ARMOURED INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES

WARRIOR

 

Warrior Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV)

Warrior FV 510 is an armoured infantry fighting vehicle (AIFV) that replaced the AFV 432 in the British Army armoured infantry battalions. The original buy of Warrior was reduced to 789 units. Of this total the vast majority had been delivered by early 1995 and the vehicle is in service with three armoured infantry battalions in the UK.

 

The vehicle has seen successful operational service in the Gulf (1991), with British troops serving in the Balkans and more recently in Iraq.


The vehicle has proven protection against mines, and there is dramatic BBC TV footage of a Warrior running over a Serbian anti-tank mine with little or no serious damage to the vehicle or crew.

The hull and mechanical components of Warrior are exceptional and few other vehicles in the world can match it for reliability and performance. Current plans appear to be for the vehicle to remain in service until 2025. A Warrior Mid-Life Improvement Programme is currently being implemented. This should provide a new power pack, vehtronics enhancement, a digital fire control system (FCS) and a modern medium calibre cannon system. This extension of capability for Warrior will provide the necessary lead time for the introduction of future advanced capability systems vehicles to replace both Challenger 2 and Warrior.

 

The Warrior is driven by a Perkins-Rolls-Royce V8 Condor engine through a four-speed automatic gearbox. It is capable of a road speed of 46 miles per hour (74 km/h).

The vehicle is fitted with a two-man GKN Sankey turret, armed with a L21A1 30 mm RARDEN cannon and 7.62 mm coaxial chain gun. It is fitted with two clusters of four defensive grenade launchers.

 

Numbers in UK service are believed to include 482 x Warrior Basic; 59 x Warrior RA; 126 x Warrior Recovery and Repair. The Kuwait MoD has signed a contract for the purchase of 230 Warrior vehicles some of which are Recce vehicles armed with a 90 mm Cockerill gun.
 

WARRIOR Specifications
Type Tracked armoured infantry fighting vehicle
Manufacturer BAe Land Systems
Crew 2 + 7 troops
Armament L21 30mm Rarden Cannon
Coaxial EX-34 7.62mm Hughes Helicopter Chain Gun
Smoke Dischargers Royal Ordnance Visual and Infra Red Screening Smoke (VIRSS)
Length 6.34m
Height 2.78m
Width 3m
Weight 24.5 tonnes
Powerplant Rolls Royce CV8 diesel producing 550hp
Performance Max speed 75km/h, range 500km

 

Photo Copyright Defence Support Group (DSG)