(Bgbv-82 prototype image). To date, the armored recovery vehicles (ARV) of the Swedish army had consisted of vehicles derived from the tanks in service, so the mobility of the rescue vehicle was usually the same, or worse, than that of the vehicle to be rescued, which was problem on many occasions. Furthermore, these ARVs were usually quite expensive, which meant that they were purchased in small numbers. Taking all of the above into account, the Swedish Army Ordnance Vehicle Division indicated that a new recovery vehicle should be developed from the basis of the Pbv-302 APC that would support not only the units equipped with these vehicles, but also the units equipped with the S-tank (Strv 103) MBT that was entering service at that time.(Bgbv-82 prototype image). According to the Swedish Army, the new vehicle could be lighter than the existing ones, since the S-tank MBT weighed around 37 tons, much less than most battle tanks, and in this way, the new ARV could have good amphibious capacities that would help both the S-tank MBT and the Pbv-302 APC to ford waterways if necessary. Furthermore, another important factor was that the cost of the new vehicle nullified the argument put forward in some military establishments that “it was more profitable for an S-tank to carry out recovery tasks for other S-tanks instead of developing a new heavy and expensive ARV”. Finally, in July 1966 Hägglunds awarded a contract for the design of a new ARV based on the Pbv-302 APC that met the previously stated requirements. Hägglunds carried out the design with considerable speed and in July 1968 presented a prototype called “Bgbv-82” (Bärgningsbandvagn 82). A period of testing then began, which concluded satisfactorily and led to the production order in April 1970.(Bgbv-82 prototype image). The Bgbv-82 was much larger and heavier than the Pbv-302, reaching 26.5 tons loaded, so a sixth roadwheel had to be added to the chassis. The weight increase had to be done to meet the requirement of being able to recover vehicles weighing up to 40 tons. The new vehicle had a powerful winch, driven by a high torque hydraulic motor, capable to pull up to 20 tons, and it was equipped with two hydraulically operated heavy ground anchor spades located at the rear of the hull. The recovery equipment was completed with the installation of a 5.5-ton high capacity lifting crane and a front blade dozer, both hydraulically operated.Mechanically, the Bgbv-82 shared many elements with the Pbv-302 but some had to be reinforced and others replaced. The undercarriage was larger and a sixth roadwheel had to be added, a new gearbox was installed and the engine was similar to that of the Pbv-302 APC but with greater power. On this occasion the engine was installed in the center of the vehicle and the drive sprocket was relocated to the rear, with the idler wheel forward. The suspension was of the torsion bar type, one on each roadwheel. The tracks were wider (450mm) and longer, so a ground pressure of only 0.7 kg/cm2 was achieved. The Bgbv-82 was completely amphibious and was armed with a 20mm gun installed in the same turret as the Pbv-302.The Bgbv-82 had a crew of 4 members, driver, commander, gunner and winch/crane operator, who were housed in the front part of the hull. The driver occupied the central part and had its own hatch, the commander was to the right of the driver and also had his own hatch, to the left of the driver was the turret, which housed the gunner, and behind the driver was the winch/crane operator, which had a raised hatch on the roof of the vehicle. The vehicle was divided into four main compartments, which were: crew compartment, hydraulic equipment, engine compartment and cargo platform. The hydraulic equipment compartment was located below the crew compartment and behind it were the engine, transmission and gearbox.The engine was the same 6-cylinder Volvo-Penta THD 100C turbocharged diesel as that of the Pbv-302, but with power increased to 310 hp. The transmission was the Volvo-Penta R-61 with torque converter coupled to a manual gearbox with 8 forward and 2 reverse gears. The Bgbv-82 reached a maximum speed of 56 km/h on road and 8 km/h on water and had a range of 400 km thanks to a fuel capacity of 550 liters. The steering system was of the hydrostatic type and the vehicle was operated with a steering wheel, and the driver could adjust the track tension through a hydraulic system. This vehicle was completely amphibious and to cross waterways required minimal preparation such as connecting the bilge pump, raising the trim vane and erecting a collapsible flotation screen to increase the freeboard.Behind the crew compartment was the cargo platform, which was open and carried the winch, various tools, recovery equipment and spare parts, including a support to carry an engine for the S-tank MBT. The winch was a Hägglunds HM-20 type with a 20-ton capacity, which could be increased to 60 tons through the use of two pulleys and the ground anchor spades. The winch drum was driven by a hydraulic motor and carried 140 meters of steel cable for a maximum pulling speed of 0.6 m/s. The winch cable ran rearward through a cable guide and exited to the exterior through an opening located in the center of the rear of the vehicle.Also on the cargo platform, on the right side, the Bgbv-82 had a Hiab-Foco 9000 hydraulic lifting crane of 5.5 tons capacity. The load lifting capacity of this crane was as follows: 1.5 tons at 5.5 meters, 3.5 tons at 2.5 meters and 5.5 tons at 1.5 meters. This capacity was sufficient to handle most of the mechanical components of the vehicles in service, including the engine of an S-tank MBT. At the front of the hull, the Bgbv-82 carried a 3.25 meter wide hydraulically operated dozer blade. This dozer blade could tilt laterally and could lift objects weighing up to 6 tons as well as push objects weighing 11 tons. This element was very useful and allowed this vehicle to perform engineering tasks such as raising obstacles and preparing defensive positions.Regarding protection, the Bgbv-82 had the same level as the Pbv-302, that is, protected against 20mm impacts over the frontal arc and all around protection against small arms fire and shell splinters. The armor was made of steel plates of the types HF3Sp and HS2Sp in the hull and steel plates type HR2 in the floor and the roof. Of course, recovery operations required the crew to exit the vehicle, leaving themselves exposed to enemy fire. Like the Pbv-302, the Bgbv-82 lacked NBC protection. The vehicle had a Ra-421 type radio with remote control equipment and an external telephone, and the driver had a passive infrared visor for night driving.The armament was the same as that of the Pbv-302 APC, maintaining the one-man turret armed with a 20mm gun and the same ammunition supply. This armament allowed the Bgbv-82 to defend itself against possible ground and helicopter threats. The gunner has an 8x sight for ground targets and a x17 sight for aerial targets, along with a special reticle located externally on the left side of the gun. In this way, the gunner had to go outside to make anti-aircraft fire. Additionally, this vehicle had eight smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret.In April 1970, the Swedish Army placed an order for 24 Bgbv-82 ARVs, which were delivered between February 1972 and early 1973. The armored battalions of that time had two armored infantry companies equipped with Pbv-302 APCs and two battle tanks companies equipped with S-tank or Centurion MBTs. The Bgbv-82 were distributed among the S-tank MBT companies, each of them having one vehicle, therefore, each armored battalion had two Bgbv-82 ARVs, which usually cooperated together to carry out the most difficult missions.During the 80s, the Bgbv-82 received some minor improvements such as new Diehl type tracks, the installation of new roadwheels, replacement of the annular gun sight with a reflex sight, modernization of the lifting crane and installation of fire extinguishers externally on the vehicle, behind the driver’s hatch. Despite the good capabilities, the Bgbv-82 had a short operational life and in 1994 they were withdrawn from service. However, several years later, 2 Bgbv-82 ARVs (on the image) were reactivated to support the Swedish troops that performed peacekeeping missions with the KFOR in Kosovo, being decommissioned at the end of this mission.
