MTI
Belgrade VIU-55 Munja
Notes:
The Munja is based on the chassis of a Serbian-built T-55 tank, which are
obsolete as tanks in Serbian service.
The role of the Munja is that of combat engineer and engineer
reconnaissance vehicle, and it is designed to clear obstacles and fill in
ditches and some smaller water hazards for Serbian vehicles following it.
It’s secondary role is to find these obstacles and getting a head start
on reducing these obstacles.
The Munja itself
has an enhanced suspension, with torsion bars for each roadwheel, shock
absorbers on the two rear roadwheels and on the front roadwheel, and enhanced
travel for all roadwheels.
The Munja may
have a crew of up to eight, though the normal crew is two.
The other optional crewmembers are usually combat engineers who help
reduce obstacles, an extra gunner, and experts on obstacle reduction, one of
which mans a ruggedized laptop computer that has information on how to reduce
even more obstacles (and, it is rumored, games, as the Munja has data-capable
radios with high-speed modems). The crew has two complete sets of pioneer
equipment, and equipment such as two chainsaws, an air hammer, basic tools, and
a “jaws-of-life”-type spreader. An
air compressor powers these tools, as well as a 20 kW APU. The air compressor
and APU are contained under armor and are protected.
The Munja’s hull
essentially has the same armor as a standard Serbian T-55, and also has side
skirts to protect the tracks. The
power pack is a more modern, smaller version of the T-55’s standard
780-horsepower turbocharged diesel, though Serbia is rumored to be desiring to
increase the engine power (most rumors center around an increase to an
850-horsepower engine),and replace the transmission with something more modern
like an automatic transmission. This uprated version is listed in the stats
below as the VIU-55-1, though this is not an official designation; it is a guess
by myself as to what the designation would be.
The standard
armament of the Munja is a 30mm AG-30 and an M84 machinegun, behind armored
shields which surround the gunner/commander and also have bullet-resistant
windows. Some Munjas are instead
armed with a large RWS armed with a 30mm autocannon, a machinegun, an antitank
missile launcher, and an AG-30 AGS, along with necessary night vision and
optronic sights. A Munja with an
RWS has designation of VIU-55M, and I have given one with an 850-horsepower
engine the designation of VIU-55M-1, though it should be stressed that though
while the VIU-55M is a real designation, the VIU-55M-1 is not.
The crew is
protected by an NBC Overpressure system with a vehicular NBC backup (with
special long hoses that attach to their protective masks, if they must work
outside the vehicle in an NBC environment).
In addition, an additional overpressure fan is activated is if NBC
conditions are found or if a nuclear explosion occurs within 100 meters. The
Munja has an air conditioner with NBC filters. About halfway up the glacis are
clusters of four smoke grenade launchers on both sides.
There is a multicompartment fire detection and explosion system, for the
driver’s compartment, main compartment, engine and transmission, and APU/Air
Compressor. The Munja is equipped
with GLONASS and a mapping system which displays on driver’s and commander’s LCD
screens, and the Munja also has a vehicle state computer (though it does not
have a full BMS). The engineers in the rear have two rotating periscopes on the
roof of the vehicle and a pair of firing ports on each side of the vehicle.
The vehicular
equipment include a dozer blade which is as wide as the Munja, and has special
ripper teeth as the bottom of the blade.
This blade can move 10 cubic meters at once.
The Munja is equipped with a 20-ton capacity crane with a bucket which
can hold 3 cubic meters of dirt, and the bucket can be replaced with an auger or
an earth anchor, which can be shot 20 meters.
The bucket can also be replaced with a hydraulic hammer 50 centimeters
wide, or a guillotine-like blade which can punch through a tree trunk (if it is
on the ground) 61 centimeters wide or up to 15 centimeters of concrete or
asphalt. The main winch can pull 25 tons, or 50 tons with block and tackle, and
a lead winch with a capacity of 750 kilograms.
The Munja has a UV sensor to help detect NBC conditions, along with a
day/night vision suite (which depends upon how it is armed).
The vehicle has an optical chemical sniffer.
Though the Munja
is not an ARV, it can fulfill this role in a very limited manner and is
equipped with a tow bar (though it is primarily to pull vehicles across
obstacles).
Vehicle |
Price |
Fuel Type |
Load |
Veh Wt |
Crew |
Mnt |
Night Vision |
Radiological |
VIU-55 Munja |
$1,008,516 |
D, A |
528 kg |
32 tons |
2(+6) |
24 |
Image Intensification (D, C), Backup Camera (D), 40x Day Sight |
Shielded |
VIU-55-1 Munja |
$1,047,376 |
D, A |
669 kg |
32 tons |
2(+6) |
32 |
Image Intensification (D, C), Backup Camera (D), 40x Day Sight |
Shielded |
VIU-55M Munja |
$1,169,656 |
D, A |
527 kg |
32.2 tons |
2(+6) |
34 |
Image Intensification (D, C), Backup Camera (D), 40x Day Sight, Thermal
Imaging (RWS), Image Intensification (RWS) |
Shielded |
VIU-55M-1 Munja |
$1,188,205 |
D, A |
702 kg |
32.2 tons |
2(+6) |
34 |
Image Intensification (D, C), Backup Camera (D), 40x Day Sight, Thermal
Imaging (RWS), Image Intensification (RWS) |
Shielded |
Vehicle |
Tr Mov |
Com Mov |
Fuel Cap |
Fuel Cons |
Config |
Susp |
Armor |
VIU-55 Munja |
173/121 |
48/34 |
680 |
290 |
Stnd |
T6 |
HF66 HS13Sp
HR6 |
VIU-55-1 Munja |
196/140 |
56/40 |
680 |
316 |
Stnd |
T6 |
HF66 HS13Sp
HR6 |
VIU-55M Munja |
172/121 |
48/34 |
680 |
290 |
CiH |
T6 |
TF15 TS10
TR5 HF66
HS13Sp HR6 |
VIU-55M-1 Munja |
194/136 |
54/38 |
680 |
316 |
CiH |
T6 |
TF15 TS10
TR5 HF66
HS13Sp HR6 |
Vehicle |
Fire Control |
Stabilization |
Armament |
Ammunition |
VIU-55 Munja |
+1 |
Basic |
AG-30, AGL (C), M84 (C) |
500x30mm Grenades, 4000x7.62mm |
VIU-55M Munja |
+2 |
Fair |
30mm 2A42 Autocannon, 2xAT-5 ATGM Launchers, AG-30, M84 |
250x30mm, 3000x7.62mm, 500x40mm Grenades, 2xAT-5 Missiles |