casspir


Casspir Mk3
Country Of Origin:	South Africa
Designation:	Armoured Personnel Carrier
Configuration:	4 x 4
Manufacturer:	Vickers OMC
Length:	6,9m
Width:	2,45m
Height:	2,85m
Weight:	10,88t
Ground Clearance:	410mm
Trench:	1,06m
Speed:	98km/h (road) km/h 70(off-road)
Range:	770km
Primary armament:	various: 3 x 7,76 mm MG or 20mm cannon
Secondary armament:	12 firing ports
Power plant:	124kW turbo-charged diesel OM352A by Mercedes Benz
Crew:	14

The Casspir, a combat proven landmine protected personnel carrier, has been in use in South Africa for over 20 years. It is a 4-wheeled armored vehicle, used for transport of troops. It can hold a crew of two, plus 12 additional soldiers and associated gear. The Casspir is unique in design, providing for passive mine defense. The main body of the vehicle is raised above the ground, so that if a mine is detonated, the explosion is less likely to damage the crew compartment and kill the occupants. The vehicle is also armored for added mine safety, as well as protection from small arms fire. Casspir's mine protection and field reparability are legendary and it is currently the only general purpose MPV in service with a triple mine protection level that includes main components. These factors, inter alia, lead to Casspir being the MPV of choice for several forces and for organisations employed in humanitarian operations (including mine clearing) in mine-infested areas. The Casspir was ubiquitous during the days of Apartheid in South Africa. It was seen widely in the townships for crowd and riot control.

Production History

Some 2,500 Casspir series APC's were originally built by TFM of South Africa according to a design by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which was subsequently taken over by Reumech OMC. Reumech in turn was taken over by Vickers Defence Systems of the UK and renamed Vickers OMC. When Alvis purchased Vickers Defence Systems, Vickers OMC became Alvis OMC, and has retained this name to the present day. In 1998, two Casspir mine-protected vehicles (MPVs) underwent extensive mobility and ballistic evaluation in India over two months, covering over 9000 km. As part of this evaluation, one of the vehicles was put through four blast tests, involving one anti-tank mine and three improvised devices of the type typically encountered during operations in Jammu & Kashmir. The Casspir MPV was then repaired and driven back to the evaluation centre. In August 1998, India purchased 90 'reconditioned' Casspirs for the Army and Para-Military forces in Jammu & Kashmir. In April 1999, the Army acquired a further 90 Casspir MPVs and an additional 75 were delivered in 2001.