Major Hat Tip to Redken for the vid.
The above vid is a German Army demonstration of river crossing ops. A few things stood out to me.
1. The Fennek recon vehicle is probably a future star. I thought it was fully amphibious so I don't know why they would stop and not swim to the other bank to complete their recon.
2. The contraption for delivering the rubber boats to the area seemed ghetto. I wonder why they would use that instead of a dedicated trailer?
3. The FUCHs is probably the most under appreciated wheeled APC in any nations army...especially the German Army though. After watching this demo I'm more convinced than ever of the need to make your APCs amphibious. Crossing obstacles is one of the major functions of APCs and the thought that you have to do bridging ops to get vehicles like the Boxer or Stryker across gives me pause...it pauses the offensive too...and momentum is paramount in the attack.
All in all not bad for a dog and pony show. Everyone hates this stuff but they probably guaranteed funding for the next fiscal year for a few new toys.
"I'm more convinced than ever of the need to make your APCs amphibious."
ReplyDeleteYes, and this is what I've always argued (and of course, it depends on the geographical features of your country). Ive had people tell me, "NO! they do NOT need to be amphibious!" "we have air transport and bridging!" /rolls eyes/ (fucking idiots)
Everybody thought I was being a re-incarnation of Mike Sparks when I continuously suggested such a thing, yet, anybody who has participated in bridging operations in an armored vehicle (I have) can see the value in such a thing.
We needed amphibious APC/IFVs in Kosovo. We didn't have them. The US Army looked fucking stupid as a result.
French army had fully amphibious VAB, VBL... but whith additionnal armor they removed the capability.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the SCORPION program will result in Heavy armored amphibious APC : don't know yet..
The Fennek is just 1.8 m high (2.2 m including weapon station) and has a wading depth of 1 m.
ReplyDeleteAccording to max. weight of 10.3 t (German army) and a size of 2.5 m width and 5.6 m length (area: 14 m²) the Fennek will start to float at depths greater than 1 m. The engine is located in the back of the vehicle. Just a water jet is missing. As long as the Fuchs is operational there is no need for this update.
There is an additional method to get the Fennek pass deep waters. A one man rubber boat and Fennek's 5t-winch. A secure method to pass unkown riversides where a wheeled vehicle could get stuck in the mud.
http://www.panzer-modell.de/referenz/in_detail/fennek/fennek.htm
Maybe in case of emergency the US army will order some Fennek to replace the M93 Fox. The Fox even has a better power to weight ratio than the M1135 NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle and 300 km more range. The Fennek has twice the range of a Stryker. Allowed speed is 115 km/h or 70 mph.
http://www.deutschesheer.de/portal/a/heer/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP3I5EyrpHK9jNTUIr2S1OSMvMxsvaLEFL201Ly81Gz9gmxHRQCWeq3l/#par1
Btw. the M1127 Reconnaissance Vehicle is 6.95 m long and 2.64 m high: surface 18,4 m²
Fennek 5.6 m long and 1.8 m high: 10.1 m², turn radius 12.6 m and two fit inside a C-130.
This is part of a longer video. Once I have found the link I will pass it on. Your comments regarding the "ghetto" assault boat trailer. Another section of the video shows pioneers and engineering troops creating that very "ghetto" trailer to demonstrate their adaptability and ability to create equipment for available resources.
ReplyDeletei can get with that. makes sense. i just wish i knew that before the vid was posted. do you have a link to the longer video?
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