LOHR RPX 90 (SANTAL), radarless high mobility SAM

CaID · October 9, 2024, 2:00pm

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caid’s suggestion #208

I would like to suggest an interresting SPAA vehicle for France. the LOHR RPX 90 Santal

the LOHR RPX 90 was an armored car proposed by LOHR industry to provide an offer amount of class 10 military vehicles. offered from 1983, the class 10 was highly needed in the market and LOHR had hoped to secure some contracts on the international market and make a name for themselves. relatively new in the military industry, LOHR hoped that one of their design could make a name for themselves and make competition to Panhard with the AML and ERC. The RPX 90 was a larger version of the RPX 6000 which was a reconnaissance armored car. the RPX 90 was offered in 4 different known versions, each with a different turret which would all be subject to their suggestion. the Santal turret is a SAM turret featuring 6 mistral pods. the turret mounted on the RPX 90 wasn’t equipped with radar which was probably just not installed. but the turret can always be used without radar, the player will just have to use their eyes to find the planes. this disposition makes the RPX 90 become an anti-aircraft vehicle and adds to the offer of the RPX 90.
the RPX 90 wasn’t a success. no contract came to LOHR at all. the company didn’t manage to make the name they hoped for.

Firepower
the Mistral missiles are pretty good missiles against aircraft. the missiles will often deal critical damage on a plane when it hit. if the planes do not crash right away, it would surely have to return to base as it would not be likely to have the proper control. the turret itself has 6 missiles, there might be more missiles stored inside the turret but it matters little as 6 missiles are going to be enough to clear the sky. As the BR of this vehicle (due to the fact it has no radar) shall be low enough to fight jets without countermeasure. the turret offers good flexibility and agility that allow it to follow the planes. while a bit slower than a gun turret, it does not need to aim directly at the planes all the time but just aims at them from a good distance to launch the missiles. the missiles use infrared passive homing guidance.

Mobility
the RPX 90 offers a very high mobility. the vehicle weighing about 9.2 tonnes is powered by a 250 hp engine. the power-weight ratio normally around 25 hp/tonnes gives it a high acceleration that would be pretty comparable to the R3 T20 FA-HS which is infamous for its high speed. the vehicle’s top speed reaching 105 km/h on the road would sometimes allow the players to reach 70 km/h off-road on flat terrain. if you want to raise your acceleration further, you can always turn your turret backward and fire a few shots to make the recoils give you a bit of buff in the acceleration. vehicles have hydraulically assisted steering, 6 forward and 1 backward speed gearbox, and all wheels break.

the weight was stated in Jane’s armor and artillery 1985-86 which mentioned the MARS F4 turret in the description which led me to assume the weight is the one with the MARS F4 turret. the Mars F4 turret weight 2.600 kg, and the Sental turret weight 1.800 kg

Protection
the protection of the hull is unspecified in thickness, but it is indicated in the protection level. it was simply said to have protection against small armed and splinter all around. made of welded steel, this means a thickness of 8 to 12mm (like the AML and ERC from Panhard) this protection is a bit light and would make the armored car easy to take out. but the small size is a great advantage. 2.52 m tall, the vehicles will offer a pretty small target. the crew of 3 men is a bit small, the driver is placed in the center at the front of the hull while the gunner and commander are below the turret. this makes it easy to take out the crew with a single shot. the engine is at the rear. the turret armor is unknown, but it wasn’t intended to offer any actual protection in combat. the protection would be minimal.

Sources

Jane's armour and artillery 1985-86