Figure 1-10. ASU
Description: The ASU-85 has a PT-76 type chassis with six road wheels (space between the first and
second). Its box-shaped, low-silhouetted hull has a sharply sloping glacis plate in front. The main
armament is an 85-mm gun with a double-baffle muzzle brake and a bore evacuator on its long, thin
barrel. It has a large IR searchlight for the gunner mounted above the mantlet and also a smaller
infrared (IR) searchlight for the commander at the right. The armor-covered crew area is NBC-sealed.
The secondary armament is a 7.62-m coaxial machine gun.
Capabilities: The ASU-85 provides mobile armored striking power in the assault gun battalion of
airborne divisions. It is air-transportable by fixed-wing aircraft (including the An-12/CUB) or by
helicopters (including the Mi-6, Mi-10, and Mi-26). Although it is normally air-landed, it can also be air-
dropped using a high capacity multichute system.
The ASU-85 is a versatile weapon designed to be employed principally in an antitank role, but it is
capable of providing general fire support as well. It fires a HVAP round which will penetrate 180 mm of
armor at 1,000 meters. IR equipment gives the ASU-85 good night-fighting capability. It has a 240 hp
V-6 water-cooled diesel engine and carries a crew of four (commander, gunner, loader, and driver).
1-15
MP2010
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