Meerkat (vehicle)

The Meerkat is the lead vehicle in the Interim Vehicle Mounted Mine Detector VMMD system,[1] which evolved from a system known as Chubby.[2]

The system is manufactured by the Rolling Stock Division (RSD) of DCD-Dorbyl, a mechanical engineering conglomerate in South Africa.

The Meerkat resembles a cross between a dune buggy and a grader, with a pair of horizontally mounted rectangular panels, one each side, where the grader's blade would be.

The Meerkat is intended only to detect land mines - the related Husky and its trailers are intended to dispose of detected mines.

With its tire pressures lowered, the Meerkat produces a relatively low pressure on the ground below the tires, enabling it to pass over pressure-sensitive mines designed to destroy heavy vehicles. Even if it detonates a mine, the floor of the driver's cabin is armored and the structural components are designed to be quickly replaced.

References
  1. "Meerkat Interim Vehicle Mounted Mine Detector (IVMMD)".
  2. "Global Defence Review: The RSD Chubby". Archived from the original on 2003-01-12.


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