Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAPV), also known as MRAP vehicle, is a type of

armoured 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 ...

that is designed specifically to withstand land mines,

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

(IED) attacks, and

ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...

es to save troops' lives. Most modern

infantry mobility vehicle An infantry mobility vehicle (IMV) is a four-wheel drive armored personnel carrier (APC) serving as an armed military transport, military patrol, reconnaissance or security vehicle. Those IMVs are distinct from 8-, 6-, and 4-wheeled APCs (su ...

s also have a certain level of MRAP capabilities.

History

Specialized light armored vehicles designed specifically to resist land mines were first introduced in the 1970s by the Rhodesian Army, and were further developed by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n manufacturers starting in 1974 with the

Hippo The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic Mammal, mammal native to su ...

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 ...

(APC).Heitman, Helmoed-Römer. ''South African Armed Forces''. Buffalo Publications 1990. p 44. The first step by the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

(SADF) was the Bosvark, a

Unimog The Unimog (pronunciation in American English: ''YOU-nuh-mog''; British English: ''YOU-knee-mog''; German: , ) is a Daimler Truck line of multi-purpose, highly offroad capable AWD vehicles produced since 1948. Utilizing engine-driven power tak ...

fitted with a shallow mine-deflecting tub on the chassis to protect the crew. Then came the first generation of purpose-built vehicles, including the Hippo and various other light vehicles. They were essentially armoured V-shaped hulls mounted on truck chassis. The next generation was represented by the Buffel, a Unimog chassis with a mine-protected cab and a mine-protected crew compartment mounted on it. These early vehicles overloaded their chassis and they were clumsy off-road. The Casspir Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle was developed for the SADF after 1980; this was the inspiration for the American and other military MRAPV program and the basis for some of the program's vehicles.

Design

These vehicles have good off-road mobility, and armor protection against small-arms fire, IEDs, and antipersonnel mines. These armored vehicles generally have a distinctive V-shaped hull (for mine protection) and a wheeled chassis.

List of MRAP vehicles

Dedicated MRAPV

* ATF Dingo 2 * BAE Caiman – part of the American MRAP program * BMC Vuran * BMC Kirpi * Gaz Tigr *

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

– part of the American MRAP program * CS/VP3 MRAP * Ezugwu MRAP * First Win * Golan Armored Vehicle *

International MaxxPro The International M1224 MaxxPro Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) is an armored fighting vehicle designed by American company Navistar International's subsidiary Navistar Defense along with the Israe ...

– part of the American MRAP program * Kalyani M4 * Kamaz Typhoon – part of the Russian Typhoon program * Mine Protected Combat Vehicle –

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

IMV from 1979 * Nexter Aravis * Force Protection Ocelot * Oshkosh M-ATV – part of the American MRAP program * Protolab Misu * RG-31 Nyala * RG-33 (6×6) * Sisu GTP * Toofan – Iranian MRAP infantry mobility vehicle * Unicob * Zastava M20 MRAP

Infantry mobility vehicle with MRAP capabilities

* AMZ Żubr * Bushmaster IMV * COMBATGUARD * Didgori series * Grizzly APC * Hunter TR-12 * Iveco LMV – several thousand ordered by Italian and other European militaries * Kozak (armored personnel carrier) * M16 Miloš * Nurol Ejder * Mahindra Armored Light Specialist Vehicle * Mungo ESK * Oshkosh L-ATV – selected to meet US military's JLTV requirement on 25 August 2015 *

Otokar Cobra The Cobra () is a armoured tactical vehicle developed by Turkish firm Otokar. The vehicle has some subsystems from the Humvee. The Cobra is the first generation of the Cobra family of vehicles, a second generation named Otokar Cobra II is also pr ...

* Otokar Cobra II * RG-33 (4×4) * Shota * STREIT Group Spartan * Varta

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrap (Armored Vehicle) Wheeled armoured fighting vehicles Wheeled armoured personnel carriers Military engineering vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s Iraq War terminology