The Lazar series of armored vehicles is one of the main equipment of the Serbian army in the past decade, such as the Lazar 3 is a relatively good 8×8 wheeled armored vehicle, but there is a slightly special vehicle in the series of equipment, that is, the Lazar BVT armored personnel carrier.
The Lazar BVT is a large auxiliary equipment that provides basic armor protection for infantry units and auxiliary firepower for heavy vehicles, somewhat similar to that of infantry fighting vehicles, but not to that level of firepower.
The designer originally wanted to design the armored car based on the TAM-150 6×6 truck chassis, but because this chassis could not meet expectations, it was modified and developed into an 8×8 chassis with hydraulic suspension, installed with a tire pressure control system, the tire is explosion-proof tire, it can still maintain driving ability after damage, and the tire can be quickly replaced.
The armored vehicle is powered by a 440 horsepower diesel engine, using mechanical transmission, designed to take into account that it will operate in mountainous, rain and snow environments, plateaus, frozen and other conditions, so special attention is paid to off-road performance, but abandons amphibious driving ability, allowing wading to a depth of 1 meter, which may be related to Serbia's own geographical environment. The maximum speed of the armored vehicle is only 90 kilometers per hour, and the maximum travel reached 600 kilometers.
The engine is mounted at the front of the body, followed by the cab, and the driver and the commander are seated side by side, who can get on and off through the armored doors on both sides, and there are windshields made of bulletproof glass on the front and sides, and the viewing conditions are better. Immediately next to the cab is the battle compartment, which is the battle position of the 3rd crew, and the armor on the roof is equipped with a seat ring that can be equipped with unmanned or manned turrets.
Occupying about half the length of the rear compartment is the troop transport compartment, which is more spacious, each side has 5 observation windows with bulletproof glass and corresponding shooting holes, and there is an access hatch at the top, but the occupants mainly enter and exit from the rectangular hatch at the rear, and there are also foot pedals installed here, and the Lazar BVT can transport 10 heavily armed soldiers and can also replace them with other supplies.
The armament configuration of the Lazar BVT armored vehicle is not necessarily the same, and the weapons that can be selected are the M86 machine gun, the M87 heavy machine gun, the M55 20 mm cannon, the BGA-30 30 mm grenade launcher and anti-tank missile, and the smoke grenade launcher.
The armored protection level of the armored vehicle is NATO level III, which can withstand the attack of 7.62 ×51 mm armor-piercing bullets, the bulletproof glass on the front is also at the same level, and the two sides are reduced to class II. Armored vehicles can also be fitted with additional additional armor, which is said to increase the level of protection to V and withstand the blows of 25 mm armor-piercing shells (possibly only frontal armor), although the additional armor will reduce the vehicle's mobility speed.
The Lazar BVT armored vehicle was unveiled in 2008 and received interest from a number of countries, among which Iraq wanted to order a batch, the deal was not negotiated, Bangladesh and Kenya may have purchased a small amount, and the main user of the car is currently the Serbian Armed Forces.
The Lazar BVT armored personnel carrier has a combat weight of 16.3 tons, a length of 7.25 meters, a width of 2.4 meters, a height of 2.45 meters (ground to the upper part of the hull), a maximum road speed of 90 km / h, a maximum range of 600 km, a group of 3 people, can carry 10 soldiers.