| Rooikat | |
|---|---|
 Rooikat 105 | |
| Type | Armoured fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin | South Africa |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1990 – present |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1976 |
| Produced | 1989 – present |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 28 tonne |
| Length |
7.1 m (23 ft 4 in) 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) with gun forward |
| Width | 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) |
| Height | 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) turret roof |
| Crew | 4 |
|
| |
Main armament |
1 x Denel GT4 76mm 62-calibre rifled gun, firing an APFSDS round Muzzle velocity: > 1600m/s.[1][2] |
Secondary armament | 2 x MG4 7.62 mm machine guns; 8 x 81 mm smoke grenade dischargers[2] |
| Engine |
10-cylinder water-cooled diesel 414 KW (563 hp) |
| Power/weight | 14.89kW/t |
| Suspension | 8×8 wheeled, Fully independent active trailing arm |
Operational range | 1000 km (621 mi) |
| Maximum speed |
Road: 120 km/h (75 mph) Off-road: 50 km/h (31 mph) |
The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; literally "Red cat") is a wheeled armoured fighting vehicle built in South Africa for the South African Army. It was designed for combat reconnaissance and seek and destroy operations. Its secondary roles include combat support, anti-armour and anti-guerrilla operations. The Rooikat is intended for deep penetration missions, so the wheeled design was needed for speed and to counter sandy desert conditions that might slow tracked vehicles.
Production history[]
Designed to replace the Eland the Rooikat came too late for the war in Angola. It was designed to incorporate lessons learned from the bush war.[citation needed] One was turned into a conventional vehicle electric drive technology demonstrator (CVED) and displayed at AAD2006 in Cape Town in September of that year. The CVED project involved LMT, HIT, IAD, Nezrotek, Hotchinson (France), Kessler Magnet Motor (Germany) and MTU (Germany). VEG Magazine reported in 2006 the vehicle was fitted with a power supply control system feeding eight wheel-hub mounted M67/0 electric units and a two-phase pneumatic gearbox.
Capability[]
- Can climb a 1m earth vertical step.
- Can cross a 2m wide trench at a crawl 1m @ 60 km/h.
- Can ford water 1,5m deep.
- Can climb a gradient of 70 degrees.
- Can traverse a gradient of 30 degrees.
Variants[]
- Rooikat 76: Denel GT4 76 mm gun
- Rooikat 105: Denel GT7 105 mm gun
Operators[]
South Africa: South African National Defence Force.[3]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ "Rooikat". South African Army. http://www.army.mil.za/equipment/weaponsystems/armour/rooikat_equipm.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rooikat armoured car". DefenceWeb. http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=496&Itemid=362. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- ↑ http://www.army.mil.za/equipment/weaponsystems/armour/rooikat_equipm.htm
External links[]
- Manufacturer's website (Accessed 28 July 2008)
- Factfile on Vehicle (Accessed 25 February 2009)
- Rooikat 105 Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles
- Rooikat 76 Armoured Fighting Vehicle
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The original article can be found at Rooikat and the edit history here.