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

Eland

1962 ANGOLAN BUSH WAR COLD WAR MODERN

Earth Stories

From 1962 to 1994, the South African Army relied on the Elan armoured vehicle for rapid reconnaissance/assault and security needs. The vehicle is based on a 1961 French Panhard AML, of which 100 examples of this type were purchased by South Africans in 1962. With this pedigree, the Eland became a locally produced vehicle with much the same form and function as its French counterpart, with approximately 1,600 Eland eventually produced from 1964 to 1986. These have been fought in numerous regional conflicts, including the Rhodesian Bush War (1964-1979), the South African Border War (1966-1990), the Angola Civil War (1975-2002) and the Chad Civil War (2005-2010).

Some examples have recurred in the fighting surrounding the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria (since 2009).

The Eland was specially developed by Sandock-Austral to meet the requirements of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and is eventually manufactured under the Sandock-Austral and Reumech OMC brands. Design work took place in 1962, and the pilot vehicle was ready for evaluation in 1963.

Once in service, the Eland line replaced the aging stock of British Daimler Ferrets that were in service at the time.

South Africas experience with the limited stock of French AML cars proved crucial. The country obtained a local manufacturing license and produced the AML in its localized Mk. 2 form. The upgrade resulted in the introduction of Mk. 3, and further changes were welcomed to the Mk. 4 standard. The Mk. 5 introduced a new engine with a longer range, but it was an anti-tank capability that set the Mk. 6 Mark apart from previous iterations. Some Mk. 5 stocks have been updated to follow this example. The Mk.

7, the last of the Eland series, came out in 1979 with major changes to the landing gear, braking system, hull and turret.

Eland exists in three main forms among the brands shown: The Eland-60 is mainly based on the French Panhard AML HE-60-7 model, also armed with a 60mm mortar and a pair of 7.62mm machine guns. The Eland-90 is The AML H-90, thus carrying a 90mm main gun in an appropriate turret, has both offensive and tank-killing capabilities. The model also supports SS.11 or ENTAC missiles to further expand its tank-killing capabilities. The Eland-20 became another branch, the Eland chassis was used in conjunction with the turret of the Ratel IFV.

Along with the turret is a 20mm automatic cannon and a coaxially mounted 7.62mm machine gun.

The Eland became a 6.5 ton (short) armored vehicle with a 4x4 wheelbase. Dimensions include a length of 16.9 feet, a width of 6.6 feet, and a height of 8.1 feet. The crew consisted of only three people - the driver, commander and gunner.

Primary weapons vary between Mortar Armed Models and Turret Armed 90mm variants. Both versions carry a machine gun as a secondary weapon, but the 90mm GT-2 gun sets the Eland model apart - it gives the vehicle a potent tank-killing capability and can also act as an effective anti-infantry measure.

The 90mm gun can fire high-explosive, anti-tank (HEAT), high-explosive (HE), white phosphorus, barrel (anti-infantry) and blank rounds. The mounted mortar weapon is a 60mm K1 infantry mortar supported by 2 Browning machine guns.

The 90mm gun can carry up to 29 rounds. The 60mm-equipped model is loaded with about 56 mortar rounds, and the machine gun magazine may exceed nearly 4,000 rounds.

Power is provided by a 2.5-liter water-cooled 4-cylinder in-line gasoline engine from General Motors in the United States, which is mated to a six-speed manual (constant mesh) transmission system. 4x4 independent suspension with active trailing arms enhances overland ride.

The road speed can reach 100 km/h and the range is up to 450 km.

The driver sits in the center of the front of the fuselage, with gullwing doors on either side between the two wheel arches. Above the central rear of the car is the turret ring, which houses a fully enclosed turret on which the main weapon is mounted. The rear of the car is the engine compartment.

The wheels are intentionally oversized to provide good ground clearance and weight transfer. When the ship is fully "buckled", the vision block gives the crew some situational awareness.

At the heart of Elands are lightly armored vehicles that provide excellent responsive support in a variety of battlefield roles. They can easily outrun heavier mechanized battlefield components and fire at long distances while providing some protection to their crews. The relatively simple design makes them very robust and somewhat modular, as many customers end up applying various kits and fixes to the base design.

In combat conditions, the Elands proved to be excellent vehicles, sometimes forming the backbone of the South African Armoured Corps, as these vehicles fit well with the service's rapidly advancing doctrine of victory over key enemy positions.

The global reach of these cars is limited to African customers, but extends from Benin and Burkina Faso to Uganda and Zimbabwe. South Africa lent some 34 cars to the Rhodesian army, Chad received a stockpile of 82 cars, and Morocco sent 60 cars.

Eland is currently (2017) in service with about 10 operators, although the South African Army abandoned it in 1994. They were taken over by Denel Rooikat (detailed elsewhere on this site), another 8x8 wheel shape, on the battlefield.