Infantry Combat Vehicle

Infantry Combat Vehicle 

a track-laying or wheeled multipurpose combat vehicle used in tank and motorized infantry combat vehicle forces. It appeared in various armies in the 1960’s and represents an improvement on the design of the armored personnel carrier. The infantry combat vehicle makes it possible for an infantryman to wage battle without leaving the vehicle or by leaving it (in dismounted battle formations). Its armament—a cannon (sometimes antitank guided missiles), machine guns, and the automatic weapons of the landing force—allows the vehicle to battle with enemy manpower and armor. The cannon and machine guns are usually mounted on a rotating turret; there are ports in the hermetically sealed body for the landing party’s automatic rifles. The infantry combat vehicle has good cross-country ability, it has means of communication and camouflage and instruments for day and night vision, it can propel itself across water, and it makes possible coordinated action with tanks in all types of combat operations.