Chaimite V-400

    Notes: This is a Chaimite V-200 fitted with a turret mounting a 90mm NATO gun. The passenger compartment is taken up with the larger turret and ammunition for the main gun.  The vehicle is otherwise like the Chaimite V-200, though it has no rear deck hatches.  The hull is all-welded by lasers, an advanced technique for the time. The driver has a hatch on the left front deck, and the commander and loader have hatches on the turret deck. There are two-part clamshell doors on either side of the passenger compartment, and a door on the right rear of the hull, with one of the firing ports.  The top of the clamshell doors can be locked open outwards, or locked open inwards to form a window. The firing ports of the V-200 are deleted on the V-400. The turrets are derived from the Panhard EBR.

     The Chaimite was originally powered by a Chrysler gasoline engine, but these were quickly replaced by a 155-horsepower Cummins diesel engine. Transmission is manual.  Suspension is 4x4 off-road-type, with a spare tire normally mounted at the front of the vehicle. The front of the hull has a winch with a capacity of 4.53 tons, with 38.1 meters of cable. The Chaimite is amphibious, propelled in the water by its wheels. Armor is painfully light.