FV432
Encyclopedia
The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier
variant of the British Army
's FV430 series
of armoured fighting vehicle
s. Since its introduction in the 1960s it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield. In the 1980s, almost 2,500 vehicles were in use, with around 1,500 now remaining in operation - mostly in supporting arms rather than front-line infantry service.
Although the FV432 Series was to have been phased out of service in favour of newer vehicles such as the Warrior
and the CVR(T) series
, they are now gradually being upgraded to extend their service into the next decade.
In the light of the army's need for additional armoured vehicles in the Afghan and Iraq
i theatres, the Ministry of Defence
announced in August 2006 that an extra 70 vehicles would be upgraded by BAE Systems
in addition to the 54 already ordered as part of their force protection initiative. The improvements take the form of an engine upgrade, a new steering unit, and a new braking system, as well as improvement in armour protection to a level similar to that of the Warrior. It is intended that these FV430s will free up the Warrior vehicles for provision of reserve firepower status and/or rotation out of theatre. The updated version is to be called the Bulldog.
The FV432 is an all-steel construction. The FV432 chassis is a conventional tracked design with the engine at the front and the driving position to the right. Directly behind the driver position is the vehicle commander's hatch. There is a large split-hatch round opening in the passenger compartment roof and a side-hinged door in the rear for loading and unloading. As in many designs of its era there are no firing ports for the troops carried - British Army doctrine has always been to dismount from vehicles to fight. The passenger compartment has five seats either side - these fold up to provide a flat cargo space.
An NBC
system on the right side of the hull gives fresh air for the troops. Wading screens and a trim vane were fitted as standard and an extension went on the exhaust pipe. The vehicle has a water speed of about 6 km/h when converted for swimming and was propelled by its tracks. Most of these vehicles have had their amphibious capability removed.
FV432s in service with infantry regiments are equipped with a pintle-mounted L7 GPMG (if not fitted with the Peak Engineering turret). Vehicles with the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Signals were originally fitted with the L4A4 variant of the Bren light machine gun, but they now use the GPMG. When equipped with the GPMG, the vehicle carries 1,600 rounds of belted 7.62mm ammunition; when carrying the Bren LMG, the vehicle carried 1,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition (50 magazines, each holding 28 rounds). There are two three-barrel smoke dischargers at the front.
A number of surplus vehicles were sold to the Indian Army
after being withdrawn from British service. Seventeen others have since been converted by a company in Leicestershire
for use in Tank Paintball
.
Many FV432s are privately owned in the UK due to the relatively low price they are available for.
The FV432 has proven to be flexible in use and can be converted from one role to another with reasonable ease using 'installation kits' (IK) or more permanently with minor modifications to the hull. Major or more significant modifications have usually led to a new FV43n number. In addition to the normal armoured personnel carrier
role, it has been used as:
FV432s used by combat infantry units have also been equipped with:
FV432s used by the Royal Artillery
have been equipped with:
FV432s used by the Royal Engineers
have been equipped with:
and IED jammers have been added. Initially only these further enhanced versions were known by the name Bulldog but the term now appears to be applied to all Mark 3 vehicles.
Some privately owned FV432 have been modified into World War II vehicles for films and re-enactment. At least one FV432 which had been modified into a Sturmgeschütz III
appeared in the television mini-series Band of Brothers. Another privately-owned FV432 in the south of England is being used for war games and military simulations by Ground Zero Airsoft.
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
variant of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's FV430 series
FV430 series
The FV430 series covers a number of armoured fighting vehicles of the British Army, all built on the same chassis. The most common of the series is the FV432 armoured personnel carrier....
of armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s. Since its introduction in the 1960s it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield. In the 1980s, almost 2,500 vehicles were in use, with around 1,500 now remaining in operation - mostly in supporting arms rather than front-line infantry service.
Although the FV432 Series was to have been phased out of service in favour of newer vehicles such as the Warrior
Warrior Tracked Armoured Vehicle
The Warrior tracked vehicle family is a series of British armoured vehicles, originally developed to replace the older FV430 series of armoured vehicles. The Warrior started life as the MCV-80 project that was first broached in the 1970s, GKN Sankey/Defence winning the production contract in 1980....
and the CVR(T) series
Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance —or CVR—is a family of armoured fighting vehicles s in service with the British Army and others throughout the world...
, they are now gradually being upgraded to extend their service into the next decade.
In the light of the army's need for additional armoured vehicles in the Afghan and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i theatres, the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
announced in August 2006 that an extra 70 vehicles would be upgraded by BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
in addition to the 54 already ordered as part of their force protection initiative. The improvements take the form of an engine upgrade, a new steering unit, and a new braking system, as well as improvement in armour protection to a level similar to that of the Warrior. It is intended that these FV430s will free up the Warrior vehicles for provision of reserve firepower status and/or rotation out of theatre. The updated version is to be called the Bulldog.
History
The FV432 was designed to be the armoured personnel carrier in the FV430 series. Production started in 1962 by GKN Sankey and ended in 1971 giving approximately three thousand vehicles.The FV432 is an all-steel construction. The FV432 chassis is a conventional tracked design with the engine at the front and the driving position to the right. Directly behind the driver position is the vehicle commander's hatch. There is a large split-hatch round opening in the passenger compartment roof and a side-hinged door in the rear for loading and unloading. As in many designs of its era there are no firing ports for the troops carried - British Army doctrine has always been to dismount from vehicles to fight. The passenger compartment has five seats either side - these fold up to provide a flat cargo space.
An NBC
CBRN
CBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
system on the right side of the hull gives fresh air for the troops. Wading screens and a trim vane were fitted as standard and an extension went on the exhaust pipe. The vehicle has a water speed of about 6 km/h when converted for swimming and was propelled by its tracks. Most of these vehicles have had their amphibious capability removed.
FV432s in service with infantry regiments are equipped with a pintle-mounted L7 GPMG (if not fitted with the Peak Engineering turret). Vehicles with the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Signals were originally fitted with the L4A4 variant of the Bren light machine gun, but they now use the GPMG. When equipped with the GPMG, the vehicle carries 1,600 rounds of belted 7.62mm ammunition; when carrying the Bren LMG, the vehicle carried 1,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition (50 magazines, each holding 28 rounds). There are two three-barrel smoke dischargers at the front.
A number of surplus vehicles were sold to the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
after being withdrawn from British service. Seventeen others have since been converted by a company in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
for use in Tank Paintball
Paintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
.
Many FV432s are privately owned in the UK due to the relatively low price they are available for.
Variants
The FV432 has been produced in three major variants, the Mark 1 (with a Mark 1/1 minor variant) with petrol engines, the Mark 2 with a Rolls-Royce K60 multi-fuel engine and the Mark 3 with a diesel engine. The Mark 2 minor variant, the 2/1, has its NBC pack flush with the hull side. An uparmoured variant, for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, of the Mark 3 was known as Bulldog. This name now appears to be extended to all Mark 3 versions of the FV430.The FV432 has proven to be flexible in use and can be converted from one role to another with reasonable ease using 'installation kits' (IK) or more permanently with minor modifications to the hull. Major or more significant modifications have usually led to a new FV43n number. In addition to the normal armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
role, it has been used as:
- a command vehicle, seven-crew has two mapboards and extra communications equipment (with an additional canvas "penthouse")
- an ambulance, unarmed with spots for up to four stretchers or two stretcher and five seated patients
- a cargo carrier, for up to 3,600 kg
- a communications vehicle
- a recovery vehicle. Designated as the FV434, it includes a rear cutout to a "pickup-truck" box to carry a spare engine/other stores with tool store below, an internally-mounted winch, and a 2.5 tonne lift arm. Frequently equipped with the canvas "penthouse".
FV432s used by combat infantry units have also been equipped with:
- the WOMBAT recoilless rifleL6 WombatThe L6 Wombat, was a 120 mm calibre recoilless anti-tank rifle used by the British Army. They were used until anti-tank guided missiles such as Vigilant and MILAN took their place....
- an 84mm infantry gunCarl Gustav recoilless rifleThe Carl Gustav is the common name for the 84 mm man-portable reusable multi-role recoilless rifle produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden...
mounted with a bar across the top of the troop compartment (firing from the roof hatch) - an 81mm mortarL16 81mm MortarThe United Kingdom's L16 81 mm mortar is the standard mortar used by the British armed forces. It originated as a joint design by UK and Canada. The version produced and used by Australia is named the F2 81mm Mortar, whilst the version used by the U.S...
on a turntable in the rear of the hull can be traversed through 360° firing through the roof hatch 160 mortar bombs are carried crew consists of a driver commander and four men - the Peak Engineering turret with the L37A1 variant of the 7.62mm GPMG, replacing the roof hatch.
- a 30 mm RardenRARDENThe L21A1 RARDEN is a British 30mm autocannon used as an combat vehicle weapon. The name is a contraction of the Royal Armament, Research and Development Establishment and Enfield...
-gun equipped turret (taken from the Fox scout carFox Armoured Reconnaissance VehicleThe FV721 Fox Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance was a 4x4 armoured car deployed by the British Army as a replacement for the Ferret scout car and the Saladin Armoured Car...
; 13 converted) - a night-surveillance ZB 298 radar
- stowage for MILANMILANMILAN " is French and German for "kite bird") is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972. It is a wire guided SACLOS missile, which means the sight of the launch unit has to be aimed at the...
anti-tank missiles when used to carry two missile teams (deployed away from the vehicle)
FV432s used by the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
have been equipped with:
- a battery command post with FACE fire control computer
- a battery command post with BATES battlefield artillery target engagement system
- CymbelineCymbeline (radar)Radar, Field Artillery, No 15, better known as Cymbeline, was a widely-used British mortar locating radar operating in the I band using a Foster scanner...
mortar-locating radar - sound ranging equipment
- observation post vehicle ZB 298 radar
FV432s used by the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
have been equipped with:
- a towed layer for L9 anti-tank Bar Mine
- a launcher for L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel MineL10 Ranger Anti-Personnel MineThe L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel mine was a U.K. anti-personnel blast mine. It was used from the 1970s until recently.It was designed to be used in conjunction with the L9 Bar Mine anti-tank mine. A FV432 would be fitted with a plough through which Bar mines would be laid...
- a towed Giant ViperGiant ViperThe Giant Viper is a trailer-mounted, vehicle-pulled, mine clearance system, designed to be deployed in areas containing land mines. It was developed for the British Army in the 1950s...
mine-clearing system - a Thales GroupThales GroupThe Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
SWARMSWARMThe SWARM Remote Weapon System is a fully armored remote weapon system designed and built by the Thales Group in Glasgow, Scotland. The SWARM system consists of two main assemblies: the Gun Processing and Interface Unit , which is operated inside the vehicle, and the external Weapon and Sensor...
Remote Weapon System
Bulldog
The need to upgrade the FV432 to extend its service life further led the MoD to sign an £85m contract with BAE Systems Land Systems to update over 1000 FV 432 to Mark 3 standard. Major changes include a new diesel engine and braking system. Initially, only FV432 and 434 models were converted but other variants are being considered. The first 500 of the batch were handed over to the British Army in December 2006. For service in Iraq and Afghanistan air-conditioning, enhanced reactive armourReactive armour
Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened long rod penetrators...
and IED jammers have been added. Initially only these further enhanced versions were known by the name Bulldog but the term now appears to be applied to all Mark 3 vehicles.
See also
- M113M113 armored personnel carrierThe M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...
- a visually similar American-built armoured personnel carrier - MT-LBMT-LBThe MT-LB is a Soviet multi-purpose fully amphibious auxiliary armoured vehicle which was first introduced in the late 1960s...
- BTR-50BTR-50The BTR-50 The BTR-50 The BTR-50 (BTR stands for Bronetransporter (БТР, Бронетранспортер, literally "armored transporter") is a Soviet amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank. The BTR-50 is tracked, unlike most in the BTR series, which are wheeled. The BTR-50...
- List of FV series military vehicles
Popular culture
- THQ Photoset An FV432 was modified to resemble the fictional Rhino APC from the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
by Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
. It made its first appearance at the 2008 Games Day.
Some privately owned FV432 have been modified into World War II vehicles for films and re-enactment. At least one FV432 which had been modified into a Sturmgeschütz III
Sturmgeschütz III
The Sturmgeschütz III assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank...
appeared in the television mini-series Band of Brothers. Another privately-owned FV432 in the south of England is being used for war games and military simulations by Ground Zero Airsoft.
External links
- UK receives first upgraded FV432s Jane's Defence Weekly, 14 August 2006
- Sloppy Jalopy
- http://www.military-vehicle.net/vcls/FV432.htm
- http://www.tanks-alot.co.uk
- Armedforces.co.uk