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Bravia Chaimite

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Type
  
Light Armoured Vehicle

In service
  
1967–present

Manufacturer
  
Bravia

Place of origin
  
Portugal

Used by
  
See Operators

Bravia Chaimite

Wars
  
Portuguese Colonial War Lebanese Civil War Libyan Civil War

The Bravia Chaimite is an armored vehicle with all wheel drive axles built by the Portuguese company Bravia and used by the Portuguese Army in the Portuguese colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, from 1967 to 1974 when it ended.

Contents

There were two versions of the Chaimite, the VBTP V-200 and the VBPM V-600. The VBTP, (Viatura Blindada de Transporte de Pessoal, Armoured Personnel Transport Vehicle), had an 11-man capacity and was armed with one .50 Browning heavy machine-gun, while the VBPM, (Viatura Blindada Porta-morteiro, Armoured Mortar Carrier Vehicle), had only a 4-man capacity and was armed with one Browning .30 heavy machine-gun and one 81 mm mortar. These vehicles had diesel engines with 155 hp (115 kW) at 3300 rpm with automatic gear capable of taking on speeds to a maximum of 99 km/h (62 mph). The armour of this APC was capable of defeating rounds up to 7.62 mm NATO.

The Chaimite is now being gradually phased out of Portuguese Army service and replaced by the Austrian Pandur II 8x8 APC.

Variants

  • V-200: armoured personnel carrier
  • V-200 Armada 60: special variant for the Portuguese Marines of the V-200 armed with a multiple 60 mm rocket launcher
  • V-300: light fire support with 7.62 NATO to 20 mm gun
  • V-400: heavy fire support with 90mm or 75mm low-pressure gun; turrets imported from the Panhard EBR
  • V-500: communications and command vehicle
  • V-600: mortar carrier with 81 mm or 120 mm mortars
  • V-700: anti-tank with Swingfire or HOT missile launcher
  • V-800: ambulance
  • V-900: armoured recovery vehicle
  • V-1000: anti-riot with water cannon

    • Current operators

  •  Lebanon: Internal Security Forces – 30, with a few passed on to the Guardians of the Cedars in 1976.
  •  Libya: Presidential Guard – 16
  •  Peru: Peruvian Marines – 32
  •  Philippines: Philippine Army – 20
  •  Portugal: Portuguese Army & Portuguese Marine Corps – 84 being retired from service

    • Former operators

  •  Palestine: Palestinian Liberation Organization – 1 supplied by Libya, captured by the Israeli Defense Forces at the Beqaa valley in 1982.

    • The Chaimite made some major film appearances, notably in the 1993 movie The House of Spirits, portraying Chilean Army APCs in action during the September 1973 military coup d'etat and in the 2002 movie The Dancer Upstairs, in the colours of an undisclosed Latin American Army. It was also featured in the 2000 film April Captains, set in during the Portuguese Carnation Revolution of April 1974.

    References

    Bravia Chaimite Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA