Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Oshkosh Has Received Orders for the SandCat from Kazakhstan

Oshkosh has received orders for the SandCat from Kazakhstan. 20 april in Astana showed the first armored vehicles purchased for the needs of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, reported military-informant.com.

The Sandcat is based on a shortened Ford F-350 Super Duty commercial pickup truck chassis. Newer vehicles are based on the F-550 Super Duty chassis.

Lightweight armor of the Sandcat is a combination of steel, ceramics and composite materials. This light protected vehicle has variable levels of protection. Various modular armor kits can be fitted. Vehicle can be uparmored in the field. Interior is lined with a spall liner. Later production vehicles have a V-shaped hulls and mine blast-absorbing seats. Sandcats produced since 2010 have twice the mine protection of an original vehicle. An NBC protection and fire supression systems are proposed as an option.

Recent versions are powered by a Ford 6.4-liter turbocharged diesel engine, developing 325 hp. There is also a 6.7-liter diesel, developing 400 hp. Engine is mated with a 5-speed automatic transmission. Vehicle has a 4×4 configuration, which can be switched to 4×2 on hard surface roads. It is reported that the Sandcat has excellent acceleration and handling for an armored vehicle. Self-recovery winch is optional. This light protected vehicle can be airlifted by CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters, as well as C-130 tactical cargo aircraft.
A Sandcat Plus is a stretched version. It has 8 seats and is intended for special operation forces. Another stretched version has up to 11 seats. Other variants include a mine protected patrol vehicle (M-LPV), special operations vehicle (SOV) with soft-top configuration, utility and transport vehicles.

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