TPz Fuchs

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TPz 1 Fuchs with modular armor (MSA)

Fuchs with Radar equipment RASIT

In British service

TPz (Transportpanzer) Fuchs (fox) is an armoured personnel carrier developed by Daimler-Benz and built by Thyssen-Henschel (now Rheinmetall Landsysteme) in 1979. It was the second wheeled armoured vehicle to be fielded in the Bundeswehr. It is used for various different tasks including troop-transport, engineer-transport, bomb disposal, NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) reconnaissance and electronic warfare. By mixing and matching the different models and retrofit kits, today more than 90 different combinations are possible, 32 of which have so far been produced. The TPz Fuchs is thus also referred to as a "retrofit platform".

The vehicles engine is a Mercedes-Benz Model OM 402A V-8 liquid-cooled diesel with an output of 320 hp. It has a max speed of 105 km/h and a range of 800 km. Fuchs is 7.33 m long, 2.98 m wide and 2.37 m high. It weighs 18.3 tons with the capability to carry additional 6 tons in equipment. The 6x6 APC is characterized by high performance over all terrains and low noise. Its rear-mounted propellers and 360° turning range, enable the vehicle to take water obstacles in its stride at up to 10km/h.

[edit] Improvements over the years

The vehicle's ability to withstand high-performance, armour-piercing ammunition fired not only from small arms but also from lightweight carriage-mounted machineguns, as well as shrapnel (e.g. from artillery rounds), and to augment its protection against anti-personnel and antitank mines had to be improved.

Due to the weight and volume restrictions they had to use advanced armour materials to meet the protection specifications. Compared to equally effective steel or aluminium alloy armour, modern armour materials enable weight savings of 50% or more.

The modular armour protection system used in the TPz Fuchs encompasses six harmonized, complementary elements which in part operate in coordinated fashion:

add-on armour mounted to the exterior of the vehicle housing;
anti-mine protective plating in the wheel cases;
reinforced bullet-proof windows;
reinforced bullet-proof visors for shielding the window exteriors;
spall-lining of all interior surfaces of the vehicle compartment, and
a shielded gun mounting (except on the medical vehicles).

[edit] Vehicles use

Most of the vehicles are in service with the German Army (1,031 - 123 upgraded) the rest are in the armed forces of Saudi Arabia (36), The Netherlands (23), United Kingdom (11), USA (123, as M93 Fox) and Venezuela (10). The Fuchs served in Gulf war and in peace-keeping operations with German KFOR troops in former Yugoslavia and with German ISAF in Afghanistan.