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M53/59 Praga
M53/70 Praga

The Praga is an armored truck with a twin mounted 30-mm anti-aircraft cannon, used by the Serbian military with great effect against built-up areas and infantry. The gun is mounted on the Praga V3S chassis, produced by the Prague Automobile Factory Ltd. [Praga] of Prague, Czechoslovakia. In the 1950s Praga was assigned a significant political task: to develop and produce a medium-size truck for the army. A successfully designed construction with type denomination Praga V3S became a literally undestructable symbol of a military automobile. From 1958 Praga produced road versions of this die-hard, denominated S5T. In 1939 Yugoslavia purchased the license for the prodcution of the "undestructible" Praga RN truck with a 3 ton carrying capacity. It is interesting that the "erena" continued to be produced in the South of Europe as late as the 1960’s, which was longer than at the mother company.

Specifications

Manufacturer
  • Avia Zavody Letnany (chassis)
  • Czechoslovak state arsenals (armored body, armament and final assembly)
  • Length 6.92 meters
    Width 2.35 meters
    Height 2.95 meters with magazines
    Combat weight 10,300 kg
    Engine Tatra T 912-2 6-cylinder diesel @ 110hp
    Maximum road speed 60 km/h
    Maximum road range 500 km
    Armament 2x30mm M53
    Target Aerial & ground
    Caliber 30mm gun
    Range Light-Armored Vehicles - 2000 m; Aerial - 3000 m
    Rate of fire 420-450 rds/min per gun
    Sensors/fire controls Tracer observation (aerial) Telescope (ground)
    NBC system no
    Night vision equipment no
    Crew 3
    Users Croatia, FRY, Czech Republic, Iraq, Libya, Slovakia

    Sources and Resources



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    http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/praga.htm
    Maintained by Robert Sherman
    Originally created by John Pike
    Updated Tuesday, September 28, 1999 5:53:00 PM