Wildcat (weapon system)

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The Wildcat weapon system is a German autonomous air defense system for low-level flight areas for object defense and for the protection of army units.

history

The companies Krauss-Maffei , Siemens, Hollandse Signaal, Mauser, KUKA and AEG developed the Wildcat weapon system exclusively for export. For many potential customers, the cheetah would be too heavy and too complicated. In addition, the Wildcat system had to be relatively inexpensive. So far, however, only two copies have been made and presented to the public in 1981, which have proven themselves in various demonstrations, but have not yet found any customers, which should end the project.

The vehicle

Krauss-Maffei used the tried and tested basic design of the 6 × 6 armored vehicle Fuchs as the carrier vehicle . The chassis and chassis as well as the engine of the Fox were retained. The upper hatches were removed and a turret was put on instead. In the case of the chassis, the armor is the armor of the Fuchs. The turret has multilayer armor. However, the armor cannot withstand an attack with modern armor-piercing weapons.

Unlike the Gepard, Wildcat does not use the tried and tested 35mm anti-aircraft guns , as the smaller turret cannot carry the heavy guns. They were replaced by smaller 30 mm anti-aircraft guns ( MK 30 -F) made by Mauser . 340 shots for air defense and 40 shots for ground combat are housed ready to fire. More ammunition is carried in the tub. The combat range against air targets is a maximum of 3700 m. HEI projectiles ( explosive incendiary projectiles ) are fired against aerial targets and API projectiles (armor-piercing explosive incendiary projectiles) and APDS-T projectiles ( impact projectiles with sabot and tracer) are fired against earth targets .

Krauss-Maffei, as project manager, decided that the system should be offered in several versions. What they all had in common was that the fire was controlled via a computer. Wildcat can be offered both as a fair weather system and as an all weather system. This meant that Wildcat could easily be adapted to different requirements.

With variant 1, only one operational capability per day was given and the equipment included an optical friend-foe identification device, optical target acquisition and manual and automatic target tracking without laser rangefinder and without infrared and radar support. Variant 2 was also designed for daytime combat, but had an optical or data link friend-foe identification device, optical target acquisition or data line and target tracking with a laser range finder, but without infrared (IR) and radar support. Variant 3 had an integrated friend-foe identification device, radar / optical target detection and automatic target tracking with a laser range finder. With variant 4, the Wildcat was able to fight targets day and night. Equipped with the technology of variant 3, an additional IR support facilitated target tracking. The last variant made the anti-aircraft tank an all-weather anti-aircraft system. Target tracking was supported by radar, with IR and laser rangefinders being dispensed with.

A variant with the 8 × 8 wheeled armored vehicle Mowag Shark was also tested at the manufacturer Mowag .

The main advantage of the Wildcat system is the spread of the Fuchs armored personnel carrier. This makes it easy to obtain spare parts. The maintenance of the system has been simplified enormously.

Technical specifications

  • Crew: 3 men
  • Length: 6.88 m
  • Width: 2.98 m
  • Height: 2.74 m (with search radar lowered)
  • Weight: 18,500 kg
  • Drive: 8-cylinder Mercedes-Benz diesel engine with exhaust gas turbocharger
  • Power: 320 PS / 235 kW
  • Top speed: 80 km / h (road)
  • Driving range: 600 km
  • Armament: 2 × 30 mm Mauser automatic cannon
  • Ford depth: amphibious
  • Trench crossing ability: 1.10 m

literature

  • Philip Trewhitt: tanks. The most important combat vehicles in the world from World War I to the present day. Neuer Kaiserverlag, Klagenfurt 2005, ISBN 3-7043-3197-X , ( Worth knowing - Technology ).
  • David Miller, Christopher F. Foss : Modern combat weapons. Stocker-Schmid Verlag, Dietikon 1989, ISBN 3-7276-7092-4 .