The Ukrainians have come up with an interesting armored vehicle which combines the firepower and protection of a MBT with an APC based on the Russian T-80 series. The Israels for years have had an ad hoc ability for their Merkava MBT but they have admitted it is more for evacuating wounded soldiers in heavy combat zones than for actual use in tactical combat.
Some how they have moved the engine into the right rear quarter of vehicle with an L-shaped area for the 5 man infantry section with a door and steps in the rear so they can exit the vehicle to the rear under armor protection. The link below provided at the left of the page is 5 photos of the vehicle from various angles. Click each of the photos to enlarge.
It is a highly modified tank. The first time this was ever done with a tank, was after the D-Day Normandy landings when the Canadians had a hard time near a French town called Caen and they converted some Shermans as quasi-APCs with super heavy armor. They were a success. In Okinawa the same was done with Shermans at a key battle for a ridge line where they were used to bring in supplies across a valley that was covered by Japanese artillery and snipers and take out the wounded. The belly hatch was used to unload the supplies and bring the wounded into the vehicle -- ie it was to dangerous to use the top hatches so they would park over a friendly force trench and use the belly hatch.
