Combat 4x4...
- Thread starter RgrBox
- Start date
Sport-Trac 01
Adventurer
That new Ford vehicle was designed by the Oskosh Corp. using a Ford (F-550, I believe) chassis. It's called the Sandcat.
BlueBomber
Adventurer
"The Jackel"
i hate to jack the tread, but did the designers ever think about bullets??
Sport-Trac 01
Adventurer
The lack of armor decreases wieght, thus increasing speed, there for making it easier to dodge bullets...
Actually, it's probably not a true "combat" vehicle but more of a recon vehicle so the armor isn't really necessary cause it's gonna be driven around looking for stuff, not heading striaght into a fight.
Bighead
Adventurer
It almost looks like a Pinzgauer variant...minus the extra wheels of course. 
"The Jackel"
Harald Hansen
Explorer
It was designed by the Israeli firm Plasan, actually, but branded Oshkosh and based on Ford mechanicals as you say.
The Jackal from lower down in the thread is from the British firm Supacat via HMT, a convoluted story.
BlueBomber
Adventurer
thats all well and good, but last time i checked, you dont willingly walk into an ambush. I know its ment to patrol and be armored from IEDs, but just a little cover for the troops would be nice...
RgrBox
Adventurer
Accually the Brit units using this vehicle are laying ambushes, and assauling objectives in them.. there's been a lot of problems with them so far from what I've read and heard.. but not a bad vehicle.. lots of underneath armor.. but your right.. does need more upper armor.. the bad guys aren't going to just shot at the lower parts of the vehicle..
Sport-Trac 01
Adventurer
I think most of the armor on the lower half would be to protect from mines, grenades (Harder than movie make it seem to get one into a moving vehicle), rockets that don't hit the upper portions... etc... My $0.02.
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Heavy Metal
With deepest respect to those entering the field late, the South Africans and the Rhodesians have long been the experts in this field. U.S. military doctrine has always called for soft, wheeled vehicles to be used only behind the lines in "secure" areas. (That is why almost all of our APCs (e.g., Bradley) are tracked and not wheeled, the Marines being the exception. European militaries, on the other hand, have long had wheeled APCs and armored recon vehicles.) Iraq was the first time that we were completely unable to secure the rear areas. When we started taking casualties due to IEDs and RPGs there was a scramble to install "hillbilly" armor on Hummers and other vehicles. Finally there was an "armored" Hummer. The problem was that these vehicles were never intended to be armored and thus:
-- The suspensions failed rapidly,
-- They sank like stones in sand and mud,
-- The flat bottoms were terrible for mines. (Flat traps the blast, "V" deflects it.)
The South Africans and Rhodesians, on the other hand, NEVER assumed that they would be able to secure the roads and have built many generations of mine resistant vehicles - the Caspir, Mamba, Ratel, Bufalo, etc.
This is an armored truck/troop carrier. Note the armored glass for the driver and the "V" bottom. Drive over a mine and you will lose a wheel, but the blast is deflected away from the troop compartment, increasing survivability. Similarly, the angled glassis helps deflect small arms and RPGs.
Sorry, I don't know the make of the truck underneath.
This is a Mamba armored "jeep." Used for patrolling or, with the machine gun mounts filled, crowd control. Again, I don't know who makes the running gear.
These beasts can usually resist small arms and machine gun fire. Obviously, they will not survive 20mm+ AP rounds. They are much, much better designs than some of the stuff we use.
There is at least one South African manufacturing mine resistant vehicles in the U.S. with U.S. truck parts. http://www.forceprotection.net/models/buffalo/
This, however, is what you want when you are in the mean streets and you want to take the fight to someone else. Russian built tracked APC with 37mm gun.
Finally, for your next Africa overland tour, a Chadian built "Technical." These ultimate Toyotas proved to be deadly against Libyan armor. Sadly, they were equally effective against our soft sided vehicles in the streets of Mogadishu.
(Just the thing to break up a nasty traffic jam on the motorway. )
With deepest respect to those entering the field late, the South Africans and the Rhodesians have long been the experts in this field. U.S. military doctrine has always called for soft, wheeled vehicles to be used only behind the lines in "secure" areas. (That is why almost all of our APCs (e.g., Bradley) are tracked and not wheeled, the Marines being the exception. European militaries, on the other hand, have long had wheeled APCs and armored recon vehicles.) Iraq was the first time that we were completely unable to secure the rear areas. When we started taking casualties due to IEDs and RPGs there was a scramble to install "hillbilly" armor on Hummers and other vehicles. Finally there was an "armored" Hummer. The problem was that these vehicles were never intended to be armored and thus:
-- The suspensions failed rapidly,
-- They sank like stones in sand and mud,
-- The flat bottoms were terrible for mines. (Flat traps the blast, "V" deflects it.)
The South Africans and Rhodesians, on the other hand, NEVER assumed that they would be able to secure the roads and have built many generations of mine resistant vehicles - the Caspir, Mamba, Ratel, Bufalo, etc.
This is an armored truck/troop carrier. Note the armored glass for the driver and the "V" bottom. Drive over a mine and you will lose a wheel, but the blast is deflected away from the troop compartment, increasing survivability. Similarly, the angled glassis helps deflect small arms and RPGs.
Sorry, I don't know the make of the truck underneath.
This is a Mamba armored "jeep." Used for patrolling or, with the machine gun mounts filled, crowd control. Again, I don't know who makes the running gear.
These beasts can usually resist small arms and machine gun fire. Obviously, they will not survive 20mm+ AP rounds. They are much, much better designs than some of the stuff we use.
There is at least one South African manufacturing mine resistant vehicles in the U.S. with U.S. truck parts. http://www.forceprotection.net/models/buffalo/
This, however, is what you want when you are in the mean streets and you want to take the fight to someone else. Russian built tracked APC with 37mm gun.
Finally, for your next Africa overland tour, a Chadian built "Technical." These ultimate Toyotas proved to be deadly against Libyan armor. Sadly, they were equally effective against our soft sided vehicles in the streets of Mogadishu.
(Just the thing to break up a nasty traffic jam on the motorway.
)
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RgrBox
Adventurer
Excellent point Diplostrat. I've been studing this same information mself for several years now. Although during my time in the US Military, we were never ridding around in Up-Armored vehicles, but we were using some vehicles for logistic and security purposes.. Mog. was a great point to mention.. the US, and UN forces there were so unprepared for what the RPG could do to a HUMMVE. And we paid th eprice.. I hope the US has learned better from this.. but I think the Hummer is obsolite, and should be replaced but a better vehicle to do this job. Problem is that our lighter Airborne and SpecOp elements are forced to use armor or other vehicles now.. but transporting these same vehicle by air isn't possble.
RB
RB