- Yes
- No
Spoiler
Introduction:
During 2002 the Industrial and Automotive Design (IAD) from South Africa set out to developed a compact and agile mine-protected 4x4 vehicle known as the FV4 “Iguana” for the Belgium defence firm Sabiex as part of a private venture for the export market. During 2009 BAE Land Systems OMC from South Africa acquired the intellectual property of the FV4 “Iguana” from Sabiex, now labeled the RG34 and becoming part of the RG family of vehicles. BAE Land Systems OMC developed various RG34 variants, such as an armed scout equipped with the TRT-25 turret, a fire support variant equipped with an Eland-90 turret and a tank destroyer variant equipped with the ALRRT-4M turret. For this forum post we will focus on the RG34 fitted with the Eland 90 turret. The turret consisted of a 90mm low pressure gun, with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun as well as a roof mounted 7.62mm machine gun. The turret also featured 81mm smoke grenades fitted on each side of the turret facing forward.
Spoiler
Specifications:
Main armament: 90mm GT-2
Shell types: HEATFS, HE, Smoke
Secondary armament: Two 7.62mm MG4 machine guns
Smoke grenades: Four 81mm smoke grenades
Turret armour: (front 12mm), (sides 10mm), (rear 10mm), (roof 10mm)
Crew: Three (commander, gunner, driver)
Engine: Turbocharged intercooled
Horsepower: 215hp (160kW)
Gearbox: five-speed (automatic)
Top Speed: 105km/h
Spoiler
Primary sources:
BAE Systems RG34 Brochure
Surviving the Ride written by Steve camp and Helmoed Romer Heitman (page 306-309)
South African Armoured Vehicles “A history of innovation and excellence” written by Dr Dewald Venter (page 5-6,12-14)
Secondary sources:
DefenceWeb (BAE Systems announces RG34): https://www.defenceweb.co.za/land/land-land/bae-systems-announces-rg34/
Army Technology (RG34 Multi-Purpose Mine Protected Vehicle (MPMPV): https://www.army-technology.com/projects/rg34-mine-protected-vehicle/
Spoiler
