TAB-77

1. Would you like to see this vehicle added to the game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

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Brief Summary:
Although the TAB-77 is almost identical to it’s Soviet counterpart the BTR-70 it does have it’s own differences in weight and engines to differentiate itself from the vehicle it’s licensed from. A small amount of them had been produced to compliment the earlier TAB-71’s already in service.

History:
The TAB-77 is an 8x8 armoured personnel carrier licensed and modified to suit Romania’s industrial capabilities, it features many of the component of it’s parent design the BTR-70 but with a few changes regarding the engines and weight in particular. Production on the TAB-77 commenced in 1977 with the licensed BTR-70’s already being introduced to Romania earlier in 1972 both of which where produced by RATMIL now known as ROMARM. A total of 168 TAB-77’s were produced and have seen service in in Romania and Libya. China also had bought a TAB-77 for testing in 1984 which helped with the development of the program that would eventually produced the WZ-551. A total of 155 TAB-77’s remain in Romanian service as of their 2021 report which includes it’s command variants.

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BTR-70 top, TAB-77 below

One of the first things you will notice about the vehicle is the turret is like the turret seen on the earlier TAB-71M/TAB-72 with the LOTA system which gives it a greater elevation fire arc of -5°/85° although one source states it has up to -12° of depression. The next big thing is the two Saviem 797-05M1 132hp diesel engines in the place of the two ZMZ-4905 120hp engines of the BTR-70 which although increases the horsepower to 264hp instead of the 240hp engines on the BTR-70’s the weight of the vehicle has been increased from 11.5 tons to 13 tons which decreases the power to weight ratio slightly. Some sources claim it has a 85km/h max speed whilst the others claim it has the 80km/h top speed, the amphibious top speed remains the same 9km/h as the BTR-70’s.

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Specification:

Dimensions (L-W-H): 7.42m x 2.94m x 2.34m (24’3’’ x 9’6’’ x 7’7’’ ft)

Total Weight: 13 tons

Crew: 2 (driver, commander)

Propulsion: 2x Saviem 797-05M1 diesel132hp, 264hp 3000rpm engines

Transmission: N/A

clearance: 0.47

Power to Weight Ratio: 20.31hp/ton (TAB-71)

Suspension: 8x8 independent coil suspension

Top Speed: 80-85km/h (50-53 mph) (road) (9km/h amphibious (5.6mph))

Main Armament: 14.5mm KPVT HMG (500-600 rounds)

Vertical Guidance: -5°/85°

Secondary Armament: 1x 7.62mm PKT LMG (Turret Coaxial) (2000-2500 rounds)

Stabiliser: No

Night Vision: Passive IR

Armour: 7-9mm frontal, 7mm sides and rear (Hull)
10-7mm (Turret)

Production: 168

Additional Images:
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Sources:
http://www.military-today.com/apc/tab_77.htm

https://www.pmulcahy.com/wheeled_apcs/romanian_wheeled_apcs.htm

BTR-70 - Wikipedia
BTR-70 APC (1972)
UNROCA (United Nations Register of Conventional Arms)
China Defense Blog: Romanian TAB77 in China

1 Like

I don’t see a point in having this vehicle in game. Especially since there is a version of this vehicle with guided missiles. It makes more sense to have those instead.

5 Likes

I really like the TAB’s but this specific model probably would struggle in this game. Later on, maybe it can get placed in Enlisted

1 Like

I don’t see a place in WT for a 1970s APC with only a machine gun turret. The ATGM-armed prototypes on the other hand…

73mm smoothbore turret (from MLI-84) with Malyutka rail over the barrel

25-tun73-mm
26

30mm autocannon turret with Malyutka rails on each side


7 Likes

It would work just fine in-game. It’s just that no one would like where it’d be placed. 49mm of pen is nothing to sneeze at. It absolutely has a place in-game as a direct, albeit more modern, analogue to the German 20mm autocannon carriers. The only issue is that, again, there’s a subset of very vocal players that wouldn’t like to see a 70s APC fighting alongside and/or against WW2 vehicles.

Is that a 30mm? Almost looks like a KPVT.

I am completely with you! +1

Which makes sense. How can someone justify this thing fighting 2.0 vehicles?

I agree, I would rather see another Romanian IFV version with ATGMs or a proper autocannon. The 14.5mm gun seems not enough.

1 Like