A reconnaissance vehicle, also known as a scout vehicle, is a

military vehicle A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles, both specifically designed for or significantly used by military. Most military vehicles require Off-road vehicle, off-road capabilities ...

used for forward

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

. Both tracked and wheeled reconnaissance vehicles are in service. In some nations,

light tank A light tank is a Tank classification, tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller with thinner vehicle armour, armor and a less powerful tank gun, main gun, tailored for ...

s such as the

M551 Sheridan The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV (Reconnaissance vehicle, Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General (United States), General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It ...

and

AMX-13 The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1952 to 1987. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 26 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and re ...

have also been used by scout

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

s. Their armament ranges from a medium machine gun to a large cannon. Modern examples are often fitted with

ATGM An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s and a wide range of sensors. Reconnaissance vehicles are designed with several philosophies:

scout car A scout car is a light wheeled armored military vehicle, purpose-built and used for passive reconnaissance. Scout cars are either unarmed or lightly armed for self-defense, and do not carry large-caliber weapons systems. This differentiates them ...

s used for passive reconnaissance, with a low profile or small size and are lightly armoured to maximize mobility, relying on speed, stealth and cover to escape detection;

armoured reconnaissance Armoured reconnaissance also Combat reconnaissance vehicle is the combination of terrestrial reconnaissance with armoured warfare by soldiers using tanks and wheeled or tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles. While the mission of reconnaissan ...

used for active reconnaissance, distinct from ordinary scouts in weight and size of weapons and armor, designed not to break away from attacks, but to force their way through towards their objective.

Design

Smaller caliber weapons help reduce the vehicle's profile and noise signatures. In contrast, French, and British doctrine was to fit reconnaissance vehicles, such as the AEC, EBR and the AMX 10 RC, with the heaviest weaponry possible on their light chassis, so as to allow them a further role for defence of the flanks. Some vehicles are designed for special data collection tasks ( Sd.Kfz. 250/12) Thus reconnaissance vehicles can be divided into 3 main categories: * Scout cars: Their main role is surveying the routes (directions of attack) and monitoring the activities of the enemy. Therefore, their weapons and armor are modest, since they are not designed to fight, but this role requires good observation, high speed and they are typically amphibious. Typical examples:

Fennek The Fennek, named after the fennec (a species of small desert fox), or LGS Fennek, with LGS being short for in German (Light Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle), is a four-wheeled armed reconnaissance vehicle produced by the German company KND ...

, BRDM, Sd. Kfz. 221,

Dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

BA-64 The BA-64 (, from , ''Bronirovaniy Avtomobil'', literally "armoured car") was a Soviet four-wheeled scout car, armoured scout car. Built on the chassis of a GAZ-64 or GAZ-67 jeep, it incorporated a hull loosely modeled after that of the Leichter ...

, Csaba. * Combat reconnaissance vehicles: Heavier wheeled or tracked vehicles armed with autocannons and/or low pressure guns, some with thicker armor (up to 40 mm), for aggressive reconnaissance and to provide fire support for reconnaissance teams. Many are amphibious in order to be able to follow lighter units. Cold war and modern "light tanks" usually fit into this category but they often perform different tasks too. Typical examples:

Scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade of about 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 inches) associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific swor ...

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

, Luchs, AML, '' BRM–1'', M3,

PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet Union, Soviet amphibious vehicle, amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exporte ...

, AEC, BA-3, Sd. Kfz. 234/2. * Intelligence vehicle: These (usually wheeled) units monitor enemy communications, artillery fire, or movements via electro-optics, electronic sensors or

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

. They mainly provide information for strategic level decision making. At a tactical level, counter-battery operations and some kinds of precision strikes rely on data gathered by such platforms. Typical examples: Sd.Kfz. 250/12, YPR-765 PRRDR, 1V152, Infauna, M1015, Przebiśnieg,

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. This category may include NBC reconnaissance cars ( BRDM-2RKh, TPz 1A3/ABC), certain PsyOps vehicles ( ZS-82) and electronic recon vehicles of engineer units ( IRM) because of their strategic role. Recon units sometimes also use other types of vehicles and some are mistakenly classified as recon vehicles. Reconnaissance troops use various all-terrain vehicles ( MB, UAZ,

HMMWV The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

), motorcycles ( Zündapp), militarized trucks known as "technicals" (

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

), APCs (

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 ...

BTR-40 The BTR-40 (БТР, from Бронетранспортёр, or '' Bronetransporter'', literally "armoured transporter† is a Soviet open-topped, wheeled armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. It is often referred to as the ''Soro ...

BTR-80 The BTR-80 () is an 8×8 wheeled Amphibious vehicle, amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the Soviet Union. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous vehicles, the BTR-60 and BTR-70, in the Soviet Army. It was first de ...

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

( M106), and even tank destroyers ( B1) but these are still classified according to their original type and role, not as scout vehicles.

History

During World War II, the British generally used armoured cars for reconnaissance, from the machine gun armed Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and

Daimler Dingo The Daimler scout car, known in service as the Daimler Dingo (after the Dingo, Australian wild dog), is a British light, fast four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle also used for liaison during the Second World War. Design and development ...

to the 6-pdr (57 mm) gun equipped AEC armoured car. Post war the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

used the

Ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to inter ...

and later,

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

scout cars. In Japan, the

Kurogane Type 95 The Type 95 was a Empire of Japan, Japanese scout car built by , and was used during the Second Sino-Japanese War, war with China and Pacific War, World War II in the East. Between 1936 and 1944 approximately 4,700 were built. It was the only co ...

was introduced as a reconnaissance vehicle for operations in China. The U.S. and UK experimented with the Future Scout and Cavalry System (FSCS) and Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER) programs in the 2000s aimed at creating a stealth reconnaissance vehicle capable of

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

airlift. Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

placed an emphasis on the use of light wheeled vehicles for reconnaissance, particularly Soviet-manufactured

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car designed and developed ...

and French-designed

Panhard AML The Panhard AML (''automitrailleuse légère'', or "light armoured car") is an armoured car with reconnaissance capability. Designed by Panhard on a lightly armoured 4×4 chassis, it weighs an estimated 5.5 tonnes, and is thus suitable for airbo ...

armoured cars. Each corps had an attached BRDM or AML battalion. These were allocated by division; every brigade headquarters and regular infantry battalion received a platoon of six. The Iraqis did not make competent use of these assets during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, opting to depend on

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

against the comparatively sophisticated

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

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 expeditionary forces in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

also employed wheeled reconnaissance vehicles for their strategic and tactical mobility, sometimes engaging Angolan units up to brigade strength. Scout cars such as the Eland Mk7 were used to lure hostile

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

s or

T-54/55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

s into prepared ambushes, where they were destroyed by heavier vehicles,

s, and artillery.Mobile firepower for contingency operations: Emerging concepts for US light armour forces
/ref>

Role

Reconnaissance by fire. Reconnaissance of enemy positions can involve firing upon the enemy in hopes of receiving return fire that gives away the enemy's position. This can make the reconnaissance vehicle vulnerable to return fire that may destroy the vehicle before the enemy's position can be relayed. Dismounted operations by armed scouts include

observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...

manning, reconnaissance of areas not traversable by vehicle, and marking enemy mine fields.

CBRN Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nucl ...

reconnaissance vehicles can also detect

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

. They accompany regular reconnaissance vehicles and are fully protected against airborne threats.

List of contemporary reconnaissance vehicles

* Alvis FV601 Saladin * AMX-10 RC * ASLAV * BOV M11 *

BRDM-1 The BRDM-1 (''Bronirovannaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Бронированная Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "armored reconnaissance/patrol vehicle") is a Soviet amphibious armored scout c ...

* BPM-97 * Cadillac Gage Commando Scout *

M1117 armored security vehicle The M1117 armored security vehicle (ASV; nicknamed Guardian) is an internal security vehicle based on the Cadillac Gage Commando, V-100 and V-150 Commando series of Armored car (military), armored cars. It was developed in the late 1990s for ser ...

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

* TAPV * D-442 FÚG * Dozor-B * EBRC Jaguar * EE-3 Jararaca * EE-9 Cascavel * Eland * /

* FV702 Ferret * FV722 Fox * Freccia "Esplorante" *

FV101 Scorpion The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle and light tank. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, ...

* FV102 Striker * FV107 Scimitar *

Sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

* Gagamba * Type 87 ARV * LAV-25 Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle * LMV * M1127 * M3 cavalry fighting vehicle * Mowag Eagle * Mowag Spy *

Otokar Akrep Akrep ("Scorpion") is a Turkish infantry mobility vehicle family developed by Otokar, Otokar Otobus Karoseri Sanayi AS. The first prototypes were completed in May 1993 and the first vehicles came off the production line in June 1994. In additio ...

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 ...

I & II * Katmerciler Hızır Ateş variant * FNSS Pars 8x8 Scout *

* Panhard ERC 90 * Panhard VBL * Puma * RBY MK 1 * RG-35 4x4 RPU *

Rooikat The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; ) is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. The Rooikat's main armament was built with the Oto Mela ...

* Schützenpanzer SPz 11-2 Kurz *

Spähpanzer Luchs The Spähpanzer Luchs (English: Scout Armored Car "Lynx") is a German 8x8 amphibious reconnaissance armoured fighting vehicle (''Spähpanzer'') that was in service from 1975 to 2009 with the German Army, who used 408 in their armoured reconnaiss ...

* Namco Tiger * VEC-M1 * VBC-90 * Wiesel * XAV * ZLT-11 * Mildef Rentaka

References

{{Authority control

Vehicles 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 vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velomobiles), animal-powered tr ...

Military vehicles by type

Design

History

Role

List of contemporary reconnaissance vehicles

See also

References