VSKJ AM-50

     Notes:  The AM-50B is a scissors bridge mounted on a TATRA T815 Kolos 8x8 truck; the bridge is similar to the Russian KMM bridge.  On the front of the truck is mounted a dozer blade used to prepare bridging positions and to stabilize the vehicle when the bridge is being deployed.  The bridge weighs 5.7 tons, can span a 12.5-meter gap, and takes 7 minutes to lay or recover.  These bridges are self-assembling, and up to eight of these bridges may be laid in series to span larger chasms or bodies of water for a span of 106 meters.  The bridges lay on hydraulic power-adjusted, self-assembling trestles (an advantage over most treadway bridges).  This means that the crew does not have to leave the cab during bridgelaying. The bridge weighs 5.7 tons, and is 4 meters wide. Each trestle weighs 1.75 tons, and one is supplied with each vehicle.  Each span can support 50 tons of tracked vehicles or 80 tons of wheeled vehicles; maximum Combat Move for tracked vehicles is 10 and for wheeled vehicles is 20.  The bridgeway is full-width instead of consisting of a number of trackways like the KMM. The AM-50B's front wheels tend to rise when laying a bridge; to this end, a specially-designed dozer blade of the blade from a Tatra T815 may be mounted at the front. 

     The crew has a full overpressure system, radiac protection, and air conditioning.  There is a space at the rear of the cab for personal items. There are no smoke grenades and while there is no night vision, the crews often wear NODs.

     When the bridge is deployed, what remains is essentially a bare frame, except for the deployment and recovery machinery.

     The AM-50B is based on the Czech Tatra T815 VP 19.28 265 8x8.1 R truck, and so has the same turbocharged 265 horsepower multifuel engine.  It has an automatic transmission with overdrive.  The AM-50B can operate with a crew of two, but three are required for full efficiency.  They sit in the front seats, and the commander has the bridge controls, aided by the middle crewmember, who often is used as a spotter, looking through the rear window and mirrors.  They have a space behind the seats for personal gear. Crews are not normally armed only armed with their small arms, though they may have some grenades and an RPG-22 or two. A spare tire is carried behind the cab.

     The AM-50A is based on the Tatra T813 chassis and has a turbocharged diesel engine with power of 250 horsepower.  The bridge on the early AM-50A is peculiar to the AM-50A; late AM-50As use the same bridge as the AM-50B.  The trestles on the early AM-50A are also manually-adjusted rather than being hydraulically adjusted, requiring the crew or other personnel to leave their vehicles.  The late AM-50A has hydraulic trestles and requires no such intervention.  The AM-50A has no dozer blade, leading to an unsafe condition when the bridge is deployed; a recovery vehicle or other available vehicle often backs into the AM-50A during bridge deployment and recovery.

     This AM-50B is used by Czech forces, Slovakia, and India. The AM-50A is no longer used, but was used by the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

*The CiH rating is when the bridge is mounted on the AM-50.  If a CiH result indicates a crew hit, the result is ignored.

*The AM-50B has a dozer blade up front; this may be used as supplemental armor for the front. Where the incoming shot hits depends on how high it is raised, and the blade has an AV of 4Sp.