- Yes
- No
Welcome to another suggestion, here we’ll be having a look at a rather obscure Belgian missile carrier: the Spartan Milan:
The FV103 Spartan is a member of the CVR(T) family of light tracked vehicles. It was developed by Alvis in the UK starting in the early 1960. Several members of the CVR(T) family would see the light of day, among which the well known Scorpion and Striker. The Spartan in particular was a small APC member of the family, designed to carried up to 7 troops.
Belgium was very interested in the whole family of CVR(T) vehicles and made an order somewhere in the early 1970s. A total of 701 CVR(T) family vehicles of various models were acquired. The models acquired were Spartan, Scimitar, Striker, Sultan, Samaritan, Scorpion and Samson. This order made Belgium the largest foreign operator of the CVR(T) family of vehicles.
The vehicle in particular that we are looking at is a modification of the Spartan APC. This specific version appears to have only been operated by Belgium. Unlike the Spartan MILAN MCT variant, which came equipped with a proper turret to house the missiles, the Belgian version was a lot more barebones. The MILAN came in a standard manned mount that required one crew member to expose themselves to use the weapon. Other than the simple MILAN mount, the vehicle seems to be unmodified. Other than the image above, I’ve not found any pictures showing the vehicles, mentions of it existing within Belgian service are somewhat common though. Belgium would end up operating its CVR(T)s into the 2000s, finally sending them on retirement in 2004 -2005. Their career was not without conflict however, as Belgian vehicles were deployed to the Balkans and Somalia during their lifetime.
General characteristics:
- Crew: 3 (driver, gunner, commander)
- Length: 5.16 m
- Width: 2.48 m
- Height: 3.4 m (estimation with height of MILAN)
- Weight: 10.7 tons
- Engine: Cummins BTA 5,9 liter diesel (190 hp)
- Top speed: 96 km/h
- Power/Weight: 17.6 hp/ton
Armament:
- 1x MILAN guided missile. (possibly up to 11 ammo stored inside)
Place in-game:
The Spart MILAN is an obscure an not well documented vehicle for its service in the Belgian army, but it is one that deserves a place in-game nonetheless. First of all, it is a variant that was seemingly only used by the Belgians, making it a potentially unique addition to the game. Secondly, this is a class of vehicles that traditionally is enjoyed quite a lot by players, small, sneaky and fast. It gives plenty of opportunity to flank your enemy and surprise them from unexpected places. Finally, Belgium simply being the largest foreign user of the CVR(T) family means that some representation for these vehicles in a BeNeLux subtree would be logical, and what better way to do it than with a unique vehicle.