18 January 2001

The Henschel Defense Systems Transportpanzer 1 (Fuchs) was originally developed in the 1960s to meet German Army requirements. Some 996 vehicles were produced between 1979 and 1986. Rheinmetall Landsysteme now owns Henschel.

Since then, production has been resumed for the export market, mainly for specialised roles such as NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) reconnaissance, which the US Army adopted as the M93. General Dynamics Land Systems is the prime contractor for the US Army vehicles. During the 1990-91 Gulf War, Henschel supplied NBC reconnaissance vehicles to Israel, the UK and the USA.

The basic vehicle is fully amphibious with two propellers mounted on either side at the rear. Standard equipment includes an NBC protection system and passive night vision equipment.

An upgraded version of the Fuchs has been fielded for use in the former Yugoslavia with a higher level of armour protection and protection for the 7.62mm machine gun mounted over the forward part of the roof.

Specifications

Crew: 2 + 10

Configuration: 6 x 6

Armament: 1x 7.62mm machine gun

Combat weight: 19,000kg

Power-to-weight ratio: 16.84hp/tonne

Power pack: Mercedes-Benz OM 402A V-8 diesel developing 320hp coupled to ZF automatic transmission

Length: 6.83m; Width: 2.98m

Height: 2.30m (hull top)

Max speed: 105km/h

Range: 800km

Airportable: C-130 Hercules

Status

Production complete, but can be resumed. In its basic troop-carrying role the only export user is Venezuela, which now has 10 vehicles.

Variants

German Army variants include: standard troop carrier, NBC reconnaissance vehicle, C2 vehicle, RASIT radar carrier, engineer vehicle, electronic warfare vehicle and supply carrier. Can also be adopted for a wider range of roles including ambulance, mortar vehicle (81mm or 120mm), anti-tank guided weapon carrier, cargo carrier, recovery or maintenance vehicle and infantry fighting vehicle. All have been projected for export; some models have prototypes built.

Manufacturer

Rheinmetall Landsysteme (formerly Henschel Defense Systems), Kassel, Germany

The Henschel Defense Systems Transportpanzer 1 (Fuchs) (Source: Henschel Defense Systems)