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Army Casspirs getting upgrade at cost of R164m By Leon Engelbrecht Johannesburg – The army has embarked on a R164-million programme to upgrade and refurbish its aging Casspir Mark II mine-protected vehicles. Armscor, the defence force’s arms agency, awarded the upgrade contract to Alvis OMC of Benoni. The upgrade and refurbishment of the Casspir MKII to MK III status would include structural modifications for increased mobility, with more robust axles, Alvis said yesterday. It would also increase the reliability of vehicles for the remainder of their service life. The work has already begun and will be completed by February. The Casspir’s design protects the crew against triple anti-tank land mines under any wheel, or double anti-tank land mines under the hull. It also facilitates rapid field repair after a land mine detonation. The Casspir – an anagram of the acronyms SAP (SA Police) and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) – was designed in the late 1970s and introduced to police and later military service in the 1980s. It was at first extensively used by the notorious “Koevoet” police counter-insurgency unit in northern Namibia and later also by the South West African Territory Force’s 101 Battalion and the SA Army’s 5 Reconnaissance Regiment. Today it is used as a troop carrier for the motorised infantry. Several are also deployed with peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Alvis OMC supports more than 95 per cent of the army’s armoured vehicle capability, including Olifant battle tanks, Rooikat armoured cars, Ratel infantry combat vehicles, and Casspir, Mamba, Okapi and Mfezi MPVs. The company is also responsible for the maintenance and support of other large items of equipment belonging to the army. – Sapa
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