The PTS is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

tracked amphibious transport. PTS stands for ''Plavayushchij Transportyer - Sryednyj'' or medium amphibious transport vehicle. Its industrial index was Ob'yekt 65.

Development

Introduced in 1965, to replace the earlier . Improvements over its predecessor includes a higher water-speed and being capable of carrying on land for before entering the water. The PTS and PTS-M are both based on the

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

main battle tank chassis, while the PTS-2 is based on the MT-T tracked transport vehicle, which uses some components of the

T-64 The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Alexander Morozov. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while the T-62 supported i ...

MBT. The PTS-2 also uses a V-64-4 diesel engine derived from the

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...

MBT engine. The driving cab of the three models provide the crew with

NBC protection Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclea ...

Description

The PTS has a boxy, open watertight

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, with six road wheels per side, front drive sprocket, rear idler sprocket, and no return rollers. Like the

BAV 485 The ZIS-485, army designation BAV (Russian, БАВ, большой автомобиль водоплавающий - ''bolshoi avtomobil vodoplavayushchiy'', ''big floating vehicle''), is a Soviet Union, Soviet Amphibious vehicle, amphibious tra ...

, and unlike the

DUKW The DUKW (GMC type nomenclature, colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the GMC CCKW "deuce-and-a-half" 2½-ton trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a part ...

, it has a rear loading ramp. The crew is seated at the front, leaving the rear of the vehicle open for a vehicle, which can be driven (or backed) in, rather than lifted over the side. The engine is under the floor. Propulsion in water is by means of twin

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s, in tunnels to protect them from damage during land operations. Two rudders at the rear of the vehicle provide steering on water. The crew enter the cab via two circular hatches on the roof. The cargo area can be covered by bows and a tarpaulin cover and was sometimes used as an ambulance. The PTS-M also has a companion vehicle, the PKP, a boat-like amphibious two-wheeled trailer, with fold-out

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, Instantaneous stability, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercra ...

s providing stability on water; the combination allows the PTS-M to accommodate an

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...

(up to medium caliber), its crew, and a quantity of ammunition, all in one load. According to Foss and Gander, a howitzer is carried on the trailer, while the prime mover (such as the

Ural-375D The Ural-375 is a general purpose 4.5 ton 6×6 truck produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in the Russian SFSR from 1961 to 1993. The Ural-375 replaced the ZIL-157 as the standard Soviet Army truck in 1979, and was replaced by the Ural-4320. Th ...

truck) is carried on the PTS-M itself. Standard equipment of the PTS and PTS-M includes infrared night vision equipment, intercom, radios, and a searchlight mounted on the top of the cab. A special kit allows both vehicles to operate in the sea with wave heights up to . While the PTS-2 can be optionally fitted with a multipurpose shovel, dozer blade, water-jet, air conditioning equipment, radio locator, and navigation systems.

Specifications

Variants

*PTS: Original transporter fielded in 1965 based on an elongated ATS-59 chassis. *PTS-M: Soviet engine upgrade version from 1969, weighing 36 metric tons, it can carry up to or 20-70 soldiers. *Vollketten Schwimmwagen: PTS-M for the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

. *PTS-MP: Modernized Polish version. *PTS-10: Czech designation of PTS-M; can carry 70 passengers. *PTS-2: Replacement based on new larger chassis, with higher side walls and larger loading platform. *PTS-3: Upgrade of PTS-2 with higher sides. *PTS-4: Based on

T-80 The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72 and changing the engine to a gas turbi ...

chassis with improved armor and larger props. *PLAM: Chinese variant on indigenous chassis with MG turret on the cab. In 2014, the

Russian Defense Ministry The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The Minister of Defence exerci ...

intends to purchase an undetermined number of PTS-4s, which underwent acceptance trials in 2011. The vehicle will be fitted with a remotely operated machine gun and a multi-fuel engine. The PTS-4 weighs 33 tons, with a payload of 12 tons on land (18 tons on water). Projected maximum road speed is , with an expected maximum speed in water of . Unlike its predecessors, it uses

suspension components. The fully enclosed cab offers protection against

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

fire and splinter. Production began in 2014.

Users

The PTS-M was adopted by the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

and

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

forces, and has been supplied to Egypt, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Uruguay, and other nations.

Current

* * * * * * − PTS-10, to be replaced * − PTS-M (used during operation Badr) * − Used for disaster relief operations * * * PTS4 OTM UralTM building, PTS 2 PTS3 . PTS1 BTR50 reactivated * − PTS-M * * − 282 PTS-M, to be replaced * * * - 2 PTS in service *

Former

* * Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq *

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

* Russian separatist forces in Donbass − PTS-2 *

* * *

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Photos of the PTS-M on Prime PortalHungarian PTS-M walkarounds
{{PostWWIISovietAFVS, APC Amphibious military vehicles Military vehicles of the Soviet Union Military bridging equipment Tracked amphibious vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s