WZ-751 (Type 85) Chinese Amphibious Armored Ambulance

The WZ-751 (Type 85) Chinese Amphibious Armored Ambulance - Unarmed ambulance with a higher roofline. This is also based on the YW 531 H but has a new and raised hull rear and a new larger commander's cupola to the rear of the driver which is fitted with an externally mounted 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun. This has a crew of two and also carries two medical personnel plus four stretcher patients, eight seated patients or two stretcher patients, and four seated patients. In addition to the stretchers, a medical kit, a splint box, and an oxygen supply are carried and standard equipment includes an air conditioning system. The loaded weight is 13,800 kg. This is now called the Tracked Armoured Ambulance Type 85. The YW531H Type 85 Chinese Armored Personnel Carrier s a tracked armored fighting vehicle produced by Chinese company Norinco (industrial index: Type YW531H). It is an improved version of the Type 63 armored personnel carrier. The vehicle is bigger, has additional firing ports and periscopes, a longer chassis with an additional road wheel on each side, and is equipped with an NBC protection system. The Type 85 series was developed in 1985, exclusively for the export market; for the PLA, the very similar Type 89 AFV was designed. The main user of the Type 85 series are the Royal Thai Armed Forces who received their first vehicles in 1987. The hull is made of welded steel and provides protection against small arms fire. The vehicle carries a maximum of 15 including a crew. The driver sits in the front left of the hull and has a single-piece hatch, which opens to the left. The driver is provided with two-day periscopes that cover the front and right of the vehicle. One of the driver's periscopes can be replaced by a night vision device. The commander sits behind the driver and has a single-piece hatch. The air-cooled, turbocharged diesel engine sits to the right rear of the driver. It has a large intake located at the top of the hull, with an exhaust on the right-hand side. The engine feeds a manual transmission with five forward gears and one reverse gear. The track is driven at the front by a drive sprocket and passes over five dual rubber-tired road wheels and track-return rollers, then loop over an idler at the rear, before returning to the front again. A 12.7-millimeter caliber machine gun with armored shields is located in an open mount at the front of a small hatch in the center of the hull which opens into the troop compartment. The gun can traverse through 360 degrees and can be elevated to an angle of 90 degrees. A total of 1,120 rounds is carried on board. Two oblong roof hatches and a large rear door provide access to the troop compartment. On either side of the forward hull, a cluster of four 76 mm smoke grenade dischargers are mounted. The vehicle is amphibious, a folding trim board stowed at the front of the hull needs to be raised, and the vehicle can then propel itself in the water using its tracks. Standard equipment includes an NBC system, a Type 889 or VRC-83 radio, and a Type 803 intercom system.