ABI (Military land vehicle)

ABI
Type - Armoured Car
Place of origin - Romania
Service history
Used by - Romania . Algeria . Liberia
Production history
Designer - Direcția Tancuri și Auto
Designed - 1978-1979
Manufacturer - Automecanica Moreni
Produced - 1979
No. built - 17
Variants - AM 100 ALG
Specifications
Mass - 4,000 kilograms (4.4 short tons; 3.9 long tons)
Length - 4.22 m (13 ft 10 in)
Width - 2.225 m (7 ft 3.6 in)
Height - 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) (hull)
Crew - 2 + 4 passengers
Armor - 4-10 mm
Main armament - 12.7 mm DShK machine gun
Secondary armament - 7.62 PK machine gun
Engine - Model D-127 4-stroke diesel (68 hp)
Power/weight - 17 hp/tonne
Transmission - 4 × 4
Ground clearance - 0.195 m (7.7 in)
Operational range - 600 km (370 mi)
Maximum speed - 90 km/h (56 mph)

Autovehicul Blindat pentru Intervenție (ABI, "Armored Vehicle for Intervention") was a Romanian armored car based on the chassis of the ARO 240 off-road vehicle. Intended for escort and counterinsurgency missions, the ABI armored vehicle was manufactured by Automecanica Moreni. The export variant was known as AM 100 ALG.

History

Development
In June 1978, the Romanian government expressed their desire to have an armored car based on the ARO 240 vehicle that was equipped with a machine gun. It was to be supplied to airport security units. A prototype was completed by the end of the year. On May 27, 1979, Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the manufacture of a batch of armored vehicles to parade at the August 23 military parade. The armored car, known as the ABI, was also presented to the Romanian Army, but it was rejected and solely used for airport security. 17 ABIs made their appearances in the military parade on August 23, 1979.
Service
ABI vehicles were used during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 , when they were involved in several notable incidents, such as the massacre by USLA troops in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters.
Design and specifications
ABI was built on the chassis used by the ARO 240. The armor was made of welded steel plates, 4-10 mm thick, and provided protection only against small caliber bullets and splinters. The armored vehicle was vulnerable to 7.62 mm perforated cartridges.
The driver was seated on the left at the front of the vehicle, and the commander was on the right. The commander had two firing ports at his disposal. One firing port was to the right of the windscreen and the other was a window in front of him. The driver had only one window to fire inside the vehicle. The windshield and left door window were bulletproof. The windows could be additionally protected with folding armor plates, without visible slots. If the windows were covered, the commander and the driver used the six periscopes to see outside. The rear soldiers had four firing ports at their disposal to shoot: two in the rear doors and one in the sides. To see the outside, the soldiers used two observation slots and two periscopes. The turret was equipped with a 7.62 mm PK machine gun.
Variants
AM 100 ALG: Export version for Algeria equipped with a Bulgarian VAMO Model D 3900 A engine, providing 82.5 hp and maximum road speed of 100 km/h.
AM 100 Armoured Off Road Vehicle: A marketed version with infra-red searchlights and a white light searchlight.
Operators
 Algeria: 10 vehicles were delivered in 1987 for use by the police.
 Liberia: 5 were delivered in October 1986 and paraded at the military parade in Monrovia on November 16, 1986.
 Romania