Russo-Ukrainian War: VCC-2 APC, "Donechchyna" Battalion, National Police of Ukraine

Source: National Police of Ukraine.

     Operating somewhere in Donetsk Oblast is this VCC-2 armored personnel carrier (APC), in service with the special forces “Donechchyna” Battalion of the National Police of Ukraine. Such units are, more or less, similar to SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) teams within many police forces in the U.S. Such personnel are trained to deal with high risk threats that regular police officers are not equipped to handle. Like SWAT teams, Ukrainian National Police special forces units receive additional training in heavy weapons, usage and deployment of armored vehicles, and other tasks and skills which are above the regular training of rank and file policemen. The VCC-2 is an Italian variant of the U.S. M113 APC and to date, a little over ten VCC-2 have been received from Italy as part of the country's military aid packages.

     The biggest modification was replacing the M113's Chrysler 75M engine and Allison TX-200-2A transmission with a more powerful General Motors 6V53 Model 5063-5299 6-cylinder, water-cooled diesel engine and paired it with a Allison TX-100-1 transmission with a 8-speed gear box (6 forward, 2 reverse). This drive train is the same as used in the M113A1. This gives the VCC-2 a top road speed of 40 miles per hour and in being amphibious, the top water speed is 3 miles per hour in calm water. Propulsion in water is via the VCC-2's tracks. 95 gallons of internal fuel provide for a maximum cruise range of 317 miles. The VCC-2 uses fiberglass fuel tanks in the rear of the vehicle with dual fuel lines into the engine for a measure of redundancy if there is a problem with one of the fuel tanks. The fuel system, along with rearranging the interior of the troop compartment, reduces the troop capacity to six men (instead of eleven). The crew of the VCC-2 consists of the commander, driver, and the gunner.

     For protection, the VCC-2 retains the welded hull consisting of the same rolled 5083/5086 H32 aluminum armor of the M113. From the front, armor thickness is 38mm at a slope between 30 degrees (lower front) and 45 degrees (upper front). The sides, which have no sloping, support between 31mm to 44mm while the rear of the VCC-2 has 38mm of armor with a 9 degree slope (upper rear) and 8 degrees of slope (lower rear). The top of the hull has 38mm thick armor while the bottom has 28mm of armor. To boost the level of protection, the VCC-2 has appliqué steel armor between 5mm to 6mm thick fitted directly onto the front and sides of the vehicle. The VCC-2 can shed up to 12.7mm ball ammunition (which is not armor-piercing) at 200 meters.

     For armament, the gunner is provided with a open-topped turret which, here, supports a Browning M2A1 12.7mm heavy machine-gun. On each side of the VCC-2 are two firing ports which allow soldiers within the troop compartment to utilize their small arms. Just above the firing ports are bullet-proof vision blocks. A fifth firing port is located in the drop-down rear ramp which makes up the majority of the back of the VCC-2.

     The commander's cupola is on the left side of the roof, behind the driver's hatch, and even with the gunner's cupola/turret on the right. He is provided with five M17 periscopes but the gunner's cupola limits the commander's field of view. The driver has four M17 periscopes and a single, fully traversable M19 infrared periscope for night driving. All of these vision devices are as the M113. Further Italian modifications include two roof-mounted exhaust fans to evacuate smoke from the interior and updated electrical systems.

     Ukrainian modifications include a rather intricate camouflage paint scheme and fitted to the roof towards the left rear are five antennas for drone jammers.

Sources:

http://web.tiscali.it/stefano67/vcc2.htm

http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m113.html