FV430 series

The FV430 series covers a number of armoured fighting vehicles of the British Army, all built on the same chassis. The most common is the FV432 armoured personnel carrier.

FV430
FV430 Mk3 Bulldog
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Specifications
Mass15.3 t
Length5.25 m
Width2.8 m
Height2.28 m
Crew2 minimum
Armour12.7 mm max
Main
armament
7.62 mm L7 GPMG
Secondary
armament
smoke dischargers
EngineRolls-Royce K60 multi-fuel
240 hp
Power/weight15.7 hp/tonne
Suspensiontorsion-bar, 5 road wheel
Operational
range
580 km
Maximum speed 52 km/h

Although the FV430 series has been in service for a long time, and some of the designs have been replaced in whole or part by other vehicles, such as those of the CVR(T) range or the Warrior, many have been retained and are receiving upgrades in the engine and control gear.[1]

The FV430 chassis is a conventional tracked design with the engine at the front and the driving position to the right. The hatch for the vehicle commander is directly behind the driver's; a pintle mount next to it can take a machine gun. There is a side-hinged door in the rear for loading and unloading, and in most models a large split-hatch round opening in the passenger compartment roof. In common with other such old designs, there are no firing ports for the troops carried - British Army doctrine has always been to dismount from vehicles to fight.

There is a wading screen as standard, and the vehicle has a water speed of about 6 km/h when converted for swimming.

FV430 vehicles, if armed, tend to have a pintle-mounted L7 GPMG. There are two three-barrel smoke dischargers at the front.

Vehicles

British Army nomenclature:

  • FV431 Armoured load carrier - one prototype produced, Alvis Stalwart 6x6 vehicle selected instead for load carrier role.
  • FV432 Armoured Personnel Carrier
  • FV433 Field Artillery, Self-Propelled "Abbot" - 105 mm self propelled gun built by Vickers
  • FV434 "Carrier, Maintenance, Full Tracked" - REME Maintenance carrier with a crew of four and a hydraulically driven crane with a lifting capacity of 3,050 kg
  • FV435 Wavell communications vehicle
  • FV436 Command and control - some fitted with Green Archer radar, later Cymbeline radar
  • FV437 Pathfinder vehicle - based on an FV432 with integral buoyancy and other waterjets - prototyped only
  • FV438 Swingfire - Guided missile launcher
  • FV439 Signals vehicle - Many variants
  • FV430 Mk3 Bulldog - Upgraded troop carrier that began serving in Iraq in August 2007

FV430 Mk3 Bulldog

Introduced in December 2006, the Bulldog was designed to meet an urgent operational requirement for extra armoured vehicles for use in counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. It features an applique reactive armour package designed by Israeli company Rafael capable of defeating hollow charge warheads, such as the RPG-7 rockets used by insurgents.[2] A new engine and steering gear provide better mobility and manoevrability. Other features include air conditioning and a gun station fitted with a 7.62mm machine-gun that can be controlled from inside the vehicle. Nine hundred FV430s are expected to be modified in this way and are being deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside the new Mastiff PPV and Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle (Vector), relieving some of the pressure on the Warrior fleet.[3][4]

The modifications, as well as bringing the vehicle's level of protection up to that of the Warrior, give it better cross country performance and a new top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h).[5]

Modifications on the first 50 units were underway between January and October 2006 at the ABRO facility in Dorset by BAE Systems Land Systems at a cost of £85 million. However, these were deployed to Operation Telic in an incomplete state and were brought to completion, along with the rest of the Bulldog fleet during Operation Telic 10, in theatre, in a joint venture between BAE Systems Land Systems and 6 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

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See also

References
  1. "Bulldog & FV430 series". Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. "British Forces in Iraq Field an Up-Armored Bulldog". Defense-update.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  3. "Bulldogs are on their way" (PDF), British Defence Logistic Organisation News (October 2006), p. 11, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2006
  4. More upgraded Armoured Personnel Carriers for the Army, 13 July 2007
  5. British Bulldog in Basra - Strategy Page
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