Special car

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Police special car 4 in action at a demonstration in Leipzig

As special cars are armored wheeled vehicles of the German police called. Colloquially, these vehicles are also referred to as police tanks , armored vehicles or clearing tanks .

During the Weimar Republic , they were used in civil war-like street fighting by the protection and order police of the federal states, for example in the 1923 Hamburg uprising . Today's special vehicles are primarily used by the riot police of the federal states and by the federal police and are used in demonstrations, disasters and rampage. In addition to light armor, they have the option of attaching a machine gun and additional equipment such as clearing shields.

The tasks of a special car squad include: Protected bringing police officers to z. B. when deploying against armed and violent troublemakers, protecting endangered people and property, protected rescuing of the injured, setting up and reinforcing barriers, overcoming and removing obstacles, deploying in property and space protection and in disasters even in radiant, contaminated or poisoned terrain and security when locating and transporting explosive and other dangerous substances.

Other special vehicles based on off-road vehicles, such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and the Toyota Land Cruiser V8 , appear less military and are less conspicuous, but these are usually not sufficiently protected against fire from military weapons.

After several terrorist attacks in 2015–2018 in France ( Paris , Nice , Strasbourg ) and in Germany ( Bavaria , Berlin ), some state police and the federal police began to purchase modern armored vehicles . After the purchases of several special vehicles 5 by some state police for the special operations commandos (SEK) and several protected emergency vehicles 2 by the federal police to protect the airports , the procurement of 45 uniform armored vehicles for the standby police of the federal states and the federal police is planned.

history

Weimar Republic

Armored police car in Germany model Ehrhardt / 21 around 1921
Special police car Benz / 21 around 1921

Because of the politically uneasy situation in the Weimar Republic , the law enforcement and protection police of the federal states had armored vehicles that were suitable for street fighting or police fighting as well as for driving overland. The Versailles peace treaty banned Germany from owning tanks .

Tank Museum Munster 2010 0061

According to the Boulogne Note of July 22, 1920, the security police of the federal states of the German Reich were granted 150 road armored cars with two machine guns each to maintain public safety and order. Some of the cars were taken over from the army and some were built from scratch by Daimler , Benz and Ehrhardt . The acquisition and distribution of these vehicles was carried out by the Reich Ministry of the Interior (RMI), which was advised by a commission made up of representatives from the federal states. Three vehicle types were introduced, the Schupo special cars Benz / 21 , Ehrhardt / 21 and Daimler / 21 . By 1925, 85 vehicles had been ordered from the three companies (24 Benz, 30 Ehrhardt, 31 Daimler). Around 50 other vehicles such as B. the Ehrhardt EV / 4 came from stocks of the army administration, which had already been used in the First World War . The vehicles taken over by the army administration were later exchanged, for example in 1925 an Ehrhardt car from the state police of the Free State of Oldenburg for a Daimler / 21. The vehicle was used by the Gerstenberg division in February 1919 on the occasion of the Reich execution against the Bremen Soviet Republic .

All three vehicle types had common properties and only differed slightly in terms of their dimensions (see Daimler / 21 as an example):

Daimler Benz Erhardt
Overall length in meters 6.10 5.95 6.5
Largest width in meters 2,692 2.565 2,410
Height in meters 3.365 3.325 3,450
Ground clearance in meters 0.340 0.360 0.360

They could be steered both forwards and backwards with a four-wheel drive via a driver's seat each. The armor was made of chrome-nickel steel with a thickness of up to 12 mm, which should offer protection against infantry projectiles with steel core ammunition to a distance of 25 m.

All vehicles were equipped with two armored turrets , which were offset diagonally. The front tower was on the left above the driver's seat, the rear one on the right above the rear driver's seat. There was a MG 08 in each turret . The towers ran on ball bearings and could be locked in notches at intervals of 10 cm. Each tower had four viewing slits that could be covered by protective sheets.

Between the turrets was an armored command post with a diameter of 800 mm and a second cylinder 600 mm in diameter and 400 mm in height. The second cylinder had viewing slits that allowed the commander a 360 ° view over the two machine gun turrets. These viewing slits also had to be secured by protective sheets.

The combat area was located under the two rotating towers and had both viewing and loopholes from which both machine guns and carbines could be used. In an emergency, e.g. B. the destruction of the turrets, it was possible to expand the machine gun and use it in the loopholes. A floor armor protected the vehicle from below. The engine was completely enclosed by an armored hood, but could also be serviced to a certain extent while the vehicle was in motion, as it was accessible through a manhole from inside the combat compartment. In contrast to the armored structure, the armored engine hood was not riveted, but screwed, so that the engine could be removed quickly without difficulty.

The wheels of the Benz / 21 consisted of steel discs, of the other two types of spokes that were secured with armored washers. All wheels had solid rubber jackets. Trough-shaped armchairs with seat cushions and padded backrests were used as driver's seats. All protruding parts in the interior were provided with leather upholstery to prevent head injuries to the crew. In addition to interior lighting, the vehicles also had signaling devices such as a multi-tone cylinder whistle, a horn and a two-part fanfare, as well as two fold-out direction indicators .

As special equipment, all special wagons had two tire racks to accommodate replacement solid rubber tires and bridge rails made of sheet steel for rail transport or as a rescue aid in the event of accidents. In addition, the vehicles each had two winches with a lifting capacity of 8 tons, two lifting trees, two hooks, two spades and two wheel chocks . The latter were used to secure the vehicle in the event of long periods of standing on slopes. In addition, the vehicles had a battering ram at the front and rear . B. to destroy barricades .

The special car drivers of the smaller regional police forces, such as B. Oldenburg, were trained centrally by the Prussian Police in Berlin in four-week courses.

In August 1922, the state police had special vehicles:

M8 Greyhound
  • In reserve (apparently with RMI): 2.
Special car 1 of the Federal Border Police (1961)

Bonn Republic

Special car M 8 Greyhound

In the early days of the Federal Border Police and the riot police , converted and overhauled reconnaissance tanks of the American type M8 Greyhound from the Second World War were used under the designation "Geschützter Sonderwagen M8" (SW M8).

Special car 1 and special car 2 (Mowag)

The Mowag special wagons were introduced to the Federal Border Police and the riot police of the federal states from 1963. The vehicle (4 × 4) was developed by Mowag in Switzerland as " Mowag MR 8 " and built by Büssing and Henschel in Germany. SW 1 was also referred to as Kfz 91 by the Federal Border Police .

The special car 1 did not have its own armament. The special car 2 was similar to the special car 1, but had a revolving turret with armament: machine cannon 20 mm in SW 2a, machine gun MG 1/2 in SW 2b.

Special car 3 (Saladin)

In 1966, 80 heavily armed reconnaissance tanks of the British Saladin type were introduced to the Federal Border Police , although they were decommissioned in 1974. The main armament was a 76 mm cannon. The vehicles were later rented to the Honduras army.

Special car 3 (Mercedes G)

The special car 3 is a protected version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class .

UR 416 special car

Before the introduction of the special car 4, some police forces procured individual copies of the UR-416 from 1966 onwards. The UR 416 was an armored vehicle based on the Unimog 416 , built by Thyssen .

Current vehicles

LAPV Enok

Federal Police as GEF-2

Since mid-2018, the Federal Police has owned seven LAPV ( Light Armored Patrol Vehicle ) Enok 6.1 vehicles . These vehicles, which are used in the Bundeswehr as Enok , are called "Protected Emergency Vehicle 2 - Aviation Security (GEF-2 LuSi)" by the Federal Police. The vehicles are used to protect airports and by the specialized BFE + unit . The designation "Sonderwagen" is no longer to be used by the Federal Police. The federal police are planning to procure a further 21 protected vehicles of the type GEF-2 by mid-2019 .

State police as a special car 5

Mowag Eagle IV

In 2011, ten Mowag Eagle IVs were procured for foreign missions by the Federal Police , which were used in Afghanistan until 2014. These were returned to Germany in 2015 in order to have at least some modern armored vehicles available. The vehicles have been revised, including a new paint job similar to that of the 10000 water cannons , "police" lettering, special signaling systems and radio. Since the summer of 2017, they have been replacing the special car 4 at some airports, so there are three vehicles each at Munich Airport , Frankfurt Airport and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) , which has not yet opened , as well as one vehicle at Stuttgart Airport . The federal police are planning to equip each of the approximately 80 federal police inspections with an armored vehicle.

Special car 4 of the Federal Police in Eschwege, front view
Special car 4 of the Federal Police in Eschwege, rear view
The TM-170 of the Austrian police, also designated as special car 4
The TM-170 of the Grand Ducal Police of Luxembourg

Special car 4 (TM-170)

As a replacement for the older special cars 1 and 2, Thyssen-Maschinenbau (now Rheinmetall Landsysteme) "TM-170" was introduced as special car 4 (SW 4) from 1984 .

The TM-170 is an armored car on the chassis of the Unimog with a Mercedes-Benz engine .

Technical specifications
length 6.27 m
height 3.02 m
width 2.41 m
power 124 kW (168 hp)
Top speed 96 km / h
maximum weight allowed 11,200 kg
Seats 9
Armament G8 / MP5

The armament takes place via the so-called multi-purpose attachment (MZA) with a target device in the vehicle interior. The MZA can also be used for a set of headlights. The clearing blade and the window sheds can also be operated from inside the vehicle. These are available in steel and plexiglass to protect the armored glass. The NBC protection of the SW4 takes place by generating overpressure in the interior. Furthermore, the SW4 has a one-pipe throwing system for irritant and smoke throwers. Some of them have a camouflage light system .

In 1995/1996, 121 special wagons 4 were handed over by the Federal Border Police to the Bundeswehr , which they originally wanted to use under the name Hermelin , but then did not use them but sold them to North Macedonia . The special car 4 is to be withdrawn from the Federal Police and replaced by the Mowag Eagle IV and the LAPV Enok 6.1 . In 2019 there were still 46 SW 4 units in the Federal Police's holdings.

Foreign and private users of the TM-170

In addition to the Federal Police and the state police in Germany, police authorities and the military in other countries as well as private companies use the TM-170:

and

  • the former Heros money transport company
Special car 5 (Survivor R)
Special car 5

Special car 5 (Survivor)

In the course of procurement campaigns by some state police, armored vehicles of the Survivor type , known by the state police as Sonderwagen 5 , were put into service, which withstand fire from powerful military weapons. Despite its heavy weight, the Survivor can travel up to 100 km / h. Technical details of the vehicle:

  • Displacement: 6.6 liters
  • Output 238 hp
  • Weight 9800 kg
  • Length: 6 meters
  • all wheel drive

Currently (as of 2020) in service or ordered:

Toyota Land Cruiser V8

In January 2017, the Saxony police commissioned seven armored Toyota Land Cruiser V8s that were purchased as part of the anti-terrorist package. Two vehicles are kept for the SEK , one each is allocated to the five police departments.

Armament

In July 2018 it was announced that the Federal Police would equip their protected vehicles with a total of 42 remotely controllable weapon stations of the type FLW 100 from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann . Of these, 21 weapon stations are planned for special vehicles to be additionally procured from mid-2019.

The MG5A1 supplied by Heckler & Koch will serve as armament .

literature

  • Werner Oswald : The vehicles of the police and the Federal Border Guard. Police vehicles from 1920 to 1974 , Stuttgart (Motorbuch-Verlag) 1974. ISBN 3-87943-332-1
  • Jochen Breitenbach: Police special car - history and use . Ernst J. Dohany Verlag, Groß-Umstadt 1990, ISBN 3-924434-05-0 .
  • Klaus-Fr. Dönecke & Dirk Lemcke: Police vehicles yesterday and today - a historical outline with photos . Verlag Deutsche Polizeiliteratur, Hilden / Rheinland 1989, ISBN 3-8011-0198-3 .
  • Chris McNab / Ian Palmer: Riot control vehicles. 1945 – Present . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2015, ISBN 978-1-4728-0515-7 , ISBN 978-1-4728-0516-4 , ISBN 978-1-4728-0517-1 .
  • Frank Schwede: German police vehicles from 1945 to today . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-613-02080-7 .
  • Frank Schwede: Vehicles of the Federal Border Police . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-02334-2 .
  • FM von Senger and Etterlin : Taschenbuch der Panzer . 4th edition. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1969.
  • (Gustav) Schmitt: Street armored car: The special car of the protection police , Berlin (R. Eisenschmidt) 1925.
  • For the civil war in Oldenburg. The martial special vehicles of the Oldenburg order police were hardly used , in: Nordwest-Zeitung of January 18, 2003.
  • Udo Elerd (Ed.): From the vigilante to the armed forces . On the history of the garrison and the military in the city of Oldenburg , Oldenburg (Isensee) 2006. ISBN 3-89995-353-3 . ISBN 978-3-89995-353-4 .

Web links

Commons : Sonderwagen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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  2. Bavarian Police ; [1]
  3. Berlin Police : www.berliner-kurier.de
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  5. https://perspektiven-online.net/2018/09/neue-panzer-fuer-die-polizei/
  6. Hans-Jürgen Schmidt: We carry the eagle of the federal government on the rock - Chronicle of the Federal Border Police 1951-1971 Fiedler-Verlag, Coburg 1995 ISBN 3-923434-17-0
  7. https://www.defensa.com/centro-america/caballeria-blindada-ejercito-honduras
  8. Jpw: STRATEGIE & TECHNIK: Federal Police receives Enok 6.1. as Protected Emergency Vehicle 2 - Aviation Security. In: STRATEGY & TECHNOLOGY. August 23, 2018, accessed January 17, 2019 .
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  13. https://www.acs-armoured-cars.com/presse/geschuetzt-fahrzeugkonzepte-fuer-den-polizeilichen- Einsatz-enok- 6-2
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  15. http://bos-fahrzeuge.info/ Einsatzfahrzeuge/120728/BPxx-xx_-_Mowag_-_SW_Eagle_IV/photo/ 319535
  16. www.polizeiautos.de
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  20. http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/081/1908109.pdf
  21. ^ David R. Haugh: Barracuda Doosan DATASHEET. In: http://www.warwheels.net/ . Warwheels.net, November 25, 2006, accessed January 17, 2019 .
  22. https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Mehr-Panzer-fuer-die-Polizei-4156963.html
  23. https://perspektiven-online.net/2018/09/neue-panzer-fuer-die-polizei/
  24. https://www.cilip.de/2018/11/10/mehr-polizeipanzer/
  25. rp-online.de
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  29. https://www.spartanat.com/2018/11/rheinmetall-gepanzerte-fahrzeuge-fuer-berliner-polizei/
  30. Interior Minister hands over armored group vehicle to special units. Police Brandenburg, November 10, 2017, accessed on June 12, 2018 .
  31. Brandenburg elite police receive new "Survivor" tank. November 10, 2017, accessed June 12, 2018 .
  32. ^ Anti-terror fight: Hamburg's police are arming. NDR, November 14, 2016, archived from the original on November 14, 2017 ; accessed on June 12, 2018 .
  33. FOCUS Online: monster with 340 PS: SEK in NRW is now moving out with a new police tank. Retrieved January 17, 2019 .
  34. "Survivor R": Excitement about Saxony's new police tank. In: Spiegel Online. December 18, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  35. rct: Police armored car Survivor R: Trouble with "right" embroidery in Saxony. In: welt.de . December 18, 2017, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  36. Acquisition of "Sonderwagen 5". In: FragDenStaat. Retrieved June 7, 2020 .
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  38. Acquisition of "Sonderwagen 5". In: FragDenStaat. Retrieved June 7, 2020 .
  39. www.polizei.sachsen.de
  40. http://www.sz-online.de/sachsen/polizei-blas-neue-ausruestung-g18486.html?PictureIndex=0&StoryId=3585238
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