Available to PACT forces, the OT-65A Vydra is a Czechoslovak armored recon vehicle. It requires the BRDM-2 to unlock in Wargame: European Escalation.
History[]
Following the failure of the domestic OA-82 Jarmila II development, the Czechoslovak army was in the early 1960s looking for a new, multi-role armored fighting vehicle. The only realistic variant, apart from the Soviet BRDM, which wasn't available due to limited production capacity, was the Hungarian FÚG. The D.442 FÚG (Felderítö Úszó Gépkocsi – "Amphibious Recon Vehicle") was a light multirole Hungarian armored vehicle loosely based on the Soviet BRDM-1, developed and produced by the Rába plant as a reaction to the Soviet demand that Warsaw Pact countries should develop light armored vehicles for themselves to replace the aging BA-64. The second reason for its development was the revival of the Hungarian military industry.
It wasn’t exactly the best light AFV in existence but the Czechoslovaks chose it due to the fact that the Soviet BRDM was not available for capacity reasons. The vehicle entered Czechoslovak service in September 1965 under the designation OT-65. Between 1963 and 1967, 842 OT-65 vehicles were imported, including the unmodified early production run vehicles. In 1967, the early production vehicles were taken to VOZ 026 military repair plant in Šternberk and refitted to an upgraded standard. Several variants existed with the most interesting one being the OT-65A Vydra ("Otter"), fitted with a small turret (originally belonging to OT-62B) with one 82mm T21 Tarasnice recoilless gun installed on its side.
In Czechoslovak service, the OT-65A gained a bad reputation, especially for its poor reliability (something the extra weight of the turret definitely did not help). The biggest issues concerned the engine and electric devices, which were constantly failing. For this reason, maintenance crews nicknamed the vehicle "Hungarian Revenge". Its three decades in Czechoslovak service were quite uneventful. It was phased out of service soon after 1990.
Weapons[]
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
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|---|---|---|---|
| Type | MMG | Recoilless rifle | No Weapon |
| Name | PKT | T21 Tarasnice | |
| Caliber | 7.62mm | 82mm HEAT Rocket | |
| Ammo | x 1000 | x 8 | |
| Range | Ground = 875 m Helicopters = 575 m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 1400 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
|
| Accuracy | 15% | 20% | |
| Stabilizer | 5% | N/A | |
| AP Power | N/A | 12 | |
| HE Power | .5 | 2 | |
| Suppression | 55 | 95 | |
| Rate of fire | 652 r/min | 7 r/min |
Gallery[]
See also[]
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