Ferret

KEY RECOGNITION

FEATURES

• Driver front, turret centre, engine compartment rear with roof that slopes down slightly each side with louvres at far rear top. Top half of hull rear vertical, lower half slopes back under hull rear

• Well sloped glacis plate, driver has hatch hinged at top that opens upwards and similar smaller hatch each side. Upper part of hull front, sides and rear slope inwards

• Two large road wheels each side with spare wheel and tyre on left side of hull

314 SPECIFICATIONS Mk 2/3

Crew: 2 Armament: Ammunition: Length: Width: Height: Ground clearance: Wheelbase: Weight, combat: Weight, empty: Power- to- weight ratio: Engine: Maximum road speed: Maximum road range: Fuel capacity: Fording: Fording with preparation: Vertical obstacle: Trench with channels: Gradient: Side slope: Armour: Armour type: NBC system: Night vision equipment: 1 x 7.62mm MG, 2 x 3 smoke grenade dischargers l.OOOx 7.62mm 3.835m 1.905m 1.879m 0.33m 2.286m 4,400kg 3,640kg 29.35bhp/tonne Rolls-Royce B60 Mk 6A 6-cylinder in-line water-cooled petrol developing 129bhp at 3,750rpm 93km/hr 306km 96 lit 0.914m 1.524m 0.406m 1.22m 46% 30% 8-16mm Steel None None

DEVELOPMENT

Ferret series 4x4 scout car was developed by the Daimler company shortly after the Second World War for the British Army. First prototypes completed in 1949 with production running from 1952 to 1971. Total production amounted to 4,409 vehicles for home and export. It is no longer used by the British Army.

Ferret Mk 2/3 has driver at front, commander centre and engine rear. Turret has manual traverse through 360°, 7.62mm machine gun with manual elevation from -15° to +45°. Turret is identical to that on many Alvis Saracen (6x6) APCs. Spare wheel carried on left side of hull, emergency hatch on opposite side. Channels were often carried across front of hull for crossing ditches or sandy terrain.

VARIANTS

Ferret Mk 1 has no turret and open top, normally has pintlemounted 7.62mm MG. Mk 1/2 has crew of three and low profile turret with 7.62mm machine gun. Mk 2 is similar to Mk 2/3, with turret. Mk 2/2 was for Far East, no longer in service. Mk 2/4 has additional armour. Mk 2/5 is Mk 2 brought up to Mk 2/4 standard. Mk 2/6 is Mk 2/3 with Vigilant ATGW mounted each side of turret. No longer used by British Army but may be found in Middle East. Mk 2/7 is Mk 2/6 with missiles removed and equals Mk 2/3. Mk 3 is Mk 1 with same modifications as Mk 4. Mk 4 is Mk 2/3 rebuilt with many improvements including larger wheels and flotation screen. Mk 5 had Swingfire ATGWs. No longer in service.

Further development of Mk 4 (or 'big wheeled Ferret') resulted in Fox (qv). A number of companies, including Alvis Vehicles (now design authority for the Ferret) offer upgrade packages

for the Ferret including a more fuel-efficient diesel engine. Alvis has already sold its repower package to Malaysia.

STATUS

Production complete. In service with Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

MANUFACTURER

Daimler Limited, Coventry, England, UK.

Left: Daimler Ferret Mk 1

Right: Ferret Mk 1

Left: Daimler Ferret Mk 4

Right: Daimler Ferret Mk 2/3

315

Fox Light Armoured Car (UK)

KEY RECOGNITION

FEATURES

• Two large road wheels each side with stowage box between, flotation screen carried on hull top

• Well sloped glacis plate with large driver's hatch opening to right in upper part

• Turret in hull centre with two hatch covers opening to rear, long 30mm RARDEN cannon with day/night sight on right, turret welded in middle and upper and lower parts sloping inwards

316

SPECIFICATIONS

Crew: Configuration: Armament:

Ammunition: Length gun forwards: Length hull: Width: Height overall: Height to turret top: Ground clearance: Wheelbase: Weight, combat: Weight, empty: Power-to-weight ratio: Engine:

Maximum road speed: Maximum water speed: Maximum road range: Fuel capacity: Fording: Vertical obstacle: Trench with channels: Gradient: Side slope: Armour: Armour type: NBC system: Night vision equipment: 3 4x4 1 x 30mm cannon, 1 x 7.62mm MG (coaxial), 2 x 4 smoke grenade dischargers 99 x 30mm, 2,600 x 7.62mm 5.08m 4.166m 2.134m 2.2m 1.981m 0.3m 2.464m 6120kg 5733kg 30.04bhp/tonne Jaguar XK 4.2 litre 6-cylinder petrol developing 190bhp at 4,500rpm 104km/hr 5.23km/hr 434km 145 lit 1m, amphibious with preparation 0.5m 1.22m 46% 30% Classified Aluminium None Yes (passive for driver and gunner)

DEVELOPMENT

Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled) was developed in the 1960s by the then Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE) at the same time as the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) Scorpion. The prototypes were built by Daimler, Coventry, the first completed in 1967. Production was undertaken by the then Royal Ordnance Factory, Leeds, first production vehicles completed in 1973. In 1986 Royal Ordnance Leeds was taken over by Vickers Defence Systems. The production line for Fox was however closed some time ago.

Driver sits front, two-man turret centre, engine and transmission rear. Turret has manual traverse through 360° and 30mm RARDEN cannon elevates from -14° to +40°. Ammunition consists of APDS-T, APSE-T, HEI-T and training.

The Fox light armoured car is fitted with a flotation screen and when this is erected the vehicle is propelled and steered in the water by its wheels. These were removed from British Army vehicles.

VARIANTS

Many variants of the Fox were projected but none of these entered service. The Fox has been phased out of service with the British Army and their turrets have been fitted onto the Scorpion chassis to produce the Sabre reconnaissance vehicle. Some 30mm Fox Turrets were fitted onto British Army FV432 series APC's.

STATUS

Production complete. In service with Malawi and Nigeria.

MANUFACTURER

Vickers Defence Systems, Leeds, England, UK.

Above right: Fox (4x4) without flotation screen Above right: Fox (4x4) without flotation screen

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