BTR-60pb w/ Panhard Turret

[WiseMinerva 454]

After gaining independence in 1977 from Somalia Djibouti began building up it's military in response to the activities to it's neighbours in the Horn of Africa. By 1980 most of the county's troops were being trained in France where they were also purchasing several armoured vehicles from. These included the AMX-13 light tank and the Panhard AML-90 armoured car. Another vehicle that had been purchased were surplus BTR-90pb. The top echelon liked the BTR, but had expressed interest in up gunning the apc to be more practical in the field. The chance to test out the feasibility of this would come in the 1990's when one of the Panhards became severely damaged in a traffic accident rendering the chassis irreparable. The idea of marrying the turret to the BTR came from Lieutenant Ahmed Ali Rableh who had graduated from the French military school in Bourges in 1985. A further modification was done as Rableh and his men upgraded the gun controls of the turret by borrowing the servos and hydraulics from one of the AMX-13 tanks.

 

The end result was a completely new machine that actually preformed surprisingly well in trials and actually having a great showing in off road manoeuvres and beating the Panhard, whose turret it was using, at the firing range. The vehicle was used until 1993 where is took part in maneuvers, training, and the occasional parade and demonstration. Despite this only one was ever recorded being built, possibly due to the vehicles becoming long in the tooth. However the vehicle left quite the impression as Djibouti still operates similar wheeled vehicles mounting 90mm cannons. Recently in 2019 the Djibouti army was spotted using the leftover Panhard turrets on US cougar MRAP.

Tankmaster article (in russian)

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90mm gun

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Stats

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Specifications (BTR-60PB)
Mass	10.3 tonnes (11.4 short tons)
Length	7.56 m
Width	2.83 m (9.28 ft)
Height	2.7 m (8.8 ft)
Crew	2
Armour	Welded steel 7 mm at 86° hull upper front 9 mm at 47° hull lower front 7 mm hull sides 5 mm hull upper rear  7 mm hull lower rear 5 mm hull floor 7 mm hull roof
Main armament	90 mm D921/GIAT F1
Secondary armament	7.62 mm MAS coaxial machine gun
Engine	2×GAZ-40P 6-cylinder gasoline 90 hp (67 kW) each 180 hp (134 kW) (combined)
Power/weight	18.4 hp/tonne (13.7 kW/tonne)
Suspension	wheeled 8×8
Ground clearance	475 mm (18.7 in)
Fuel capacity	290 l (76.6 g)
Operational range	500 km (310.7 mi)
Maximum speed	80 km/h (49.7 mi/h) on road 10 km/h (6.2 mi/h) in water

ammo

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Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
OCC 60-62	HEATFS	320	320	320	320	320	320
OE 90 F1	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
OCC 60-62	HEATFS	750	8.95	N/A	0.1	877.7	65°	72°	77°
OE 90 F1	HE	640	10.45	0.1	0.5	945	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
OFUM PH90-F2	640	10.2	13	5	20	50

 

References

https://shushpanzer-ru.livejournal.com/1781350.html

https://www.armyrecognition.com/september_2019_global_defense_security_army_news_industry/french_aml_90_turret_on_u.s._cougar_mrap_in_djibouti_military_parade.html

http://zhurnalko.net/images/2/3/23b8170f67ca39c5d449/page0027.jpg

Tankmaster issue 02. 2005

https://www.armedconflicts.com/DJI-BTR-60-AML-90-t49240

https://wiki.warthunder.com/AML-90

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by WiseMinerva

[Miki_Hoshii 2,449]

Open for discussion.

[ThedepthPunisher 194]

Very interesting tank! I would love to see it in the game! + 1 for me 

[eleks12 1,079]

+1

Maybe this vehicle can be used for the Arab Tech Tree suggestions? Else i can only see this an event vehicle but not sure where. 

 

 

[Indo_Pilot 80]

+1 on French tree, since Djibouti is historically close to France

[Milocat 4,854]

I'm not sure where to put this (France was suggested, that would probably be the best pick?) but I would love to see it in the game.  +1.

[Kingtiez@live 606]

+1 as a Soviet event vehicle

Edited January 8, 2023 by Kingtiez@live

[Borotovas 4,500]

+1

 

This should be in the Arab League tech tree, because Djibouti is in it.

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

+1 as a French premium

[DarkLordMagus 44]

On 30/04/2022 at 15:28, Milocat said:

I'm not sure where to put this (France was suggested, that would probably be the best pick?) but I would love to see it in the game.  +1.

Djibouti is a former French colony, remains close to France and still uses French as one of its official languages. This vehicle also uses a French turret and gun. +1 to France getting it.