CMI SIBMAS

     Notes:  This is a heavily armed wheeled armored personnel carrier built by Belgium and used primarily by Malaysia.  Though built by CMI, the SIBMAS was designed by BN, with the first prototype being finished in 1976 and production beginning in 1983.  The Malaysians use them in the fire support role to supplement their FV-101 Scorpions, in the APC role to replace their older Cadillac Gage V-100 Commandos, and also as an ARV version.  The SIBMAS is a modular design which can be configured for several roles (though as yet, only an APC, FSV/Scout version, and an ARV have been built) and mount several different turrets (though only the turrets listed below have been used so far).

     The SIBMAS is a rather large vehicle, and is in particular almost 3 meters tall.  The driver is in the front center, and has a large bullet-resistant windshield to the front of his compartment and smaller ones on each side.  His compartment also has a hatch on the top, and this hatch has a block into which an IR vision block can be inserted.  Immediately to the rear of the driver’s position is the turret, which is a two-man turret of varying size depending upon the weapons fit.  The sides of the turret have clusters of four smoke grenade launchers. There are hatches on the turret roof for the commander and gunner; though there is no autoloader, even the version armed with a 90mm gun has no loader crewmember.  Behind the turret is the troop section; the size of the troop compartment depends upon the weapons fit and the need for ammunition stowage as a result.  The troop compartment has a door in wither side of the compartment and one in the rear.  The compartment has a hatch in the roof, and there are three firing ports in the sides and one in the rear.  The basic fit gives troop seats for three troops back to back down the center and two facing the rear; on the APC version, two more seats are added down the center, back to back, and one at the front of the compartment facing the rear and offset to the right side.

     The SIBMAS is a 6x6 vehicle with automatic transmission and powered by a MAV D-2566 MK turbocharged diesel developing 320 horsepower.  The engine is of average power for a vehicle of its weight, especially in the SIBMAS’s heavier iterations.  The SIBMAS is amphibious with 4 minutes of preparation; a bow plane must be erected at the front and bilge pumps turned on.  Propulsion in the water is via two propellers in the rear of the vehicle, which are to a limited extent steerable.  The suspension is heavy and has decent ground clearance, and the tires are, like most armored wheeled military vehicles, of the run-flat type.  At the front of the hull is a winch which helps the SIBMAS extract itself from difficult terrain or assist another vehicle; this winch has a capacity of 8 tons, or 16 tons if block and tackle are used.  Malaysian SIBMAS’s are fitted with an air conditioner.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: When the Twilight War began, local production of the SIBMAS began, and the Belgians put some 50 of them into service with its Army.  Later, these vehicles were built in Malaysia, as they still had the necessary infrastructure, and exported all over the world.

     Merc 2000 Notes: Belgium stopped producing the SIBMAS range in the late 1980s; however, Malaysia continued to build them, and in some cases, export them.