Wiesel AWC

The Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier is a German light air-transportable armoured fighting vehicle, more specifically a lightly-armoured weapons carrier. It is similar to historical scouting tankettes in size and form.

The Wiesel was used in several of the Bundeswehr's missions abroad (UNOSOM II, IFOR, SFOR, KFOR, TFH, ISAF).

History
The Wiesel was developed for the German Army to meet a requirement for an air-transportable light armored vehicle for use by its airborne troops, as the infantry of the German Bundeswehr, especially airborne infantry, was considered unprepared to successfully fight enemy main battle tanks (MBT) in the 1970s. The requirements were that the vehicle should fit in common NATO transport planes and could eventually be air-dropped. It should be able to fight infantry as well as enemy tanks or aircraft. Porsche produced some prototypes of the future fighting vehicle for the Bundeswehr in 1975, but the Bundeswehr stopped the project in 1978 because of the lack of funds. Nevertheless Porsche did not stop development because of interest from other countries.
The Wiesel was finally introduced as new weapon system for the Bundeswehr with deliveries beginning in the late 1980s. The vehicle was named Wiesel ("weasel") because of its small size and agility, which make it very difficult to detect on the battlefield.

Configuration
Depending on the exact configuration, the length is about 3.55 meters, the height 1.82 meters, and the width 1.82 meters. The weight is only 2.75 tons, that means it weighs less than the US Humvee military light truck. The engine is a 64 kW Audi 2.1-litre diesel engine giving a top speed of 70 km/h (45 mph). The Wiesel can ford 0.5 m deep and cross a 1.2 m trench. It is manufactured by Rheinmetall AG.

The chassis is made of steel armour and can resist the common 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm small arms ammunition. Air dropping the vehicle from a plane with parachutes was tested, but was not successful; four test-vehicles were destroyed. Nevertheless the Wiesel can easily be flown in by transport helicopters, a single CH-53 helicopter can fly in two at once, and common transport planes can carry four or more Wiesel vehicles.

Variants
Various versions of the Wiesel exist, with different weapon configurations including machine guns, antitank missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles.
Wiesel 1
Wiesel 1 Aufklärung - reconnaissance
Wiesel 1 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles
Wiesel 1 ATM HOT Variant 1 - fitted with UTM-800 turret
Wiesel 1 Radar - fitted with RATAC-S multi-purpose radar
Wiesel 1 ATM TOW - anti-tank vehicle fitted with TOW missiles
Wiesel 1 ATM TOW Resupply - cargo carrier fitted with racks for TOW missiles
Wiesel 1 BTM208 - fitted with a SAMM BTM208 turret armed with a MG3 and a M2HB machine gun
Wiesel 1 MK20 - fire support version with a Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 20 mm cannon
Wiesel 1 MK20 Variant 1 - Uprated with new sight
Wiesel 1 MK25 - 25 mm armed version
Wiesel 2

The Wiesel 2 is a stretched version of the Wiesel 1, with a fifth roadwheel. The engine was changed to a 1.9l Volkswagen in-line four-cylinder turbo diesel with direct injection and intercooler, giving 109 hp coupled to a ZF automatic transmission. Generally bigger, faster and stronger with advanced features for the protection of the crew such as enhanced armour, and an air conditioning system which protects the crew from biological and chemical weapons.
Wiesel 2 BF/UF (LeFlaSys Command) - air defence unit command post
Wiesel 2 AFF (LeFlaSys Radar) - fitted with air defence radar
Wiesel 2 Ozelot (LeFlaSys Launcher) - fitted with air defence missile launcher
Wiesel 2 Ozelot (LeFlaSys Launcher Variant 1) - retrofitted with box-type launchers
Wiesel 2 Ambulance
Wiesel 2 APC - 2 + 4 crew armoured personnel carrier
Wiesel 2 Command - battalion command post
Wiesel 2 Mortar - 120mm mortar
Wiesel 2 Mortar Variant 1 - mortar version with external supports
Wiesel 2 Argus - reconnaissance
Wiesel 2 Carrier - ammunition resupply
Wiesel 2 Pionier - combat engineer reconnaissance
Wiesel 2 Primus - reconnaissance and fire control
Wiesel 2 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles
Wiesel 2 SYRANO - Robotic system for the French Army