M53/59 Praga
M53/70 Praga
The Praga is an armored truck with a twin mounted 30-mm anti-aircraft cannon, used by the Serbian military with great effect against built-up areas and infantry. The gun is mounted on the Praga V3S chassis, produced by the Prague Automobile Factory Ltd. [Praga] of Prague, Czechoslovakia. In the 1950s Praga was assigned a significant political task: to develop and produce a medium-size truck for the army. A successfully designed construction with type denomination Praga V3S became a literally undestructable symbol of a military automobile. From 1958 Praga produced road versions of this die-hard, denominated S5T.
In 1939 Yugoslavia purchased the license for the prodcution of the "undestructible" Praga RN truck with a 3 ton carrying capacity. It is interesting that the "erena" continued to be produced in the South of Europe as late as the 1960's, which was longer than at the mother company.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
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| Length | 6.92 meters |
| Width | 2.35 meters |
| Height | 2.95 meters with magazines |
| Combat weight | 10,300 kg |
| Engine | Tatra T 912-2 6-cylinder diesel @ 110hp |
| Maximum road speed | 60 km/h |
| Maximum road range | 500 km |
| Armament | 2x30mm M53 |
| Target | Aerial & ground |
| Caliber | 30mm gun |
| Range | Light-Armored Vehicles - 2000 m; Aerial - 3000 m |
| Rate of fire | 420-450 rds/min per gun |
| Sensors/fire controls | Tracer observation (aerial) Telescope (ground) |
| NBC system | no |
| Night vision equipment | no |
| Crew | 3 |
| Users | Croatia, FRY, Czech Republic, Iraq, Libya, Slovakia |
References
- M53/59 PRAGA V3S by Ivan Bajlo
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