crew and eight dismounts in the rear compartment; beside the personnel carrier variant numerous others are available, such as command, ambulance, pickup, as well as purposely designed variants such as reconnaissance and NBC-recce. As for the AMPV (Armoured Multi-Purpose Vehicle) the aim was to develop a compact patrol vehicle with a very high protection level. At the highest protection, similar to that of the Survivor-R, the AMPV has a curb weight of 7,800kg with a 2,200kg payload. The AMPV adopts the crew citadel concept, the ballistic protection package including tungsten carbide; while the 4a/3b level and the 100kg at 5 metres level were qualified, industry tests have shown that the vehicle can survive Level 4b threats as well as a 150kg charge at the same distance. Propulsion is provided by a 272hp diesel engine coupled to a ZF 6-gear automatic gearbox with transfer box. It is fitted with independent double wishbone suspension and full differential lock management. Driving tests carried out on four prototypes totalled over 25,000km in various conditions, to which further 4,000km on synthetic tracks with GVW up to 10.1 tonnes were carried out. As said, the AMPV is a common development between KMW and Rheinmetall. A specialist in main battle tanks and heavy tracked vehicles, KraussMaffei Wegmann entered the light armoured vehicle world in the late 1990s, its Dingo 1 being adopted by the German Bundeshwer and introduced in service in 2000, taking part since into all the operations that saw the participation of German troops. Based on a Unimog chassis and powered by a 240hp engine,
the crew is hosted in a protected cell, a V-shaped bottom ensuring protection against mines and IEDs. The standard version had an 8.8 tonne GVW with a 1.4 tonne payload and a 6.5 m3 protected volume, the long wheelbase increasing the GVW to 10.8 tonnes and the payload up to 3.2 tonnes, the volume growing to 8 m3. Germany ordered 147 Dingo 1. The Dingo 2 is based on the Unimog U 5000 chassis, which allowed to increase weights: at 12.5 tonne GVW for all versions, the standard vehicle has a 3 tonne payload and can host up to eight military, the large volume version having a 2 tonne payload the number of seats depending on configurations, protected volumes being respectively 8.2 and 11 to 14 m3. Beside the German Army, which adopted it in numbers and in different variants, the Dingo 2 obtained a good export success, and is now in service with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Luxemburg and Norway. A further development, the Dingo 2 HD (Heavy Duty) was introduced in 2014; based on an improved U 5000 chassis, it has a 14.5 tonne GVW with a 3 tonne payload, dimensions remaining almost the same. A stair ramp is now available to access to the rear compartment. Overall more than 1,000 Dingos have been sold worldwide. KMW also offers a series of armoured vehicles known as Terrier and based on 4x4 Iveco chassis, Daily, Eurocargo and Trakker, respectively with GVW of 5.5, 15 and 18 tonne. KMW wheeled vehicles portfolio also includes the Fennek; purposely developed on German and Dutch requirements, this 12 tonne GVW vehicle has seen action in Afghanistan and is available in recce, antitank, command and control, forward artillery observer, joint fire support, pioneer, air defence and tactical air control party versions. To date the only N The amphibious version of Otokar’s Cobra II
M The current version of the Eagle, developed by
Mowag, now part of General Dunamics European Land Syetems, is based on the Duro chassis. 10
© Otokar
© GDELS
is slightly bigger while maintaining the same GVW, volume allowing increased floatability.
January / February 2017 – EDR