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Alvis FV721 Fox

1973 COLD WAR

History of Alvis FV721 Fox

Alves produced a variety of armoured vehicles for the British Army during the decades of the Cold War, including many types of cars and light tanks, based on a common chassis for various battlefield roles. In 1973, the British Army began taking stock of the Alvis FV721 "Fox" armoured personnel carrier - a three-person 4x4 wheeled armoured system primarily used for mechanized reconnaissance missions. These vehicles replaced the outdated stocks of light "Ferrets" and 6x6 wheeled armored vehicles "Saladin" used at that time.

The Fox Line served with the British Army until its final decommissioning in 1994.

The final product became a 7.4-ton vehicle with a lightly armored hull superstructure, mounted in a conventional configuration on a two-axle chassis with four large wheels. The crew of three consisted of the driver in the center of the front of the hull and the commandos and gunners in the actual hull superstructure/turret. The drive is a Jaguar J. 60 no. 1 100B gasoline engine, 190 hp.

At road speeds approaching 65 mph, the range reaches 270 miles. It provides amphibious capability by arranging floating screens. Armor protection is fully welded aluminum and provides only basic services against battlefield hazards, including small arms fire and artillery jetting.

Unlike other Cold War vehicles, the Fox lacked any NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection for its crew.

The weapon is very powerful for this type of vehicle - a 30mm L21 RARDEN (Royal Arms Research and Development Agency ENfield) automatic cannon mounted on a 360 degree rotating turret. This cannon is a British design and is also featured in the Warrior IFV track range. The weapon fires a 30 x 170 mm HE (High Explosive), APSE (Armor Piercing, Secondary Effect) or APDS (Armor Piercing, Casing Discard) type shells with a muzzle velocity close to 1,175 m/s and a range from 4,400 m. The cannon was fed from three rounds of cartridges, with a total of 99 rounds carried on the vehicle.

The gun is paired with a coaxial 7.62mm L37A2 machine gun at the front of the turret to provide limited anti-infantry measures. The gun is fed from a 2,600 x 7.62mm ammunition reserve.

The turret also houses 8 smoke grenade launchers in two rows of 4 shells, each spanning the main gun and coaxial armament.

Foxes are downright tactical tools. Its relatively compact size and manageable weight allow it to be airlifted to any frontier in the worldit can fit in the belly of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules or similar.

Speed ??is critical to the survival of the vehicle and crew, and foxes are naturally capable of running. The 30mm gun has good firepower against like-minded vehicles and other soft targets, but limited attack against frontline main battle tank armor.

The enemy at the time would be the Soviet Union and its vast array of light, medium and heavy armored vehicles - some of which the Fox crew could deal with, while others were very vulnerable.

Foxes are not mass produced nor widely exported. Outside the British army, use is concentrated in the armies of Malawi and Nigeria, with a total of around 325 made by Alvis.

Several prototype and development variants have emerged, including a 25mm turret form, a machine gun form with a one-man turret, and an anti-tank missile (ATGM) delivery vehicle. Some Fox turrets were rebuilt for the "Sabre" tracked vehicle, and 136 models of this form were produced.

Fewer than 100 foxes are still in service with the Malawi and Nigerian Armed Forces today, despite the cessation of use by the British Army in the mid-1990s.