MRAPs - Main Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles

By Wieslaw Pietrzak

MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) are a family of vehicles produced by a variety companies. They are youngest battle vehicles that have been entered on battlefields of 21st century, but firsts MRAPs was developed in the early seventies of 20th century in armed forces of Republic of South Africa. Intense development these constructions in the beginning of 21st century was initiate by new, highly effective way of fighting which was put into practise Islamic guerillas and terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. They focused on attacks on vehicles of allied forces by homemade mines – so-called improvised explosive devices (IEDs). New weapon turned out to be a surprisingly effective and allied forces was completely not prepared for such a development of events – most wheeled vehicles of US Army was not armored.
As an immediate remedy Pentagon soon launched a program VHA (Vehicle Hardening Program). The armor protection of the vehicle include mine protection, roadside bombs and ballistic protection of the full, roof protection from overhead airburst and side protection against fragmentation and blast.
On October 1, 2012, the Pentagon officially closed the MRAP production line. As of that date, 27,740 MRAP vehicles of all types had rolled off the assembly lines of seven manufacturers, and 12,726 vehicles were still in the Afghanistan theater of operations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wieslaw Pietrzak
• Release date: Jul 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301036011

Book preview

MRAPs

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected

Vehicles

Wiesław B. Pietrzak

Copyright © 2013 by Wiesław B. Pietrzak

Cover design Wiesław B. Pietrzak

Interior design Wiesław B. Pietrzak

Smashwords Editions

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

mail to author: [e-mail]

Table of Content

Title page

Table of Content

Sources of information

Introduction

Aravis APC

Buffalo MPCV

Bushmaster IMV

Caiman MTV

Casspir Mk6

Cougar H

Dingo 2

Gefas

Mastiff 2

MaxxPro MRAP

Oshkosh M-ATV

Ranger PPV

RG-31 Mk5

RG-33

RG-35

Ridgback

Wolfhound TSV

Sources of information

www.defense-update.com

www.army-technology.com

www.armyguide.com

www.armyrecognition.com

www.australiandefence.com.au

www.thalesgroup.com.au

www.baesystems.com

www.defenceweb.co

www.military-today.com

globalsecurity.org

www.army.mod.uk

www.oshkoshdefense.com

www.defencemanagement.com

www.navistardefense.com

www.wikipedia.org

Introduction

MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) are a family of vehicles produced by a variety companies. They are characterized by a V-shaped hull and armor plating designed to provide protection against mines and improvised explosive devices. They are youngest battle vehicles that have been entered on battlefields of 21st century, but firsts MRAPs was developed in the early seventies of 20th century in armed forces of Republic of South Africa.

The problem of protection of wheeled vehicles crews from landmines and minefields was noticed during peace mission of UN in Cambodia first time. Later peace missions on former Yugoslavia territory and actions of pro Islamic guerrilla forces fighting by means of booby traps turning attention to the South African wheeled constructions.

Intense development these constructions in the beginning of 21st century was initiate by new, highly effective way of fighting which was put into practise Islamic guerillas and terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. They focused on attacks on vehicles of allied forces by homemade mines – so-called improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

New weapon turned out to be a surprisingly effective and allied forces was completely not prepared for such a development of events – most wheeled vehicles of US Army was not armored.

As an immediate remedy Pentagon soon launched a program VHA (Vehicle Hardening Program) and to the end of 2004 all cars of the U.S. forces in Iraq were given a variety of armor kits. At the same time the U.S. announced a program to build a new type of vehicle, that would be structurally resistant to explosions of mines and solidly protected against fire from heavy machine guns and even grenade launchers.

The design maintains the standard chassis to ensure commonality and enable worldwide support, while assembling the modular, V-shaped crew compartment hull on top. The V-shaped hull helps to deflect any blasts from underneath the truck to dissipate around the crew area, minimizing damage. The chassis types selected for the bid include commercial trucks built to carry heavy loads, therefore accommodating the weight of protective armor built into the truck design. This design maintains the vehicle's maneuverability even under full loads.

The armor protection of the vehicle include mine protection, roadside bombs and ballistic protection of the full, roof protection from overhead airburst and side protection against fragmentation and blast. The transparent armor windows have protection level equal to or greater than that of the ballistic armor on the vehicle, and will have built-in gun-ports. RPG protection could also be an option.

On October 1, 2012, the Pentagon officially closed the MRAP production line. As of that date, 27,740 MRAP vehicles of all types had rolled off the assembly lines of seven manufacturers, and 12,726 vehicles were still in the Afghanistan theater of operations. About 870 were sold to foreign militaries, with 700 on foreign order.

Aravis APC

All-Terrain Armored Personnel Carrier, France

Aravis, the multipurpose heavily protected armoured vehicle, has been developed by Nexter Systems. Nexter Systems is part of the Nexter Group which was created in 2006 and is fully owned by Giat Industries. The first vehicle was shown at the Eurosatory 2008 Defence Exhibition in Paris in June 2008. In August 2008, the Aravis demonstrated its capabilities to a test area in United Arab Emirates. During the test, the Aravis run 1,700km on road, desert, and mountainous terrain with temperature of more than 50°.

Orders

The French Ministry of Defense awarded Nexter an order for the delivery of 15 production versions of the new Aravis vehicles for Armee de Terre (fr. Army), to be operated by combat engineer units tasked with route clearance. The order forms part of its €2.4bn economy stimulation plan. Initial deliveries are expected in January 2010, when delivered first four Aravis vehicles. Saudi Arabia placed a firm order for 73 Aravis armoured vehicles at the end of 2011.

The first vehicle was shown at the Eurosatory 2008 Defence Exhibition in Paris in June 2008, photo: Nexter

The 15 highly protected vehicles are used by the French Army for reconnaissance assignments on potentially mined routes. Aravis provide protected mobility for the combat engineers escorting the Buffalo counter-IED armored vehicle and Souvim route clearance equipment.

Self-protection features

Nexter describes the protection level as 4-4-4-4 in reference to the STANAG 4569 (NATO standardisation agreement): Level 4 ballistic protection able to defeat 14.5mm threats, Level 4 mine