30 mm anti-aircraft gun vz. 53/59
Overview of versions:
vz. 53/59 - the basic version by modifying the drawn twin-cannon vz. 53 and placing it on the platform of an armored car based on the Praga V3S chassis, inducted into the armament of the ČSĽA in 1959.
vz. 53/59B - a version equipped with a VXW 100 radio and a new internal intercom. A total of 789 units exported in 1969-1979 to Yugoslavia, where they received the local designation M53/59
vz.53/59Mvz.53/59M - a modernized version whose main difference from previous versions was the use of the vz. 61/30M (with 6 focal plates and 9 aiming warps). In production in 1970-1978, manufacturer Škoda Plzeň (superstructure) and Praga, n.p. (chassis).
In addition to being included in the armament of the CSFA, the vehicle was also exported to Yugoslavia, where it was involved in the civil war in the 1990s on all belligerent sides.
M53/59/70 (M53/70)M53/59/70 (M53/70) - Yugoslav upgrade with improved electrical system, power pack and sight. The modernization of the Yugoslav PLdvKs was carried out in stages from 1973.
M53/??? - modernization of PLdvK aimed at increasing firing accuracy. Modernization in the mid-1980s replaced the original sight with a new, combined laser-counter-controlled, remote-controlled instrument. Modernization was to take place on roughly half of the "Lizards" used in the JNA.
M53/??? - PLdvK modernization in which the original Tatra T912 powerplant was replaced with a higher-performance indigenous type. In addition, the original sight was replaced by a motorised computer-hydraulic sight J171A (Yugoslav version of the Talanian Officine Galileo P-36 sighting system). Although it was planned to carry out this upgrade on the remaining half of the "Lizards" in the mid-1980s, it was eventually only implemented in part due to the planned replacement of the PLdvK with a new, Yugoslav-produced 40mm self-propelled PLK (but due to the oil collapse of Yugoslavia this never happened).
Pracka - a version in which the anti-aircraft guns were replaced by a simple launcher equipped with an aerial anti-aircraft guided missile R-60 and R-73. Tested by Yugoslavia during NATO air raids in 1999.
Another interesting project is the Serbian installation of a turret with a SORA 122 mm howitzer on a vz.53/59 chassis, serving as a technological demonstrator of the SOKO self-propelled howitzer and tested in 2009.
Source: author's archive
Overview of versions:
vz. 53/59 - the basic version by modifying the drawn twin-cannon vz. 53 and placing it on the platform of an armored car based on the Praga V3S chassis, inducted into the armament of the ČSĽA in 1959.
vz. 53/59B - a version equipped with a VXW 100 radio and a new internal intercom. A total of 789 units exported in 1969-1979 to Yugoslavia, where they received the local designation M53/59
vz.53/59Mvz.53/59M - a modernized version whose main difference from previous versions was the use of the vz. 61/30M (with 6 focal plates and 9 aiming warps). In production in 1970-1978, manufacturer Škoda Plzeň (superstructure) and Praga, n.p. (chassis).
In addition to being included in the armament of the CSFA, the vehicle was also exported to Yugoslavia, where it was involved in the civil war in the 1990s on all belligerent sides.
M53/59/70 (M53/70)M53/59/70 (M53/70) - Yugoslav upgrade with improved electrical system, power pack and sight. The modernization of the Yugoslav PLdvKs was carried out in stages from 1973.
M53/??? - modernization of PLdvK aimed at increasing firing accuracy. Modernization in the mid-1980s replaced the original sight with a new, combined laser-counter-controlled, remote-controlled instrument. Modernization was to take place on roughly half of the "Lizards" used in the JNA.
M53/??? - PLdvK modernization in which the original Tatra T912 powerplant was replaced with a higher-performance indigenous type. In addition, the original sight was replaced by a motorised computer-hydraulic sight J171A (Yugoslav version of the Talanian Officine Galileo P-36 sighting system). Although it was planned to carry out this upgrade on the remaining half of the "Lizards" in the mid-1980s, it was eventually only implemented in part due to the planned replacement of the PLdvK with a new, Yugoslav-produced 40mm self-propelled PLK (but due to the oil collapse of Yugoslavia this never happened).
Pracka - a version in which the anti-aircraft guns were replaced by a simple launcher equipped with an aerial anti-aircraft guided missile R-60 and R-73. Tested by Yugoslavia during NATO air raids in 1999.
Another interesting project is the Serbian installation of a turret with a SORA 122 mm howitzer on a vz.53/59 chassis, serving as a technological demonstrator of the SOKO self-propelled howitzer and tested in 2009.
