Bullet TCV
Bullet Armoured Personnel Carrier | |
---|---|
Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
Place of origin | Rhodesia |
Service history | |
In service | 1978 - 1980 |
Used by | Rhodesia |
Wars | Rhodesian Bush War |
Specifications | |
Mass | 7.2 tonnes |
Length | 4.95 m |
Width | 2.4 m |
Height | 2.8 m |
Crew | 2+10 |
Armor | 4.5 to 10 mm |
Main armament | one 7.62 mm, 12.7 mm or 14.5 mm machine guns |
Secondary armament | personal weapons through gunports |
Engine | Daimler-Benz OM352 turbo diesel 120 hp |
Power/weight | hp/ton hp/tonne |
Suspension | wheels, 4 × 4 |
Operational range | 700 km |
Maximum speed | 80 km/h/60 km/h km/h |
The Bullet Troop-Carrying Vehicle (TCV) is a light 4x4 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) developed by Rhodesia in the late 1970s based on the body of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog light truck.
History
At the late 1970s when the Rhodesian Bush War was entering its final phase, the Rhodesian Security Forces (RhSF) were faced with an escalation towards conventional warfare when they learned that a mechanised built-up was being undertaken by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrilla organisation based in neighbouring Zambia with material assistance from the Soviet Union. Eventually, by mid-1979 ZIPRA had brought to strength a fairly sizeable armoured corps trained by Cuban advisers, which aligned five BRDM-2 reconnaissance armoured cars, six to ten T-34/85 tanks and fifteen BTR-152 wheeled APCs.[1][2][3]
To deal with the potential threat of a possible conventional ground invasion from across the border, the Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment (RhACR) was reorganized in 1978, being expanded to corps strength to include additional tank and mechanized infantry squadrons.[4] It soon became clear however, that the latter had to be provided with fast, more mobile troop-carrying vehicles (TCV) designed for conventional armoured warfare. The heavier locally tailored TCVs – conceived primarily for the counterinsurgency role – already in service with the Rhodesian SF were found to be not entirely suitable for the task so a lighter (and cheaper) alternative was sought.
Development
The Bullet was originally developed by the Rhodesian private firm
General description
The second prototype presented in 1978 was a low vehicle which consisted of an all-welded body with a fully enclosed troop compartment built on a modified
Protection
The hull was made of ballistic 10mm mild steel plate; front windscreen and side windows had 40mm
Armament
A pintle-mounted FN MAG-58 7.62×51mm NATO light machine-gun could be fitted on the top roof.
Service history
After being rejected, it ended the war as a training vehicle for the RhACR and it was shown to the editor of
See also
- Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier
- Hippo APC
- Gazelle FRV
- Thyssen Henschel UR-416
- Rhodesian Armoured Corps
- MAP45 Armoured Personnel Carrier
- MAP75 Armoured Personnel Carrier
- Mine Protected Combat Vehicle
- List of weapons of the Rhodesian Bush War
Notes
- ^ Abbott, Botham & Chappell, Modern African Wars (1): Rhodesia 1965–80 (1986), p. 10.
- ^ Moorcraft & McLaughlin, The Rhodesian War: A Military History (2008), p. 105.
- ^ Touchard, Guerre dans le bush! Les blindés de l'Armée rhodésienne au combat (1964-1979), p. 70.
- ^ Locke & Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia (1995), p. 143.
References
- Laurent Touchard, Guerre dans le bush! Les blindés de l'Armée rhodésienne au combat (1964-1979), Batailles & Blindés Magazine No. 72, April–May 2016, Caraktère, Aix-en-Provence, pp. 64–75. )
- Paul L. Moorcraft & Peter McLaughlin, The Rhodesian War: A Military History, Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley 1983 (2008 ed.). ISBN 978-1-84415-694-8
- Peter Abbott, Philip Botham & Mike Chappell, Modern African Wars (1): Rhodesia 1965–80, Men-at-arms series 183, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1986. ISBN 9780850457285
- Peter Gerard Locke & Peter David Farquharson Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80, P&P Publishing, Wellington 1995. ISBN 0-473-02413-6
- Peter Stiff, Taming the Landmine, Galago Publishing Pty Ltd., Alberton (South Africa) 1986. ISBN 9780947020040
- Robert K. Brown, The Black Devils, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, January 1979, Omega Group Ltd., Boulder, Colorado.