MOWAG Roland

KEY RECOGNITION

FEATURES

• Nose slopes back under vehicle, well sloped glacis plate with driver's hatch in upper part, flat roof with engine compartment in left side, vertical rear with louvres in left side and door in right side

• Hull side welded in middle with upper and lower parts sloping inwards. Some vehicles have air louvres over left rear wheel

• Two wheels each side, sides of wheel arches outside armour envelope, door midway between wheel arches is hinged at top

SPECIFICATIONS

Crew: 3+3 Configuration: 4x4 Armament: 1 x 7.62mm MG Ammunition: Length: 1,000 x 7.62mm 4.44m Width: 2.01m Height turret top: 2.03m Ground clearance: 0.4m Wheelbase: 2.5m Weight, combat: 4,700kg Weight, empty: 3,900kg Power-to-weight ratio: 42.9hp/tonne Engine: V-8 4-stroke water-cooled petrol developing 202hp at 3,900rpm Maximum road speed: 110km/hr Maximum road range: Fuel capacity: 154 lit Fording: Vertical obstacle: 0.4m Trench: Not applicable Gradient: 60% Side slope: 30% Armour: 8mm (maximum) (estimate) Armour type: Steel NBC system: None Night vision equipment: Optional

DEVELOPMENT

Roland was designed by MOWAG in the early 1960s as a private venturefor a wide range of roles including internal security, armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. First prototypes completed in 1963, first production vehicles in 1964. Driver sits front left with crew compartment to rear. Each side of hull has entry hatch with firing port and observation hatch. Additional door in right rear side, engine compartment left rear.

Roland normally has three-man crew consisting of commander, machine gunner and driver and carries three fully equipped troops. A 7.62mm or 12.7mm MG can be mounted on top of hull on simple pintle mount, or turret armed with similar weapon can be installed.

Standard model has manual transmission with four forward and one reverse gears, but was also available with fully automatic transmission with three forward and one reverse gears.

Wide range of optional equipment was available including smoke grenade dischargers, night vision equipment, MOWAGdesigned firing ports allowing some occupants to aim and fire from inside, obstacle-clearing blade at full front, searchlights and MOWAG bullet-proof cross-country wheels consisting of metal discs each side of tyre to support tyre when punctured

and give additional traction when moving across country.

Late production vehicles had a fully automatic transmission in place of the manual transmission and a slightly longer wheelbase. This model has a combat weight of 4,900kg and power-to-weight ratio of 41hp/tonne.

VARIANTS

No variants except for different armament installations.

STATUS

Production complete. In service with many countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Greece and Peru.

MANUFACTURER

MOWAG Motorwagenfabrik AG, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.

Right: MOWAG Roland with remote-controlled 7.62mm machine gun