German Army Wiesel with 20mm cannon

The Wiesel IFV is a light airtransportable infantry fighting vehicle, or more accurately a lightly-armoured weapons carrier. Depending on the exact configuration, the length is about 2.55 meters, the height 1.82 meters, and the width 1.82 meters. The weight is only 2.75 tons, that means it weighs less than the US Hummer light truck. The engine is a 64 kW Volkswagen 2.1 litre [Diesel]] engine giving a top speed of 70 km/h (45 mph). The metre (American spelling: meter), symbol: m, is the basic unit of distance (or of length, in the parlance of the physical sciences) in the International System of Units. ... The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ... Volkswagen (VW) is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. ... Wiesel in the machine gun configuration German Army Homepage www. ... Wiesel in the machine gun configuration German Army Homepage www. ... A Warrior vehicle with UN markings, on the making of the eponymous film. ... HUMMER is a marque of vehicles sold by General Motors. ... Volkswagen (VW) is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. ...

The chassis is made of armour steel and can resist the common 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm assault rifle ammunition. Air dropping the vehicle from a plane with parachutes was tested, but was not successful; four test-vehicles were destroyed. Nevertheless the Wiesel can easily be flown in by transport helicopters, a single CH53 helicopter can fly in two at once, and common transport planes can carry four or more Wiesel vehicles. A chassis (plural: chassis) consists of a framework which supports an inanimate object, analogous to an animals skeleton; for example in the construction of an automobile or of a firearm. ... A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... Steel framework Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... U.S. Military 5. ... There are many cartridges which use 7. ...

Production History

In the cold war, NATO feared the huge tank army of the Warsaw pact. The infantry, especially the airborne infantry, was considered being rather unprepared to successfully fight enemy tanks by the German Bundeswehr in the 1970's. The Cold War was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and its allies (roughly speaking, NATO members) and the Soviet Union and its allied (roughly speaking, Warsaw Pact members), until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. ... The flag of NATO NATO 2002 Summit The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 1949. ... Map of Warsaw Pact member countries. ... Airborne means carried by air, (e. ... Bundeswehr is the name of the armed forces of Germany. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

So the light, non-armoured combat support vehicle KRAKA was introduced to support the troops. It could be armed with an automatic cannon and anti-air missiles, but lacked armour. consequently a design for a new armoured infantry fighting vehicle was begun. The requirements were that the vehicle should fit in common NATO transport planes and could eventually be air-dropped. It should be able to fight infantry as well as enemy MBTs or aircraft. The Porsche produced some prototypes of the future fighting vehicle for the Bundeswehr in 1975, but the Bundeswehr stopped the project in 1978 because of the lack of funds. Nevertheless Porsche did not stop development because of interest from other countries. M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ... The Porsche 912, a Porsche of the 1960s Porsche (), is a German manufacturer of sports cars, founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who created the first Volkswagen. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

So the fighting vehicle was finally introduced as new weapon system for the Bundeswehr in 1990 and named "Wiesel" (weasel) because of its small size and agility. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alternate uses: Weasel (disambiguation) Species Mustela africana Mustela altaica Mustela erminea Mustela eversmannii Mustela felipei Mustela frenata Mustela kathiah Mustela lutreola Mustela lutreolina Mustela nigripes Mustela nivalis Mustela nudipes Mustela putorius Mustela sibirica Mustela strigidorsa Mustela vison Weasels are mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. ...

Variants

Various versions of the Wiesel IFV exist, there are different weapon configurations which can be mounted on the top. Among these options are Machine guns, anti-tank-missile, anti-air-missiles. A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...

Wiesel 1

• Ozelot Command - air defence unit command post
• Ozelot Radar - fitted with air defence radar
• Ozelot SRAD - fitted with air defence missile launcher
• Ozelot SRAD Variant 1 - retrofitted with box-type launchers
• Wiesel 1 Aufklaerung - reconnaissance
• Wiesel 1 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles
• Wiesel 1 ATM HOT Variant 1 - fitted with UTM-800 turret
• Wiesel 1 Radar - fitted with RATAC-S multi-purpose radar
• Wiesel 1 ATM TOW - anti-tank vehicle fitted with TOW missiles
• Wiesel 1 ATM TOW Resupply - cargo carrier fitted with racks for TOW missiles
• Wiesel 1 BTM208 - fitted with a SAMM BTM208 turret
• Wiesel 1 MK20 - fire support version with 20 mm cannon
• Wiesel 1 MK20 Variant 1 - Uprated with new sight
• Wiesel 1 MK25 - 25 mm armed version

HOT is an anti-tank missile system developed by Euromissile, a joint venture of France and Germany, and produced since 1978. ... A TOW missile being fired from a Jeep. ...

Wiesel 2

Engine is an Audi TDI four-cylinder diesel giving 109 hp coupled to a ZF automatic transmission. Generally bigger, faster and stronger and has advanced features for the protection of the crew such as enhanced armour, and an air conditioning system which protects the crew from biological and chemical weapons. Press photograph of the newly merged Audi NSU range, 1969. ...

• Wiesel 2 Ambulance
• Wiesel 2 APC - 2 + 4 crew armoured personnel carrier
• Wiesel 2 Command - battalion command post
• Wiesel 2 Mortar - 120mm mortar
• Wiesel 2 Mortar Variant 1 - mortar version with external supports
• Wiesel 2 Argus - reconnaissance
• Wiesel 2 Carrier - ammunition resupply
• Weisel 2 Pionier - combat engineer reconnaissance
• Wiesel 2 Primus - reconnaissance and fire control
• Wiesel 2 UF/BF - Ozelot air defence unit command post
• Wiesel 2 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles

Operators

Germany

Combat History

See also