M58 wolf

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M58 wolf
A remote-controlled US Army M58 Wolf in February 2018

A remote-controlled US Army M58 Wolf in February 2018
General properties
crew 3 (driver, commander, pioneer)
length 5.33 m
width 2.70 m
height 2.3 m (with superstructures)
Dimensions 12.3 tons (combat weight)
Armor and armament
Armor 38 mm frontal armor
Main armament 1 × 12.7mm M2HB machine gun
Secondary armament Smoke throwing system
agility
drive General Motors 6V53TA, 6-cylinder, diesel two-stroke engine
275 HP (202 kW) at 2800 rpm.
suspension Torsion bar
Top speed 64 km / h
Power / weight 17.0 hp / ton
Range approx. 480 km (road)

The M58 Wolf is a smoke warfare agent vehicle developed in the United States in the 1990s based on a modified M113 . The US armed forces are the only users.

Development history

At the beginning of the 1990s, the first development work was carried out on an armored military vehicle that was supposed to create a privacy screen under combat conditions by spreading clouds of fog. The substances used for this are of low toxicity due to their proximity to their own troops , so the M58 Wolf is not a system for deploying chemical warfare agents . The troop trials in the second half of the 1990s were positive and in the first quarter of 1998 the approval for the introduction of the M58 was given. A total of 140 M58 systems are planned as replacements for the outdated and less powerful M1059 systems. The total Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) for the M58 Wolf is 350 systems.

Mission concept

Conceptually, it corresponds to its predecessor, the M1059 Smoke Generator Carrier , which was introduced into the US Army in 1988. The M1059 was also based on the chassis of the M113, but was retired in favor of the M58 Wolf due to the significantly less powerful smoke generator.

The M58 Wolf consists of an M56 smoke generator, the M8A3 gas particle filter unit (GPFU) and the M259 smoke grenade launcher. To improve the mobility and maneuverability of the M58, it was in the RISE received the US Army -Kampfwertsteigerungsprogramm that a modernized, 275-hp turbocharged 6V53TA- General Motors - diesel engine with 4-speed hydraulic transmission , external fuel tanks and a new platform includes. These chassis improvements enable the M58 to keep up with the M1 Abrams and M2 / M3 Bradley chariots in the field.

Without refilling fog acid, the M58 is able to form a fog curtain for 90 minutes, which can even protect against IR vision devices for 30 minutes . Future plans have the aim of installing a millimeter wave (MMW) darkening module - more details in this regard have not yet been published. On April 2, 2018, an unmanned M58 Wolf was evaluated at the Grafenwöhr military training area .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Mechanized Smoke Obscurant Carrier M58 Wolf (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g M58 Wolf Smoke Generator System (English)
  3. ^ Association of the United States Army: Army, Volume 39, Issue 11, page 376 , 1989.
  4. ↑ Smoke Generator Carrier M1059 (English)
  5. ↑ Spc. Hubert Delany: Army, allies test robotic battlefield breach concepts with new unmanned technology (English)
  6. ↑ General Dynamics showcases remotely controlled smoke generator capabilities in Germany (English)