- Yes
- No
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.
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.
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:
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