TAB-77

[Alice_In_Chains]

1. Would you like to see this vehicle added to the game?

• 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

TAB-77 8-Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)

Army Guide

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

Romanian Army - TAB-77

TAB-77 (kolový OT) : Romania (ROM)

TAB-77

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

[Colerend]

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.

[YontzeeUA]

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

[DarkLordMagus]

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

30mm autocannon turret with Malyutka rails on each side

[DMYEugen]

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.

[YontzeeUA]

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

[LoSpilotoITA]

I am completely with you! +1

[Colerend]

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

[Insanerobert]

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

[YaSen]

There were actually at least a few more armed variants of TAB-77:

Spoiler

[Insanerobert]

I personally believe those variants are a better choice for War Thunder. The 14.5mm Heavy MG with the TAB combo seems a bit weak even for SPAA or light vehicle standards, since it would sit in that weird position where you need perfect positioning and some luck for soft targets to be competitive in game. If there is a 14.5mm MG turret with ATGM launcher and enough backup missiles though, the story could change for a support vehicle.

[somebody_Else]

Infantry on its way, lightly armed APC’s have a lot more purpose now

[Insanerobert]

This might be a bit off topic, but I wonder how Gaijin will decide to implement infantry - as a Ground line inside the existing tree or a separate tree and game mode (i.e. how Heli tree is independent). If the 2nd one is true, perhaps light armed APCs could be viable only on the Infantry Tech Tree (same as how military vehicles are managed for each branch in real life).

[Collin4478-live]

I personally Love this Idea. It could do well somewhere between 2.0 and 3.3 with its gun and Armour. But we need Btr 70 for Soviet and East German tree as well.

[somebody_Else]

Have to wait and see, should be interesting to see how they do it

[YaSen]

I don’t think it’s a good idea to add such vehicles outside of infantry mode. They would look completely misplaced at such a low br, while their effectiveness would also be very questionable.

[Collin4478-live]

In the Lower Brs we literally have a Tank with just one 50cal. The 14.5 can Pen the Panzer 4 frontally, I don’t see why not. I mean the Fun is useful, we see that through a few Soviet tanks like the Su 122 54 that it’s good against light Armoured vehicles, lower brs are full of them, it’s lightly Armoured, its big. One could use the same argument against the Luchs for example, as at its br the 20mm isn’t that effective.