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Cardoen Piraña I 6x6 - DEFA F1 90 mm
History:
In 1980 Chile obtained the contract for the licensed production of the Mowag Piranha I being one of the few countries to build these vehicles, production began in 1983 by the Chilean company Industrias Cardoen which was in charge of the construction of the Piraña I in its 6x6 version building hundreds of these vehicles and equipping them with different turrets and armaments. In this suggestion we will see the version with the H-90 turret which can be found in the famous French AML-90.
The Cardoen Piraña I 6x6, built in Chile, follows the original model of the Swiss Mowag, also retaining its amphibious capacity, so it keeps the propellers for the water at the rear of the vehicle. The driver is located in the front left of the vehicle right next to the engine and the crew behind the driver in the middle of the vehicle. The vehicle has 8mm armor, which protects it from 7.62mm machine gun fire and explosive shrapnel, making it vulnerable to larger-caliber fire. The biggest advantage of this vehicle is its great mobility and speed, so it should be used for flanking and as a close fire support.
During the 80’s Industrias Cardoen tested various armaments on the Piranha I 6x6 promoting different versions to be potentially sold to the Chilean army or abroad, one of those versions carried the H-90 turret built by CNMP and armed with the 90 mm cannon DEFA 921 also known as DEFA CN90F1 to be able to convert the Piranha I 6x6 into an anti-tank vehicle.
The new H-90 turret built by CNMP was handled by 2 men, these being the commander and the gunner who were in charge of reloading and firing the 90 mm DEFA CN90F1 main gun. The turret featured a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and a similar machine gun could be mounted on the turret roof for air defense. The commander sat on the left and the gunner on the right, both had four L794B periscopes but the gunner also had an M262 or M37 type observation periscope. The M37 has a 6x magnification. There is also the most advanced version of this turret called Lynx that presents easily recognizable aesthetic differences, but the version used by Cardoen is the standard one.
The main armament of this vehicle was the 90 mm DEFA CN90F1 built by Giat Industries, the cannon was very famous for being used in the French Panhard AML-90, a vehicle widely exported in Africa and the Middle East that, like the Chilean Piranha, stood out for its great mobility. The new gun is capable of firing fin-stabilized HEAT ammunition and can penetrate up to 350 mm of armor or fin-stabilized HE ammunition for destruction of other targets or lightly armored vehicles.
Finally it is unknown what happened to this vehicle although today you can still see these vehicles in other configurations, below I share some images of the interior of a Cardoen Piranha I 6x6
Spoiler
Specifications:
- Crew:
- 3 (Commander, Gunner, Driver)
- Armament:
- Primary: DEFA CN90F1 90 mm cannon
- Secondary: 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, 4 smoke grenades
- Dimensions:
- Length: 5.97 m
- Width: 2.5 m
- Height: 1.85 m (without turret)
- Weight: 10.5 t (vehicle) + 2.2 t aprox. (turret and gun)
- Maneuverability :
- Engine: Detroit diesel 6V-53T, 300 hp at 2800 rpm
- Max. speed on roads: 100 km/h
- Speed in water: 10.5 km/h
- Transmission: Allison MT-653 automatic with 5 forward and 1 reverse gears
- Turning circle: 11.3 m
- Gradient: 70%
- Side slope: 30%
- Vertical obstacle: 0.5 m
Sources:
- Piraña 6x6, la navaja suiza de Chile
- Chile, Industrias Cardoen, Uso Militar y Civil | PDF
- Jane’s Armoured Fighting Vehicle Retrofit Systems 1993-94
- Jane’s Military Vehicles and Logistics 1994-95
- Jane’s Armour and Artillery Upgrades 2006-2007
- Jane’s Armour and Artillery 1979-80
- Jane’s Armour and Artillery 1993-94
- Jane’s Armour and Artillery 1994-95
- Jane’s Armour and Artillery 2011-12
- International Defense Review 7/1983
