Rheinmetall Landsysteme Wiesel (Weasel)

Rheinmetall Landsysteme Wiesel History

Traditionally, airborne units were always forced to fight, and when entering contested spaces, they were only lightly armed and armored. As a result, war planners have emphasized equipping this class of infantry with viable equipment that would be useful for their frivolous roles. One aspect of this idea is light, compact vehicles designed to act in a support role until the main force arrives.

For the West German Army during the Cold War (1947-1991), the Porsche/MaK Wiesel ("Weasel") armored personnel carrier (AWC) became one of these products, due to its compact size and relatively low weight status. Ordered in 1985 and introduced in 1989, the AWC is still used today (2017) by the modern Bundeswehr.

Depending on configuration, the Wiesel series consisted of two to three crew members, culminating in two main variants of the Wiesel - the original "Wiesel 1" and the successor "Wiesel 2". The Wiesel 1 was the original 1989 model and was powered by an 86-horsepower Audi 5-cylinder in-line turbo diesel engine.

The first brand was further developed into various battlefield formats, including dedicated reconnaissance vehicles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) (TOW missile support), remotely operated route clearance system (RCS) vehicles, and the MK20 20 Rh202 automatic with Rheinmetall MK 20mm gun, turret configuration.

Wiesel 1 was also part of various experiments with the vehicle, including a cargo transporter, a machine gun transporter, an ATGM transporter with HOT missile support, a radar transporter and a model equipped with a more powerful 25mm automatic cannon - but no which was adopted.

The Wiesel 2 (developed by MaK, now part of Rheinmetall Landsystems) is a larger version powered by a more powerful 109 hp Volkswagen Straight 4 turbo diesel engine. This model debuted in 1994 with a barrel length of 4.78 meters, a height of 2.17 meters and a width of 1.87 meters.

The extension added a new road wheel on each side of the vehicle, and the fuselage was raised to improve ground clearance. Weight is approximately 10,500 lbs.

Like the Mark 1, the Wiesel 2 is designed to meet a variety of required battlefield roles, including command post, engineering vehicle, reconnaissance vehicle, command and control vehicle (C2), weapons carrier, radar carrier, and more. The brand's prototypes include a small armored personnel carrier (APC), an ambulance, a radio-controlled vehicle, a recoilless weapons vehicle, a supply vehicle and an ATGM (HOT missile) vehicle.

Wiesel 2 entered service in 2001. Both versions can be airlifted by medium or fixed-wing helicopters. However, it is not an airdroppable system, as four pilot vehicles were lost while testing this capability during the trial.

The Bundeswehr has received a stockpile of 343 Wiesel 1 forms and 179 Wiesel 2 forms. It has used these in various peacekeeping operations around the world.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

Depends on weapon.

Changes