Image source: topwar.ru
Latin American countries have the most impressive fleet of the most outdated armored vehicles, many of which have a place in museum exhibitions. In particular, the Peruvian army is armed with 96 AMX-13 tanks developed in France in the second half of the 1940s. Their purchase by Lima from Paris began in 1954 and since then they have continued to serve.
Initially, the local troops were armed with a 14.5-ton AMX-13T-75-M51 model with a swinging FL-10 type turret and a 75 mm cannon operated by three crew members: a commander, a gunner and a driver. However, since the 2000s, the Ministry of Defense has been trying to turn these vehicles into so-called tank destroyers capable of hitting ATGM armored vehicles.
The first modification capable of carrying anti-tank missiles was the installation on board the AMX-13 of old French ATGMs with SS-11 wire guidance. The vehicle was also equipped with 12.7 mm and 7.62 mm machine guns located in the turret. This variant, created in 2005, was never adopted, since the fire control system could not be integrated at a reasonable price and in an acceptable time.
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AMX-13 with SS-11 ATGM
After that, in May 2010, the Alacrán (or Escorpion) program was launched, during the implementation of which several types of ATGMs based on the AMX-13 with a different number of launchers for the Russian ATGM 9M113 "Kornet-E" (with 2, 3 and 4 PU) arose. In total, this program provided for the transformation of 24 tanks into SPTRK equipped with "Cornet-E".
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AMX-13 Alacrán with a different number of PU for ATGM "Kornet-E"
At the same time, the FL-12 turret with a 105-mm cannon was dismantled (the Peruvian AMX-13 received them instead of 75-mm guns in the second half of the 1980s) and aiming and guidance tools were installed (in particular, the 1P45M-1 optical sight and the 1PN79-1 infrared). For self-defense, the AMX-13 Alacrán was equipped with a 12.7mm Browning M-2HB machine gun.
When creating some prototypes of Alacrán, local developers showed excessive initiative by interfering with the design of the "Cornet", so a number of models were rejected.
- stated in the publication Pucará Defensa.
Against the background of these developments, the local private company Diseños Casanave Corporation SAC presented a modernization project called AMX-13 Escorpión-1. It provided for the integration of two side rails on the tower to install two 9K14-2M "Baby 2M" missiles each.
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AMX-13 with ATGM "Baby 2M"
After that, the Escorpion-2 program was launched: the Ukrainian Barrier anti-tank complex with an ATGM R-2 with a flight range of 5,500 meters and semi-automatic laser guidance was to replace the Russian missiles. However, it did not go further than development.
At the same time, the army continues to actively operate the AMX-13 as tanks:
- the publication says.