Today South Africa is classified as a country with a developed defense industry. The South African military-industrial complex has achieved significant success in the development of wheeled armored vehicles for various purposes. Today, the country produces both light armored vehicles and multi-wheeled MRAPs, as well as full-fledged Rooikat wheeled tanks, armed with 76 mm or 105 mm cannons. Rooikat ("Caracal") is one of the most famous combat vehicles of South African production.
Rooikat history
The understanding that the Eland 90 cannon wheeled armored car (licensed version of the French armored vehicles of the AML 245 family) is obsolete came to the South African military already in 1968. It took two years of the border war in Namibia, which at that time was a colony of the Republic of South Africa. The fighting confirmed that the Eland armored vehicles have insufficient maneuverability in off-road conditions and are vulnerable to enemy fire, their armor could not withstand even large-caliber machine guns, and in close combat, even armor-piercing bullets of rifle calibers posed a danger to the vehicle and crew. The maximum thickness of Eland's armor did not exceed 10 mm.
The fighting against the Angolan army confirmed that the Eland 90 is not sufficiently effective against enemy tanks, as the South African military would like. The armored car's gun easily penetrated T-34-85 tanks, but against the more advanced Soviet vehicles of post-war production - T-55 and T-62, it was not effective enough. The use of cumulative shells made it possible to hit targets with 320 mm of armor (located at an angle of 90 degrees), but not in all cases, the penetration of the tank became the reason for its failure. At the same time, the hit of any 100-mm or 115-mm tank shell in the Eland 90 armored vehicle is guaranteed to lead to its complete destruction and the death of the crew. The same applied to the more modern South African Ratel armored vehicles. At the same time, even tanks became the worst enemy of wheeled armored vehicles of South Africa, and the much more common and invisible 23-mm automatic cannons - ZU-23, 23-mm shells of this installation easily hit all types of South African armored vehicles.
Summarizing the combat experience gained, the military leadership of South Africa already in 1974 formulated technical requirements for the creation of a new wheeled armored vehicle, which was to become a new generation vehicle. The main requirements for the new armored vehicle were: armor that reliably protects in the frontal projection from shells of 23-mm Soviet cannons; the presence of a diesel engine; the presence of a long-barreled 76-mm or 105-mm gun, which allows hitting T-55 and T-62 tanks from a distance of up to 2000 meters; the maximum speed is about 100 km / h, the cruising range is 1000 km. In addition, it was especially noted that the new armored vehicle should surpass the previous models in cross-country ability, mobility and maneuverability.
By 1976, South African designers had prepared three concepts for the future armored vehicle. The new equipment was tested in 1978, the tests lasted for about a year. The result was the selection of concept number two, bearing the designation Eland Rooikat. This combat vehicle was distinguished by the best armor and most of all corresponded to the concept of a wheeled tank. By 1983, the last prototype of the future serial wheeled armored vehicle Rooikat was ready. Tests, which lasted until 1987, ended with the adoption of a new armored vehicle by the South African army. In total, during serial production in South Africa, about 240 of these wheeled tanks were assembled.
Features of the design of the armored car Rooikat
All Rooikat armored vehicles are built according to the 8x8 wheel arrangement, while the crew has the ability to switch to 8x4 mode. The combat weight of the vehicle turned out to be quite impressive and reaches 28 tons. Considering the mass of equipment and the requirements of the military, the designers paid a lot of attention to the suspension and its survivability. The armored vehicle is able to move even with the loss of two wheels from one of the sides. During the tests, one of the cars made many kilometers of forced marches on the savanna with the missing front wheel, which did not affect the mobility of the Rooikat in any way.
The Rooikat wheeled tank has a classic layout. In the front of the combat vehicle there is a control compartment, in the middle of the hull there is a fighting compartment, which is crowned by a turret rotating 360 degrees, in the rear of the hull there is an engine compartment. An automatic fire extinguishing system was placed in the fighting compartment and in the MTO, which increases the survivability of the armored vehicle in combat conditions. Homogeneous steel armor in the frontal part of the hull provides reliable protection against Soviet 23-mm armor-piercing ammunition fired even at close range. The side armor protects the vehicle from small arms fire and artillery shell fragments. In the sides of the hull, between the second and third axles, there are hatches, which are designed for emergency escape of the armored vehicle. The bottom of the armored car has mine protection. The tests carried out show that the survival of the crew is achieved when detonated on Soviet-made TM-46 anti-tank mines.
The driver's seat was located in the front of the combat vehicle in the center. Above his seat there is a hatch that allows you to leave the wheeled tank, three periscopic observation devices are installed in the hatch. In the stowed position, the mechanic could control a combat vehicle using a slightly open hatch. The tower houses the seats for the three remaining crew members. The commander sits on the right side of the 76-mm gun, he has at his disposal a commander's cupola, in which 8 fixed observation devices are installed. To the left of the gun is the gunner's seat, who has at his disposal a GS-35 periscope sight with a built-in laser rangefinder. The sight is installed on the roof of the tower and has two channels (8x day channel and 7x night channel). In addition, the gunner also has a telescopic 5, 5x sight. Also in the tower is the loader's place, so the crew of the armored car consists of four people.
The heart of the wheeled armored car is a 10-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, delivering a maximum power of 563 hp. The engine is paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Engine power is sufficient to accelerate an armored vehicle with a combat weight of 28 tons to 120 km / h (when driving on a highway). When driving off-road, the maximum travel speed does not exceed 50 km / h. Diesel engine "Karakala", transmission and cooling system are made in the form of a single unit, this solution simplifies the process of replacing the entire power plant in the field. The driving range on the highway is approximately 1000 km.
The main firepower of the Rooikat wheeled tanks was the long-barreled 76-mm GT4 cannon, which is a variant of the OTO Breda Compact naval artillery mount. A distinctive feature of the gun is the barrel length of 62 caliber. For comparison, the most massive German tank of the Second World War had a long-barreled 75-mm cannon with a barrel length of 48 calibers, while Soviet thirty-fours armed with 76-mm F-34 cannons did not have a barrel length exceeding 41.5 calibers. When using armor-piercing feathered sabot projectiles (BOPS) with a tungsten core, the 76-mm South African GT4 cannon could hit T-54/55, T-62 or M-48 tanks in any projection at a distance of 1500-2000 meters, while the maximum firing range was 3000 meters. The gun pointing angles were quite comfortable and ranged from -10 to +20 degrees.
The fate of the Rooikat project
Despite the fact that the Rooikat wheeled armored car was produced in a fairly large series of 240 units for the South African army, the car did not have much success on the international market, and such equipment practically did not take part in hostilities. In the 15 years that have elapsed since the issuance of the technical assignment to the commissioning in 1989, a lot has changed in the world. The war in the region came to an end, and more modern and heavy armored vehicles appeared in the armament of the neighboring countries of South Africa. At the same time, the Rooikat armored vehicles underwent modernization, and the role of such equipment on the battlefield also changed.
Initially, they were considered by the South African military as full-fledged wheeled tanks or tank destroyers that could fight enemy T-55 and T-62 tanks. But over time, their role on the battlefield shifted to active, combat reconnaissance. A secondary role is combat support for infantry units and counter-guerrilla warfare. The vehicle is still suitable for sabotage raids behind enemy lines or for deep flanking, but fighting enemy armored vehicles has become a much more difficult task, often simply unpromising. As a wheeled tank, Rooikat armored vehicles with a long-barreled 76-mm cannon no longer meet the challenges of the time, while remaining a rather formidable combat vehicle.
In South Africa, there were a large number of options for the modernization of "Karakala", including the creation of a tank destroyer armed with a rifled 105-mm gun, but such a model was built in a single copy, the new armored vehicle did not find buyers on the international arms market. The tank destroyer with a 105-mm gun was fully ready by 1994; the end of the Cold War and the oversaturation of the market with armored vehicles from different countries (primarily the USSR and the socialist camp) negatively affected its fate. In addition, South African engineers have created on the basis of Rooikat several projects of reconnaissance vehicles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. These developments also did not fire on the international market, where many countries preferred the time-tested (one might say older), but also cheaper Soviet-made armored vehicles.
The performance characteristics of Rooikat:
Wheel formula - 8x8.
Overall dimensions: body length - 7, 1 m (with a gun - 8, 2 m), width - 2, 9 m, height - 2, 8 m.
Combat weight - 28 tons.
The power plant is a 10-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with a capacity of 563 hp.
Maximum speed - 120 km / h (highway), 50 km / h (rough terrain).
Progress in store - 1000 km (on the highway).
Armament - 76-mm Denel GT4 cannon or 105-mm Denel GT7 cannon and 2x7, 62-mm machine gun.
Ammunition: 48 shots (76 mm) or 32 shots (105 mm), more than 3000 rounds for machine guns.
Crew - 4 people.
