Dawsar ( ) or MAP II (''Modular Armored Platform'') is a heavily

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

developed by King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (now

Jordan Design and Development Bureau The Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) is a Jordanian defence company. The company was established by Royal Decree as King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) on 24 August 1999 to provide an indigenous capability for the s ...

). It is based on Tariq

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank or simply tank,Ogorkiewicz 2018 p222 is a tank that fills the role of armour-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more po ...

, an upgraded version of

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

. The Jordanian Army received four of these vehicles in 2014. The prime role of this vehicle is to support mechanized formation on the battlefield by accompanying

s. They are less vulnerable to anti-tank weapons than light APCs or IFVs. They may be used as a personnel carrier,

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

carrier, armored

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

and command post vehicle.

Design

During conversion process the turret is removed. The

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

is widened by 45 cm . Front and rear hatches are added, plus 4 roof hatches for observation, firing and emergency exit . The Dawsar can carry 13 soldiers with their gear. KADDB developed variants of the Dawsar such as a 120-mm mortar and ammunition carrier. In 2001 KADDB began producing Temsah Heavy APC. This vehicle is also based on

Centurion tank The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing comba ...

Protection

Dawsar heavy APC has a low profile hull. The sides are covered with massive side skirts. Dawsar provides full protection against medium calibere KE ammunition. Its protection is equal to that of a main battle tank. It is better protected than the

M113 The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs. The M113 was first used ...

currently used by the Jordanian Army.

Weapons

A Dawsar heavy APC armed with remotely controlled station is fitted with a 12.7mm machine gun and a Kornet-E anti-tank missile launcher. Another 7.62mm is on a different mount, operated by vehicle commander.

Engine

Dawsar heavy APC is powered by one Continental AVDS-1790 supercharged diesel engine, developing 900 hp. This engine is used in American main battle tank and in Tariq MBT. It is mated to an Allison automatic transmission. Maximum range is 200 km.

MAP

MAP was an earlier vehicle developed by KADDB, it was also built from the Centurion MBT. 2 different version were built, one version was closed, and the other version was still armored all around, but open at the top. Both versions had an elevation in which windows were installed. Each version was meant to fulfil a number of purposes:

Closed version

* Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) * Command Vehicle * Tracked Ambulance * Communications Vehicle * Forward Observation Vehicle * Armoured Workshop Vehicle

Open Version

Mortar Carrier A mortar carrier, or self-propelled mortar, is a self-propelled artillery piece in which a mortar is the primary weapon. Simpler vehicles carry a standard infantry mortar while in more complex vehicles the mortar is fully integrated into th ...

* Spare Powerpack Carrier * Ammunition Carrier * Fuel Tanker * General Purpose Load Vehicle

Al-Dawsar 2016 upgrade

KADDB revealed an upgraded version of the Dawsar at the SOFEX 2016. This newer upgraded version has a capacity for 7 dismounts and a crew of 2, the seats can be arranged to seat up to 10 dismounts. The frontal door remains, the payload was increased to 10 tons and the vehicle should provide Level 5 STANAG 4569 of protection. The vehicle is heated and airconditioned. RPG protection and a camera for the driver can be installed optionally.

Temsah

Temsah (Arabic: تمساح , translates to Crocodile) is another conversion of the Centurion, developed by KADDB in cooperation with Mechanology Design Bureau and

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

. The Centurion is used in reverse, the rear and front of the hull where swapped to add a rear ramp. 2 armament layouts were planned, a turret consisting of 12.7mm a machine gun and

ZT3 Ingwe The ZT3 Ingwe (Leopard) is a modern South African multi-role laser beam riding anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) manufactured by Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron). Design and development The ZT3 and its launch system were developed under the c ...

and the other one consisting of the

M621 cannon The M621 is a 20 mm automatic cannon of French design, developed by Nexter as on-board armament for armored vehicles, aircraft, helicopters and small coastal vessels of the French Navy. Variants THL 20 Turreted cannon for helicopters. POD ...

, Anti-tank missile launchers and a coaxial machine gun. The vehicle is meant to be used alongside main battle tanks and can be used as a tracked ambulance and command post.

References

Tracked armoured personnel carriers Military vehicles introduced in the 2010s {{mil-vehicle-stub