Airborne armor are lightly armored, air-transportable vehicles, which for use with airborne troops with an aircraft (in World War II glider , later helicopters or aircraft) in close to the front room or in gegnerischem hinterland are often sold to unsuspecting places or on aparachute dropped can be. Today, one can distinguish two main categories: first, the self-propelled guns (they can with their cannon armament for artillery support care) and / or as a tank destroyer to be used and, second, the armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles for transport purposes ( APC ) and the direct fire support. The armored personnel carrier (or armored vans) are used for different tasks: transportation of shooters, ambulance, radio-command vehicles (command staff vehicles), transportation of supplies and fuels, transportation of special equipment (for example, for the clarification).
History
Beginning of the 1930s were from the military the benefit of paratroopers recognized for operational activities in the area close to the front or in the deep hinterland of the opponent. While in other countries, the use of parachute troops in smaller units for commando operationwas planned, they went in the USSR believe that large organizations should be deductible by parachute. They also realized that the personal weapons (pistol, carbine) were not sufficient to meet successful combat operations. At the same time, the mobility of land forces be increased. Concepts for air transport and settling of heavy equipment such as machine guns, grenade launchers, guns and ammunition, unarmored and armored vehicles, especially for the airborne troops were drawn up in early to mid-1930s in projects and tested in maneuvers. It was found that the use of existing light armored vehicles at the low carrying capacity of the aircraft was impractical and special airborne tanks had to be developed. To the industry in the USSR was not in a position.
First developed as an airborne armored tanks were of the M22 Locust from 1943 , but not until the year of 1945 on British side, as well as the Tetrarch , was limited and used with little success. It was the combat mission on D-Day , where they were flown in by glider, the first such use of tanks in history.
After the Second World War in the USSR corresponding structures have been developed and tested prototypes. In September 1951, the Airborne SFL ASU-57 was added to the armament and went into series production. As of 1958, the ASU-85 arrived in the armament of the airborne divisions. Since the late 1960s, the Soviet airborne troops with armored vehicles BMD-1 , BMD-2 , equipped with the armored truck and BTR-D Airborne SFL 2S9 "Nona-S". From the 1980s came the BMD-3 and BMD-4 added. Since 2005 it is known that in the next few years a new generation of armored airborne vehicles will enter the army service. It is a whole family of vehicles, in which the chassis and the main componentsmodular , and modified for specific uses are.
In the United States was in the 1960 years of the M551 Airborne Armoured introduced to a limited extent.
In recent years, airborne vehicles were known, probably made in China and are in the armament of the Chinese army.
In Germany in the 1980s developed years weapon carrier Wiesel is basically an air-tank weapons capable of landing platform with the possibility of different weapons equipment (20-mm machine guns, anti-tank TOW missiles or anti-aircraft Stinger record). Why they chose the name 'airborne weapon carrier'.
The main disadvantage of the airborne tank is the weight reasons rather light armor, which limits the ability to survive against normal tanks strong. Even the relatively small armament of the first generation subject to the limited transport capacity. To throw or Absetzfähigkeit was to allow despite the installation of large-caliber guns partly waived closed structures. Task of the airborne tanks is not the open struggle with full battle tanks. Rather, they are intended to increase the mobility and firepower of the shooters. With the anti-tank guided missiles equipped vehicles, however, are able to more armored vehicles from a fund (or ambush ) and long range (up to 5 km) to combat successfully.
The stakes of the last 30 years have shown that airborne units are with their special armored vehicles in a position to operate as an autonomous and highly mobile units.
