FV430 "Bulldog " AFV first deployment in IRAQ : w/ images

troops from the royal green jackets are now using the latest incarnation of the FV430 series AFV :

The FV430 MkIII " bulldog "

wiki entry

in short it is a venerable hull / drive train " sexed-up " with new composites armour to deteat RPG rounds and modern electronics , optics and driver / cfrew protection

here is the BBC news reportage

and pictures :

Well, well, well!

Another bloody Labour stop gap. When will civvies ever learn?

The F432 series of lightly armoured personnel carriers have been around for over 30 years.

So, with a few slabs of wrinkley bolt-on armour, a kinky-looking see through gunshield, a few pieces of chicken-wire mesh over the glacis plate and HEY PRESTO!

Now, paint it in a sandy-desert shade of yellowy-orange and what do we have? A brand new ICFV - not!

And, once again, all it's got is a General.

Utter bollocks

Originally posted by fritz
Well, well, well!

Another bloody Labour stop gap. When will civvies ever learn?

The F432 series of lightly armoured personnel carriers have been around for over 30 years.

So, with a few slabs of wrinkley bolt-on armour, a kinky-looking see through gunshield, a few pieces of chicken-wire mesh over the glacis plate and HEY PRESTO!

Now, paint it in a sandy-desert shade of yellowy-orange and what do we have? A brand new ICFV - not!

And, once again, all it's got is a General.

Utter bollocks

If you actually read what the soldiers who actually use the this vehicle www.mod.uk...
in Iraq think of it they seem to like it and feel safer using it but no Fritz the expert denounces it out of hand. I for one am happy if our soldiers have vehicles which protect them far better than the previous vehicles even if they are upgraded from an old design. The US,Aussies and the Israelis have also decided in upgrading their versions of the fv430. We would all like to see our troops with shiny brand new vehicles but the reality is, is that we have a limited budget and they have to spread it the best they canIsnt FRES supposed to be the new medium weight IFV?.

[edit on 9-2-2007 by mojoberg]

[edit on 9-2-2007 by mojoberg]

Mojo yet again, you decide to put a personal slant on my post. Have you ever been in one of those things? It's cramped to say the least; It's bloody noisy and smelly. You have to shout to be heard. It's like a Herc with tracks. You can actually get sea sickness, if you're in the back for too long!

This new ICFV is [again, in my opinion] another Labour stop gap. It is still, under gunned. The General is a brilliant GPMG - but just one?

There are shed loads of semi-retired Fox and Sabre turrets knocking around ABRO at Warminster, Thetford and probably at Ashchurch that could be fitted to this vehicle.

That Mojo, was the inference of my reply.

Now, if I upset you so much, why don't you just press the ignore button on the left?

I have read the personal comments of The Riflemen serving in Iraq and I quote from a VehComm: Corporal Scott Hodgkinson, who has experience in Bosnia and Afghanistan said:

'It out rates all the other vehicles I've been in before in my whole army career whether it be Snatch, Saxon or normal Landrover.'

These vehicles are Snatch - a NI version of the Lannie, Saxon - a big box on wheels and of course the normal Lannie.

So Mojo, nothing startlingly brilliant about the 'new' vehicle when compared to what he was commanding before.

[edit on 10-2-2007 by fritz]

you get the same noise problem in any apc, by the sound of it, youve never actually driven one of these either.
they really have done a fair bit of work to this vehicle, it drives much better, is more reliable and is safer for the crew
so what if its an uprated version of an older vehicle, its only a frontline support vehicle anyway, not a front line fighting vehicle like the warrior