Dingo 2 sniffs out nuclear threats

Sunday, 22 February, 2009

The latest version of Krauss- Maffei Wegmann’s Dingo 2 All Protected Vehicle in the nuclear chemical (NC) reconnaissance configuration can be seen on Stand B30 in the German pavilion in Hall 8. This version recently entered service with the Austrian Army (12 units) and is fitted with a dedicated equipment package that can rapidly detect and analyse nuclear and chemical threats.

Dingo 2 is a development of the original Dingo 1, of which 147 were supplied to the German Army based on the Unimog 1550 (4x4) chassis. The current production Dingo 2 is based on the latest Mercedes-Benz U-5000 (4x4) Unimog chassis.

Five countries have ordered Dingo 2, including Austria (35), Belgium (220), Czech Republic (21), Germany (299) and Luxembourg (48). It has been deployed on operation in the Lebanon (with Belgium) and in Afghanistan (Czech Republic and Germany).

In its baseline troop-carrying role, Dingo 2 can carry eight people, including commander and driver, and is armed with a roof-mounted manually or remote control weapon station typically armed with a 7.62mm or .50 12.7mm) M2 HB machine gun (MG), or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.

The crew and passengers are seated in a well-protected compartment in the centre of the vehicle. For more specialised missions such as ambulance, NC and command post vehicle, the protected compartment is extended to the rear to create more volume and payload.

Roles of Dingo 2 continue to expand, with Luxembourg ordering the dedicated protected reconnaissance vehicle model with a retractable mast-mounted sensor package.

The German Army has selected Dingo 2 as the platform for a mast-mounted battlefield surveillance role, with two prototype vehicles ordered under the leadership of EADS. These are expected to be followed by 78 production vehicles.

Another addition to the Dingo 2 family has a two-door, three-person cab, to the rear of which can be fitted a cargo body with drop sides and tailgate. It can also be fitted for a more specialised roles such as battle damage repair.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Dingo 2 in specialised nuclear chemical reconnaissance configuration for the Austrian Army