AEC Armoured Car
AEC Armoured Car is the name of a series of British heavy armoured cars built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) during the Second World War.
| AEC Armoured Car | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production history | |
| Produced | 1941 onwards |
| No. built | 629 |
| Specifications (Mk I, Mk II & III) | |
| Mass |
|
| Length | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Width | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Height | 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) |
| Crew |
|
| Armour | 16–65 mm (0.63–2.56 in) |
Main armament |
|
Secondary armament | 1 × Besa machine gun, 1 × Bren light machine gun. |
| Engine |
105/158 bhp (78/118 kW) |
| Power/weight |
|
| Suspension | wheel 4×4 |
Operational range | 250 mi (400 km) |
| Maximum speed | 36–41 mph (58–66 km/h) |
The AEC came about following British experience in the Western Desert against Italian armoured cars. British armoured cars were only armed with light and heavy machine guns and the army was fitting captured Italian and German 20mm or larger autocannon to have enough firepower when meeting enemy reconnaissance vehicles.
The Daimler Armoured Car was under development with a 40mm 2-pounder gun as used on British tanks but no armoured cars were envisaged with the armour as well as the armament of a tank. AEC undertook development privately of a vehicle based on one of the lorry designs (an artillery tractor) that would have armour equivalent to a contemporary cruiser tank.