Jonathan sent me this article about 3 British soldiers surviving an IED attack in Scimitar Mk2. Thanks Jonathan...but to be honest I didn't know what a "Scimitar" was...low and behold its a recce vehicle thats been in service forever plus one day. Read the article here but the good part...
The members of 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Dragoon Guards were unhurt because their new 35-ton Scimitar Mk2 combat vehicle has been specially designed to absorb IED blasts.Interesting. I thought for sure this vehicle was south of 20 tons but at 35 tons its an absolute beast! Its practically in Bradley and Puma territory size wise.
The Welsh Cavalry trio were on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand, when they were hit by the explosion last week.
Vehicle commander Lieutenant Peter Gordon-Finlayson said the massive blast stunned the crew for a few moments before they realised they had survived.
Scimitars, deployed in Afghanistan only two months ago, are part of the British Army’s new CVRT – Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked fleet – which have had improved plates of armour attached to protect crew against blasts.
Lt Gordon-Finlayson 26, from Marlborough, Wiltshire, said: “It felt like a car crash, and it took me a few moments to take it all in. But the training soon kicked in for all of us."
The new version is 35 tons?!?!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the original was actually around the 10 ton mark, but this new version does have the body of an entirely different vehicle, plus a whole lot of new armour added. Still 35 tons is a big jump.
I guess that it isn't as big a deal that we are planning on replacing it with a 40 ton ASCOD (FRES SV) then.