Socialist Republic of Romania (Circa 1984)

Self-propelled Anti-tank Gun – Concept only

Starting in the 1950’s, the Republica Populară Română (English: ‘Romanian People’s Republic’) tried to lessen the mighty Soviet economic and cultural grip as a response to Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization campaign. After Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, leader of the Romanian People’s Republic from 1947 to 1965, died in 1965, a new more ambitious leader came onto the scene. Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the newly renamed Republica Socialistă România (English: ‘Socialist Republic of Romania’), would rule from 1965 until the fall of the Partidul Comunist Român (English: ‘Romanian Communist Party’) in 1989. Early on, Ceaușescu made efforts to distance the nation from the Warsaw Pact. His biggest opportunity to do so came during the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, known as Operation Danube, which lasted from August 20 to 21. On August 21, 1968, Ceaușescu gave a speech denouncing the invasion and de facto asserting the independence of the Socialist Republic of Romania from the Soviet Union.



Right side profile drawing of the Tun Antitanc Autopropulsat from the patent.

While still formally in the Warsaw Pact, Romania gained a new level of autonomy due to Ceaușescu’s efforts to distance the country from the Soviet Union. As a result, the nation felt the need to become more militarily independent, produce weaponry within its own borders, and even to seek assistance from the West and China. While complete autonomy was not an easily achievable prospect, especially for a nation such as Romania, they had to occasionally rely on its Warsaw Pact allies for equipment and technology. Nevertheless, the effort was a great one of which lead to the creation of the Tun Antitanc Autopropulsat (TAA) and various other domestically designed Romanian armored vehicles.

One of the earliest mentions of the Socialist Republic of Romania’s quest for developing a self-propelled anti-tank gun was in 1978. The “Command” devised a plan to produce artillery pieces inside Romania’s borders between 1978 and 1990. Among the types of artillery pieces listed was a self-propelled anti-tank gun using the ‘Mașina de Luptă a Infanteriei’ chassis armed with a 100mm anti-tank gun. ‘Mașina de Luptă a Infanteriei’, which is also abbreviated as ‘MLI’, is Romanian for ‘Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). It is not known what MLI chassis it is referring to, as the MLI-84 was developed and produced in the early 1980’s and this vehicle supposedly originated circa 1978. It can only be concluded that the MLI and the self-propelled anti-tank gun based on it were separate late 70’s Romanian projects as there had been no IFVs in Romanian service prior to this. The vehicle would have served as a replacement for the aging Soviet designed and manufactured SU-76s in Romanian service. There were 1716 of these pieces destined to be produced and serve in mechanized battalions. However, it appears that the plans fell apart with the reasons being unknown and the vehicle was never built.

On the 27th September 1984, Institutul 111 (English: ‘Institute 111’) patented a self-propelled anti-tank gun design referred to as the ‘Tun Antitanc, Autopropulsat’ (English: ‘Self-propelled Anti-tank Gun’). The credited inventors were Buracu Mihail and Darvariu Paul who are presumably apart of Institutul 111.

Buracu Mihail is also credited as one of the inventors of the 2x30mm M1980 towed anti-aircraft gun and its advanced prototype counterpart, the Viforul 2x30mm, the 30mm autocannon itself used on the two designs mentioned earlier, a prototype TAB-77 (licensed modified BTR-70 copy) armed with a single 30mm autocannon from the 2x30mm M1980 towed anti-aircraft gun and two Malyutka anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), 100mm A407 (also known as the M1977) towed anti-tank gun, and the APRA-40 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).

On the other hand, Davariu Paul does not appear to have the same track record as Buracu Mihail when it comes to being credited as an inventor of military equipment.

Institutul 111 was a Romanian government organization tasked with designing vehicles and equipment for the Romanian Land Forces. Institutul 111 was responsible for successful designs such as the TR-85-800 (P 124-800) tank and the 2x30mm M1980 towed anti-aircraft gun.

The name ‘Tun Antitanc, Autopropulsat’ (English ‘Self-propelled Anti-tank Gun’) is probably more of a descriptor than an actual designation. However, there is a possibility that it could be its designation and abbreviated to ‘TAA’. The Romanians created designations using acronyms which stood for the role, purpose, or characteristics of the vehicle, similar to the way the Soviets designated some of their vehicles. For example, the ‘MLI’ in MLI-84 means Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the ‘TR’ in TR-77-580 and TR-85-800 stands for Tanc Românesc (English: ‘Romanian Tank’), and the ‘TAB’ in TAB-71 and TAB-77 stands for Transportor Amfibiu Blindat (English: ‘Amphibious Armored Transporter’). For the purposes of this article, the vehicle will be referred to as the ‘TAA’.

The TAA, at face value, is roughly analogous to China’s Type 89, a tank destroyer originating in the late 80’s. Both are vehicles designed to combat tanks with the automotives at the front and the fighting compartment at the rear equipped with a large caliber anti-tank gun comparable to its main battle tank counterpart.

However, the design, particularly the fighting compartment, is much more unorthodox. The turret is extremely narrow to the point where no crew could possibly be accommodated on either side of the gun (although the commander is located at the very rear).

The purpose of this unconventional design was to decrease the frontal silhouette of the vehicle in order to harder to hit by an enemy vehicle. It also has the benefit of being a very efficient use of space as not having crew either side of the gun means that there is much less space which needs to be protected and therefore much less weight of armor involved. The position of the commander provides him with protection by virtue of being behind the mass of the gun.



Front view drawing of the Tun Antitanc Autopropulsat from the patent showing the extremely narrow turret.

Another purpose of the design was to limit the amount of ammunition located in the fighting compartment for the safety of the crew. Large ammunition that is in contact with the crew of a vehicle can be dangerous and fatal, as enemy fire that has come in contact or perforated the vehicle can combust the ammunition either through direct contact or through spalling. Making the ammunition stowage safer was achieved through several features such as limiting the ammunition in the fighting compartment through the use of a separated ammunition compartment at the rear equipped with blow-off panels.

Design, layout, and crew

The layout of the TAA resembles that of the Model 1989 (although the TAA predates it) and even more so with the 2S1 Gvozdika. The 2S1 and TAA both have a similar layout, similar hull shape, similar hatch shape for the driver, an indentation on the upper front glacis for the driver’s window and a rear hull entrance. It is perhaps possible that the TAA may be based or was inspired by the 2S1 considering the similarities and considering that the Romanians may have taken an interest in such a vehicle since at least 1978. However, the link is speculative based on the common design features rather than documentary evidence to confirm this.

The engine is located to the right of the driver with the transmission positioned near the front. The fighting compartment is located centrally in the rear half of the hull behind the engine and driver, but ahead of the ammunition space. The ammunition stowage is located at the very rear and separated longitudinally into two sections by a rear entrance aisle which has an exterior door for the entrance aisle and an interior door for the fighting compartment. This arrangement is similar to that used on the Israeli Merkava main battle tank except here the ammunition is held in a fixed space in racks with a protected corridor whereas on the Merkava the whole area is open with the ammunition in containers leaving the crew in direct contact with the ammunition.



Top view drawing of the Tun Antitanc Autopropulsat from the patent showing various features.

The turret is extremely narrow if looked at from the front. It is somewhat boxy, with a slightly triangular roof-line likely designed to allow the main gun to depress and recoil. The turret rotates electro-mechanically and has a base with a hatch for the gunner on the left side and a hatch for the loader on the right. The turret basket contains the autoloader, part of the crew, and part of the ammunition storage. In this way the turret is best described as a low-profile turret in some ways similar to the M60A2 ‘Starship’.

The TAA is crewed by four men; the driver, loader, gunner, and commander. The driver is located to the left of the automotives which are situated at the front of the vehicle. The loader, gunner, and commander are located in the fighting compartment near the rear. The loader and gunner are situated in the hull and sit on the bottom of the turret basket. This is how the turret was able to achieve such a narrow silhouette. The gunner appears to be front-middle of the turret beneath and slightly left of the gun with his head peeking into the turret. The loader appears to be on the right side completely inside the hull. The commander is located in the turret directly suspended above the rear entrance aisle and behind the main gun, in his own semi-cylindrical compartment. He is given his own radio which is mounted to the front of him and numerous periscopes on the cupola to view his surroundings.