OT-62 TOPAS

OT-62 TOPAS
TOPAS-2AP in Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, 8 November 2006.
Type	Tracked Amphibious Armored Personnel Carrier
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia  Poland
Service history
In service	1962–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	See Service History
Production history
Designed	1958–1962
Manufacturer	Podpolianske Strojárne (PPS) plant
Produced	1963–1972
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	13 tonnes 15 tonnes with combat equipment
Length	7.1 m
Width	3,14 m
Height	2,1 m
Crew	2 (driver and commander) (+16 passengers)
Armor	Welded, rolled steel 17 mm thick
Engine	PV-6 6-cylinder, in line diesel 300 hp (224 kW) at 1,800 rpm
Suspension	Torsion bar
Ground clearance	410 mm
Fuel capacity	407 l
Operational range	450 km – 550 km (road) 150 km (water)
Speed	60 km/h (road) 10,8 km/h (water)

The OT-62 TOPAS is a series of amphibious tracked armoured personnel carriers developed jointly by Poland and Czechoslovakia (ČSSR). OT-62 stands for Obrněný Transportér vzor 62 – "armoured personnel carrier model 62". TOPAS stands for Transportér Obrněný Pásový – "tracked armoured personnel carrier".

In the late 1950s Czechoslovakia bought a license to produce BTR-50s from the Soviet Union. The received documentation was used to develop a new tracked armoured personnel carrier for Czechoslovak army and Ludowe Wojsko Polskie (LWP). The work started in 1958 and the first prototype was completed in 1962. After it passed the trials it was accepted and received the name TOPAS.

Because the standard TOPAS vehicle used by the LWP (Polish People's Army) was unarmed, the design bureau of Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna (WAT) (Military Technical Academy) designed a variant armed with a new turret placed centrally on top of the superstructure. Another TOPAS variant was designed by Wojskowy Instytut Techniki Pancernej i Samochodowej (Military Institute of Armour and Car Technology). The new variant received the designation WPT-TOPAS and was a technical support vehicle.

Like the BTR-50PK, the OT-62 TOPAS has a flat, boat-shaped hull and has a superstructure in the front of the vehicle. The hull of the OT-62 TOPAS is made of all-welded rolled steel with the crew compartment at the front, troop compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the rear. It can transport up to sixteen fully equipped infantrymen who sit on benches which run across the full width of the troop compartment. Their primary way of mounting and dismounting the APC is by climbing over the sides of the hull and going through two rectangular roof hatches. However, OT-62 TOPAS has side hatches in the sides of the superstructure, making for a good alternative to the rectangular roof hatches; thus it doesn't have the protection issue of BTR-50 APC in which the passengers didn't have any kind of alternative route in and out.

The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has three vision blocks and periscopes located at the top of the sloping glacis plate. During night operations the center periscope is switched for the TVN-28 night vision device, which gives the driver a clear vision up to 60 meters. The driver also has a small hatch that opens upwards and, while it can't be used for the driver to leave the vehicle, it can be opened in relatively safe areas for extra vision. When in combat the hatch is closed and the driver can use a vision block for a limited vision. Under the driver's seat is an emergency hatch which can be used by all crew members.