Rooikat – Photos & Vidéo

Galerie de photos d’un Rooikat, The Rooikat (Afrikaans for « Caracal »; littéralement « Chat rouge ») est un véhicule blindé de combat à roues construit en Afrique du Sud pour l’armée sud-africaine. Il a été conçu pour la reconnaissance de combat et les opérations de recherche et de destruction. Ses rôles secondaires comprennent le soutien au combat, les opérations anti-blindage et anti-guérilla. Le Rooikat est destiné aux missions de pénétration profonde, de sorte que la conception à roues était nécessaire pour la vitesse et pour contrer les conditions désertiques sablonneuses qui pourraient ralentir les véhicules à chenilles.

Source: Rooikat sur Wikipedia

The Rooikat armoured fighting vehicle is a product of South Africa’s experience in counter-insurgency and conventional warfare. It was developed to meet the need for a fast and agile reconnaissance vehicle that could operate in diverse terrain and engage enemy tanks at long range. The Rooikat is an 8×8 wheeled vehicle with a fully independent suspension and a powerful diesel engine that allows it to reach speeds of up to 120 km/h on road and 60 km/h off-road. The vehicle has a low profile and a high degree of mobility, making it difficult to detect and target.
The main armament of the Rooikat is a 76 mm or 105 mm rifled gun, mounted in a two-man turret with a stabilised fire control system. The gun can fire various types of ammunition, including armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive squash head (HESH), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), and smoke rounds. The gun can also fire the same ammunition as the Oto Melara 76 naval gun, with minor modifications. The Rooikat has a secondary armament of two 7.62 mm machine guns, one coaxial and one on the commander’s cupola. The vehicle also has eight 81 mm smoke grenade launchers for self-protection.
The Rooikat has a crew of four: driver, commander, gunner, and loader. The driver sits in the front left of the hull, while the other three crew members are located in the turret. The vehicle is equipped with passive night vision devices, thermal imaging systems, laser rangefinder, global positioning system (GPS), and intercom. The vehicle has a combat weight of 28 tonnes and an operational range of 1,000 km. The Rooikat can cross a 2 m trench, climb a 60% gradient, and ford a 1.5 m water obstacle.
The Rooikat entered service with the South African Army in 1987 and was used in Operation Boleas, a 1998 intervention in Lesotho. The vehicle was also exported to Oman and Malaysia. The Rooikat is still in service with the South African Army, which plans to upgrade its fleet with new engines, transmissions, turrets, and weapons systems.