Eland armoured car
The Eland is an air-portable light armoured car based on the Panhard AML. Designed and built for long-range reconnaissance, it mounts either a 60mm (2.4 in) breech-loading mortar or a Denel 90mm (3.5 in) gun on a very compact chassis. Although lightly armoured, the vehicle's permanent 4X4 drive makes it faster over flat terrain than many tanks.
| Eland Mk7 | |
|---|---|
Eland Mk7 at the Tempe School of Armour, Bloemfontein | |
| Type | Armoured car |
| Place of origin | South Africa |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1962–1994 (South Africa) 1967–present (other) |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars |
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| Production history | |
| Designer | Sandock-Austral |
| Designed | 1962 |
| Manufacturer | Sandock-Austral Reumech OMC |
| Produced | 1964 – 1986 |
| No. built | 1,600 |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 6 tonnes (6.6 short tons; 5.9 long tons) |
| Length | 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in) |
| length | 4.04 m (13 ft 3 in) (hull) |
| Width | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Height | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Crew | 3 (commander, driver, gunner) |
Main armament | 90mm Denel GT-2 (29 rounds) OR 60mm K1 mortar (56 rounds) |
Secondary armament | 2x 7.62mm M1919 Browning machine guns (2400 - 3800 rounds) |
| Engine | Chevrolet 153 2.5 L (150 in3) inline 4-cylinder water-cooled petrol |
| Transmission | 6-speed manual constant mesh |
| Suspension | Independent 4X4; active trailing arms |
| Ground clearance | 380 mm (1 ft 3 in) |
| Fuel capacity | 142 L (38 US gal) |
Operational range | 450 km (280 mi) |
| Maximum speed | 100 km/h (62 mph) |
The Eland was developed for the South African Defence Force (SADF) in South Africa's first major arms programme since World War II, with prototypes completed in 1963. By 1991, 1,600 examples had been built for home and export; prominent foreign operators included Morocco and Zimbabwe. Local overhauls incorporating lessons from internal operations have resulted in a vehicle capable of withstanding the unforgiving Southern African environment and highly mobile operational style of the SADF.