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Published byOrbis Publishing Ltd@ Aerospace Publishing Ltd 1984

Editorial OflicesWar MachineAerospace Publishing Ltd10 Barley Mow PassageLondon W4 4PH

Managing Editor: Stan MorseEditorial: Trisha Palmer

Chris BishopJon LakeChris Chant

Design: Rod TeasdaleColour Origination: lmago Publishing Ltd.

Thame, OxonTypesetting: SX Composing LtdFilm work: Precise Litho Ltd

Artists:Peter Sarson & Tony Bryant

26a47

Printed in Great Britain byTheArtisan PressLtd

Issue 47

CONTENTS

Modern light VehiclesM3Tlightvehicle

MSSlightvehicle

Fast AttackVehicle

MISl lightvehicle

Hummerftmpetitionland Rover l-Tonne light vehicle

L,urdRoverinAction

0peration'Protea'

Citrodn M6hui Arm6e light vehicle

Peugeot P4 light vehicle

Hotchkiss M 201light vehicle

Step-puch 700 AP Haflinger light vehicle

Mercedes-Beru light vehicle

Volkswagen Iltis light vehicle

UAZ-4698 light vehicle

GAZ-69series

Fiat I 107 AD light vehicle

DAFYA 126 weapons canier

Japanese light vehicles

Armed Forces of the WorldUSAirForce(Part3)

922

922

923

924

925

926

927

932

934

934

935

936

936

937

937

938

938

939

940

iii

Pichrre aclanowledgementsCover photognDh: US Any. 921: Brice R:cerscUS Meine Corps. 922: RF..E.F./R.F. 923r EmersorElectdc ruS AnnyruS Amy. 924: US Acy]jS nny. 925: US Amy,RF./RF./RF./US AmytuS tumy/USArmy. 926: US Amy,/]!,IoD. 92?r Bnce Rcber$EMcD. 928: Bruce Robefison/RF./R.F./Bruce Robertsr929: BBC. 9323: (aI) Hemil Potgierer. gil+gil?: (c.I) RF 938: R.FruS Army. 939: R.F. 940r R.P./R.F./R.F.(iii): US Air Force. (iv): US Atr Force4JS Air Force.

tlodern LigH

Light utility vehicles have become an essential item in theinventories of the world's armed, forces, ever since the Jeepproved its worth in World War IL They are used for anastonishing vaiety of pu4toses both in combat and rearechelon duties, and without them it woald be diIficuht forarmiesto carryoutthe most routine oftasks,

The Jeep developed in the USA durrng World War II has probablybecome the most famous wheeled vehicle ever produced, and there aremany who firmly believe that thls light vehicle was a decisive factor inthe eventual outcome of World War II. Since then light vehicles of onetype or another have become an essential part of every army in theworld. It is interesting to note that the French Hotchkiss M 201 lightvehicle, a direct descendant of the Jeep, is still in active service with anumber of armies,

Light vehicles are used in every conceivable role ranging fromgeneral runabouts for offlcers and NCOs to command vehicles, forwardambulances, forward air control vehicles, cargo carriers, reconnaiss-ance vehicles and (fitted with recoilless rifles or anti-tank gniidedweapons) highly potent tank destroyers, They have seen actron in everycorner of the world, from the dense jungles of South East Asia to the ariddeserts of North A-frica and the Middle East. Every tlme they haveproved themselves to be capable of almost continuous operations wrthlittle or no marntenance.

Of all the vehicles covered ln this study, it is the Land Rover, M37 M38,Mi51, Hotchkiss M 201 and the two Soviet vehlcles that have seen themost widespread service, Some, such as the Peugeot P4 and the Volk-swagen Iltis, have only recently entered service and so have not yetbeen deployed operationally,

The advent of the helicopter hasenabled the light vehicle to makes itspresence felt in many areas. Here afirst-aid Land Rover of 4 I Commandoawaits a helicopter lift from thecarrier HMS He:rmes durrhg adeployment to Cyprus.

In the near future a new type of lierht vehicle will enter sen.:=although by its carrying capability of just over one tonne it is aimcs: atruck, This is the American Hiqh-Mobility Multr-purpose Wheeled Ve:_-cle (HMM\A|V), now more commonly knoum as the Hummer, for v;:.1::the US armed forces have a requirement of at least S0,000. The Hurnne:wlll replace the M151 (4x4) light vehrcle and some heavier vehicles .sthese do not have the required payload, performance or protectioi -c:use in future high-intensity conflicts, Many of the tight vehicles at prese:-:in service were desrgned to mount only machine-gnrns but have :-recent years, been pressed into use carrying anti-tank weapons a:-:therr ammunition that have overloaded the chassis.

With the ever-increasing costs of defence, many countries are nc',',-issuing iight 4 x 2 vehicles to many units as these are more than adequa::for many of the roles normally carried out by 4x4 hght vehrcles ut *;erear areas. These 4x2 vehicles are not only cheaper to purchase in:=first place, but are less costly to run and maintain, a valuable asse:

There is no doubt that ligrht vehlcles (4x4, 4x.Z or new-genera-*.:-vehicles such as the Hummer) will be wrth us for a long time yet,

M I5I vehicles of the US Marines were notable in patrolling the streets of Betratduring the ill-fated peacekeeping effort in Lebanon. With more than I 00,000produced, the M I5I is in worldwide use, but will be replaced in Americanservice by the H igh Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle.

=€==fl:

E itigz tisrht vehicleThe Beep (4x4) light vehicie, or togive its official desigmation, the T214,was vndely used as a command/radlovehicle and forward ambr:Iance dw-ing World War II, and was placedback in production to meet KoreanWar requirements, This was replacedby the M3?, also produced by Dodge,who built over 125,000 vehicles be-tween 1950 and 1970 for the US Armyand many other countdes around theworld. The M37 was replaced in manyunits in the 1970s by the M7l5 series,but insufficient of these were built toreplace the M37 on a one-for-onebasrs.

The basic M37 truck was desigmedto carry 907 kg (2,000 lb) of cargo onroads or 68Okg (1,5001b) of cargoacross country, and can also tow a trail-er weighrng 2722k9 (6,000 ]b) onroads or tBlSkg (4,000Ib) acrosscountry,

In layout the M37 is srmilar to a stan-dard commercral pick-up, with the en-gine at the front, the driver and ftvopassengers in the centre, and the car-go area at the rear. The last has a droptailgate, folding troop seats dourn eachside, removable ftont rack bows and atarpaulin cover, The cab has a wind-screen that can be folded forward ontothe bonnet, on each side a door whosetop can be removed, and a removabletarpaulin cover. Some vehicles werefitted with a front-mounted wrnch forrecovery operations, and a deep-fording kit can be fitted which enablesthe M37 to ford to a depth of 2,133 m(7 ft).

There are a number ofvariants oftheM37, including the M43 ambulancewhich has a fully enclosed steel bodyand can carry eight seated or fourstretcher patients and a medtcal atten-dant, The rear compartment ts pro-vided with a heater and a light, Thecommand post model rs simrlar to thebasic cargo model but has side cur-tains with windows, and internally hasa folding table and map light, and canbe fitted wrth communications equip-ment, The telephone maintenancetruck is the M20l which has an all-steelbody with compartments for tools andspare equipment,

The M37 was also made under l!cence in Canada in the I950s byChrysler at Windsor, Ontario, thesebeing called the M3?CDN cargo vehi-cle, M43CDN ambulance and

AnM37 (4x4) cargotruck, completewith bows and a tarpaulin cover overthe rear compailment. The latter isprovidedwitha drop ta@ate andfold-up troop seats down each side.

MIS2CDN fully enclosed panel truck,One of the more unusual Canadianmodels was an M37CDN with a pedes-ta1 mount to the cab rear for launchinganti-tank gurded weapons,

In the i950s Japan produced twovehicles very simrlar to the M37. Thesewere the Nissan Q4W73 (4x4) 750-kg(1,653{b) truck and the Toyota zFQlsl(4x4) with a similar carrying capabtl-lty. Both of these are used by theJapanese Ground Self-Defence Force,and the Nissan vehrcle has also beenbuilt under licence in India for theIndian army, The Toyota model wasalso used by United States forces in theFar East, South Vietnam and SouthKorea, The South Vietnamese fittedmany of their vehicles vnth additionalarmour protection for convoy escortwork and for the patrol ofar bases andother targets,

SpecificationM37Crew: i + 2 (plLrs 6/8 in rear)Weight: empty 2585 ks (5,699 1b) andloaded 3493 kg (7,700 lb)Powerplant: one Dodge T245 6-cylinder petrol engrine developing78 bhp (58 kW)Dimensions: length 4,Bl m (15 ft 9 in);width 1,784 m (5 ft 10 in); height2,279m(7ft6in)Performance: maxrmum road sPeedBB.5 kr/h(55 mph); maximumrangte362 wn (225 mrles); grradient 68 percent; fordins i,066 m(3 ft6 in)

Above: Between 1950 and 1970Dodge built more than I 34,000 ofthese M37 (4x4) cargo trucks for theUS armed forces. This particularvehicle h as a front-m ounte d winch.

B elow : T he am bul ance mem her ofthefamily is desigmated theM43, andcan carry lour stretcher patients plusan attendant, or eight seated patienlsand an attendant.

E ittga HsrhtvehicleAt the outbreak of the Korean War in1950, the standard American lightvehicle was still the Jeep. But the rapldexpansion of the US Army meant thatthere were insufficient Jeeps, evenwhen units in Europe and elsewherewere robbed of their vehicles. Tomeet this urgent need the civilian WiI-lys CJ3A was fitted with a 24-volt elec-tncal system (to enable it to be fittedwith radios), semi-floating rear axleand a deep-fording kit (to enabie it toford to a depth of LB79 m/6 ft 2 in), andthis was standardized as the M38, Inappearance it was simrlar to the Jeepsof World War II, and could carry apayload of544 kg ( 1,200 ]b) on roads or363 kq (800 Ib) across country, andcould tow a traller weighing 907 kg(2,000 lb) on roads or 680 kg (1,500 ]b)across country. It could also be fittedwith a front-mounted winch,

?22

The M38 was in production from1950 to 1952, when it was replaced bythe M38A1, whrch is powered bY aicur-cylnder petrol engine develop-ing 72bhp (53.69kW) has a longerwheelbase, possesses e[eater oper-ational range thanks to the provrsion ofa larger-capacity fuel tank, and has thesame payload capability as the basicM3B. The M3BAI is distingnrishablefrom the M3B as the former has distinctcurved sides to the bonnet, while thelatter has a flat bonnet fhat is almostidentical to that of the World War IIJeep,

Continued on page 924

An M38A 1 (4 x 4) Iight vehicle of theSpankh marines, fitted with radiosfor use in the command role.

Fcsf Attack VehicleOne of the most unusual of the many developmentscontributing to the new American irmy of the lgg}s is theFastAttackVehicle concept, currenily under test with the gthI nfantry Division in W ashington state.

ln the past fewyears the United States has placed greater emphasis on its abilityto project power to anv part of the world. This has led to ihe build-uo of it6strategic transport forces with the Lockheed C-5B Galaxy entering probuctionand the existing Lockheed C-1 41 Starlifter fleet being 'stretched'. li Europe theUS Army has stockpiled massive amounts of tanksl armoured personnbl car-riers, trucks, artillery and other essential stores so that in the evdnt of war onlythe manpower has to be f lown in to crew vehicles already in place and constant-ly checked for immediate-use capability. The programme js called POMCUS(Pre-positioning Of Materiel Configured to Unit Sdts).

For political and economic reasons it is impossible for the United States tostore military equipment in every area of possible conflict. lt is therefore ex-pected that in some cases the units would have to fly direct from the UnitedStates direct to the risk area. The main drawback is that the equipment for thearmoured and mechanized divisions based in the United Statds is very heavyand it would need thousands of sorties to airlift it to a different th6atre oioperations; indeed. some of it is so heaw that it could only be canied by sea.

The 9th lnfantry Division at Fort Lewis. Washington, has recently'beencarrying out trials with a wide range of equipment capable of rapid depl6ymentby air to any pgl.nt in the world.-This ec]uipment has ranged Trom the WestGerman.Wiesel_.light tracked armoured vbhicle and Unimo"g trucks to the FastAttack Vehicle, The last is the well-known Chenowth Racin6 products lncoroo-rated dune buggy, which has been available on the civilia"n market for sohreyears and has already established a reputation for its exceptional speed acrosscountry.

ln 1 982 Emerson Electric was awarded a contract worth $2 million for B0 FastAttack Vehicles and all were delivered by December of the same year. The FAVhas no armour protection and relies for its survival on its speed ahd small size.The chassis is essentially a tubular frame with an inteqial roll-over caqe toprotect the occupants should the vehicle turn over. The d'river is seated i"n thecentre of the vehicle on the left with the gunner/passenger/commander to hisright, both crew members being provided with seat belis which are essentialwhen the vehicle is travelling at speed across country. Mounted at the rear is theair-cooled petrol engine which develops g4 hp (70 kW) and is coupled to amanual gearbox with four forward and two reverse gears. There is n6 transferbox as power is on the rear wheels only. Each fiont wheel has two hiah-performance shock absorbers while the r6ar wheels, which take the qreaierweight, have three each. Maximum road speed is almost 129 km/h (80'moh).

The FAV can be fitted with a variety of weapons which would normally bemounted on the integral roll bar; thede include the 40-mm Mk 19 autoniaticg.renade-launcher, 7.62-mm_(0.3-in) or 12.7-mm (0.b-in) machine-guns, HughesHelicopters 30-mm Chain Gun 1as fitted to the Advanced Atta;k Helicdpteralready in production for the US Army) or the Hughes Aircraft TOW 2 wire-guided anti-tank weapon.

,Obviously the Fast Attack Vehicle would not be able to stop a head-onadvance by enemy units equipped with main battle tanks and mechanized

Above : T he F as t Attack Ve hicle isbased on the highly su cce ssfu IChenowth off-road racing vehicle,s Lig htly m odifi ed to meet militaryrequirements such as the additionofradios and armament.

A F a s t A ttac k Vehic le ( FAV) showing its integr al roll cage and anned wi th a30-mm Hughes Helicopters Chain Gun as installed in tie Advanced AttackH_elicopter. These vehicles are now being tested by the gth nfanti Oiiiiion'sHigh Technologry Test Bed at Fort Lewis, Washingion.

infantry vehicles and supported by massive artlllery fire, but they could be usedto strike f rom the sides and rear where the enemy would not exbect or even beprepared for such an attack. Using hit and run tactics, the FastAttack Vehiciecould play a valuable part in ope-rations in the Middle East, where its hignpower-to-weight ratio, low overall weight and small size would make it Enelusive target; and at close quarters a-tank turret would not have sufficlentspeed even to traverse onto the vehicle.

The FAV concept does have limitations, however, and the vehicle would no:survive long in high-intensity gperations likely to be found in Europe. lt also lacksthe space to carry sufficient fuel, ammunition and other esseniial suoolies fo.extended operations. and in such circumstances would have to be supitbrteo orother vehicles.

Like any equipment developed today, if it is used for the role for which it wasdesign.ed the FAV would probably prove to be a major success, but if used in aroperatronal envtronment such as Europe would probably fail.

Right : F ast Attack V ehicle (FAV),fitted with 40-mm automatic grenadeIauncher ( top) and 7. 6 2 -m mmachine-gan ( bottom) to givesuppressivefire. Sofar more than 80vehicles have been delivered.

M38 light vehicle (continued)

The layout of the M38 is convention-a| with the engine at the front, the driv-er and one passenger in the centre,and a bench seat for a further two pas-sengers at the rear, The wrndscreenfoids forward onto the bonnet and acanvas top, stowed at the rear whennot required, can be quickly erectedwhen the windscreen rs raised.Variants of the later M3BAI lncludedthe M38AIC, which carried a 106-mm(4,17-in) recoiliess rifle in the rear thatcould be fired from the vehrcle or dis-mounted for grround use and also had asplit windscreen so that the barrelcould be locked alonq the centre ofthevehicle for travelhng, The ambulancemodel of the M3BA] was the MI70,which could carry three stretcher orsix seated patients,

The M3B and M3BA1 were replacedin the US Army by the M151 light vehi-c1e, but they remarn in sewice withmany other countries around theworld, and the type was also madeunder licence in Canada as theM38CDN and M38AICDN, both of

which wlli soon be replaced by theWest German Volkswagen Iltis lightvehicle built under licence,

In the early 1960s Willys-Overlandbecame Kaiser Jeep, which later be-came the Jeep Corporation, a substdi-ary of the American Motors Corpora-tion, which manuJactures a wide ranqteof 4 x 4 vehicies for the civtlian market,Military versions of some of these vehi-cles are aiso produced for the exportmarket including the AM7, AM8 andAMl0, which a1l have diilerent wheel-bases and payloads, although they areall powered by the same Model 258engTrne.

SpecificationM38Crew: l+ 1 (plus 2inrear)Weight: empty 1247 ks (2,749 lb) andloaded I791 kq(3,948 Ib)Powerplant: one Willys MC 4-cylinderpetrol engrne developing 60 bhp(44 7 kW)Dimensions: lenqth 3,377 m (l I ft I in);width 1,574 m (5 ft 2 in); helsht 1,879 m

(6 ft 2 in)Performance: maximum road speed88.5 lcr/h (55 mph); maxrmum range362 lan (225 miles); gnadient 65 percent; fording 0.939 m (3 ft I in)

The forward ambulance version oIthe M 38 is the M I 70, which has alonger wheelbase and can carrythree stretcher or six seatedpafr'ents.

ffi itirsl fisrhtvehicleThe MlSl is at present one of the mostwrdely used light vehicles in the world,but its development can be tracedback to a requirement issued in 1950for a new /+-ton vehicle to repiace theM3B which was then entedng produc-tion at Willys, Development of the newvehicle was undedaken by the FordMotor Company, the flrst prototypesbeing completed in 1952 and furtherprototypes in 1954 under the designa-tion XMISI, Further development ofthe latter resulted in the XMlSlEl ofsteel construction, and in the XMlSlE2of aluminium construction. The formerwas eventually selected for produc-tion, and the first vehicles came offtheproductlon line at Ford's HighlandPark Plant in 1960 under the designa-tion M151, In 1984 the vehicie was inservice with some l0O armies in almostevery corner ofthe world, but produc-tion:s now undertaken by AM GeneralCorporation at its Sound Bend Facili-ties. This company has produced over100,000 vehicles, though none of thetype have been ordered by the USArmy in recent years as the enqinedoes not meet stringent emission stan-dards, Thus all production is now forexport, The M51 has seen action wlthAmerican forces in Vietnam, wherethe vehicle was used for a wide rangeof roles, some even being fitted witharmour protection.

The onginal MI51 was followed inproduction by the MISlAl, which hadimproved suspension, while theM15IA2 that followed in 1970 had mod-ified lqhting, two-speed wrpers, mod-rfled rear suspension, collapsiblesteering wheel and a dual brake sys-tem, The MI5lAzlC has differentgearbox, transfer box and suspension.There are many varrants of the MlSiincluding the Ml07/IvII08 communica-tions vehicles, M718 ambulance whichcan carry one stretcher and three sea-ted patients (or various combinatiorsof stretcher patients and sitting pa-tients), and the M825 fltted with theM40 106-mm (4, 17-in) recoilless rifle.

The basic MIS1 series can carry554k9 (1,2211b) on roads or 362k9(798 lb) across country, and can tow atrailer weighing 970kq (2,l38ib) on

924

An M 1 5 I (4 x 4) light vehicle with thecanopy erected. Al/l General is stillproducing thisvehicle to meetforeign military sa/es as flte UnjtedStates armed forces have notpurchased any M I 5 I series for somefiveyears.

roads or 680 kq (1,499 lb) across coun-try, A variety of klts can be fitted in-cluding a heater, fully enclosed hardtop, searchlight, front-mounted winch,I0O-amp altemator and a kit to enablethe vehicle to ford to a depth of 1,524 m(5 ft), the last kit being widely used bythe US Marine Corps when driving thevehicle out of landing craft durtngamphibious operations.

The layout of the vehicle is similar toother vehicles of this type, with theengine at the front, the driver and onepassenger in the centre, and a benchseat at the rear, The engine is coupledto a manual gearbox with four forwardand one reverse gear and a srngle-speed transfer box that enables thedriver to select either 4x4 or 4x2drive The suspension, front and rear,

Continued on page 926

Below: Since I 960 the M I 5 I has beenthe standard light vehicle of the USArmy and many other armies inevery corner of the world. From I I I 4it will start to be replaced by the HighM ob ility M ulti p u r p os e W he e le dVehicle, or Hummer.

Hurnmer Competitionlplering service in 1984, the High MobitityMultlpurposeWheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or-'Hummer, ) witt rdtioialize USarmed forces' Iight utility vehicle procurement to aconsiderable extent.

For many years the US Army has been operating a bewildering range of lightvehicles including rheM2t4 {4x4) \4echan;cal Mule, ttrltst t+i+r Z-ton tidntvehicle, M37 {4x4) ya-ton liqht vehicle and the M715 l4x41 1t/A-ton and M5l6t(6x6) Gama Goat vehicles. Many of tnese were well over lO years old andbecoming increas:ngly difficult to ma:ntain. Moreover, ;n many casbsltLre *eteinsuff icient vehicles to meet requirements: in I gB 1 , for example, the US Armynad a requiremenr for some gO,bOO M56i rypu u"i iif"r bur had onlv 1 1,000 onstrength. The situation for the M15'l is even more acute: the US nimy has notpu rchased any such vehicles since 1 978 as its petrol engine no tonger #ee1s thegovernment's stringent emission-control standards. Some 60.000 of theser,enicles remain in service, the maioritv bu;lt between 1966 and 1969._ These veh;cles are be ng replaced by two main types, the Commercial UtilitvCargo Vehicle (CUCV) and rhe Hiqh-Mobilitv Multilpurpose Wheeted Vehicle(HMMWV). To meet the requiremient for tfie CUCV, 2'6 commercial vehicleiwere,put through an exhaustive series of trials at Aberdeen proving Ground,Maryland, whicn is just norrh of Washington, DC. The US Army rheriselectedthe General Motors Model K and placed ln order worth iust uncier $700 millionf or over 53.000 vehicles, the f irst of these beinq delivered in 1 983. This vehicle isa standard commercial vehicle with the minimum of modifications to suit i1 formilitary use. for example m i.rary paint, tow nooks, slave (it. 2B-volt eiectricalsystem and so on. Allversions are powered by the same 6.2-litre diesel couoledro an automatic transm;ss.on anii two-speed transfer

"use. fiu"Gii.-Ii+

versions are being procured, nurety utirri,-Ca1C urfufun*, il;ar;ij ;;g,;shelter carrier.

To meet the requ rement for the HMMWV frve companies iout of 61approached) submitted proposals to the Tank Automotive Command in eartv'1 981, and in Jty the same year Alrl General Corporation, Chrysler (now th,6Land Systems Divrsion of General DVnamics) and Teledvne Continentai wereeach awarded a contract for the supply of 1 l prototype vehicles. After tnesevehicles had been put through tests at various locations in the U n. ted States, tneAM General entry was selected for standardization early in 1983, with frrstproduction vehicles to be completed in 1984. The initial ;ontract is for some53,973 vehicles worth $1, l84 million wlth a 100 per cent option. Oi t[elnitiJorder, 38,085 venicles are for the US Armv, 1 3.1 g'6 tor the US Marines and rhe'emaining 2,692 for the US Air Force.

Compaled with the vehicles that it is replacing, the HMMWV has a oreatlvincreased carrying capabillty, improved iross-iountrv performance. fitofrlrspeed and longer range of operation. The engine is at the f ront, four individualseats in the centre and a cargo carrying area ai the rear, with roll-over protecr,onprovided as standard. Tne basic model is unarmoured, altnough an appl.qr.learmour kit will be available, as will a wrde range of other equifiment jriCh-iiwinches.

An HMMWV fittedwith arcot-mounted40-mm automaticgrenad.e launche: ::provide s^uppressivefirc.Thefirst of atleastSS,000 HMMfuVs is to be h,anae:over.in I 9 84, with the prime contractor being iM General Corpo, atiin. - - -Praduction is being undertaken at Mishawaka, Indiana.

The H MMWV.will be used to mount a variety of weapon sysrers dl f,-:: jcarr,ed on the M15-1 light vehicle, including the Huqhes TOW ATG\A, ;.,.:_and the Stinger surfac6-to-air missile systein. With fhe rear seats folde: :::, -the vehicle can carry the standard S-2b0 communications shelter, wh,c

j ': :-

present carried by heaviervehicles There will also be communlcatibni ui- , ..andaforwardambulancewithafullyenclosedrearbody.Themanufacilt.i--i.lGeneral, has already mounted the Hugnes Flei;c-opt"iJlS--, Cra - G-- : t-ven cle tor_tnals purposes; this weapon ,s the same as that i.rstai eo - :-: .

Eradley ilianlry fighting vehicle, and can inflict severe damage on in: : -armourof Soviet tanks and knock out most armoured personnel darriers <:-. . -be encountered on the battlefield of tne futureTo keep costs to a minimum the engine, transmission, transfer case r:=: -.

power steering and brakes are taken-f rom standard prod.lct on ,:ai = -'--.-t -tyres are fined as standard, and as an option a centra'l tyre-pressure rec- : :,system can be installed.

One a{ the prototypes of theTeledyne entry in the competition

A General Dynamics HMMWV fittedwith Hughes TOW ATGW system.

A prototype of the AM GeneralHMIUIWV inthe ambulance role.

AnAM General HMMWV tn s:ri::::configur ation. to sirol,y sea rs

tnUSArmYservice,thenewHMMWVwillreplacetheMISl,M2T2,MS6l and gleolthg_Erototype:+oltheAMGeneralHighMobilityMultipurposeMBBj seriesvehicles andwiuhavemuchgreater carrying capabitity. Wi"i1i&-f,iiia,J(n-tutiiWil intheweapons carrier confisruratjon.

MlS I light vehicle (continued)

consists of coil springs and hydraulicshock absorbers.

The Ml51 is widely used bY the USArmy to mount such weapons as 7,62-mm (0,3-in) or 12,7-mm (0,S-in)machine-guns or the Hughes TOWATGW system. The M151 will soonstart to be replaced by the High Mobil-ity Multr-purpose Wheeled Vehicle(also built by AM General), whichwillhave grreatly increased carrying capa-bility and better off-road performance

SpecificationMISICrew: 1* I (plns2inrear)Weisht:empty 1012 kg(2,231 Ib)andloaded 1575 ks (3,472 ]b)

Powerplant: one 4-cylnder Petrolengine developing 72 hp (53,69 kW)Dimensions: lenqth 3,352 m (11 ft 0 in);width 1,58 m (5 ft2 in); height 1,803 m(5 ft 1I in)Performance: maximum road sPeed106 kn/h (66 mph); maximumrange483 lcn (300 miles); grradient 60 percent; fording 0.533 m (1 ft 9 in)

An M I 5 I (4 x 4) light vehicle of I 7 thC av alry with a pintle- mounted 7.6 2 -mm (0.3-in) M60 machine-gunduring O peration'J unction C iU',Phase IL in South Vietnam, I 967.

ffi i'ana Rover l-Tonne ligrht vehicleWhen the long-wheelbase Land Roverwas introduced into service in thel95Os, it was more than adequate totow weapons such as the OTO Melara105-mm (4. 13-in) Model56 Pack Howit-zer used by the Royal Artillery from1960, It was realized that in the futureheavier weapon systems would be in-troduced into service, so a require-ment was drawn up for a 4x4 vehiclewith a cross-country payload ol1000 kq (2,205 lb) and also the ability totow a powered trailer carrying 1500 kg(3307 ]b), This vehicle was subse-quently desigmed by l,and Rover inco-operation with the Military Veht-cies and Engineering Establishment atChertsey, Surrey. The first prototypeswere completed in the mid-1960s, butas a result of trials a number of mod-frcations were carried out and it wasnot until 1975 that the first productionLand Rover l-Tonne vehicles wereissued to British army units, For a varie-ty of reasons less than 3;O0O vehicleswere built, most of them being sup-plied to the Bntrsh army and Royal AirForce, although overseas sales weremade to Australia (for the RaPierSAM), Esypt (for the Swingrfire ATGWsystem) and Luxembourg. The mainreason for this relative short produc-tion run, almost insignificant by LandRover standards, was that it was de-signed specifically for military use,whereas the basic Land Rover was de-veloped as a commercial vehicle butlater adopted by the military,

In the British army the Land Roverl-Tonne is used to tow the Royal Ord-nance Factory Nottingham 105-mm(4, 13-in) Light Gun, to carrY B1-mm(3.I9-in) mortar teams in UK-based ln-fantry battalions, to carry MILAN antl-tank teams (hvo launchers and 14 mis-siles), and to tow the Rapier SAM laun-cher, its missile resupply trailer andthe Blindfire radar system. There isalso a model with a fully enclosed bodyfor use in the ambulance role, and thtscan carry four stretcher or six sittingpatients in addition to its crew, Anotherfully enclosed body version is used tnthe communications/electronlc war-fare role,

The Land Rover l-Tonne is of theforward control type, wrth the driver atthe front right and passenger on theleft with the engine behveen and be-"low their seats. The engnne is basicallya standard commercral model (butwith a reduced compression ratio toenabte rt to run on low-octane fuels)and rs coupled to a manual gearboxwith four forward and one reverse

926

qear, The transfer box is of the two-speed type with permanent four-wheel drive, The cargo ts at the rearand has bows and a tarpaulin cover.

For air transport the complete hood,body sides, windscreen, bumPers,doors, bows and tarpaultn cover canbe qurckly removed, so reducrng theoverall weiqht of the vehicle to onlyts80 ks (3,483 lb),

Now that the Land Rover l-Tonne tsout of production, the GombaStonefreld (4x4), Dosco HS 100-4 (4x4)and Reynolds Boughton (4x4) rangesof trucks are betng offered by Britishindustry to fill the gap in the market,The Gomba Stonefield has alreadYbeen recommended for use as thetowing vehicle for the 105-mm (4. 13-in)Light Gun, and thrs vehicle is now insewice with the Malaysian armY.

SpecificationtandRover l-TonneCrew: l* I (plusB inrear)Weisht: empty 1924 ks (4,242 lb) andloaded 3120 ks (6,878 lb)Powerplant: one Rover V-8 Petrolensinedevelopinq 128 bhp (95,5 kW)Dimensions: lengIh{.Izl m (13 ft 6 in);width LB42 m(6 ft I in); height2, 138 m(7 ft0 in)Performance: maxtmum road sPeedI20 Wn/h (7 4 mph) ; maximum range560 kr (348 miles); gnadrent 60 Percent

Above : The 1 -Tonne Land Rover wasdeveloped specifically to meet therequiremen ts of the B ritish armedforces by Land Rover and the MilitaryVehicles and EngineeringEstablishment. Typical roles in theBritish army include towing the 105-mm(4.13-in) LightGun and theR apier surf ace - to- air m is s ile.

Below : A l -T onne L and R over towinga trailer. In addition to the Britisharmy and Royal Air Force Regiment,sales were aJso made toLuxembourg, Egypt (for theSwingfire ATGW system), and toAustraliafor the Rapier.ltis nolonger in production and was notproduced in very large numbers .

land Rover in ActionSince its introduction to British army seruice nearly 30 years ago, the Land Rover hasproved a faithful servant from the Arctic Circle to the Equator. Manufactured inmgre than 20 countries , the Land Rover's rugged reliability has found favour withar me d for ce s worldwide.

Of a1i the iight vehicles developed since WorldWar II, it is the British Land Rover that is prob-ably the most famous. Druing World War II theBritish army was supplied with large numbersof Jeeps by the United States, and these re-mained in use for many years after the end ofthe war, some being used by the ParachuteRegiment as late as the Suez crisis of 1956.

Towards the end of World War II, however,the Nulfieid Organization started work on a4x4 ligrht vehicle for the British army whichbecame known as the Gutty. The first pro-totypes of this were completed in 1947, andwere powered by a four-cylinder engine.Further development resulted in the Mudlarkpowered by a Rolls-Royce four-cyiinder petrolengine, and still more development resulted inthe Austin Champ (FV180l) which wasselected to become the standard light vehiclein the Brltish army in the 1950s. The main draw-back of the Champ was that it was a compli-cated vehicie, mainly because the user re-quired the Champ to have a deep-fordingcapability which necessitated extensivewaterproofing of the engine, axles and elec-trical system. The Austin Champ was finallyphased out of service in the 1960s and replacedby the Land Rover

The origins ofthe Land Rover can be tracedback to the end of World War II, when theBritish government decided to ration steel tothose motor manufacturers who could obtainthe most exports. For the Rover Company at

Solihull this caused serious problems as themanufacturer produced rather expensive carsthat in the harsh economic conditions at thattime proved difficult to export. The companytherefore decided to build a vehicle that wouldattract customers lrom industrial and agricuitu-ral markets around the world. The first pro-totype of this vehicle was completed in 1947and was shown for the first time at the April1948 Amsterdam Motor Show, This vehicle,called the Land Rover, was an almost immedi-ate success and production started at Soiihull inthe same year,

The first model of the Land Rover used theengine of the company's Rover P3 '60' car andwas fitted with a canvas hood. The next modelshovrm was a fully enclosed estate version thatcould seat six people including the driver,These vehicles all had a 2,032-m (80-in) wheel-base, this being the distance behveen the cen-tre of the front road wheel and the centre of therear road wheel. From then on the develop-ment of the Land RoveJ was rapid, and it ispossible only to highlight some of the moreimportant improvements in this short article. In1954 the 2.032-m (80-in) version was replacedin production by a 2,184-m (86-in) model, andthe same year the first long wheelbase modelwas introduced with a wheelbase of 2,717 m(l07in) and the ability to carry 750k9(l 653 Ib). T\ro years later the 2, I84-m (86-in)model was replaced in production by the 2 23-m (88-in) model and the 2.717-m (107-in) ver-

Unloading from an F,AF Hercaftes, this Land Roveris destined for the United Nationspeace,lreepingforce in Cyprus. An akportable version, manybody parts can be removed to lighten the vehicte.

sion by the 2,768-m (109-in) version, and thesebasic wheelbases remain the same today. br1956 the British army finally selected the lnndRover as the replacement for the AustrnChamp, From then on more and more armiesaround the world selected the Land Rover.examples being Australia in 1959 and SwiEer-Iand in the following year.

In later years different engine optiors wereoffered, and in 1966 a forward control landRover was introduced; this latter was rised by anumber of armies, including that of Spain, but isno longer in production. In Ig68 Land Rovershad their headlamps moved from the gnille to

Seruice in Malaya, Borneo and latterly inBeli*hasgiven the Land Rover a series of very tough t6ts.Conditions are extreme, with heat, mud, huntidityand the torrential rain of the equatorial forestmaking travel very difficult.

Land Rover in Action

In the Radfan, north of Aden, Land Rovers faceddifferent problems. The campaign to stem the flowof Yemeii arms to insurgents in Aden put greatstrains on men and equipment, with searing heat'tittlewater, rocky teiain and sand andgritwitheverything.

the forward mudgnrards to meet new lightingrequirements introduced in the Low Countries.T\ub years later the ltonne and 7z-ton modelswers announced, these being the first LandRovers developed specificaliy irr military useTbro years later the Range Rover was intro-duced for the civilian market, and this too hasbeen adopted by a number of armies for spe-cial roles.-For example the British Royal Milit-ary Police use it, and many Mrddle East.armteshave the type for the escort of VIPs and headsof state, these vehicles being more comfort-able than the basic Land Rover'

By l97l haif a million Land Rovers had been

built, and by 1976 this had reached the onemillion mark. In addition to being produced inthe United Kingdom, i,and Rovers are assem-bled or manuJactured by more than 20 otherplants in every corner of the world, some ofihese plants being owned by Land Rover butothers by local comPanles.

The most recent version to be introduced isthe 2.79-m (110-1n), commonly knovrn as theOne-Ten, which can carry 1463 kq (3,225Ib) ofcargo and is powered by a choice of threedifferent engines (2,S-litre petrol or diesel, or3.S-litre V-8 petrol),

One ofthe secrets ofthe success ofthe LandRover is the wide range of optional equipmentavailable for the vehicle: another, that the com-pany can build batches ofvehicles to suit over-ieas countries' specific reguirements. Typicaloptionat extras include a front-mounted winch,overdrive, modified suspension, flre exting-uisher and lamp gnrards, the last being essen-tial in some parts of the world. There are somany variants of the Land Rover that it is possi-

bie only to describe hvo models in any detail,namely the airportable and long-wheelbaseverslons.

Airportable.Land RoverThe airportabie Land Rover was developed

by Rover and the Military Vehicles and En-gineering Establishment specifically to meetthe requirements of the British army, Royal AuForce and Royal Marines. However since itsintroduction it has also been adopted by a num-ber of other countries including Belgium,Brunei, Jamaica, Libya, the Netherlands, SaudiA-rabia and Sudan.

The vehicle (like other Land Rovers) has anall-welded box section chassis of the laddertype to which the body is attached. The engineii at the front, the driver and hvo passengers inthe centre, and the cargo area at the rear' TheIast has a bench seat down each side for foufiuther passengers and a drop tailgate for therapid loading and unloading of cargo. Whatmakes this model different from the normal2 23-m (88-in) Land Rover, with which it sharesmany components including the engine, qear-box, axles, suspension and brakes, is that thehood, bodysides, windscreen, doors, bumpersand spare wheels can quickly be removed tcreduce the overall weight of the vehicle, thtsbelng essential for airborne operations Theairportable Land Rover is available with a fow-cylinder petrol or diesel engine, the formerbeing the more powerful. The engine is cou-pled to a manual gearbox with four forward anione reverse gears and a two-speed transferbox, The basic model has a lZ-volt electricalsystem, but when the type is used in the radicrole a 24-volt system is installed, the two batter-ies being installed in place of the central pas-senqer seat, The radio aerials are normallymounted one on each wing and the radios tcthe rear of the driver and passenger. The air-portable Land Rover has a maximum cross-country payload of 564 kg (1 243 ]b) and cantow a trailer weighing t 130 kg (2,492 lb) Apanfrom the radio modei the only version used bythe British armed forces is a lbrward ambu-lance which is the basic vehicle with racks forstretchers and a longer canopy that overhangsthe rear. For the export market Marshall ofCambridge, who supply most of the bodiesused on British army trucks (for example Bed-ford and Foden), designed a version of theAirportable Land Rover to carry the Americanl06lmm (4.17-in) M40 recoilless rifle, whichcan also be dismor:nted for use in the groundrole; on the normal version the spare wheeland tyre is carried on the bonnet but on thisversron it has been moved to the right side

This RAF Land Rover was mainly used in bombdisposal work, the four sprocket-driven trackedbogies giving nearly 2Vz ftground clearance.

Based on the LWB Land Rover , the forwardambulance can carry four stretcher patients andone medical orderlY.

British paratroopers patrol theline of walls,fencesi tripwirei, mines and watch towers thatdivide E as t and W es t G ermanY -

Modern ligrht Vehicles

On Ulster streets, this GreenHoward patrol isusing standard military Land Rovers. In manycases, however, Land Rovers have been armouredagainst small arms fire and given what protectionmay be available againstculvertbombs or minedroadi. Too often, such a detonation leads todestruction of the vehicle and injury or death to theoccupants.

Other modifications have inciuded stowage forammunition (106-mm/4. 17-in recoilless rifleand 12,7-mm/0.5-in ranging machine-gun),barrel clamp on the dashboard, split wind-screen and a blast shield for the bonnet.

Long-wheelbase Land RoverToday the long-wheelbase Land Rover is

probably the most widely used of all the milit-ary Land Rovers, and in the British armedforces is the standard vehicle in its class, beingused to carry 850 kg (1,874 ib) and tow a trailerof weapons weighing up to 1500 kq (3 307 Ib).Its layout is identical to that of the airportablemodel except that each ofthe rear bench seatscan carry three or four men instead of two, Theoptlonal equipment depends very much on therequirements of the user, but standard equip-ment includes provision for stowing a rifle onthe dashboard ready for immediate use, milit-ary tow hook at the rear, vehicle lashing eyesfront and rear, twin fuel tanks, FV pattern hghts,stowage for shovel, pick and axe on the tail-board, water jerrican stowage, freight lashingpoints in the rear and double front and rearbumpers designed for pushing dlsabled vehi-cles.

In addition to carrying troops, the long-wheelbase Land Rover is also used to tow avariety of equipment such as the 105-mm (4, 13-in) OTO Melara Model 56 pack howitzer,Rapier SAM system and its Biindfire radar(although in the British forces the l{onne LandRover now undertakes this roie) and radars

such as the British Cymbeiine, The chassis isalso used as the basis for a forward ambulancewith a fully enclosed rear body by Marshall ofCambridge. This can carry four stretcher pa-tients and one medical orderly, or one or twostretcher patients and three seated patients,The British army also uses the long-wheelbaseversion with a fully enclosed rear body in thecommand and communications roies, a stan-dard model with the Field Artillery ComputerEquipment (FACE), and with a box body fittedwlth a surveillance radar. The chassis is aisoused as the basis for the fully armoured Shor-land Armoured Patrol Vehicle fitted with a tur-ret armed with a 7,62-mm (0 3-in) machine-gunand for the SB,40 I armoured personnel carrier;sales of these vehicles have been made tomore than 30 countries, and the Shorland isused in Northern lreland. The British army diduse a version of the long-wheelbase Land Rov-er fitted with the Wombat 120-mm (4.72-in) rc-coilless rifle, but this has been replaced by theEuromissile MILAN ATGW system which has amuch longer range, In the British armed forcesthe 2,768-m (109-in) Land Rover will probablybe replaced by the 2.79-m (ll0-in) wrth it-smuch increased carrying capacity.

Land Rover in actionThe Land Rover has seen action in almost

every corner of the world, One of the mostfamous versions is that designed for the SpecialAir Service (SAS), and these vehicles havebeen widely used in the Persian Gulf; paintedpink to blend in with the surrounding area,these were commonly known as Pink Panthers.These were based on the long-wheelbasechassis and fitted with smoke dischargers frontand rear, radios, machine-gnrns, navlgationalequrpment, sand-crossing channels and so onto enable them to operate ln areas of shiftingsands.

In Northern lreland Land Rovers have beerfitted with additlonal armour to protect theiroccupants against small arms fire, and exten-sions in the form of flexible skirting to stcpbombs being thrown under the vehicles, whichnormally have no protection against mines clthe undersides. When terrorists place bomb,"sunder roads or culverts they will destroy no:only light vehrcles such as the Land Rover bu:even armoured personnel carrrers such as &eAlvis Saracen,

For use by the ceasefire monitoring force -::Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Land Rovers werealriifted from England after being fitted rnr':addltional armour protectlon and roll-over barsin the centre of the vehicle: if a vehicle does ir::a mine it will probably be blornm over, '.heoccupants often being killed or injured by tevehicle falling on top of them; but if they arewearing seatbelts and the roll-over bar is flteitheir chances oi survivat are increased,

In the recent fighting in the Middle East La:,:Rovers were in some evidence, includino e.-amples fitted with American M2 HB l2i-rrr.-(0.S-in) or Soviet 12.7-mm (0.5-1n) DShK-'!1heavy machine-gltns, while others were usedto tow light artillery around in addition to the-rnormal cargo-carrying missions,

There have been a number of efforts to si;=the Land Rover an amphibious capability'b::none of these merited service use. One oi:emore interesting amphibious kits was ie-veloped by RFD Limited of Godatmrng, Surrelit consisted of four rubberized fabrrc au bacsinflated by the exhaust system of the veLu:-=and each supported by a light alloy framevrcr<propulsion when afloat was provided b1 apropeller at the rear run off the rear axle: a;:dsteering was by turning the front wheels as clland, There was also an air-cushion vehic,ebased on the Land Rover, this being called'-leHover Roverl

Land Rover in Action

A long wheelbase (LWB ) Land Roveras used by the British Special AirServjce (S,4S).R eg:iment for long-r ange reconnarssance m jssions rhthe Middle East. These vehicles werecommonly known as Pink Panthers,and were fitted with 7.62 -mm (0.3-in)G eneral Purpose M achine G uns,smoke dischargers front and rear,sand channe k, navigationalequipment, water and fuel cans andextemal stowage to meet the hardoperating conditions.

Modern Ligrht Vehicles

lqnd Rover in Action:'Protea

Land Rovers have seen much action in southern Africa, the rough tracks and longdr'sfancesin volved in operations proving a stern test to the endurance andreliabilityof any vehicle. The following is a representation of the many operations carried outby South African forces along the Namibian/Angolan borders in their continuingactions against SWAPO guerrillas.

The African night was, as always, very dark butthe dim lights of the Land Rover showedenough to pick the way through the bush. Theengine was kept in low gear, but it was no userewing too hard as the vehicle was on the lastapproaches to the SWAPO camp thatwasstiil afew kilometres ahead. Ahead the Bushmanscouts padded along, Iooking rather incon-gm:ous as their small stature contrasted sharplywith the large R4 assault rifles they carriedalong with their diminutive bows and arrowsior the silent kills so feared by the SWAPOgnrerrillas. As they went the Bushmen slashedat branches to mark a possible route for theLand Rover to follow. If the Land Rover couldbeat a path through the bush the Ratels couldfollow. The Land Rover carried a small party offour men, the battalion group second-in-command, a sergeant, the driver and a signal-ler, They were the trail biazers for the last partof the operation k:own to them all as Operation'Protea'. A-ll the South African incursion sweepsinto Angola have been named after flowers,and this operation was no different. They allfollowed a set pattern.

After a period of prolonged quiet along theborder between South African-controlledNamibia and Marxist Angola, the SWAPOgnrerrillas (Namibian nationalists trained andequipped by Cuban 'advisers' in Angola)moved across the Angolan border and re-sumed their programme of road mining, terror-ism and kidnappinq among the border tribes.They had blown up a few South African De-fence Force trucks, and made off with a batchof 'recruits' from the local villages. The SouthAfricans had decided to retallate. A few Bush-

men were sent across the border, or out fromthe base enclaves the South Africans hadestablished within Angola, Using guile andbushcraft they discovered the latest locationsolthe main SWAPO camps and supply dumps,and then reported back. Now the South A-fricanmobile columns were prepared for the moveinto Angola to destroy them.

The South Africans maintained severalmobiie groups just over the border from Ango-la. One of these was the 61st Mechanized Batta-lion Group based at a remote camp atOmuthiya, and it was from this group that thisLand Rover crew came. For several days theyhad been gradually moving forward throughthe bush, moving carefirlly by day and nigh|keeping well away from the few tracks thatmight have been mined, and well distancedfrom the few scattered settlements, The coun-try is nearly all flat bush, with only a few gnrllieshere and there, and the coiumn, some 70 vehi-cles strong, simply barged its way through thescrubby landscape. The weather had been, asalways in that area, hot and dry, but the columnlacked nothing on its journey forward, All theirsupplies were carried either on the Ratels thatmade up the bulk of the vehicles or on theSAMIL S{onne trucks bringing up the rear. Ifanything urgent was required the South Afri-can Air Force brought it in by helicopter ordropped it from Transall C. 160s.

The last few kilometres to the SWAPO campwere made as quietly as possibie. The LandRover acted as the trail-blazer and the sigmallerrelayed information back to the group com-mander located in his special Command Ratelsome distance back. This Ratel was realiy too

Iarge for the last push through the bush, so the4x4 Land Rover was used instead. It provideda smaller potential target, and it was easier toconceal in the dark bush if anything vientwrong. During this operation nothing wentwrong, and in the early hours of the new daythe Bushmen finally padded back with the in-formation that the SWAPO camp was only 1000metres (1,095 yards) ahead.

It was time for the Land Rover to stop. A finalsignalwas made to the Command Ratelandtherest of the column started to deploy, As theLand Rover crew listened they could hear theRatels moving up. On each side of them theRatel 20s with their 20-mm cannon-armed tur-rets moved into position with the infantry crewspwhing their rifles through the vehicle firingports ready for action. To their rear the supportRatel90s with their 90-mm (3.54-in) main gunsmoved into their predetermined positionready to add their firepower to any m6l6e. TheCommand Ratel with its 12,?-mm (0.S-in)machine-gun was somewhere well forward,but it was impossible to see far into the bush inany direction, and away to the rear the arrivalof the 8l-mm (3.19-in) mortar crews with theirarmoured Bulfel (buifalo) transport had to besensed rather than heard or seen.

DawnattackAs daurn broke the signal was given and the

mortars opened fire. It was the indication foreveryone to move forward, though the LandRover stayed where it was. There was little itcould contribute to the flqht and the second-in-command might be needed if a withdrawal wasrequired. As the Ratels moved on the SWAPOcamp there was only limited welcoming flre.As always, the SWAPO guerrillas slmplymelted away into the bush in standard gmerrillastyle as the South Africans attacked. Their

Looming ghostlike through the dust of theirpassage, a con voy of Ratel APCs and Land Roversmove into the operational area. Travelling throughthe night, ffi e coJumn seeks to mount a dawnaction,Iollowing the reports of Busfiman scouls.

oa,

taining dictates that they cannot last long in astand-up fight; their role is to hit and run, and if asuperior force is encountered it is better to runthan remain, Thus as the Ratels broke into thecamp perimeter very iittle resistance was met,and what there was was sobn overwhelmed.

Thus when the I:and Rover crew moved intothe camp after about I5 minutes all was re-latlely peaceful. The Ratels and their crewswere arranged in the bush around the baseperimeter and their crews were well on thealert in case of a sudden counterattack. It didDot come,

After a few restive hours it was time to lookaround, but the searching had to be carried outcarefirlly for booby traps were everywhere.This was a usual SWAPO practice, so everyonewas on their gmard, As usual there were somecasualties among the crowd of released Nami-biars who had been held in the base by theirSI/VAPO captors followlng earlier raids, Somecf these captives were children, some old menand women, but all had been subjected toSWAPO treatment, which was not gentle, and:rost were half-starved, for if they were unwill-:igto toe the SWAPO line theywere simply not

fed, Thus as the released crowd milled aroundthey searched for iood and inevitably set offsome of the booby traps.

For a gnrerrilla grroup the SWAPO unit wascertainly weil equipped, with such unlikelyitems as Soviet-built T-34l85 tanks, BRDM-Itroop carriers and even some light artillery,Everywhere were dumps of ammunition, landmines and heaps of weapons of all kinds, farmore than the SWAPO guerrillas would needfor their immediate use. Once the booby trapshad been cleared it was time to withdraw. Thistime the Land Rover carried boxes of RPG-7anti-tank rocket launchers that would later beissued to the South Africans along the borderposts. SAMIL trucks carried away the ammuni-tion and weapons. As the Land Rover ief| thistime in the Ratel column, it led a smali convoy ofthree captured UAZ-469B 4x4 light vehicles,very similar in concept to the Land Rover itself,and a single GAZ-69 light truck. They too wereloaded with weapons and ammunition, andamong their contents was a suitcase belongingto a Cuban captain. A BRDM-2 amphibiousreconnaissance vehicle was earmarked to be-come a gate Onrardian back at the home base of

As dawn breaks, the sW lights to the traers of aRatel attack. In the struggle with SWAPO, surprisr'sessendalforantssuccess on either side, and inOperation'Protea' the South African attack H tothe capture of targe amounts of booty.

the column at Omuthiya. It is still there today.and the Land Rover that was used in the silentapproach to the SWAPO base is nowused as acamp runabout, carrying nothing more aggres-sive than despatches to and from the varior:ssquadrons on the base,

Operation 'Protea' took place a long time aEonow. After it there were many other lloweroperations, but now they are all over. A pachas been reached between the South Africans,the Namibians and the Angolars. No lonEerwill SWAPO be allowed to set up bases- inAngola, and the South Alricans have ajreadywithdrawn from their enclaves within Angoiaitself. So perhaps Omuthiya will once moresettle down to being a small dustyvrllage in themiddle of nowhere, and the Lald Rovers andthe Ratels will depart to more peacefi:l opera-tions elsewhere.

I Eiitoe" M6hari Arm6e lisrht vehicleThe CitrodnM6hariArm6e is typical ofthe many standard commercial vehr-cles that have been adopted to meetmilitary requuements with a minimumof changes. In trmes of peace llghtvehicles, apart from the periods whenthey are on exercises, spend much oftheir time on normal roads and haveItttle occasion to use their ali-wheeldrle. The 4x4 vehicles are not onlyexpensive to procure, but also tend tobe uneconomic on fuel.

After looking at a number of vehicleson the market the French army chosethe M6hari to meet its requirements fora vehicle suitable for use in rear areaswhere little cross-country capabllity isrequired, and some 10,000 have nowbeen delivered, not only to the Frencharmy, but also the gendermarie, airforce and navy, with additional exportsales being made. TVpical roles in-clude cargo carrying with a maxmumload of 405 kg (894 1b), and commandwhen fitted wrth radios. The type is notused to mount any type ofweapon sys-tem,

The civriian model is produced insuch exotic coiours as TP oranqe andbeige, but the military vehicles are invarious shades of sand or grreen, TheMehari Arm6e has an all-steel chassiswith a plastic body, This requireshardly any maintenance as rt will notrust, The basic model has the engrine atthe front, seats for the driver and onepassenger in the centre (each with asafety door chain), and an addittonaltvvo-man seat that folds down at therear to provide a largte cargo area, Thewindscreen folds forwards onto thebonnet and a black cotton canopy canbe fitted over the body; if required, acomplete hood with transparent sidepanels and doors can be installed. Theutility model is slmilar, but to the rear ofthe driver and passenger seat is a flatload area, Like the basic model it has awindscreen and canopy, and can befitted with a complete hood.

The engine is coupled to a manualgearbox with four forward and one re-verse gear, there being no transferbox as it is only a 4x2 vehicle. Both thefront and rear axles are suspended byarms with lateral interplay on spiralsprings, with hydraulic shock absor-bers at each wheel station, Eventhough thrs is only a 4x2 vehicle theM6hari Arm6e does have some cross-country capability, and it is so light thatit can be easily manhandled in thefie1d,

The Citrodn company has more re-cently developed another light vehiclethat is available in both 4x4 and 4x2confiquratiors, This is the A FAF andhas a maximum payload of 400 kq(882 Ib) It is powered by a petrol en-gine developing28,5 hp (2I kW) inthe4x2 confignration, or 34 hp (25,3 kW)in the 4 x 4 confignrration, Both versionsuse automotive components from thecivilian A type 4x2 vehicle, of whichmany millions have been built. The4x4 model was selected by Burundland in 1981 by the French army whichplaced an order for 5,000 vehicles,while the 4x2 model rs producedunder licence in Greece by theNational Motor Company (NAMCO) asthe Pony, whlch is used by the Greekarmy rn a numbet of roles,

SpecificationCitro6nM6hariArm6eCrew: l+1Weisht: empty 5BS kg ( 1,290 lb ) andloaded 990 kq (2, I83 lb)Powerplant: one AK 2 2-cylinder air-cooled petrol engrne developing26 hp (19.4 kw)Dimensions:lenqth3.52 m (l I ft 7 in);width I.53 m(5 ft0 in); heisht 1,635 m(5 ft4 in)Performance: maximum road speed100 lar/h (62 mph); maximumrange300 kn ( lBO miles); gradient 40 percent; fording 0,30 m (1 ft 0 in)

Above : A C itroin M ehari Arm6e(4x2) lightvehicle, used in thecommand role with a radio fitted inthe rear of the vehicle. Thisvehiclewas originally developed for theciuilian market, but was then foundto be suitable for awide range ofreararea duties where all-wheel drive isnol esserfial.

Below: A basic Citrodn M6hariArm6e (4x2) Whtvehicle, with thehood folded down at the rear. Anunusual feature of thisvehicle is thatits body is of all-plastic construction,which is rustfree and thereforerequires little or no maintenance.Thevehicle is used by all three armsof the French forces.

I i'",rg"otP4lightvehicleSrnce the 1950s the standard light vehr-cle of the French army has been theHotchkrss M 201, and to find a replace-ment for this type the French armyheld a competitlon for which threemanufacturets each provtded fourvehicles, Each of the three Frenchmanufacturers selected foreign vehi-

cles, Peugeot selecting a Mercedes-Benz vehicle, Renault the Italian FIAT1107 AD which it renamed the TRM500, and Citro6n the West GermanVolkswagen IIts (already in servicewith the West German army) which itrenamed the C 44. In l9B i the PeugeotP4 was selected, and the first of 15,000

vehicies were delivered in the follow-ing year,

In the basic model the engine is atthe front, the drrver and one passengerin the centre, and the cargo area at therear, The last has a two-man benchseat down each side, and this can befolded down to provide more space;

Fivevariants of the PeugeotP4 rangeof vehicles are (left to right) shortwheelbase ; short wheelbase with7. 6 2 -mm (0. 3 - in) machine- wn ; Iongwheelbase command vehicle; shortwheelbas e with M I LAN ATGW ; andIong wheelbase troop carrier. TheFrench army has ordered only thes hor t whe e lbase ve rsion.

934

Feugeot P4 light vehicle (continued)

-:-e opening tarlgate also carrtes the:!are tyre. The engine is coupled to a:,anual gearbox with four forward and::-.e reverse gear and a two-speed:-=:rsfer box is fltted, The suspension::nt and reat consists of coil springs

=d double-action shock absorbers,-re basic model is powered by the-,}i8 four-cylinder rnline petrol engdne,: rt the P4 is also offered wrth the XD3::-ar-cylinder diesel which develops- 5 hp (56 kW) and gives a much better::el consumption when beinq driven ata speed of 60 lcn/Lr (37 mph), though at:l kn/h (56 mph) fuel consumption is:Centical with that ofthe petrol engnne,S:andard equipment rncludes tnertia:eat belts, towingr eyes at the front, a:arler hook at the rear and a 24-volt

Modern Light Vehicles

. are also offered.electrical system. Optional equipmentincludes a lS-litre (3,3 Imp gal) tuelcan, power take-off front and rear,power-assisted steering, foont lockingdifferential and a front-mounted winch,Winches are available on most lightvehicles as an optional extra and canbe used for self recovery or for re-covering other vehicles, In the formercase the end of the cable is attached toa tree or other so[d object and thevehicle winches itself out of trouble,

In French army service some vehi-cles will be fitted with twln lightmachine-gmns for use in the recon-naissance role, while others will beused to carry MILAN antrtank teamsaround the battlefteld, each team hav-ing one launcher and four mrssiles,

There is also a long-wheelbase ver-sion, which has not been adopted bythe French army so far; this can carryl0 men (two in the front as normal and afurther eight rn the rear seated fourdown each side), Fully enclosed ver-srons of both the standard- and long-wheelbase versions are available foruse in the command and ambulanceroles,

Peugeot has also built a 4x4 versionof the standard civilan Peugeot 504pick-up truck, and some of these haverecently been ordered by the Frenchmarines as it has a useful payload of1 1 10 kq (2,448 Ib), good ground-clearance and a high road speed, Inaddition to the basic pick-up modelstatlon wagon and ambulance versrons

E ii[lcnr.iss M 2o l lisrht vehicleIhe Free French Forces used the-:.merican-supphed Jeep in large num-:ers during World War II, and thesecroved so successful that in the early-350s Hotchkiss-Brandt of Paris:btarned a licence to start production: France, for both the civilian andirtlitary markets. The first production:odels of this Hotchkiss M 201 were:cmpleted in 1953 and production con-::rued until 1969, by which time over{C 000 had been built. In addition to;eing used by the French armed:crces the M 20I was supplied to many:cuatries in North A-frica and also to3elgnum. In the French armed forces.:s replacement by the Peugeot P4.4x4) vehicle, which has grreater load-:arrying capability, has recentlysiar:ted, The M 201 will be around fornany years yet, however, and surplus','ehicles are already flnding their way:nto the civi[an market,

The M 201 rs almost identical to thexartime Jeep with the engine at the:ont, driver and one passenger rn the:entre, and a seat for a further twopassengers at the rear, With the wind-s3reen erected a canopy can be fitted:o the M 201 to provide protection forjre crew, The engnne is coupled to a::ranual gearbox with three forward:nd one reverse gear and a two-speed:ansfer box, Suspension consists ofsemi-elliptical springs and hydraulicsrock absorbers, The vehicle can car-ry a maximum load of 400 kg (BB2 lb)a:rd tow a trailer weiqlhing up to 500 kg. i, 102 1b),

The M2Ol has been used as a'r,"eapons carrier and fitted with 7,62-:m (0,3-in) or 12.7-mm (0.5-in)nachine-gmns, 106-mm (4.i7-in) M40:_rpe recoilless rifles (which can alsobe dismounted for use in the gnound:cle) and ENTAC ATGWS, In the lastnodel a total of foru missiles were car-ned in the ready-to-launch position, a:.ulher three missiles being carried in:eserve; this model was used by: rance and Belgrum, but the missiles.::ave now been replaced by the lon-ger-range Euromrssile MILAN system,lhe vehicle is also fitted with extensle

Right: A H otchkiss M 20 I (4 x 4) lightvehicle of the French army fitted withlour Aerospatiale ENTAC wiregruide d anti- tank mrsrJes. Fortr avelling, fhese missrJes areretracted to the rear of the driver andmissile operator.ln the French armyfr,lTAC has now been replaced byt'eMILANATGW.

commumcations equrpment for use inthe command role, and some haveeven been fitted with battlefield sur-veillance radars to detect enemymovements some distance away.

The basic military model has awheelbase of 2,03 m (6 ft B in), but alonger model was built with a wheel-base of 2.53 m (B ft 4 in) and E[reatercarrying capabili$,

Once the M 201 had gone out ofpro-duction, a number of manufacturersproposed vehicles to fill this arapr at thetime there was no French army re-quirement for a new vehicle, but newcountries that were previously Frenchcolonies or who had a strong Frenchbras strll looked to France for their re-quirements, This qap was eventuallyfllled by the SAMO light vehrcle whtchis available in both standard- and long-wheelbase configmrations, vrrth a pet-rol or diesel engnne, and with a widerange of optional equrpment such asheavy-duty axles, z4-volt electricalsystem, long-range fuel tanks and awinch, This has been exported to anumber of countries including theCentral Aftican Republic, Chad, Up-per Volta and Bururdi,

SpecificationHotchkissM 20ICrew: I + 1 (plus 2 inrear)

Weight:empty 1120 ks (2,469 Ib) andloaded 1520 kq(3,351 ]b)Powerplant: one 4-cylinder petrolengine developing 61 hp (46 kW)Dimensions: lenqth 3,36 m (1 i ft 0 in);urdth 1.58 m(5 ft2 rn); height 177 m(5 ft l0 in)Performance: maximum road speed100 kn/h (62 mph); maximum rangre348 kn (216 miles); gnadient 65 percent; fordrng 0.533 m (1 ft 9 in)

Above : The M 20 I (4 x 4) light ve hiclewas in production by Hotchkiss-BrandtinParisfrom 1953 to j,969 forboth the civilian andmilitarymarkets. It is almost identical to theJeepused by theAllied armiesduring World War I I, and it is onlynow being replaced in the Frencharmy by the Peugeot P4 (4 x 4) Iightvehicle, which is based on a W e s tGermandesigm.

H 3i"i*p"ch 700 AP Haflinser lisrht vehicleThe Steyr-Puch 700 AP Haflinger lightvehicle was designed in the earlY1950s specrfically for use in moun-tainor:s terraln, and was in productionbetvveen 1959 and 1974, by which ttrnethe Pinzgauer was firmly establishedas rts successor with its much im-proved cross-country performanceand increased load-carrying capabil-iW. The Hallinger has an unusual lay-out, mth the driver at the very ftont onthe left, with one passenger to hrs rightand a further tvvo Passengers to therear, At the rear is a very small carqto-carrying area, whrch can be increasedby foldinq flat the back two seatsWhen the vehicle is being used in thetroop-carryinq role the vrtndscreen isnormally erected and a canvas toPwith removable side doors is fltted.

The engine is mounted under theverv rear ofthe hull which has enabledthe ioad-carryrng area to be retained

but rt has also meant that the fordingcapability of the vehicle is limrted. Theengnne is coupled to a manual gtearbox(with four forward and one reversegears) which transmits power to allfour wheels, which have l65x 12 tyres,Vehicles produced after 1967 have amanual gearbox with five forward andone reverse qear, a significant im-provement over the earlier model asno transfer box is fltted. From 1967 thevehicle was produced with a slightlymore powerful engine. OPtionalequipnient included a winch with a

A SteE-Puch Haflinger (4x4) lightvehicle with a canvas toP and thesideremoved to show the seatingarr angements. T he tw o' cY I in d e rpetrol engine k under the rear and iscoupled to a manual gearbox withfour forward and one reverse gear.

capacity of 1500 kg (3,307 lb), a powertake-off for running accessories suchas a power saw, and a snow plough.There was also a model of the Haflin-ger with a slightly lonqrer wheelbaseand slightly greater load-carryingcapabilrty,

ln its military role, the Haflinger wasolten used as a weapons platform, TheAustrian army has used the vehicle tomount the standard 12.7-mm (0.5-in)M2 HB machtne-gnrn on a pintle in thecentre of the vehicle, or the old Amer-ican 57-mm (2.24-in) MIBA1 recoilless

T\to Ha[linger (4x4) light vehicles ofthe Austrian army.Theoneon the IeItis armed with a I 2.7 -mm (0.5-in) M2HB machine-grun, and that on therightwith a 57-mm recoilless rtfle foruse in the anti-tank role.This vehiclewas in production between J 959 and1974.

anti-tank rifle. Both the Swiss andSwedish armies have used the vehicleas an anti-tank platform wtth six BoforsBantam wire-gnuded antr-tank misstlesfacingr the front and another eight mis-siles facing the rear,

SpecificationSteyr-Puch HaflingerCrew: l*3Weight: empty 645 ks (1,422 Ib) andloaded 1200 kg (2,645 lb)Powerplant: one Model700 AP 2-cyhnder petrol engine developing24 hp (18 kw)Dimensions: length 2,BS m (9 ft 4 in);width L40 m (4 ft 7 in); height L74 m(5 ft B in)Performance: maximum road sPeed75 kn/h(46,6 mph); maxrmumrange400 km (248 miles); grradrent 65 percent; fordrng 0.40 m (I ft 4 in)

H ffiH$des-BenzlisrhtvehicleThe Mercedes-Benz companyof WestGermany has for many years Pro-duced a vnde range of trucks that arewidely used by the military, includingthe famous Unimog range which isavailable in models with cross-countrypayloads of between I and 5 tonnes.To complement these vehicles it wasdecided to design a new Mercedes-Benz light vehicle which wor.:ld have across-country payload of 750 kg(1,654 kq) and be able to tow a 2500-kg(5,5Il-ib) tratler on roads or a 750-kg(1,654-lb) trailer across country. Thisvehrcle was not adopted by the WestGerman army, which selected theWest German Volkswagen iltis, Thevehicle was entered by Peugeot in thecompetition for a successor to theHotchkiss M 201 light vehicle used bythe French army, wrnning the competi-tron in the form of the Peugeot P4 whichis now in sewice with the French armyin a number of variants,

Production of this vehicle is under-taken in Autria by GFG, which built7,500 vehicles in 1980, mostly for thecivrhan market, GFG was establishedby Daimler-Benz and Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the former company suPPlYingthe axles, transmission and engine andthe latter the body and chassis. Thtsvehicle has been adopted bY theNorwegian army, which ordered aninitial batch of 450, and some wereobtained by Argentina, only to be cap-hrred by the British in the Falklands.These captured vehicles are now usedby the British forces alonqside their

936

Land Rovers spare Parts belngobtained from normal commercialsources in Europe!

The layout of the vehicle rs differentto that of the Land Rover wrth the en-gine at the front, driver and one pas-senger in the centre, a seat for tlvopassengeF to the rear and a small car-go area at the back, The rear seats canbe folded doum to provide sPace forcargo, which can be loaded through adoor in the rear, although the short-wheelbase vehicle has a droP-downrear like the Land Rover, The basicmodel is available with four differentenqine options, a four- or five-cylinderdielel oia four- or six-cylinder petrolengdne, the latter tvvo offedng the high-est performance, The engine is cou-pled to a manual gearbox wrth fowforward and one reverse gear and atransfer-box; for road operations thevehicle is normally driven in 4x2 con-figmratron.

In addition to the normal four-seaterversion, there is also a station wagontype wlth a fully enclosed bodY andtwin doors at the rear, and a long-wheelbase model with a van tYPebody; although these are aimed mainlyat the civilian market, the van tYPemodel has obvior.rs potential for use asa command vehicle or ambulance

As with most vehicles todaY a rangeof optional equipment can be fitted in-ctuding an electrically-operatedwinch mounted at the front, dilferenttvres, front and rear differential locks,a trailer coupling, a tow hook on the

A Mercedes-Benz (4 x 4) light vehiclewith the windscreen folded forwardsand the hood removed to allowinstallation of a pintle-mounted I 2.7 -

mm (0.5-in) M2 HB machine-grun in

front, a trailer hook at the rear andadditional protection for the radiatorand engine,

SpecificationMercedes-Benz light vehicleCrew: I * I (plus2inrear)Weisht: empty 1670 kq (3,682 lb) and

the rear. Lightvehicles with similararmamentinstallations are used byalmost every country in the world forreconnar'ssance.

loaded 2400 kq (5,291 ]b)Powerplant: one OM616 4-cYlinderdiesel developing 65 hP (49 kW)Dimensions: ienqth 4. 145 m ( 13 ft 6 in);wrdth 1.70 m(5 ft7 in); height i.995 m(6 ft 7 in)Performance: maximum road sPeedII7 Wn/h(72 mph); gnadient B0 Percent; fording 0,60 m (2 ft 0 ln)

E fti#asenlltislishtvehicle- re standard light vehicle of the West3erman armed forces for many years:';as the Auto-Union Lkw (4x4), which::u1d carry 250 kg (552 lb) of cargo,3etween l95B and 1968 over 55,000 of--iese were built at Ingolstadt for both:l-vil and military use, The Lkw was to:ave been repiaced by the so called-wope Jeep designed to carry 500 kg- 102 lb) of cargo and also have an

-nphibious capability, but after pro-::types had been built by two compet--rg teams (each having one manufac--.:rer from West Germany, Italy and::ance), the whole project was drop-;ed, The West German army then,ssued a new requirement for a vehicle:at would carry 500k9 (1,102 Ib) of:arqo across country, but whrch was---rt required to be amphibious, To:reet thrs requirement prototype vehr-:-es were built by Daimler-Benz and-.-clkswagen, and in 1977 the latter"!e was selected and an order placed

:,-r 8,800 Volkswagen Iltis vehicles,- ne f,rst of these were handed over in-378, and production has now been:rmpleted for the West Germanr:rned forces. The Iltis was entered in-:-e French army competition for a new-ght vehicle by Citrodn under the de-s-gmation Citrodn C 44, but this com-;etition was eventually won by?eugeot P4 based on a West German

Mercedes-Benz design, More recent-1y the Iltis has been selected by theCanadian Armed Forces to replace itsobsolete M3B vehicles which havebeen in service for some 30 years, andproduction will be undertaken inCanada by Bombardier Incorporated,

The lltis has a pressed steel bodywith the engine at the front, drler andone passenger in the centre, and car-go area at the rear, The last has a seatwhich can be folded down to increasethe load area, In inclement weatherthe windscreen is raised and the fold-ing hood and removable sidescreensfitted, The engine is coupled to amanual gearbox with five forward andone reverse qear and a two-speedtransfer box, When drivino on roadsthe front axle is normally d'isengagedso the vehicle becomes a 4x2, Sus-pensron front and rear consrsts ofsemi-elliptical leaf springs and double-actrng hydraulic shock absorbers,

The basic vehicle is used for normalduties in the fronlline area, but morespecialized versrons include a cable-layer for use by signal units, a com-mand vehicle with communicationsequipment, an artillery suwey vehicle,an ambulance and an anti-tank vehiclewith Euromissile MILANATGWs, Thislast model is the replacement for thel:kw with Cobra ATGWs that were

launched over the rear of the vehicle,The West German Army also uses a

number of Volkswagen 18I (4x2) lightvehicles for general duties where a4x4 capability is not essentral, andnumbers of these vehicles were sup-plied to Austria, Denmark and Francefor military use.

SpecificationVolkswagenlltisCrew: I + I (plus 2 inrear)Weight:empty 1550 kg (3,4i7 lb) andloaded 2050 ks (4,520 lb)Powerplant: one 4-cylinder petrolengine developing 75 hp (56 kW)

Modern.Light Vehicles

AVolkswagen lltis (4x4) vehicle withthe hood folded down at the rear.This is now the standard vehicle in isclass in the West German armedforces, and is now beingmanufacturcd under licence inCanadabyBombardierIncorporated.

Dimensions: lenqth 3,887 m (12 ft 9 i:lwidrh 1,52 m (S ft o in); heishi LB5Z r-(6 ft I in)Performance: maximum road speei130 kn/h(BO mph); maxrmumrance500 kn (31 1 miies); gnadient 7O pel:cent; fording0.60 m (2 ft0 in)

U! finz-+o9B lisrhtvehicle: 1960 the Ul'yanovsk Motor VehrclePlant, which was then buildinq the-A2-69 and UAZ-69A(4x4) lisht vehr-rles, built the prototype of a new vehi-:ie called the UAZ-469, which used::-lany components of the UAZ-450:anqe of 4x4 forward control vehiclesdesigmed mainly for civilian use, This-,';as not placed in production and fr:rth-:: development resulted in the UAZ-4698 which entered production in 1972:*nd has now replaced almost all of the-A2-69 and UAZ-69A light vehicles rn:e armies of the USSR and of most:lher members of the Warsaw Pact,lhe UAZ-469B uses the engine, trans-

=:ssion, axles, brakes and other parts:i the UAZ-452 series of 4 x 4 hght vehi-:les, which are used in both civrlianand military roles. The vehicle hasbeen widely exported outside theSouet Union, especially to the Middle:ast, and is available on the civihan:rarket as the Tundra.

The main improvements of the UAZ--,t698 over the earlier vehicle includeslightly increased payload, qreaterroad speed and much longer oper-ahonal range,

The layout of the UAZ-469B is con-'/entional, with the engme at the frontard the driver and passenger in thecentre (each with a side door); to theirlear is a three-man bench seat with aCoor on each side, and a further tuvo:nen can sit at the rear, one on eachside, facrng each other, The wind-screen can be folded forward onto theronnet, the tops of the doors removedand the canvas top folded down, When:arrying seven men the freightpayload of the vehicle is only i00kg.220 lb), but when only the driver andrne passenger are carried thrspayload is increased to 600 kg.1,323 lb), The vehrcle can also tow an'rbraked trailer weighing a total of330 kq ( 1,323 lb), or 2000 ks (4,409 lb) iflraked,

The four-cylinder petrol engnne iscoupled to a manual gearbox with fourforward and one reverse gear and atwo-speed transfer case, The suspen-sion consists of semr-elliptical spdngsand hydraulic shock absorbers;8,40 x 15 tyres are fltted all round, and aspare wheel and tyre are located onthe rear,

In addition to the basrc model, whichis widely used by the Soviet army,there rs also an ambulance model de-signated the UAZ-469G which can car-ry four stretcher patients in addition tothe driver, a fully enclosed van-typevehicle used for a variety of roles, andanother that has equrpment fitted at therear ofthe hull that dispenses pennantsinto the ground to designate clearlanes through NBC-contaminatedareas.

Although the UAZ-469B is the mostwrdely used light vehicle, it rs not theonly one of its type rn the Soviet Union.TheYAZ-2121 (4x4) liqht vehicte hasbeen used for a number of militaryapplicatrons and is sold rn the West asthe Niva. The Lutsk Motor VehiclePlant has developed the IJuAZ-9OZMamphibrous battlefield medical recon-narssance vehicle as well as the tuAZ-969 (4x4) light vehicle which is usedmainly for civilian applications,although its automotive componentsare used in the LuAZ-967M.

In general terms, Soviet trucks andlight vehicles have not proved sopopular in the Mrddle East and else-where as their Wesiern counterpartshave, as the latter are found to be morereliable,

SpecificationuAz-469BCrew: I* I (plus Tinrear)Weight: empty 2290 kg (5,048 lb) aicloaded 1540 ks (3,395 lb)Powerplant: o n e ZMZ- 4 I5 IM4-cylinder water-cooled petrol engr::developing 75 hp (56 kW)Dimensions: lengrth4,025 m ( 13 ft 2 :-'mdth 1.785 m (5 ft 10 in); heishi2.015 m (6 ft 7 rn)Performance: maximum road soee d100 kri/h (62 mph); maxrnum rinqe750 kn (466 miles): gradienr 62 percent; fording O,B0 m (2 ft B in)

A UAZ -469 B (4 x 4) Iight vehicle,which entered production at theUl'yanovsk Plant in I 972. It is used byevery afin oI the Souiet forces andhas been exported on a large scale.

il Enz-og seriesThe GAZ-69 series is the Sovtetequrvalent of the Jeep, and enteredprbduction at the Gor'ky Motor Vehi-cle Plant in 1952, although in 1956 pro-ductron was transferred to theUl'vanovsk Motor Vehicle Plant andthe vehicle was subsequently redestg-nated UAZ-69, Production continuedwell into the 1960s, the type's replace-ment, the UAZX-469B, entering pro-duction in 1972,

The basic GAZ-69 has a convention-al layout with the engine at the front,the driver and one Passenger in thecentre, and the cargo at the rear' Thelast has a bench seat down each sideThe windscreen can be folded for-ward onto the bonnet, and the crewand cargo/passenqer area can becovered by a quickly-removable cov-er that is stowed at the rear when not inuse, The GAZ-69 can carry a maximumload of 500 kg (1, 102 lb) and tow a trail-er wetghing a maximum of 850 kg(1,874 1b).

The M-20 petrol engtne is couPledto a manual gearbox wrth three for-ward and one reverse gear, a tvvo-speed transfer box being standardSuspension front and rear consists ofsemi-eltrptical springs with hydraulicshock absorbers. Irate Productionvehicles were of the UAZ-69M stan-dard with a more Powerful engine

The GAZ-69A (later UAZ-69A) hasfour doors, two on each side, and cancarry flve men and I00kg (220lb) ofcarqo,

lG wrth most vehicles of this type thechassis has been used for a number ofapplications, The GAZ-69 anti-tankvbhrcle has been rebuilt to the rear ofthe driver/passenger area and carriesfour AT-1'snapper' wire-gpided anti-tank mlssiles, which are launched tothe rear of the vehicle with the oper-ator either a short distance away fromthe vehicle (controlling the missileswith a separation sight and controller)

or from wrthin the cab (a window in theriqht side being provided for this pur-pose), This particular vehicle has seencombat in the Mlddie East,

The chassis was also used as thebasis for the GAZ-46 or MAV amPhi-brous vehicle, which is simrlar in con-cept to the American Ford GPA (4x4)vehrcle supplied to the Sonet Unionduring World War II and based on aJeep chassis, The GAZ-46 was used tocarry out reconnaissance ofriver cros-sing points, but this role has now beentaken over by amPhibioru armouredvehicles such as the BRDM-I andBRDM.2.

A GAZ-69 (4x4) light vehicle, used inthe anti-tank role with a four'roundlauncher for SnaPPer ATGWs at therear. In this photograph the wire'gruided ATGWs are not fitted' TheIauncher is covered when travelling.

One of the more umrsual models isthat fitted with DIM mlne-detectionequipment, When traveliinq thisequrpment rests on the roofofthe vehi-cle, but when required for use isswung through about I40'to projectover the front ofthe velucle, where it issupported by two small rubber tyres.The vehicle is driven along the road atlow speed, and when the sensor de-tects a mine or other metaliic objectthe vehicle automatically stops and analarm sounds. Once the exact positlonof the mine has been determrned itsposition is marked and the vehiclewithdravrn to the rear while it is neut-ralued.

A GAZ-69 (4x 4) Iight vehicle with thetop in the raked position. Thisentered sewicewith the Sovietarmed forces in I 952, but has nowbeen replaced in most units bY theUAZ-4698, which has a slightlYgreater payload.

A GAz-69 Gx4) Iight vehicle' whichhas seatsfor thedriver andonepassenger al fft e front and a benchleat down each side at the rear. Thewindscreen is in the raked positionbut the cover is not erected. On theleft side of the vehr'cle is ffi e sparewheelandtyre.

SpecificationGAZ-69Crew: l+ I (plus 4 inrear)Weisht: empty 2U5 ks (4,795 lb) andloaded 1525 kg (3,362 lb)Powerplant: one M-20 4-cYlinderpetrol engnne develoPing 52 hP(39 kW)Dimensions: length 3,BS m (12 ft 8 in);width LBS m(5 ft 2 in); heisht2 03 m(6 ftB in)Performance: maximum road sPeed90 lan/h(56 mph)t maximumrange530 lcn (330 miles); gi.radient 60 percent; fording 0,55 m (t ft l0 in)

fl r* r Io? AD lisrht vehicle

When the Italian army was re-formedits requirement for a light vehtcle wasmet bv the Fiat AR-SI whlch was Po-wered' bv a four-cylinder petrol en-oine developinq 53 hp (39 5 kW); thisiras succeeded in prbduction by theAR-55 and finallY bY the AR-59 Allthese vehicles have a similar layoutwith the engine at the front, driver andone passenqer in the centre, and car-go area at the rear, the last havinq a

338

bench seat down each side for twomen, An interesting feature of thesevehicles was that the side doors couldbe swung back through 180" and clip-oed to the sides so allon'tng the crew to

ieave the vehicle raPidlY in anemergency,

The AR-59 was rePlaced in Produc-tion bv the Fiat II07 AD (4x4) Iightvehicl6 which has a maximum payloadof 750 kq (1,653 lb) across country and

can tow a 1740-kq (3 836-1b) trailer onroads or a 900-kg (I,984-1b) traileracross country,

The Fiat 1107 AD entered Produc-tion in 1974 for both the civilian andmilltary markets, It is also producedunder licence in Yugoslavia for thearmy (as was the earlier AR-59 underthe name of the Zastava) and was en-tered in the French army's competitionfor a new hght vehicle bY Renault

under the designatton Renault TRM500, although this competition was wonbv Peuoeot.'The Sody of the Flat 1107 AD is ofall-steel construction, with the engineat the front, driver and two passengers1n the centre (with a door on each sideopening to the front) and the cargtoaiea atlhe rear. The last has a benchseat down each side for two men, andcan be loaded via the tailqate, on

F:at I l07AD light vehicle (continued)

7te Fiat 1 107 AD (4x4) chassis isLsed for a number of applications,siuch as this forward ambulance with'codylvork by Grazia. In addition tone military, ciuilian authorities suchas ambulance andfire brigades use'J.e military-type chassiswhere anaf-road capability is required.

:.-:ch the spare wheel is carried, The: -rc model has a windscreen that::-Cs forward onto the bonnet and a::rovable canvas top and side cur-:=,:u. The Fiat 11OZ AD is also pro-i;:ed with a fully enclosed hard-top::dy and there is also a long-','.':eelbase version that can carry a tot-=' of nine men.

The petrol engine is coupled to a:-anual gearbox with five forward and-:e reverse gear and a two-speed::rxfer box, Suspension is of the inde-,::ndent McPherson type with longdtu-- ral torsron bar. Each front wheel sta--:n has a single hydraulic shock-sorber while each rear wheel sta-::r has two hydraulic shock absor-::rs, because the loaded vehicle has:-:re weight on the back ofthe vehicle:,an the front,

More recently the company has:-ered the type with a diesel engine-:: longer operatronal range. Standard=lurpment for the military model rn-:-:des a pintle towing hook at the rear:: enable trailers and light weapons to:: towed, towing eyes at the front,:-:k and shovel, a flre-extingn-rishrng-;stem, and a heatinq and defrosttng.=;stem; options include a petrol en-;-ne that will run on low-octane fuel=:-d specral equipment such as engine::ctection and a fuel fllter between:-rmp and carburettor.

The vehicle can be adapted as a::mmunications vehicie or ambu-

lance, and a number of compames rnItaly have made use of the chassrs forother applications. one such betngASA for the Guardian rnternal securityvehicle. which v;as used in small nLlm-bers by the ltalian peacekeeptnqfforce in Lebancn early in i9B4

SpecificationFiat ll07ADCrew: 1+2 (plus4rnrear)Weisht: empty 2420 kg (5,335 lb) andloaded 1670 kq (3,682 ]b)Powerplant: one 4-cylinder petrolengine developinq B0 hp (59,7 kW)

Modern Ligrht Vehicles

Dimensions: length 3.775 n ( -2 .. : :-width 1.58m(5ft I rn):heiof.- - : . -(6 ft 3 in)Performance: maxtmum roai -.: ==:120 kr:n/h (74,5 mph); maxr.:r,-.:- -.:=400 kr (249 miles) gradre,-.: . - - : =:cent; fording0,70 m (2 ft 3 in)

l,i,:t,i:rl)rl;13:ll

,&,ixr1,1r.ir):ttli;

I -.:i'"ri:;t "-": -t : tl; ;" :I w

IHE NETHEBLANDS

DAF YA 126 weapons carrierSnce well before World War II Vanlcorne's Automobrelfabriek of Eind-:cven has been a major supplier of;heeled transport vehicles to the)ltch army, In the immediate post-;ar period the company, which today'. known as DAF Trucks, produced a:cmplete range ofnew transport vehi-:1es for the Dutch army, the smallest::ember of this family being the DAIYA 126 (4x4) weapon carrier, Theprototype of this was completed in-950, and production was undertaken:i Eindhoven between 1952 and 1960,The type is still in service, but hasleen replaced in many units by DAF:ucks with an increased payload,

The layout of the DAF YA 126,'/eapons carrier is conventronal, withre engine at the front, the driver and3ne passenger in the centre, and thetrargo area at the rear. The windscreen:an be folded down onto the bonnetald the rear cargo area can be co-':ered by removable bows and a tar-paulin cover, Four troops can be sea-:ed dourn each side of the cargo area:nd the dropdown tailgate facilitates:re loading and unloadinq of supplies,The engrne of the YA 126, which rs thesarne as that installed in the DAF YA314 (6x6) 3000-ks (6,614-1b) truck, is:oupled to a manual gearbox with four:crward and one reverse gear and a:ro-speed transfer case. The front and:ear wheels, which have 9,00x16rrrres, dr€ suspended on tvvo lonedtu-

dinal trailing arms connected at thefront wrth transversely mounted tubu-lar beams containingT torsion bars. Be-tween the upper traihng arms and thechassis arxiliary rubber springs arefitted, and each wheel also has a hyd-raulic shock absorber,

On each side of the vehicle is aspare wheel and tyre; these are free torotate and so assist the vehicle in over-coming obstacles, a similar arrange-ment being used on the DAF YA 328(6x6) 3000-ks (6,614-1b) carsro truck,

Some vehicles were fitted with a winchwith a capacity of 2500k9 (5,5121b),and varrants included a workshopvehicle, flrlly enclosed van{1pe ambu-lance that can carry a maxmum of fourstretcher patients, and a command./radio vehicle,

To meet the requirements of theDutch army for a light utility vehicle,the DAF company designed the DAF55 YA (4x2) which is based on stan-dard and proven commercial compo-nents, This was eventually standar-

A DA.F YA I 26 (4 x 4) weaponscarrier,withbows and a tarpaulilcover erected over the tapcompartnent at the rear. ?o ass:s:with self-recovery and torxoverother vehicles thal became stuc.k, anumber of Dutch amy YA I 26ve hicle s were fi tted with a win ch.

dized as the DAF 66 YA a:-: :::.-- :-1,200 vehrcles were cie--,':::: :=tween 1973 and 1977. In ac:-:: "-. :: -: =driver, this vehicle ca: ::=.- ---i-

DAF YA 126 weapons ca:rier (continued)

passengers and 400 kg (BB1 lb) of car-go. To increase the load-carrying areathe two rear seats can be folded down,Tlpical roles for the DAF 66 YA in-clude rear-area military policingwhere good off-road performance isnot required, casualty evacuation wrthtwo stretcher patlents plus the medicalattendant and drler, and radio car-rying,

The Dutch army is also a large userof the Land Rover (4x4) vehicle, in-cludrng a number supplied to meet itsown specific requrrements,

SpecificationDAFYA 126Crew: l* I (plus B inrear)Weight: empty 4230 ks (9,325 lb) andloaded 3230 ks (7, 12 I lb)

Powerplant: one Hercules JXC 6-cylinder petrol engine developing102 hp (76 kW)Dimensions: lenqth 4,55 m ( 14 ft I I in);width 2, 10 m (6 ft I I in); height 2,20 m(7 ft 3 in)Performance: maximum road speed84 kn/h(52 mph); maximumrange330 km (205 miles); gradient 65 percent; fording 0,76 m (2 ft 6 in)

A DAF YA I 26 (4 x 4) weaponscarrier, whichwas in production forthe Dutch army between I 952 andI 9 60. An unusu al feature of thisvehicleis that the sparewheel oneacfi sjde r's fre e-wheeling andassrsts flre YA I 26 in overcomingobs tacles while crossing roughcounfuy.

E ffi"n"re lishtIn the early 1950s Mitsubishi MotorsCorporation obtained a licence fromthe American Jeep manufacturer Wil-lys to undertake production ofthe Jeepin Japan for both civilian and militaryroles, The Mitsubishi J544, poweredby a four-cylinder petrol engnne de-veloping 75 hp (56 kW) was the stan-dard /aton vehrcle of the JapaneseSelf-Defence Forces for many years.This has now been replaced by theJ25A which has the military designa-tion Type 73; this is powered by adiesel for rncreased fuel efficiency.The TYpe 73 rs very simrlar in appear-ance to the Jeeps used by the Alliesdunng World War II, and has an iden-tical layout u,rth the engine at the front,driver and one passeneter in the cen-tre, and tvuo seats at the rear. One ofthe dlstingnrishing features of thesevehicles is that each of the headlampsat the foont has vertical bars to protectit from damage, As usual there aremany variants of Jeep used by theJapanese Ground Self-Defence Force,including a reconnaissance vehrclefitted wrth a pintle-mounted 7.62-mm(0.3-rn) machine-gnrn, and an anti-tankvehicle with the 106-mm (4, 17-in) M40recoilless rifle, KAM-3D (TYpe 64) orthe more recent KAM-9 (Type 79) anti-tank missiles, the last having a muchlonger range.

In addition to Mitsubishi, the NissanMotor Company and Toyota alsomanufacture light vehicles. These aredesigmed for civilian applications butare used by many armies around theworld. The Nissan Patrol vehicle isproduced in standard open-type aswell as hard-top, pick-up and long-wheelbase configmration, It has alsobeen burlt under licence in India byMahindra and Mahindra which hassupplied many vehicles to the Indianarmed forces ior a wide range of rolesincludrng anti-tank (with recorllessrifles), command (with radios) and re-connaissance. One ofthe more unusualversions used by the Indran army hasthree SS, 11 wire-gmided anti-tank mis-siles over the rool firing forward, Indiahas also exported vehicles to othercountries, and recently supplied some4,000 Jeep kits for assembly in lran,

The Toyota Land Cnriser is used bymany countnes in A-frica and the FarEast, and rs available in three differentwheelbases (standard, long wheel-base and super long wheelbase), thefirst two of these being used by themilitary, They are available with four-

940

vehiclesor sx-cylinder petrol or diesel en-gines, the petrol engrne being prefer-red in many parts of the third worldas there are more petrol than dieselstations,

If one excludes the Umted Statesand the Soviet Union, the British LandRover was for many years the mostwidely used vehicle of its type, but inrecent years the Japanese have beenmaking steady inroads to many tradi-tional Land Rover markets, and in 1980alone Nrssan and Toyota betweenthem built some 150,000 4x 4 light vehr-cles for the home and export markets,although most of these were for civilianrather than milrtary use,

SpecificationMitsubishiJ2SACrew: i* I (plus2 inrear)Weight: empty 1420 kg (3, 130 lb) andloaded 1900 ks (4 189 lb)Powerplant: one 4-cylinder dieseldevelopingB0 hp (59.7 kW)Dimensions: length 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in);width 1.655 m (5 ft 5 in); heisht 1.95 m(6 ft 5 in);Performance: maxrmum road speed90 l,an/tt (56 mph); maxrmum rangte500 kn (31 I miles); gnadient 60 percent; fording0.S m (1 ft B in)

Above : A long-wheelbase Mitsubishi(4x4) light vehicle, which can carrysix men instead of the four men of thenormalversion. These are used for awide range of roles including that ofanti- tank, fi tted with ATGW s ;command, fitte d with r adios ; andforward ambuiance.

B elow : M itsubis hi (4 x 4 ) lig htvehicles of theJapanese Ground SelfDetence F orce A GS DF ) fitted with7 .62-mm (0 .3-in) machine-gqns onpintle mounts at the rear for use inthe reconnaissance role. Latestversions ofthevehicle have a dieselengine for longer range.

.kTrned Forces of the World

WAirForc-: "; , :,,.ed by some as the poor relatlon of SAC,liL:: r: i:r Command (TAC) had the defence of,i(it-r- :-erica added to its duties with the demiser --; lerospace Defense Command and has forfie:,"::'ewyears been engaged in a major modern-[ir:- orogramme which has witnessed the pro-rr-i:*:nt of substantial numbers of a new genera-r :- :':ombataircraftto replace oldertypes such as'l-: ----sry McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and ther': -::-t A-7 Corsair ll. Today, the Fairchild Republicr-' I i Thunderbolt ll, the McDonnell Douglas F-1 5!=,;: and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting:: ::r are predominant in TAC's combat echelons,:-: ':rce modernization has not been solely con-r -el io such elements, another noteworthy recentr::- sition being the Boeing E-3A Sentry derivative:-::e Boeing 707 for airborne warning and control:-:,.

- terms of numbers of personnel assigned, SAC:: maintains a position of superiority, but TAC is by'"'rne largest USAF command with regard to the--'rber of aircraft on hand. These are engaged in a*-iiitude of missions encompassing virtually all:':as of tactical air power, ranging f rom forward air::ntrol through air superiority to close air support::C reconnaissance. Accordingly, TAC's fleet con-s sts of several widely dlsparate types, of which-ost are optimized for a specifrc task, a situation far-emoved from that of the 1960s and early 1970s,,,'nen the albeit highly versatile F-4 Phantom'eigned almost supreme as a 'maid of all work'.

Making a substantial contribution to the RapidDeployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF), TAC ele-nrents constitute the USAF component of two ofthe specified commands responsible to the JointChiefs of Staff, namely Atlantic Command and

Part 3Readiness Command, and it is therefore possiblefor TAC aircraft to be ordered into action withoutreferring to the more usual chain of command. TACheadquarters are located at Langley AFB, Virginia,routine administration being effected via two sub-ordinate numbered air forces, these being the gthAir Force at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, and the '1 2thAir Force at Bergstrom AFB, Texas. There are. inaddition, several units which report directly to TACheadquarters, these mainly being concernedwith the development and evaluation of weaponsand tactics and with the administration of thevarious 'Flag' programmes of which 'Red Flag' isprobably best known. This is the series of flyingtraining exercises conducted regularly in the vicinityof Nellis AFB, Nevada, with the objectlve of provid-ing realistic combat training so as to enhance air-crew experience levels and likelihood of survival inany future conflict. Other similar exercises include'Black Flag'for maintenance personnel, 'Green Flag'predicted on European and Korean theatre opera-tions and'Blue Flag'which is concerned with battle-field management and the decision-makingprocess.

The operational elements of the 9th Air Force aredistributed between a total of l0 air bases, two ofwhich (Langley and Eglin) host F-15 air superiorityunits, Langley's 1st Tactical Fighter Wing havingrecently completed transition to the newest variantof the Eagle, namely the F-l 5C with the so-called'FAST Pack' (Fuel And Sensor Tactical Package);this unit is now one of those assigned to the RDJTF.TAC's second fairly new type, the A-10A Thunder-bolt ll with its fearsome General Electric GAU-B/AAvenger 30-mm Gatling-type cannon, equips twounits: the 23rd TFW at England AFB, Louisiana, and

the 354th TFW at Myrtle Beach AF3. S:,---Carolina, whilst the F-16 Fighting Falcon ais: _.:-,:_.with two units, these being the 56th TFw* at \"::lAFB, Florida, and the 363rd TFW at Sha\,, :=:South Carolina. The latter wing's three F-l 6 sc-::-rons are complemented by one squadron ,r', :r :-:RF-4C Phantom, this being a legacy of tne 3e.3-:TFW's long career as a purely reconnaissance ,., -:Shaw is also home for the Cessna O-2is =-:Sikorsky CH-3E helicopters of the 507rn -:C,'.additional elements of this unii being loce:ec ::Patrlck AFB, Florida. from where they ooe'::: l-2As and Rockwell OV-10A Broncos in the ..-,',:-lair control role. The three remaining wings ..,- :-report to the gth Air Force alloperate Phanto-s :",. :being fully operational units with the =-:i =:Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina (4ir -=,',and at Moody AFB, Georgia (347rh TFW), wn isr:-:third serves in the training role with F-rls ---Homestead AFB, Florida. This 31st TFW ,s ::-marked for transition to the F-l6 in the nci-::,:-distant future as the requirement for Pha.::-crews diminishes with the type's continuing .,, ---drawal from the front-line inventory.

TAC's second major component, the 12tr : -

Force, differs quite considerably in composition :-:equipment, three bases hosting two wings eacn aswell as several with just a single wing. Long+arc:all-weather strike elements are concentrated wilr ^the 12th Air Force, these comprising the Gener=Dynamics F-1 1.1As of the 366th TFW at Mounra'--

The dorsal speed brake helps slow this MDonnellDouglasF-15 Eagleofthe49thTFW as it arrives atHolloman AFB on 20 December I 977 atter the unithad converted at Luke AFB .

Armed Forces of the World t7 P,.,S > USAirForce ffi

-:"re AFB, ldaho, and the F-1 1 'l Ds of the 27th TFW.. Cannon AFB, Nernr Mexico. After a disaster-ridden:3'V career, the F-1 11 eventually'came good'in- SAF service and such is the faith now placed in this:.ce that it has formed the basis for the latest:e'ence-suppression aircraft to enter the nventory.-^ s, the Grumman/General Dynamics EF-1 11A: ectric Fox', is essentially a much modified:-i 1 T A, some 42 Grumman conversions at present:: ng scheduled for service in the USA and Europe.^ r al dellveries have been made to the 3BBth: ectronic Countermeasures Squadron at'.'ountain-Home AFB, these operating alongside.^e standard F-111A as part of the 366th TFW

-iother defence-suppression aircraft, the F-4G,'i d Weasel' variant of the Phantom, equlps the:-:r TFW at George AFB, Callfornla, this base also

being home for the 35th TFW which operates theF-4E on trainrng, including the training of WestGerman pilots in Phantoms owned by that country.Further Phantoms are to be found at BergstromAFB, Texas, although in this instance they are thereconnaissance-configured RF-4Cs of the 67thTRW, whilst the 12th Air Force also parents threeF-'l 6 units, namely the 58th TTW (f ormerly TFTW) atLu ke AFB, Arizona; the 3BBth TFW at H ill AFB, Utah,and the 414rhf FW at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The tworemain ng bases supporting 12th Arr Forceelements are Holloman AFB, New Mexico, whichhas the 49th TFW with F-15 Eagles plus the 47gthTTW with a mlxture oi Northrop AT-3BA and T-3BBTalons, and Davis-Monthan AFB, Arlzona, with the355rh TTW'S A 10A Thunderbolt lls plus the 602ndTACW wlth Cessna OA-378s for FAC f unctions. Of

The Boeing E-3A Sentry, packaged into a 707-320Cairframe, entered sewice in 1977 with the 552ndAirborne W arning and Control Wing at TinkerAFB,Oklahoma.

these four wings, the 479th TTW is perhaps themost unusual, this undertaking lead-in and opera-tional conversion training of newly-qualified pilotsbefore assignment to other TAC units, and to pro-

vide added realism the T-3BBs are f itted with under-wing stores statrons in order to carry air-to-groundrockets and/or gun pods.

The Fairchild Republic A- I 0A Thunderbolt II isemployed by the USAF solely to destroy armouredvehicles, relying on manoeuvrability, heavyarmour andsystems redundancy to minimize/osses.