M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle Information & M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle Links at HealthHaven.com

M728 CEV (Combat Engineer Vehicle)
M728 CEV (Combat Engineer Vehicle)
	; M728 CEV (Combat Engineer Vehicle)
Specifications
Weight	52.2 tonnes
Length	29' (8.83 m)
Width	12.1' (3.7 m)
Height	10.8' (3.3 m)
Crew	4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver)
Armor	.51" - 5.6" (13 - 143 mm)
Primary; armament	165 mm M135 Gun; 30 rounds
Secondary; armament	.50 cal M85 machine gun with 600 rounds; 7.62 mm M73 machine gun with 2,000 rounds
Engine	Continental (now General Dynamics) AVDS-1790-2DR V12, air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine; 750 hp (560 kW)
Power/weight	13.2 hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Operational; range	280 miles (450 km)
Speed	30mph (48 km/h)

Rake-equipped M728 CEV of Singapore Army on parade

The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle was based on an M60A1 Patton MBT (Main Battle Tank) chassis with a hydraulically operated dozer blade mounted on the front, an A-frame crane hinged on each side of the turret and a winch. The vehicle can also be equipped with a mine clearing rake. The armament was changed from using the 105 mm M68 rifled tank gun used on the standard M60/A1/A3, to use an M135 165 mm short-barrelled demolition gun with 30 rounds of HEP (High Explosive, Plastic) ammunition, it is a license built copy of the 165 mm L9A1 gun that was used on the British Army's FV4003 Centurion Mk.5 AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) tank. It is also armed with a coaxial 7.62 × 51 mm NATO M73 machine gun, with 2,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, as well as a .50 cal M85 machine gun mounted on the commander's cupola, with 600 rounds of ammunition.

[edit] Deployment

291 units were produced, the M728 was first deployed in 1965 during the Vietnam War. It was also used in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in (1990-1991). The vehicle was found to be too slow to keep pace with newer armored vehicles such as the M1 Abrams tank and from 2000 is not used by active duty units. It is currently in service with Saudi Arabia and Singapore. The M728 was also deployed in the 1993 Siege of Waco, Texas which with it became closely associated as it was caught in dramatic fashion on video tape.^[1]