Hippo APC
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
In popular culture
- Hippos appear in the 1987 film Cry Freedom, during a scene depicting the 1976 Soweto uprising.
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
- "Lesakeng". South African Armour Museum. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- Heitman, Helmoed-Römer. South African Armed Forces. Buffalo Publications 1990. ISBN 0-620-14878-0 p 44.
- "Surviving The Ride". 30 Degrees South. ISBN 978-1-928211-17-4. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- Nelson, Harold. Zimbabwe: A Country Study. pp. 237–317.
- Moorcraft, Paul L.; McLaughlin, Peter (April 2008) [1982]. The Rhodesian War: A Military History. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-694-8.