A demolition vehicle is a vehicle used to demolish buildings and other structures. Military forces require such vehicles to clear obstacles, fortifications and rubble so that they can safely advance.

Military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

s may use a variety of specialised vehicles including

armoured bulldozer The armored bulldozer is a basic tool of combat engineering. These combat engineering vehicles combine the earth moving capabilities of the bulldozer with armor which protects the vehicle and its operator in or near combat. Most are civilian b ...

s and explosive robotic drones. Examples used during the Second World War include the German Goliath, the AVRE variant of the

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, ...

and the Centaur bulldozer. The Israel Defence Forces developed armoured bulldozers such as the IDF Caterpillar D9 in the 1950s and has used these with success in several of its conflicts. Specialist demolition vehicles may be used by civilian contractors.

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

produce a range of tracked vehicles equipped with lengthy hydraulic arms and a variety of attachments including drills, grabs, pincers and scoops. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Ahrens-026-12, Russland, Sprengpanzer "Goliath".jpg, A

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Saul's ...

remote-piloted demolition charge being used in Russia in 1944 File:IDF-D9-demolishes-Palestinian-structure-01.jpg, An IDF D9 demolishing a house in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

File:Trojan_AVRE_in_Helmand,_Afghanistan_MOD_45151228.jpg, A Trojan AVRE in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

File:Volvo_Demolition_Equipment.jpg, A Volvo EC480EHR high reach demolition machine

References

Military engineering vehicles {{Mil-vehicle-stub

See also

References