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| The as yet unblooded mine-resistant Foxhound replaces the Snatch Land Rover, which UK soldiers dubbed the ‘mobile coffin’. |
NOW here is a race waiting to happen — if only to satisfy
humankind’s genetically rooted drive to find and wield a better weapon.
Following BAE System’s announcement earlier this month that it has
secured a contract for more than €12,5 million (R132,2 million) to supply 25
RG32M mine-hardened armoured patrol vehicles to the Finnish defence forces, the
British Army has announced it will replace the Snatch Land Rover with the new
Foxhound.
Like the eight-ton RG32M, the Foxhound is a heavy-duty armoured
rover designed to soldier through explosions.
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| FAR LEFT: The Benoni-built
RG32M is deployed in conflict zones across the world. The Irish even have a double-cab version. |
The soft-bodied Snatch, which soldiers dubbed the “mobile coffin”,
did not soldier through explosions.
General Dynamics Land Systems: Force Protection Europe, the
contractor that builds the Foxhound, boasted that it has partnered with a team
of engineers from BMW, McLaren F1, Ricardo and the World Rally Championships to
outfit the Foxhound with speed capabilities up to 112 km/h.
By comparison, the “bomb bakkie from Benoni” had a guy called Koos
to tune its springs to take a jump with all eight tons without breaking
anything, and Vernon Koekemoer wrote its handbook. No, serijas,
“the” Vernon Koekemoer — whose face is on all the posters in Chuck Norris’s room
— wrote the handbook that tells troopies how to drive the RG32M and survive nine
kilograms of TNT going off under it.
And having been in it, this reporter can report that the RG32M will
go faster than the Foxhound despite all the Brit’s racing pedigree.
An all-purpose, mine-hardened vehicle, with integrated ballistic
protection, the Benoni bakkie rose to fame when U.S. troops started demanding
it, seeing as how the Brits riding in them not only survived bomb blasts in
places like Afghanistan, but continued driving.
There are currently 200 RG32M vehicles in service with the Swedish
armed forces, as well as 27 light tactical versions in service with the Irish
defence forces.
The as yet unblooded Foxhound has only seen action at the Defence
Vehicle Dynamics Exhibition this week.
The MOD has ordered a total of 300 units at a cost of £270 million.
The Foxhound purchase is part of a 10-year, £5,5 billion armoured vehicle
programme.
BAE’s latest contract follows Finland’s previous orders for 26
vehicles in 2010, and 23 vehicles in 2011.
“The RG32M, as part of the battle-proven RG range of vehicles,
provides a great balance between protection and mobility.
“Finland’s follow-on order demonstrates its confidence in BAE
Systems’ solutions to help protect the men and women in uniform,” explained
Johan Steyn, managing director, Land Systems South Africa.
BAE starts delivering its next batch of Benoni-built bakkies in
April 2013, and expects to finish the order in July 2013.
