M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle

M728 CEV (Combat Engineer Vehicle)
A mine plow-equipped M728 CEV of the Singapore Army
Type	Military engineering vehicle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1965–present
Used by	See operators
Wars	Vietnam War Gulf War Bosnian War
Production history
Designed	1963
Manufacturer	Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant Chrysler Defence (now General Dynamics Land Systems)
Produced	1965–1987
Number built	291
Variants	See variants
Specifications
Weight	Loaded: 53.2 short tons (48.3 t)
Length	Overall: 8.83 metres (29 ft 0 in)
Width	3.66 m (12 ft 0 in)
Height	3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armor	13–143 millimetres (0.51–5.63 in)
Main armament	Main gun: 1× 165mm M135 (30 rounds)
Secondary armament	Coaxial machine gun: 1× 7.62mm M240 machine gun (2,000 rounds) Commander cupola: 1× 12.7mm M85 machine gun (600 rounds)
Engine	Continental (now General Dynamics) AVDS-1790-2DR V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine 750 horsepower (560 kW)
Power/weight	14.1 hp/t
Payload capacity	A-frame crane boom: 9.0 short tons (18,000 lb) hoisting/lifting capacity Winch: 11.0 short tons (22,000 lb) pulling capacity
Transmission	CD-850-6A 2 speeds forward, 1 reverse
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Ground clearance	463 mm (1 ft 6.2 in)
Fuel capacity	1,457 litres (320 imp gal; 385 US gal)
Operational range	280 miles (450 km)
Speed	30 miles per hour (48 km/h)

The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV) is a military engineering vehicle based on an M60A1 Patton main battle tank chassis with a hydraulically operated dozer blade mounted on the front, thus effectively functioning as an armored bulldozer, plus an A-frame crane boom hinged on either side of the turret and a winch.

Based on the chassis of the M60 Patton tank, the armament was changed from using the 105mm M68 rifled tank gun used on the standard M60/A1/A3, to a 165mm M135 short-barrelled demolition gun with 30 rounds of HEP (high explosive, plastic) ammunition. The M135 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. Depending on the usage, the gun can be depressed and elevated against targets up to an effective range of 925 metres (1,012 yd). The gun's primary purpose is for clearing defensive fixtures and obstacles, such as walls, fences, roadblocks and bunkers, or for destroying buildings and is generally not meant to be for use in anti-personnel or anti-tank warfare.

The main gun has a coaxial 7.62×51mm NATO M240 machine gun, with 2,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. In addition, a .50 caliber M85 machine gun is mounted in the commander's cupola; this has 600 rounds of ammunition.