armor.wikisort.org - Tank

The Hippo is a South African armoured personnel carrier. Specially designed to be mine resistant, it can carry ten infantrymen and a crew of two.[3] The vehicle's remote-operated turret mounts dual 7.62mm machine guns, but like other improvised fighting vehicles, it is only lightly protected against ballistic threats.[3]

Hippo
Armscor Hippo at the SAPS Museum, Ventersburg
Type	Armoured personnel carrier
Place of origin	South Africa
Service history
In service	1974 - 1978[1]
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Rhodesian Bush War South African Border War Namibian War of Independence Soweto uprising
Production history
Designer	Armscor South Africa
Designed	1974[2]
Manufacturer	Armscor South Africa
No. built	275 (Mk 1-R)[2] 402 (Mk 1-M)[3]
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	8.8 tonnes (9.7 short tons; 8.7 long tons)[1]
Length	6.53 m (21 ft 5 in)[2]
Width	2.46 m (8 ft 1 in)[2]
Height	3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)[2]
Crew	2
Passengers	10
Main armament	2x 7.62mm M1919 Browning machine guns[1]
Engine	Bedford 2.5 l (150 in3) inline 6-cylinder water-cooled petrol[2]
Transmission	ZF 4-speed manual synchromesh (2nd, 3rd, 4th gears)[2][3]
Ground clearance	32 cm[2]
Fuel capacity	240 litres[2]
Operational range	640 km[1]
Maximum speed	73 km/h[1]

Development history

An interim solution adopted to deal with the threat of land mines deployed by the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) in northern Ovamboland, the Hippo was simply a blastproof hull fitted to a Bedford RL chassis. Similar to the BTR-152, it offered a staggered troop compartment with seating facing inwards. Vision was restricted to narrow plate glass windows. This layout was universally unpopular and later corrected with the Buffel.[2] There were firing ports for the occupants and a powered machine gun turret could be braced on the open top, though these were seldom fitted. Passengers and crew debussed from a rear deck.[2]

The Hippo Mk1-R was based on a M1961 Bedford truck chassis, which was being phased from South African service in 1974.[1] The Mk1-R was manufactured using mild steel and RB390 armour steel.[3] Some 150 Mk1-R were ordered and shipped to the South African Police in 1974, another 5 being donated to the South-West African authorities.[2] Police units left behind several when they withdrew from Rhodesia in 1976; these were retained by Rhodesian Security Forces and later passed on to the Zimbabwe National Army.[4] In 1978, 120 Hippo Mk1-R conversions of M1970 Bedfords was undertaken for the South African Defence Force, which had assumed responsibility for patrols along the Angolan border and needed a new mine protected vehicle. The Hippo Mk1-M used ROQ TUFF steel instead of mild steel. The South African Army ordered 402 Mk1-M.[3]

The Hippo served its purpose for the South African Army but it was heavy, and lacked true off-road capability. A new mine-protected vehicle had been designed in April 1976 although it would be another two years before the Buffel would eventually replace the Hippo as the Army's premier troop-carrying mine-protected vehicle.[3]

Variants

• Hippo Mk1-R - 1974 model, built on the 1961 Bedford chassis.
• Hippo Mk1-M - 1978 model, built on the 1970 Bedford chassis.

Operators

•  South Africa: South African Defence Force and South African Police
• South-West Africa: South West African Police
•  Rhodesia: Rhodesian Security Forces[5]
•  Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe National Army[4]

See also

• Casspir
• Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier
• Buffel
• Bullet TCV
• Gazelle FRV
• MAP45 Armoured Personnel Carrier
• MAP75 Armoured Personnel Carrier
• Mine Protected Combat Vehicle (MPCV)
• Weapons of the Rhodesian Bush War

References

External links

• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Hippo

Bibliography

• Peter Gerard Locke & Peter David Farquharson Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80, P&P Publishing, Wellington 1995. ISBN 0-473-02413-6
• Peter Stiff, Taming the Landmine, Galago Publishing Pty Ltd., Alberton (South Africa) 1986. ISBN 9780947020040

На других языках

---

- [en] Hippo APC

---

[ru] Hippo APC

Hippo APC — южноафриканский бронетранспортер. Производился в Южной Африке с 1972 по 1979 год на базе грузовика Bedford RL, выпускавшегося с 1950-х годов. Бронеавтомобиль был вдохновлён советским БТР-152, от которого "унаследовал" расположение сидений в десантном отделении. Обзор (особенно для водителя) был ограничен узкими стеклянными окнами. Эта компоновка была повсеместно непопулярной и позже была исправлена ​​в бронемашине Buffel, в которой использовались некоторые детали от Hippo APC.

---

---