German love to call armored vehicles by the names of various animals did not go away even after the end of the Second World War. It was in the post-war period that Leopard tanks, Lynx reconnaissance vehicles, and Fox armored personnel carriers were in the service of the Bundeswehr. The latter were three-axle wheeled amphibious armored personnel carriers, put into service in 1979. The combat vehicle was actively exported; Algeria is the second largest armored personnel carrier in the park.
The process of creating an armored personnel carrier TPz 1 Fuchs
Work on the creation of a new wheeled armored personnel carrier, which was to be included in the line of armored wheeled vehicles of the second generation for the needs of the Bundeswehr, began in 1961. The first prototypes were presented to the military in 1964. In the course of the work, the project was repeatedly modified, the requirements for the combat vehicle and the composition of the competition participants changed. For example, in 1966, Henschel, Büssing, KHD, Krupp and MAN worked on the creation of their versions of combat vehicles, later Daimler-Benz joined them. At the same time, work directly on the armored personnel carrier, which was adopted by the German army under the designation Fuchs ("Fox"), entered an active phase only in the early 1970s. In the Bundeswehr, the new wheeled armored personnel carriers were supposed to partially replace the tracked M113 SPZ and Hotchkiss SPz 11-2 of American and French production, respectively.
Issuing the terms of reference for the creation of a new combat vehicle, the German military proceeded from the desire to make the design as simple and reliable as possible. This was largely dictated by the conditions of the time. The army of the Federal Republic of Germany at that time was formed by conscription, for this reason the new wheeled armored personnel carrier had to be as simple as possible in management and development. The calculation was made to teach the recruits to operate an armored vehicle as quickly as possible, and thus to reduce training costs. Particular attention was paid to the fact that the armored personnel carrier could be easily serviced and repaired. In fact, the representatives of the Bundeswehr hoped to receive a modern combat vehicle, the level of service of which would correspond to serial trucks. The possibility of providing all-round visibility was discussed separately. At the same time, it was not only about the place of the driver, good visibility was also required to ensure the landing. That is why in the troop compartment, along with the main hatch in the roof of the hull, intended for the installation of various weapons, separate observation devices were installed in the sides and doors of the hull.
Another requirement of the Bundeswehr was the capacity of the car. The armored personnel carrier was supposed to carry up to 10 soldiers with full weapons. At the same time, the soldiers in the troop compartment were planned to provide satisfactory freedom of movement. Ideally, the crew and troopers should have safely survived a 24-hour stay inside a combat vehicle without the appearance of symptoms of premature fatigue. As one of the measures to improve the convenience of finding the landing party inside the combat vehicle, an option with an increase in the height of the hull was considered. But this idea was quickly abandoned, since a high center of gravity would seriously limit cross-country ability, the car lost stability, which could increase the accident rate. Ultimately, the maximum height of the armored personnel carrier was 2300 mm, which is quite comparable to its peer - the Soviet-made BTR-70.
The engineers of Daimler-Benz, one of the leading car manufacturers in Germany, actively worked on the project of the new armored vehicle. It was this company in 1971 that received an order for further improvement of the developed armored personnel carrier with a 6x6 wheel arrangement. Since 1973, Daimler-Benz has handed over to the Federal Armaments Directorate a total of 10 pre-production prototypes of the future wheeled armored personnel carrier, six of which have passed experimental tests directly in the army. In 1979, the vehicle was put into service. The order for the production of new armored personnel carriers was transferred to Thyssen-Henschel in Kassel, which became the general contractor for the project. Later, this company was bought out by Rheinmetall Landsysteme, since 1999 it has been part of the large defense concern Rheinmetall AG. The German TPz 1 Fuchs armored personnel carrier entered the line of new wheeled combat vehicles of the Bundeswehr, which also included the lightweight Condor UR-425 armored personnel carrier with a 4x4 wheel arrangement and the SpPz 2 Luchs combat reconnaissance vehicle with an 8x8 wheel arrangement. All wheeled combat vehicles were united by an increased cruising range (in comparison with tracked vehicles), a long service life and good maintainability.
Design features of the APC TPz 1 Fuchs
For the Fuchs armored personnel carrier, Daimler-Benz engineers chose a layout with a front-mounted control compartment, a mid-engine compartment, and aft airborne compartment. At the same time, the MTO was separated from the compartments with the crew and the landing force by fire partitions. You can get from the control compartment to the troop compartment along the abandoned corridor on the right side of the combat vehicle. The body of the armored personnel carrier is self-supporting all-metal, made of steel armor plates located at rational angles of inclination. The cross-section of the body forms a rhombus. The hull protects the crew and troops from fire from small arms of rifle caliber (including armor-piercing bullets), as well as shell and mine fragments. Later, in the course of modernization, the protection capabilities of the crew and the landing were significantly increased through the use of hinged composite armor.
In the control department there were the places of the driver and commander of the combat vehicle. The view behind the road and the surroundings is provided through a large armored frontal glass, comparable to conventional automobile ones. Also, the view is improved by bulletproof glass installed in the side doors. In combat conditions, all armored glasses are easily covered with steel armored dampers. In such conditions, the crew monitors the terrain with the help of periscopic observation devices located on the roof of the hull. In addition to the doors for leaving the combat vehicle, the crew can use two hatches in the roof of the hull.
The troop compartment, which is located in the rear of the armored personnel carrier, could accommodate up to 10 people. Depending on the models, the number of paratroopers could vary. Gradually, for the standard version of the armored personnel carrier, the number of paratroopers was reduced to 8 people, and the squad itself was seriously modernized, including in terms of ergonomics. Inside the combat vehicle, motorized riflemen are located on the seats along the sides of the hull - facing each other. The main method of boarding / disembarking from a combat vehicle is the aft double-wing door, this is the safest way to leave the armored personnel carrier, which is implemented on almost all representatives of the class. Also, paratroopers can use the hatches in the hull roof for emergency escape from the combat vehicle.
The TPz 1 Fuchs was powered by a Daimler-Benz OM 402A 8-cylinder V-type diesel engine. This engine develops a maximum power of 320 hp. at 2500 rpm. The diesel works in conjunction with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The engine power is enough to accelerate an armored personnel carrier with a combat weight of about 17 tons (standard equipment) to 100 km / h when driving on a highway, the speed of an armored personnel carrier on the water does not exceed 10 km / h. The power reserve is 800 km. The armored personnel carrier has amphibious properties; it moves on water with the help of two propellers and wheels. Maximum payload statements without loss of buoyancy - 4 tons.
In the course of modernization, the combat mass of the armored personnel carrier grew. For example, the TPz 1A7 version, which received additional mounted ceramic MEXAS armor, anti-splinter lining and improved protection against detonation on mines, including a jamming system to protect against radio-controlled landmines, "recovered" to 19 tons. Such armored vehicles were actively used by the Bundeswehr in international missions, including in Afghanistan.
Like all armored vehicles with a wheelbase, the TPz 1 Fuchs armored personnel carrier has excellent mobility and mobility. The 6x6 wheel arrangement and an impressive ground clearance of 400 mm provide the Fox with good cross-country ability. The three-axle chassis with evenly spaced wheels along the base is the hallmark of the car. A similar scheme was often used by European manufacturers of wheeled armored vehicles. Two front axles are controllable, the total turning radius of the armored personnel carrier is 17 meters. In combat conditions, the armored personnel carrier uses special bullet-resistant tires with a built-in internal metal deformation limiter, the diameter of which is less than the diameter of the tire itself. Such a device allows you to travel at a reduced speed for a long time, even with seriously damaged tires.
The armament of the vehicle is represented by a different combination of machine guns: from one 7.62 mm MG-3 machine gun to three such machine guns. On machines with ATGM Milan, a maximum of two machine guns were installed. For self-defense purposes, 6 smoke grenade launchers installed on the sides of the hull are also used. After upgrading to the TPz 1A8 version (in total, it is planned to re-equip 267 combat vehicles that remain in the service of the Bundeswehr) by Rheinmetall, a remotely controlled FLW 200 armament module with a 12, 7-mm M2HB heavy machine gun is installed on part of the armored personnel carrier.
The armored personnel carrier developed in the 1970s continues to serve in the Bundeswehr in 2020, as well as in the armies of other states: Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. After the upgrades that have seriously increased the protection of the crew and the landing force, including from being blown up by mines and improvised explosive devices, the armored personnel carrier still retains its relevance.
