Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

Alvis FV106 Samson

1978 COLD WAR MODERN

Alves FV106 The Story of Samson

CVR(T) - Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) - Concept was developed for the British Army in the mid to late 1960s and resulted in a family of vehicles sharing a common chassis and powerplant. One type that emerged from this initiative was the FV106 "Samson", which was used as an Armored Rescue Vehicle (ARV).

Samson has served in the Armed Forces of Belgium, Brunei, Latvia, Oman, the Philippines, Thailand and the United Kingdom (both the British Army and Royal Air Force are used in the latter). The Samson variant was developed in the early 1970s and adopted in 1978.

The vehicle retains the form and function of the basic CVR(T) method. The landing gear consisted of five wheels on the fuselage side, the drive sprocket was attached to the front and the track idler was attached to the rear.

The hull layout has been revised with a slightly elevated approach where the glacis panels meet the hull roofline at the top. The panel also houses the engine exhaust grille, driver's hatch (front left), smoke vents and various areas for storing engineer tools.

The fuselage roofline is the Commander's cupola, and a retractable powered crane arm is mounted to the rear of the fuselage. A power winch is also installed to bring the vehicle to safety. The rear of the fighting compartment has a rectangular entry/exit door hinged on the right.

The hull structure includes all-welded aluminum surfaces for basic ballistic/artillery splash protection.

Dimensions include 5m long, 2.4m wide and 2.8m high.

Internally, a three-person crew consists of a pilot, commander and an assistant. The vehicle defends itself with a 7.62mm L7 medium machine gun and can create its own smoke screen via 8 x smoke grenade launchers in the bow.

Power comes from a single Jaguar 4.2-litre petrol engine for road speeds of up to 72km/h and a range of up to 483km.

Samson's primary purpose is to revive its own line of CVR(T) vehicles, but it also has the ability to tow/support other light military types - adding to its inherent battlefield versatility. Before starting towing operations, crews lowered the support legs and dug the vehicle into the ground for added stability.

Samson is now (2018) in service with a handful of operators including the British Army. Oman has three of this type and the Philippines has another six.