The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled

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 ...

s (APCs),

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 ...

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire, direct-fire suppo ...

s (IFVs) and

MRAP Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAPV), also known as MRAP vehicle, is a type of armoured personnel carrier that is designed specifically to withstand land mines, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, and ambushes to save troops' li ...

s. The design originated in the 1970s with vehicles such as the Casspir used extensively during the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, Leopard security vehicle used in the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

and

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 armored vehicle company Land Systems OMCs and Buffels.

Design

Field test of the mine-resistant vehicle

The purpose of V-hulls is to increase vehicle and crew

survivability Survivability is the ability to remain alive or continue to exist. The term has more specific meaning in certain contexts. Ecological Following disruptive forces such as flood, fire, disease, war, or climate change some species of flora, faun ...

by deflecting an upward directed blast from a landmine (or

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 ...

) away from the vehicle, while also presenting a sloped armor face. By presenting its

armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

at an angle, it increases the amount of material a ballistic projectile must pass through in order to penetrate the vehicle, and increases the chance of deflection. V-hulls are incorporated in armored vehicle designs in several different ways. Many vehicles, such as the

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

RG-33 incorporate the V-hull into a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

, while others, such as the

ATF Dingo The ATF Dingo is a German heavily armored military MRAP infantry mobility vehicle based on a Unimog chassis with a V-hull design, produced by the company KNDS Deutschland (formerly Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW)). The first prototype of the Dingo 1 ...

and

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 ...

use a

body-on-frame Body-on-frame is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate coachwork, body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain (the engine and drivetrain) and to wh ...

chassis, with an armored V-hull crew compartment, and an additional V or semicircular shaped piece protecting the driveline. Others, such as the Cougar H have a V-hull crew compartment, and allow the driveline and suspension components to be sacrificed in an attack, while maintaining the safety of the crew.

Gallery

File:Rhodesia-Leopard Security Vehicle-001.jpg, The

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 ...

n Leopard security vehicle, one of the first V-hull vehicles. File:Armoured car, Army Museum Stockholm.jpg,

Terrängbil m/42 KP Terrängbil m/42 KP (tgb m/42 KP), meaning "terrain car m/42 KP" (''KP'' standing for ''Karosseri Pansar'', "Coachwork Armour"), colloquially known as "KP-cars" (), was an early Sweden, Swedish infantry fighting vehicle developed during World War I ...

early V-hull vehicle and the first APC in the Swedish armed forces, in use 1942–1990. It saw combat during the

Congo crisis The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...

. File:Casspir vehicle Ai101503g1.jpg, A Casspir de-mining vehicle in the vicinity of the

Bagram Airfield Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan), Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. File:Twinbuffels.JPG, Buffel variants at Air Force Base Swartkop,

. File:Cougar Hit By IED.jpg, Force Protection's Cougar hit by an

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) in Iraq; all crew survived. File:Bushmaster Counter IED Lane Tarin Kowt.JPG, A Bushmaster IMV after encountering an IED; the

drive train A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drive ...

and utility bins were destroyed, but the hull is intact and the crew survived with only minor injuries.

References

{{Reflist Vehicle armour Armoured warfare Military technology Armoured fighting vehicle equipment

Design

Gallery

See also

References