This article is a disambiguation page for Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The following is a list of articles that share the same, or very similar, titles. Please follow one of the links below. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
A Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armored fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide fire support.
IFVs are similar to armored personnel carriers (APCs), designed to transport a section or squad of infantry (generally between five and ten men) and their equipment. They are differentiated from APCs—which are purely transport vehicles, armed only for self-defence—because they are designed to give direct fire support to the dismounted infantry and so usually have significantly enhanced armament. IFVs also often have improved armor and some have firing ports (allowing the infantry to fire personal weapons while mounted).
Usually mounted with a 25 to 35mm cannon, a .50 caliber machine gun, two side mounted LMG, and have a total of four seats. While weak against Main Battle Tanks, they excel against infantry. However, IFVs can carry weapons that give them added anti-armor capability, such as a TOW missile.
Closely related to the IFV are the Tank Destroyer and the Mobile Anti-Air, which can use the same chassis as an IFV, but the Tank Destroyer is armed with a large-caliber gun designed to engage enemy armor, the Mobile Anti-Air is armed with missiles and/or a high elevation gun to engage flying threats.