Type 62 SPH

[Miraz05]

Would you like to see this in-game?

• Yes
• No

Brief History: Bangladesh Army had a large fleet of Type 62 light tank. Soon the tanks became obsolete in modern day situation. Because of this reason Bangladesh Army decided to convert them into Self Propelled Artillery, IFV and APC. All the IFVs were later converted into APCs. Type 62 SPH is one of the variant of Type 62 modernization program. The tank was upgraded at same time when the other Type 62s were upgraded to APC and IFV. This SPH saw short service similar to other variants. This might have happened because of the cramped turret space. The SPH was upgraded locally with pre-existing equipments which were in the service of Bangladesh Army. This tank was retired in 2009. Most of the converted/upgraded tanks were later scrapped, one of them currently exists at Bangabandhu Military Museum.The turret of this tank has been completely remade. This sph was really rare and due to this fact very few pictures are available. Also very few information about this SPH is available online.

Speed: 60 Km/h on road

35 Km/h on dirt

Armor: Hull armor is same as before.

Turret armor: Unknown thickness.

Main Gun: Original gun was replaced with a new OTO Melara mod 56 pack Howitzer. The SPH uses central fixed casemate design to fit the gun(probably). The gun uses standard US M1 ammunition but in Bangladeshi service the gun might have used Chinese 105mm shells. Also at that time Bangladesh army’s only 105mm Howitzer was the OTO melara mod 56. There is probably a new ammo stowage in the turret’s backside.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTO_Melara_Mod_56,[https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/OTO_Melara_Mod_56](https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/OTO_Melara_Mod_56#References), OTO Melara Mod 56 105mm Pack Howitzer / Lightweight Artillery Piece.)

Main gun compared with OTO Melara Mod 56

Spoiler

Muzzle Velocity: 416 m/s

Elevation: -7 to +65 degrees

Traverse: Probably 0 degrees if it’s a casemate turret. Otherwise it should be 360 degrees.

Max Range: 11 km

Recoil: Hydro pneumatic

Crew: 4. Crew layout is similar to what it used to be in the original one. 2 in the turret and 2 in the Hull.

Secondary gun: 12.7mm machine gun Dshk.

**Rest of the specifications are same as original type 62.**Only the weight of this tank might have been increased or maybe it’s decreased. Also the new turret might be very lightly armored.

Pictures:

Spoiler

Sources:

Personal research.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/bangladesh/army-modernization.htm

http://www.military-today.com/artillery/oto_melara_mod_56.htm

[JamesPond1200-psn]

Another great addition for China! +1

[Miraz05]

Rare picture of Type 62 SPH

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid04ysETbz4PWdn9cSfwcYBQw7PrwqYFw4GJXWfEaxaXmb4pNQ9dDew3ort5GVTuczbl&id=100064574723147&mibextid=Nif5oz

[Spr4yz]

This is a bit of a hard sell for me. The gun seems to only have access to HE with 2 kg filler, and possibly the M67 HEAT round that only has about 100mm of pen.
If it was a WW2 vehicle, sure. But this is a mid-to-late Cold War vehicle which puts it in a different perspective.

If you have any info on the ammo Bangladesh uses that would be cool.

[warner7]

Bangladesh vehicle with Chinese hull and Italian OTO-Melara, what a combo. +1 for me

[Miraz05]

I’m not sure about the ammo. This vehicle didn’t see much service.Ammo shouldn’t be issue. Gaijin always doesn’t give historical ammo. Currently Oto melera guns are used in ceremonies so they might have stopped buying new ammo for it. Currently Bangladesh produces 105mm HE rounds for howitzers. Maybe those are used nowadays. But I’m not sure which rounds were used back then.

[Miraz05]

Another Rare picture

[Miraz05]

Type 62SPH with a 85mm gun(fake gun most likely)

[BSpiel8]

It’s also interesting to note that judging by the color scheme and background, this does not appear to be the same example at Bangabandhu Military Museum, so there’s quite possibly another vehicle on active display somewhere.

[Miraz05]

This is at Sylhet Cadet College. https://maps.app.goo.gl/mhcqaeHiHw9Dt6N39?g_st=ac

[BSpiel8]

I see, looks like a while ago too as nowadays there are more/higher trees and the wall in the foreground has been painted purple.

[Miraz05]

street view is actually from 2023. This picture was sent to me by a friend, so I don’t really know when this picture was taken

[BSpiel8]

Still appears much older to me, but regardless, it’s safe to assume that the vehicle has probably been moved somewhere else lol

[Miraz05]

Rusty Type 62 SPH

[BSpiel8]

It should be pretty easy to model at least, as there is plenty of footage online of the vehicle from visitors to the Bangabandhu Military Museum. One such video I found provided this closeup of the exhibit plaque. Since this is from the museum themselves, it should count as a primary source.

Note that this suggests that the 37mm armed vehicle is an IFV, not an SPAA. Hopefully this clears up the confusion you mentioned in your suggestion for it.

@Miraz05

(There is a slight confusion whether if it was a ifv or spaa).

[Miraz05]

Thanks for finding that info panel.

[l2ulan]

Traverse: maybe

+1 I love it, crap tanks are my thing.