ZTS PRAM-S Mortar Carrier

     Notes: The Czechs have long been building the BMP-2 under license, calling it the BVP-2.  In 1990, ZTS completed a conversion of the BVP-2 into an under-armor mortar carrier, with actual production beginning in 1992.  However, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, production of the PRAM-S stopped, after 12 were converted; currently the Czech Republic has six and the Slovakians have six.  There has been no recent production of the PRAM-S.  However, the PRAM-S is still being marketed internationally, this time by ZTS of Slovakia.

     The BMP-2 is heavily-modified for its new role; the turret is removed and the roof is raised by about half a meter.  The chassis has been lengthened, and now has seven roadwheels.  Mounted on the forward part of the roof is the 120mm mortar, which is breech-loaded from within the vehicle.  The mortar has a traverse of 15 degrees right and left and from +40 to +80 (thus direct fire is not possible).  When on the move, the mortar is lowered to the minimum elevation and locked into place.  Armored shutters then close on either side of the mortar, to be opened again before making the mortar ready to fire.  On the roof, to the rear of the commander, is a pintle-mounted weapon, normally manned by the loader; however, ZTS will upon request (if they have any sales) mount different secondary weapons on the PRAM-S, including weapons such as an AT-4 ATGM.  In addition to the roof hatches, there is a hatch in the left side with a vision block and a door in the rear for resupply of ammunition; it is not accessible by the crew.

     The driver sits in his customary place in the front left hull, with the engine to his right.  The driver has three vision blocks to his front, the center of which can be removed and replaced with a night vision block. The commander is to the right of the mortar, with a roof hatch above him, three wide-angle vision blocks to his front, and an IR searchlight which he can swivel from inside the vehicle; his center vision block can display the view of the gunner’s night vision gear.  The gunner is on the left; he has a roof-mounted day laying system as well as a night vision laying system, and he can also turn the IR searchlight as necessary.  However, at night, he is more likely to use a combination of inertial navigation (ZTS will add GPS or GLONASS to current versions offered for sale) and a small plotting computer into which coordinates can be punched to produce accurate fire.  This system includes a mapping computer with a map display, which the driver can also access. This computer is also used during day fire. The loader is normally seated to the rear of the mortar, and keeps the autoloader filled and puts any special fuzes or charges on the mortar shells.  A common option for the PRAM-S on sale these days is an external thermal imaging camera, which is accessible by the gunner and commander.  Another option offered for the PRAM-S is a capability for the secondary weapon to be aimed and fired from under armor, and another is a self-surveying ability.

     The ammunition is kept on either side of the vehicle and at the rear (but more towards the center); the mortar is normally fed by an automatic loader.  The interior is quite cramped for the crew and their equipment, as ammunition supply is copious.  The magazines hold 56 rounds of the ammunition supply and the automatic loading system 21 rounds.  Radios include two long-range radios, one of which is data-capable; they are normally operated by the commander.  Four smoke grenade launchers are positioned on either side of the front of the top of the hull.

     The firing ports and the associated vision blocks of the base BVP-2 chassis are deleted on the PRAM-S.  The large roof hatches are also deleted. As stated above, the interior of the PRAM-S is largely taken up with ammunition racks and the mortar itself, and room for the crew and their equipment is rather small.  The PRAM-S does not carry the baseplate and bipod that most mortar carriers have, as the mortar is not dismountable; however, aiming stakes are carried strapped to the outside for use if the fire control or mapping computers go down.  The PRAM-S’s mortar fire control system can compensate for the vehicle (and mortar) being canted up to 12 degrees to the left or right, or forwards by 15 degrees or backwards by 9 degrees; it can also, to an extent, compensate for more than one direction of canting.  The PRAM-S has a heater and air conditioner for the crew, and the crew is protected by an NBC overpressure system with a collective NBC backup.  The crew and vehicle are further protected by an automatic fire detection and suppression system.

     The PRAM-S is powered by a UTD-20/3 supercharged diesel with 300 horsepower.  The PRAM-S also has double the normal battery complement, allowing the PRAM-S to operate with the engine turned off for a longer time.  While the main fuel tanks remain the same as those of the BVP-2, the rear door configuration is different, and there is only one rear fuel tank, which is not in the large rear door, but offset to the right side.  The PRAM-S is amphibious with the same preparation as the BVP-2 (the extension of a frontal trim vane and the switching on of bilge pumps, requiring 5 minutes).  However, swimming a PRAM-S is in some ways more dangerous than swimming a BVP-2 – the vehicle’s added weight is both a help and hindrance in this respect, as the PRAM-S is more stable in the water, but it is also more sluggish and has a dangerously low amount of freeboard.  Like the BVP-2, the PRAM-S has shallow foam-filled side skirts to aid in buoyancy.

     Note that for the “Updated” version of the PRAM-S below, I have elected to include all the possible modifications listed above.

     Twilight 2000 Notes:  In the Twilight 2000 timeline, only 12 of these vehicles were built by the November nuclear strikes, so they are rather rare.

Vehicle

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

PRAM-S (Original)

$219,617

D, A

325 kg

17 tons

4

10

Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (G)

Shielded

PRAM-S (Updated)

$319,617

D, A

325 kg

17 tons

4

10

Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (G), Thermal Imaging (G)

Shielded

 

Vehicle

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

PRAM-S

118/83

29/23/3

430

187

Stnd

T3

HF9  HS5  HR4*

 

Vehicle

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

PRAM-S

None

None

120mm breech-loading mortar, NSV (C)

80x120mm, 500x12.7mm

*Hull floor armor for the PRAM-S is 3, except in the part of the vehicle under the driver and turret, where it is 4.