South African Armoured Vehicles Volume 1: A History of Innovation and Excellence

During the Cold War, Africa became a prime location for proxy wars between the East and the West. Against the backdrop of a steep rise in liberation movements backed by Eastern Bloc communist countries such as Cuba and the Soviet Union, southern Africa saw one of the most intense wars ever fought on the continent. South Africa, subjected to international sanctions because of its policy of racial segregation known as Apartheid, was cut off from major sources of arms systems following the United Nations arms embargo of 1977. The country had already become militarily involved in the Angolan conflict from 1975 during Operation Savannah, and requirements for locally suitable equipment had begun to emerge even before large scale conventional operations developed. As the war intensified and gradually evolved into a more conventional conflict, existing equipment proved increasingly ill-suited to the hot, dry and dusty operational environment and to the persistent threat of land mines. This accelerated ongoing local research and development efforts, leading South African engineers and military planners to produce a range of often ground-breaking and innovative weapon systems. The results were designs for some of the most robust armoured vehicles produced anywhere in the world for their time, and highly influential for further development in multiple fields ever since. Decades later, the lineage of some of the vehicles in question can still be seen on many battle fields around the world, especially those riddled by landmines and so-called improvised explosive devices. This revised and updated edition South African Armoured Vehicles: A History of Innovation and Excellence Volume 1, takes an in-depth look at the Eland, Buffel, Ratel, Casspir, G6 Rhino, Ystervark, Bateleur and Olifant Mk1A armoured vehicles. The development of each vehicle is rolled out in the form of a breakdown of their main features, layout and design, equipment, capabilities, variants and service experiences. Extensively illustrated with photographs and custom-drawn colour profiles, this volume provides an exclusive and indispensable source of reference. 71 colour photos, 25 colour profiles, 3 b/w photos, 1 colour map, 1 b/w map, 1 diagram, 19 tables