Mowag Puma MRS-80, Rockets on wheels

CaID · May 6, 2024, 12:50am

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caid’s suggestion #43

I would like to suggest a Swiss armored car, The Mowag Puma MRS-80

after the relative success of the MR-8 Wotan and the lighter Rolan, Mowag wanted to propose a heavier wheeled APC. an APC that offers better protection and carry capacity without reduction of mobility. the development was launched in the early 1960s and the prototype was built in 1966. The new vehicle named Puma was designed to meet the highest standard of the armored cars of that time. the vehicle featured 3 axes and was 15 tonnes which allowed it to carry more embarked soldiers and heavier armament. at this time, the Puma was one of the best armoured car APC available but this was only for a very short time. the Puma was rather expensive and heavier than what the potential buyer needed. the heavyweight was making it hard to carry and reduced his range. despite being well-designed and marketed, the Puma saw no orders. the offer was supplemented by the Piranha which entered production in 1972.

the last attempt at selling the Puma came in the late 60s, when the vehicle was refitted with the Oerlikon MRS-80 turret, this turret was capable of heavy fire support and had anti-tank capacity. This version was intended for the assault and was created specifically for clearing the landing zone during an amphibious assault. but Mowag fails to convince the customer to order this version. probably due to the effectiveness of this system while the vehicles were in the water.

Firepower

This version of the Tornado was armed with a MRS-80 turret. this turret is the same as mounted on the Swedish U-SH 405. That allows the tank to have quite a good firepower against other vehicles and makes it a proper tank hunter. this turret is more adapted to close combat than the RWk-007 was. the turret featured a twin 81mm rocket launcher, each with an auto-loader with 9 rounds each. the vehicle probably does not carry additional rounds but it is still possible it did by removing the passenger’s sit.

Mobility

the Puma is powered by a Mowag 8-cylinder M8DV. this engine provides 320 hp. weighting 15 tonnes, this vehicle is pretty light for its engine and it gives it a power-weight ratio of over 20 hp tonnes. the vehicle is 6x6 which gives it a fairly heavier pressure for each wheel over most vehicles. but it remains pretty good on the road. with a top speed of 80 km/h on the road, this vehicle is fairly fast. The transmission offers 6 forward speeds and 2 backward. this makes it accelerate quite smoothly and even the reverse speed is decent. the vehicle is also amphibious and powered in the water with 2x water propeller which gives it a speed of 12 km/h in the water. off-road it was reported to be capable of 42 km/h which is still pretty good (better than most tanks)

Protection

the protection of this vehicle is unknown, but since the weight and size are similar and the Shark was related to this development, it is assumed the protection was at least against HMG on the front side. that should give a frontal armor of about 20mm and 15mm on the side, but this is only a guess. the vehicle had a fairly large empty spot on the rear which was for the passenger. that means it can take a direct hit on the rear without suffering any real damage. the crew is limited to 3 men which include a driver and commander in the front and a gunner in the turret. the turret also features 6x smoke launcher to produce some cover.

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Armament

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JamesPond1200 · May 6, 2024, 1:23am

A bigger U-SH? Fun! +1