)
BREM-K (BTR-80 Chassis)
BREM-80U (T-80U Chassis)

Germany

Bergepanzer III (PzKpfw III Chassis)
Bergepanther (SdKfz 179 - Panther Chassis) - 347 produced (1943 to 1945).
Bergepanzer Tiger (Tiger I Chassis)
Bergepanzer 38(t) (Panzerkampfwagen 38 Chassis) - 170 produced (1944 to 1945).
Bergepanzer M74 (Sherman Chassis) - first TRV/ARV of the West German Bundeswehr, 300 used 1956-1960 (see M74 entry under United States).
Bergepanzer Leopard 1 (Leopard 1 Chassis)
Bergepanzer 1 (M48 Chassis) - the first of 125 entered service in 1962 and a 1985 modernization program replaced the gasoline engine with a diesel and improved the hoist.
Bergepanzer 2 (Leopard 1 Chassis)
Bergepanzer 3 (Leopard 2 Chassis)

Czechoslovakia

VT-34 ARV (T-34 Chassis)
VT-55A ARV (T-55 Chassis)
VT-72B ARV (T-72 Chassis) - (1987 to 1989)
VPV (BVP-1 Chassis) - (1985 to 1989)

Israel

Trail Blazer.

Trail Blazer (Gordon) {Sherman chassis) - An IDF recovery/engineering vehicle based on HVSS equipped M4A1s Sherman tanks, it featured a large single boom crane (as opposed to the A-Frame of the M32) and large spades at the front and rear of the vehicle to assist in lifting. It could also tow up to 72 tons.

Mexico

M32 Chenca {Sherman chassis) - In 1998, Napco International of the USA upgraded M32B1 TRV M4 Sherman-chassis armoured recovery vehicles with Detroit Diesel 8V-92-T diesel engines (see M32 entry under United States).

Poland

WZT-2 ARV (T-55 Chassis)
WZT-3 ARV (T-72 Chassis)

External links

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