IVF (Marder 2)

The IFV (IFV) Marder 2 was a prototype and planned successor to the Marder armored . He should be in terms of combat power and mobility in the battlefield between the raccoon and Leopard 2 close the gap. At its introduction in 1991, he was considered the most modern armored infantry in the world.

Marder 2 (VT 001)
* Marder 2 in the Army Technical Study Collection Koblenz
Main Features
Crew	3 (commander, gunner and driver) + 7 (infantry section)
Long	7,31 m
Width	3,48 m
Height	3,05 m
Mass	44.3 t Tonnen
Armor and armament
Plating	Steel armor / adapted composite armor
Main armament	35/50-mm-Maschinenkanone Rh 503
Secondary armament	1 × MG3 , smoke grenade
Mobility
Drive	MTU -881 Ka-500, 8-Zylinder Diesel Motor mit Abgasturbolader 735 kW (1,000 PS )
Suspension	Torsion bar
Top speed	60 km / h (road) 27 km / h reverse
Power / weight	16,6 kW/t
Range	500 km road 300 km road

Development History

In the 1980s, recognized the leadership of the armed forces that the raccoon be combat efficiency potential would have reached soon. It was decided after long discussions the mid-80s, the re-tendering of a successor. Linked to the projectchariot 90 resulted in the following demands:

• Absitzstärke one of seven soldiers as minimum
• become fully operational with the Leopard 2
• Main weapon for fighting distances up to 2000 m
• partial protection against 30-mm bullets from machine guns (MK)

In June 1984, the tender was published with the demands. The tender saw between 1997 and 2001 before the procurement of 1,000 vehicles. After several concept studies we chose the 1988 proposal by Krauss-Maffei as a solution to the transport and combat vehicle PUMA could gain first experiences. Krauss-Maffei was general contractor (GC) for this contract. The company Rheinmetall from Dusseldorf was a subcontractor responsible for the subsystem tower with fire control and armament.Oerlikon Contraves with Heckler & Koch took over the ammunition supply.
By the fall of the Wall in 1989, the political environment changed drastically. In the context of the new global political situation - in particular the collapse of the USSR - a new armored personnel was seen as out of date. Given the costs of German unification , the abandoned Defense into volume production.
On 17 September 1991, the - until then unknown in the IFV-development - company introduced the first experimental support VT 001 still, but despite extensive tests and trials, the project in 1992 with the conclusion "too heavy, too big and too expensive" adjusted. For insider this compact-looking vehicle was a "space saver" - but t with a total weight of 44.3. The original Marder remained for several more years (with combat performance upgrades) the backbone of the armored infantry units of the Bundeswehr.
The prototype of the Marder 2 has since then alternately in the Army Technical Study Collection Koblenz or in tank museum in Munster for illustrative purposes.

Technical Description

Armament

As the main armament, the engineers used the machine gun Rh 503 with Doppelgurtzuführung to achieve the required combat distance of 2000 m. Unlike the Marder 1 the weapon system was stabilized. The lateral and vertical alignment of the main and secondary weapon was implemented via an electric leveler. In emergency operation was directed mechanically by hand. The lining drives enabled one side leveling range of 360 ° and a height indicative range of -10 ° to +60 °. The cadence of the main weapon was continuously variable from 150 to 400 rounds per minute.
Through the design of a double-caliber machine gun, it was possible to shoot with only through a tube change without further changes in addition to the 35 × 228-mm ammunition and 50 × 330-mm cylinder cartridges. The tube change took about five minutes. The ammunition feed is secured by a transport system gurtgliederloses from both sides. Ejecting the sleeves was in the weft direction. The electric drive of the third gun was jamming and interference reduction and increased reliability. Faulty and unexploded cartridges were ejected automatically. Disadvantage was the function of the energy supply of the vehicle electrical system. By Doppelgurtzuführung were two types of ammunition of the same caliber are fired in rapid succession.
As ammunition for both calibers two varieties were available. The anti used against hardened targets KE ammunition was developed by Rheinmetall APFSDS-T projectile ( Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot-Tracer ). It was an armor-piercing kinetic energy projectile with sabot and tracer . Against light-up (soft) unarmored targets an electronically programmable HE ETF floor (was High Explosive Electronic Time Fuze ) used. Developed by Diehl multipurpose ammunition was able on impact or at a distance of between 5 to 10 m above the ground to detonate. The settings have been made ​​immediately before the firing. In addition, a 50 mm caliber tracer propellant charge was added. The designation was HE-ETF-T. The entire ammo was in the prototype 287 cartridges, equivalent to 95.7% of the required supply of 300 cartridges.
As the secondary armament was in the army already established machine gun MG3 . It was parallel installed to the right of the main gun. A smoke grenade in caliber 76 mm with five throw cups on the left side of the tower and three launchers right of the machine gun shield allowed the crew to evade in combat the eyes of the opponent or the infantry squad during Absitzphase cover. An anti-tank guided missiles as its predecessor was not the prototype of Marder 2 provided.

Optics, fire control and aiming equipment

The Marder 2 disposal as well as a battle tank on a fire control system , which enabled the effective use of on-board weapons while driving. The pre-stabilized machine gun followed the values ​​of the stabilized level of the optics of the gunner and commander. The Marder 2 was considered to be all-weather and night battle ready.
The main target of the device gunner , the PERI-ZTWL 128/45 was used as a laser rangefinder, a day vision channel and a thermal imager . The acronym stood for ZTWL aimer, day vision, thermal imaging and laser distance measurement component - the numbers 128/45 stand for the entrance pupil diameter of the optics. The commander of the PERI-RT 60 via a separate independent Rundblickperiskop with day vision channel. For night vision, it was coupled with a thermal imaging channel with the thermal sight of the gunner. The acronym stood for RT panorama facility and day vision. Both workstations were redundant and had color displays.
It also featured the driver and gunner and the commander of three four -angle mirror for battlefield observation "in Luke." The infantry squad was equipped with three-angle mirrors on each side and one basic block in the two rear doors.

Protective Equipment.

The armor was designed modularly and consisted of the self-supporting body armor and additional armor. With the steel armor specific construction had a basic level of sides offered before hard-core bullets of caliber 7.62 mm and 155-mm artillery before splintering protection. The adapted additional armor increased to around protection against 14.5-mm, and at the front before 30-mm projectiles. The interior received a splinter shield to protect the crew in case of fire in front of the vehicle absplitternden parts of the armor. An NBC protection system also allowed for use in contaminated land.

Drive and drive

As drive chose Krauss-Maffei torsion bar sprung support roller drive, the suspension travel is limited by disk dampers and hydraulic stops. Each side it had six double tyred rollers. Due to the front-mounted engine to the drive wheel of the drive at the front. The track was as Endverbinderkette with replaceable chain cushions designed. The clearance was 440 mm, the bottom pressure 8.8 N / cm ². To facilitate the supply of spare parts and so the logistics, drive parts corresponded largely to those of the Leopard Series.
The diesel engine was developed by MTU Friedrichshafen and manufactured from the Leopard-1 -derived engine. The later in the Howitzer 2000 built MTU 881 Ka-500 delivers a maximum power of 735 kW at 2,700 rpm. The displacement of the engine is 18.3 liters, the maximum torque of 3000 Nm at 2000 rpm. Unlike his counterpart from the Leopard 1 is the engine of the Marder 2 not much substance capable . The total fuel level in the tank is 890 liters. On the road at speeds of up to 60 km / h were achieved in the reverse it was 27 km / h The power to weight ratio was 16.6 kW / t - that of the Leopard 2A4 20 kW /.
The power supply of 24 V electrical system was carried out by a liquid-cooled 20-kW generator. The battery system consisted of six batteries of 12 volts with 300 amp hours for the tub and four batteries of 12 volts with 90 amp hours for the tower.
The transmission was an automatic, hydromechanical transmission of Renk. Was coupled via a hydraulic torque converter with lock-up clutch. It also used in the howitzer 2000 HSWL-284-C-gearbox has four forward and two reverse gears. Through an integrated operating and parking brakes and through the integrated reversing and steering gear so that braking and steering was possible.

Crew

The crew of the armored personnel consisted of the three-person crew, and the seven-man infantry section in the rear. The driver sitting on the right in the vehicle and had access to the rear combat zone through a passage to the right past the tower. The commander and gunner were the right and left housed in the turret basket of two-man turret TS 503 by Rheinmetall. For the infantry squad two rows of seats were available for every three soldiers. The seat assembly was back to back. The seventh seat was located in the passage, and provided for the squad leader of the shooter squads. A hydraulically operated tailgate as the Marder 1 application found was not provided.The access to the combat zone was about two rear doors that open toward the vehicle center. According to the operational doctrine ofarmored infantry  - the fast switch between on and abgesessenem fight - four hatches were available that allowed the, fight over the side '.