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Description: The Mowag Tornado was a Swiss IFV made in the Cold War, developed from the Mowag Pirate. The first version of the vehicle, the Tornado 1, was developed in the early 1960s by the Swiss company Mowag, but it didn’t generate a lot of interest and never entered serial production. The same fate happened to its successor, the Tonardo 2, an evolution armed with a single 20-mm cannon and a 450-hp diesel engine. The prototype was completed in 1968, but like its previous version, it didn’t gather any interest and was abandoned relatively soon. One thing to mention is that the Italian army bought the prototype for testing. The last member of the family was simply designated as Tornado and featured various upgrades regarding the engine, armaments, etc. It was offered to the Swiss army, which tested it for a while, but it was never ordered. Regarding the technical characteristics of the veichle (Tornado 2), it was equipped with frontal armor capable of withstand 23 to 14.5 mm shells in order to protect the troops inside. In the mobility department, the Tornado featured a 450-hp Mowag model M8TK 8-cylinder diesel engine positioned after the driver position. Thanks to this engine, the Tornado was able to move forward and backward at a maximum speed of 70 km/h, which made it a pretty fast vehicle for its time. The armaments were a single RH202 cannon capable of shooting both AP and APDS rounds and a pair of 7.62 MG42 machineguns in the back in two remote Turrets. Regarding the unit bought by the Italian army, in 1970 the Italian army was looking for a new IFV platform to equip its regiments. Many options were taken into consideration, like the German Marder 1A3, the Luchs, and others. Among these was the Mowag Tornado, the evolution of the Mowag Pirate (a troop transport made previously for the Italian army and bought in 4 units). In 1971, the only prototype of the Mowag Tornado 2 was bought and tested in the following years. But the tests didn’t persuade enough of the Italian army, and the vehicle was abandoned. Its fate is unknown. The Italian also tested a version with a 25 mm gun but It was rejected too.
Why it should be in game: It could give to the Italian tt an equivalent to the wiesel 1A4
Specifications
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Lenght: 6.05 m
Width: 3.15 m
Height: 2.5 m
Weight: 20.5 tons
Engine: Mowag model M8TK 8 cylinder diesel engine
Max speed: 70 km/h
Transmissions: Hydro mecanically steer/shit with 6 speed in both directions
Armaments: 1x RH202 20 mm cannon and 3x 7.62 mm machinguns
Crew: Commander, Driver, Loader, Gunner
Sources:
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Gli Autoveicoli dell’esercito Volume IV
Janes armoured personal carriers
Mowag Tornado infantry fighting vehicle - Wikipedia
Pictures
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