Hagglunds Bgbv-82

     Notes:  This is a Swedish armored recovery vehicle that bears a passing resemblance to an M-113, but is in fact a different vehicle; the chassis is in fact related to that of the Brobv-941.  It was designed in 1973 to recover the S-Tank and similar-sized armored vehicles.  (Hagglunds was bought by Alvis of the UK in 1997, though repairs and parts and overhauls are still done in the Hagglunds facilities in Sweden.) The Bgbv-82 will be one of the vehicles replaced by the Buffel (designated Bgv-120 by the Swedish); the Swedes started receiving the Buffels in 2003, but the Bgbv-82’s have not been phased out yet.

     The Bgbv-82 can also double as an engineer vehicle to clear obstacles and to prepare river-crossing points. The Bgbv-82 shares many automotive components with the Ikv-91 tank destroyer.  It has a weakness, however: the fuel tanks are under the crew compartment floor.  The track tension can be adjusted hydraulically by the driver.  The engine is a Volvo-Penta THD 100C turbocharged diesel developing 310 horsepower, coupled to a manual Volvo-Penta R61 transmission.

    When two ground spades are lowered at the rear of the vehicle, the HM-20 winch may pull with 60 tons of force and 145 meters of cable.  (Block and tackle is not normally carried.) It the stabilizing legs are not deployed, the winch may pull only 20 tons. The Bgbv-82s HIAB-Foco 9000 crane may lift 5 tons if extended 1.8 meters, 3.5 tons if extended 2.5 meters, and 1.5 tons if extended 5.5 meters.  This is enough for most of the components of the vehicles it is designed to service. The Bgbv-82 also has a dozer blade in the front of the vehicle for bracing, digging, and area preparation; it is 3.25 meters wide and is designed primarily for bracing, though it can also be used to prepare fording and fighting positions.  The Bgbv-82 is equipped with a large selection of tools, such as wheeled vehicle, tracked vehicle, basic, and excavation tools.  The powerpack of the Bgbv-82 (or Brobv-941) consists of a unit including the engine, transmission, torque converter, clutch, steering clutch, gearbox, and steering gearbox. Amphibious operation requires only the erection of a trim vane, switching on a bilge pump, and erecting a low floatation screen.

     The driver has a hatch in the center front of the deck, the commander is to the right of the driver with his own hatch, and the turret is to the left and rear of the driver.  The winch operator is to the rear of the driver inside the hull, and has an overhead hatch on the deck. The Bgbv-82 mounts a cupola with a 20mm autocannon (identical to that on the Pbv-302). The gunner has an 8x scope for ground targets and a x17 scope for aerial targets, along with a special reticle; he must, however, expose his head and chest above the cupola to engage aerial targets with the special reticle and sight.  On each side of the turret are eight smoke grenade launchers.

     Oddly enough, the Bgbv-82 does not have a vehicular NBC scrubber, though plans for installing one were made during the design phase and the hookups for one are still found on the hull. 

*Floor and Roof AV are 2Sp.

Hagglunds Brobv-941

     Notes:  This is a Swedish short-span AVLB mounted on the same chassis as the Bgbv-82 recovery vehicle.  In this role, the vehicle is topped with the equipment to launch a single span bridge that is 15 meters long and has a capacity of 50 tons. The bridge is made of strong light alloy. Before the bridge is deployed, a forward dozer blade is lowered to brace the vehicle; this can also be used for general earthmoving and to prepare bridging sites. The bridge weighs 7 tons.  The bridge takes 5 minutes to lay or recover, and the crew may remain under armor protection during these operations.  When the bridge is to be laid or recovered, a telescopic boom is laid over the obstacle and the bridge then slid out over the beam, and the beam withdrawn.  The Brobv-941 is amphibious; when it swims, the bridge is towed floating behind the vehicle. The chassis of this AVLB is the same as that used by the Bgbv-82, but the Brobv-941 has no autocannon turret. The fuel tank is moved to the rear under the engine.

     The gunner has a pintle-mounted weapon, and the commander has a standard machinegun, not on a pintle mount. After the bridge is laid, the commander may move to an alternate position on the bridgelaying beam. The driver is on the front right, and the gunner behind him.  The commander is where the turret usually is, on the front right.  Two other crewmembers are inside the vehicle; one is the bridge layer, and the other a spotter.  The spotter gives instructions to the bridge layer via a commo wire link and a headset. They have two hatches on the roof of the vehicle.  The hatches can be used while the bridge is mounted.

     Like the Bgbv-82, the Brobv-941 has provisions for an NBC pack, though none was ever fitted to the vehicle. The powerpack of the Bgbv-82 (or Brobv-941) consists of a unit including the engine, transmission, torque converter, clutch, steering clutch, gearbox, and steering gearbox. Amphibious operation requires only the erection of a trim vane, switching on a bilge pump, and erecting a low floatation screen. The engine is a Volvo-Penta THD 100C turbocharged diesel developing 310 horsepower, coupled to a manual Volvo-Penta R61 transmission.

     The Brobv-941 was requested in 1968, and all 17 vehicles in Swedish Army service were built in 1972.

Hagglunds Bgbv-90 ARV

     Notes: It is an armored recovery variant of the CV-90 IFV.  In addition to Sweden, the Bgbv-90 is used by Norway and Finland.

     In this role, the turret is deleted, and a crane and winches are mounted in the vehicle.  The Bgbv-90 is equipped with a crane able to lift 6 tons, and each of two Rotzler ITAG winches is able to pull 61 tons to the front, 33 tons to the rear, and 8.4 tons to the side.  The winches are operated via two capstans inside the vehicle at the rear of the crew compartment. For maximum pulling efforts, the vehicle must be braced with the dozer blade.  The Bgbv-90 may optionally be equipped with a heavier crane able to lift the entire powerpack of a CV-90-series vehicle or the turret and basket.  This crane can lift 13 tons. Two banks of six smoke grenade launchers are provided.

     The Bgbv-90 has the sort of tool set one would expect to be on such a vehicle, from basic tools to power tools to an arc welder and air compressor.  It also carries a selection of spare parts -- the exact mix and nature depends upon the vehicles it is supporting.  A ruggedized laptop is carried that has most of the tech manuals written by the Swedish Army.

     The driver is in the front right, and a commander’s cupola is in the center to the rear of the driver.  The rear ramp is retained along with the door set in it, and the roof has a second hatchway in it. The commander has a raised cupola, but the vehicle's machinegun is a simple infantry model, not on a pintle mount or part of the cupola. (The Bgbv-90 does have an obscene amount of ammunition as a part of its basic load, though.)  The commander does have a night/distance vision viewer, but it is a part of the cupola and cannot be used to make the machinegun more accurate. Other crewmembers sit in the hull; there are several vision blocks around the crew compartment, but no firing ports. The vehicle has air conditioning, heating, and an NBC overpressure suite.  It has an automatic fire detection and suppression suite for the vehicle.  Normally only a crew of four is carried, but often a fifth crewmember is carried when a specialist crewmember is needed. The vehicle has a BMS and GPS system. The Bgbv-90 also has a small computer loaded with tech manuals for most of the vehicles in the Swedish Military.

      The Bgbv-90 has a Scania DS-14 turbocharged diesel engine developing 550 horsepower. This is coupled to a Perkins X-300-5N automatic transmission with a torque converter to use engine power to increase the pulling power of the winches.

      The Swedish Army is upgrading some of the Bgbv-90s to the Caesar (“C”) standard; the resulting vehicle is designated the Bgbv-90C ARV.  The main difference is the large increase in armor protection, including lugs for ERA and attachment points for slat/cage armor; other differences include a tropical-grade air conditioner, an improved suspension, new seatbelts, and laser filtering for the vision blocks.  The driver has a rear CCTV camera for backing up unassisted. The weight of the increased armor suite drastically affects for cargo-carrying capacity, but not as much as you might think – the engine has been replaced with a more powerful one, a Scania DSI-16 turbocharged diesel developing 810 horsepower.  The heavy-duty crane is standard. Three of these upgrades have been done so far; one was sent to Afghanistan along with Sweden’s contribution to ISAF.

**The Bgbv-90C has a deck AV of 3, and a hull floor AV of 5Sp.

Hagglunds Bgbv-82

     Notes:  This is a Swedish armored recovery vehicle that bears a passing resemblance to an M-113, but is in fact a different vehicle; the chassis is in fact related to that of the Brobv-941.  It was designed in 1973 to recover the S-Tank and similar-sized armored vehicles.  (Hagglunds was bought by Alvis of the UK in 1997, though repairs and parts and overhauls are still done in the Hagglunds facilities in Sweden.) The Bgbv-82 will be one of the vehicles replaced by the Buffel (designated Bgv-120 by the Swedish); the Swedes started receiving the Buffels in 2003, but the Bgbv-82’s have not been phased out yet.

     The Bgbv-82 can also double as an engineer vehicle to clear obstacles and to prepare river-crossing points. The Bgbv-82 shares many automotive components with the Ikv-91 tank destroyer.  It has a weakness, however: the fuel tanks are under the crew compartment floor.  The track tension can be adjusted hydraulically by the driver.  The engine is a Volvo-Penta THD 100C turbocharged diesel developing 310 horsepower, coupled to a manual Volvo-Penta R61 transmission.

    When two ground spades are lowered at the rear of the vehicle, the HM-20 winch may pull with 60 tons of force and 145 meters of cable.  (Block and tackle is not normally carried.) It the stabilizing legs are not deployed, the winch may pull only 20 tons. The Bgbv-82s HIAB-Foco 9000 crane may lift 5 tons if extended 1.8 meters, 3.5 tons if extended 2.5 meters, and 1.5 tons if extended 5.5 meters.  This is enough for most of the components of the vehicles it is designed to service. The Bgbv-82 also has a dozer blade in the front of the vehicle for bracing, digging, and area preparation; it is 3.25 meters wide and is designed primarily for bracing, though it can also be used to prepare fording and fighting positions.  The Bgbv-82 is equipped with a large selection of tools, such as wheeled vehicle, tracked vehicle, basic, and excavation tools.  The powerpack of the Bgbv-82 (or Brobv-941) consists of a unit including the engine, transmission, torque converter, clutch, steering clutch, gearbox, and steering gearbox. Amphibious operation requires only the erection of a trim vane, switching on a bilge pump, and erecting a low floatation screen.

     The driver has a hatch in the center front of the deck, the commander is to the right of the driver with his own hatch, and the turret is to the left and rear of the driver.  The winch operator is to the rear of the driver inside the hull, and has an overhead hatch on the deck. The Bgbv-82 mounts a cupola with a 20mm autocannon (identical to that on the Pbv-302). The gunner has an 8x scope for ground targets and a x17 scope for aerial targets, along with a special reticle; he must, however, expose his head and chest above the cupola to engage aerial targets with the special reticle and sight.  On each side of the turret are eight smoke grenade launchers.

     Oddly enough, the Bgbv-82 does not have a vehicular NBC scrubber, though plans for installing one were made during the design phase and the hookups for one are still found on the hull. 

*Floor and Roof AV are 2Sp.

Hagglunds Brobv-941

     Notes:  This is a Swedish short-span AVLB mounted on the same chassis as the Bgbv-82 recovery vehicle.  In this role, the vehicle is topped with the equipment to launch a single span bridge that is 15 meters long and has a capacity of 50 tons. The bridge is made of strong light alloy. Before the bridge is deployed, a forward dozer blade is lowered to brace the vehicle; this can also be used for general earthmoving and to prepare bridging sites. The bridge weighs 7 tons.  The bridge takes 5 minutes to lay or recover, and the crew may remain under armor protection during these operations.  When the bridge is to be laid or recovered, a telescopic boom is laid over the obstacle and the bridge then slid out over the beam, and the beam withdrawn.  The Brobv-941 is amphibious; when it swims, the bridge is towed floating behind the vehicle. The chassis of this AVLB is the same as that used by the Bgbv-82, but the Brobv-941 has no autocannon turret. The fuel tank is moved to the rear under the engine.

     The gunner has a pintle-mounted weapon, and the commander has a standard machinegun, not on a pintle mount. After the bridge is laid, the commander may move to an alternate position on the bridgelaying beam. The driver is on the front right, and the gunner behind him.  The commander is where the turret usually is, on the front right.  Two other crewmembers are inside the vehicle; one is the bridge layer, and the other a spotter.  The spotter gives instructions to the bridge layer via a commo wire link and a headset. They have two hatches on the roof of the vehicle.  The hatches can be used while the bridge is mounted.

     Like the Bgbv-82, the Brobv-941 has provisions for an NBC pack, though none was ever fitted to the vehicle. The powerpack of the Bgbv-82 (or Brobv-941) consists of a unit including the engine, transmission, torque converter, clutch, steering clutch, gearbox, and steering gearbox. Amphibious operation requires only the erection of a trim vane, switching on a bilge pump, and erecting a low floatation screen. The engine is a Volvo-Penta THD 100C turbocharged diesel developing 310 horsepower, coupled to a manual Volvo-Penta R61 transmission.

     The Brobv-941 was requested in 1968, and all 17 vehicles in Swedish Army service were built in 1972.

Hagglunds Bgbv-90 ARV

     Notes: It is an armored recovery variant of the CV-90 IFV.  In addition to Sweden, the Bgbv-90 is used by Norway and Finland.

     In this role, the turret is deleted, and a crane and winches are mounted in the vehicle.  The Bgbv-90 is equipped with a crane able to lift 6 tons, and each of two Rotzler ITAG winches is able to pull 61 tons to the front, 33 tons to the rear, and 8.4 tons to the side.  The winches are operated via two capstans inside the vehicle at the rear of the crew compartment. For maximum pulling efforts, the vehicle must be braced with the dozer blade.  The Bgbv-90 may optionally be equipped with a heavier crane able to lift the entire powerpack of a CV-90-series vehicle or the turret and basket.  This crane can lift 13 tons. Two banks of six smoke grenade launchers are provided.

     The Bgbv-90 has the sort of tool set one would expect to be on such a vehicle, from basic tools to power tools to an arc welder and air compressor.  It also carries a selection of spare parts -- the exact mix and nature depends upon the vehicles it is supporting.  A ruggedized laptop is carried that has most of the tech manuals written by the Swedish Army.

     The driver is in the front right, and a commander’s cupola is in the center to the rear of the driver.  The rear ramp is retained along with the door set in it, and the roof has a second hatchway in it. The commander has a raised cupola, but the vehicle's machinegun is a simple infantry model, not on a pintle mount or part of the cupola. (The Bgbv-90 does have an obscene amount of ammunition as a part of its basic load, though.)  The commander does have a night/distance vision viewer, but it is a part of the cupola and cannot be used to make the machinegun more accurate. Other crewmembers sit in the hull; there are several vision blocks around the crew compartment, but no firing ports. The vehicle has air conditioning, heating, and an NBC overpressure suite.  It has an automatic fire detection and suppression suite for the vehicle.  Normally only a crew of four is carried, but often a fifth crewmember is carried when a specialist crewmember is needed. The vehicle has a BMS and GPS system. The Bgbv-90 also has a small computer loaded with tech manuals for most of the vehicles in the Swedish Military.

      The Bgbv-90 has a Scania DS-14 turbocharged diesel engine developing 550 horsepower. This is coupled to a Perkins X-300-5N automatic transmission with a torque converter to use engine power to increase the pulling power of the winches.

      The Swedish Army is upgrading some of the Bgbv-90s to the Caesar (“C”) standard; the resulting vehicle is designated the Bgbv-90C ARV.  The main difference is the large increase in armor protection, including lugs for ERA and attachment points for slat/cage armor; other differences include a tropical-grade air conditioner, an improved suspension, new seatbelts, and laser filtering for the vision blocks.  The driver has a rear CCTV camera for backing up unassisted. The weight of the increased armor suite drastically affects for cargo-carrying capacity, but not as much as you might think – the engine has been replaced with a more powerful one, a Scania DSI-16 turbocharged diesel developing 810 horsepower.  The heavy-duty crane is standard. Three of these upgrades have been done so far; one was sent to Afghanistan along with Sweden’s contribution to ISAF.

**The Bgbv-90C has a deck AV of 3, and a hull floor AV of 5Sp.