VIU-55 Munja

VIU-55 Munja
TypeCombat engineering vehicle
Armored personnel carrier
Place of originSerbia & Russia
Production history
DesignerMilitary Technical Institute
Specifications
Mass32 tonnes & 38.3 tonnes
Length6.20 m
Width3.27 m
Height2.05 m
Crew2 + 6 passengers

ArmorT-55 Hull
Main
armament
3×7.62mm Zastava M84 machine gun, 30mm M-93 grenade launcher
Enginediesel
780 hp
Suspensiontorsion bar
Operational
range
545 km
Maximum speed 50 km/h

VIU-55 Munja (from Serbian: муња, lit.'lightning') is a combat engineering vehicle produced by Serbia. VTI did the conceptual design of the Munja general-purpose engineer vehicle and the Technical Overhauling Institute "Čačak" built the vehicle. The main idea was converting the T-55 tank, using its main structure and subsystems and adding new components, equipment and devices to create a vehicle for entirely different purposes. Good terrain negotiating ability and ballistic protection of T-55 tank were retained, while engineer equipment and armament were refitted. Starting in 2004, about 210 of these vehicles were produced. It was the first armoured vehicle for the Serbian engineer corps, outfitted with special purpose engineer equipment and a respectable armament belonging to the most modern designs of this kind.