Rooikat

For other uses, see Rooikat (disambiguation).
Rooikat

Rooikat 105
Type Armoured fighting vehicle
Place of origin South Africa
Service history
In service 1990 – present
Wars Operation Boleas[1]
Production history
Designed 1976
Produced 1989 – present
Specifications
Weight 28 t
Length 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in)
8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) with gun forward
Width 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Height 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) turret roof
Crew 4
Main
armament
 1 x Denel GT4 76mm 62-calibre rifled gun, firing an APFSDS round
Muzzle velocity: > 1600m/s.[2][3]
Secondary
armament
 2 x MG4 7.62 mm machine guns; 8 x 81 mm smoke grenade dischargers[3]
Engine 10-cylinder water-cooled diesel
414 KW (563 hp)
Power/weight 14.89kW/t
Suspension 8×8 wheeled, Fully independent active trailing arm
Operational
range
 1000 km (621 mi)
Speed Road: 120 km/h (75 mph)
Off-road: 50 km/h (31 mph)

The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; literally "Red cat") is a wheeled armoured fighting vehicle built in South Africa for the South African Army. It was designed for combat reconnaissance and seek and destroy operations. Its secondary roles include combat support, anti-armour and anti-guerrilla operations. The Rooikat is intended for deep penetration missions, so the wheeled design was needed for speed and to counter sandy desert conditions that might slow tracked vehicles.

Production history

Rooikat Armoured Fighting Vehicles

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

Designed to replace the Eland, the Rooikat came too late for the war in Angola. It was designed to incorporate lessons learned from the bush war.

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

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.[6][7]


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.[8]

Rooikat antiaircraft platform

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.[9]:398


Rooikat Antitank

A prototype Rooikat 35/ZT-3 antitank was also developed with a new turret to incorporate antitank missiles.[9]: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.

Combat history

Prior to South Africa's 1994 elections, the South African Defence Force (SADF) deployed the Rooikat largely as an internal security vehicle. [10] It saw action in Lesotho during Operation Boleas.[1]

Capability

Variants

Variant Description Comment Image
Rooikat 76 Original version Denel GT4 76mm main gun
Rooikat 105 Upgraded versionDenel GT7 105mm main gun
Rooikat ZA 35 Anti aircraft gun platformSPAAG 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.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 History and Insignia - SA Armour Association
  2. ↑ "Rooikat". South African Army. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  3. 1 2 "Rooikat armoured car". DefenceWeb. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  4. ↑ ARG. "Rooikat Tank Destroyer". Military-Today.com. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  5. ↑ "South African Army preparing immediate response force - IHS Jane's 360". Janes.com. 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Rooikat 105 Armoured Fighting Vehicle". Army Technology. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  7. ↑ "Fact file: Rooikat armoured car". defenceWeb. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  8. ↑ ARG. "ZA-35 Prototype Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun". Military-Today.com. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  9. 1 2 Foss, Christopher F. (1996). Jane's Tank Recognition Guide. Glasgow: HarperCollins. ISBN 0 00 4709950.
  10. ↑ "The O'Malley Archives". Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "home". Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  12. ↑ Africa: Salvation or Despair

External links

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