Rooikat

The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; literally "Red cat") is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised 76mm high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. It is capable of giving the same performance and using the same ammunition as the Oto Melara 76 naval gun, albeit with new percussion primers.^[4]

Development history

Background

From the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s, the standard reconnaissance vehicle of the South African Defence Force was the Eland-90, a four-wheeled armoured car modeled closely after the Panhard AML-90.^[5] However, the Eland was designed for border patrols and internal security, and proved ill-suited to countering tank warfare.^[6] The Eland's limitations were first observed during combat in Operation Savannah, a 1975 South African incursion into Angola.^[6] This led to its supplementation in the late 1970s with the much heavier, six-wheeled Ratel-90 infantry fighting vehicle. The Ratel proved to be a successful interim measure because it could both carry troops and provide fire support.^[6]

In 1984, South Africa launched Operation Askari, which saw its mechanized and motorized infantry contingents threatened by large Angolan tank formations for the first time.^[7] Both the Ratel-90 and Eland-90 were utilised as improvised tank destroyers but performed inadequately against T-54/55 tanks of the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA).^[7] The armoured cars were decisively outranged by the Angolan tanks, and their inability to fire on the move resulted in a poor rate of engagement.^[8] As a direct result of Askari, the Eland was removed from combat service and a squadron of Olifant tanks kept on permanent standby to assist with neutralising enemy armour during future South African operations.^[9]

As early as the mid 1970s, the South African Armoured Corps had issued a requirement for a "heavy armoured car" capable of improving upon the Eland's 4X4 chassis, which limited mobility, and the mediocre range of its 90mm low pressure gun.^[10] Research was undertaken for a New Generation Armoured Car project between 1976 and 1979, when three 8X8 prototypes were built by Sandock-Austral and trialled in Potchefstroom.^[11] The prototypes were built using the components of the Ratel, Eland, and Alvis Saracen respectively, and were armed with a 77mm HV tank gun.^[11] The Saracen and Ratel derivatives could each accommodate four crewmen - gunner, commander, loader, and driver - while the Eland derivative accommodated five, including one passenger.^[10] These trials were primarily for the purpose of evaluating the vehicles' performance on different types of local terrain; while none of the three were deemed acceptable for the New Generation Armoured Car programme, the chassis built with Eland components continued to influence later prototypes—particularly with regards to its suspension features.^[12]

Rooikat prototypes: the one on the left was built with automotive and chassis components from a Ratel, and the one on the right, an Eland Mk7.

Three more contenders appeared in 1982: the Bismark heavy tank destroyer, the Cheetah Mk1, and the Cheetah Mk2. The sole Bismark prototype was a joint South African-German project designed with assistance from Thyssen-Henschel.^[10] It was an eight-wheeled vehicle which weighed over forty metric tonnes and carried a 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 tank gun.^[11] The Cheetah Mk1 was six-wheeled and carried a lightweight 76mm gun or a 60mm breech-loading mortar (adopted from the Eland-60); it resembled a modified TH-400.^[10] Also known as "Model 2B", the Cheetah Mk2 was an eight-wheeled vehicle which could also carry the armament installed on the Mk1.^[10] These prototypes were trialled in March 1984 and the Cheetah Mk2 was accepted by the South African Army.^[13] The Armoured Corps had hoped to simplify logistics by replacing both the Eland and Ratel simultaneously with a new chassis that could double as both a reconnaissance vehicle and an infantry fighting vehicle, similar to the Ratel-90 interim measure, but these plans were shelved.^[13] A fourth, multirole eight-wheeled prototype evaluated in 1984 was rejected and a decision was made to retain the Ratel for the foreseeable future while pursuing the separate development of the Cheetah Mk2, now denoted as the Rooikat.^[11] In its final form the Rooikat incorporated several features adopted directly from the Eland-90, namely the same auxiliary turret sights^[10] and the mounting of all eight wheels on trailing arms, with the same hydropneumatic shock absorbers and coil springs.^[12]

The first Rooikats were manufactured by Sandock-Austral beginning in September 1987, and delivered to the South African Army for further tests by December. Another three were delivered in October 1988.^[10] The Rooikat did not enter service in large numbers until August 1989, when a single South African armoured squadron began receiving it. Mass production commenced around mid 1990.^[10]

Service

Upon its inception in 1994 the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) immediately retired the surviving Eland-90 fleet.^[14] Nevertheless, some Elands remained with reserve units as late as 1996 since there were only 176 Rooikats in service at the time.^[15] The SANDF subsequently issued a requirement for another 66 Rooikats from Sandock-Austral, which had been absorbed by Land Systems OMC.^[16] New SANDF doctrine placed an emphasis on the Rooikat's primary role of reconnaissance, as well as the harassment of enemy rearguard units. In a marked departure from the manoeuvre-oriented anti-tank tactics of the South African Border War, Rooikat crews were also trained to engage tanks only from defile or otherwise static defensive positions.^[16]

Just prior to general elections in 1994, the South African Army deployed the Rooikat for internal patrols.^[17] During the Southern African Development Community intervention in Lesotho, Rooikats of the Special Service Battalion were called up to reinforce South African mechanized units then skirmishing with Lesotho Army mutineers. The armoured cars arrived in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, on September 22, 1998 and participated in various security operations.^[1]

Variants

Plinthed Rooikat at the entrance to 1 Special Service Battalion, Bloemfontein.

Two versions exist and are designated according to their main guns:

• Rooikat 76: The Rooikat 76 armoured fighting vehicle, with a 76mm gun, was developed by Reemit for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and has been in operational use with the SANDF since 1980.^[18]
• Rooikat 105: In 1990 an upgrade and redesign programme was started by Reumech OMC to customise the Rooikat for the international market, and by 1994 the development of the Rooikat 105 variant with a 105mm rifled gun was completed.^[19]

The Rooikat 105 is designed for high mobility day and night combat operations. Passive image intensifiers and thermal imaging equipment for night driving, navigation and weapon deployment permit round-the-clock combat operations. The Rooikat 105 is equipped with a GT7 105mm anti-tank gun. The gun fires the full range of Nato full-pressure 105mm ammunition including generation I, II and III rounds. The gun, fitted with a 51-caliber thermal sleeve encased barrel, fires six rounds a minute. There are two 7.62mm machine guns, one co-axial to the main armament and one at the commander's position, for general purpose ground and air defence. The vehicle is equipped with two banks of 81mm smoke grenade launchers, mounted in a forward firing position on each side of the turret. The system is electrically operated. The smoke grenades form a dense protective smoke screen, which can be sustained using an exhaust smoke generator. The digital fire control system takes data from a suite of sensors and provides an automatic fire control solution. Automatic data input includes target range from a laser rangefinder, target speed and direction derived from tracking the target, crosswind speed, weapon tilt and the characteristics of the weapon. Manual data input includes ammunition type and environmental data. The fire control system allows the Rooikat to engage enemy targets while on the move across rough terrain. The time between laser ranging the target and firing is approximately two seconds. Three variations of fire directing systems are offered. The most complex system incorporates a primary stabilised gunner's sight, automatic computation and implementation of ballistic offset of the weapon, electro-mechanical gun control, stabilised main weapon, gunner's sight with day / night channel slaved to the main weapon and an independent panoramic commander's sight.^[20][21]

Rooikat ZA35 Self Propelled Anti-aircraft Gun

This Rooikat version was developed by ARMSCOR in the early 90s. The ZA-35 SPAAG is armed with two Lyttleton Engineering M-35 guns. These guns have a combined rate of fire at 1 100 rounds per minute and fires HE-FRAG rounds against air targets and AP-I against light armored vehicles. The ZA-35 is fitted with an EDR 110 surveillance and tracking radar, which can track up to 100 air targets simultaneously. The antenna can be raised to a height of about 5 meters for increased visibility, when the vehicle is stationary. It can provide targeting data to other nearby SPAAGs and air defense systems, which do not have radars. It is also fitted with a computerized fire control system, fully stabilized gunner's sight and a laser rangefinder.^[22]

Rooikat SAM

The Rooikat SAM was intended to be used together with the Rooikat SPAAG, this ZA-HVM short-range SAM, would also have been based on the same chassis.^[23]:398

Rooikat 35/ZT-3

A prototype Rooikat 35 was also developed with a new turret to incorporate ZT-3 antitank missiles.^[23]:399

Technology Demonstrators

One Rooikat was turned into a conventional vehicle electric drive technology demonstrator (CVED) and displayed at AAD2006 in Cape Town in September of that year. The CVED project involved LMT, HIT, IAD, Nezrotek, Hotchinson (France), Kessler Magnet Motor (Germany) and MTU (Germany). VEG Magazine reported in 2006 the vehicle was fitted with a power supply control system feeding eight wheel-hub mounted M67/0 electric units and a two-phase pneumatic gearbox.

Capability

• Can climb a 1 m earth vertical step.
• Can cross a 2-metre-wide trench at a crawl 1 m @ 60 km/h.
• Can ford water 1.5 m deep.
• Can climb a gradient of 70 degrees.
• Can traverse a gradient of 30 degrees.

Variants

Variant	Description	Comment	Image
Rooikat 76	Original version	Denel GT4 76mm main gun
Rooikat 105	Upgraded version	Denel GT7 105mm main gun
Rooikat ZA 35	Anti aircraft gun platform	SPAAG twin 35mm anti aircraft auto cannons
Rooikat SAM	Turret with Surface to Air Missile platform	Prototype only
Rooikat anti-tank	Turret with four antitank missiles	Prototype only

Operators

 South Africa - South African National Defence Force: 240 units.^[24][25]

See also

• Eland Mk7
• Maneuver Combat Vehicle
• Vextra 105
• SdKfz 234
• T27 Armored Car
• B1 Centauro

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rooikat.

• Manufacturer's website (Accessed 28 July 2008)
• Factfile on Vehicle (Accessed 25 February 2009)
• Rooikat 76 Armoured Fighting Vehicle

Armoured Fighting Vehicles of South Africa
Armoured cars	Eland Marmon-Herrington Rooikat
Infantry Fighting Vehicles	Badger Mbombe Ratel
Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)	Buffel Casspir Hippo Mamba Marauder Matador Maverick Okapi RCV-9 Reva RG-12 RG-19 RG-31 Nyala RG-32 Scout RG-33 RG-34 RG-35 RG-41 RG Outrider PUMA M26-15
Artillery, transport and combat engineering	Chubby G6 Rhino Mfezi Valkiri SAMIL
Related articles	Equipment of the South African Army South African Army