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