The Rooikat is a wheeled armoured fighting vehicle built in South Africa for the South African Army. It was designed for combat reconnaissance and seek and destroy operations. Its secondary roles include combat support, anti-armour and anti-guerrilla operations. The Rooikat was used for deep penetration missions across the border, and the wheeled design was needed for speed and to counter sandy desert conditions that might slow tanks and tracked vehicles.
Designed to replace the Eland the Rooikat came too late for the war in Angola. It was designed to incorporate lessons learned from the bush war. One was turned into a conventional vehicle electric drive technology demonstrator (CVED) and displayed at AAD2006 in Cape Town in September of that year. The CVED project involved LMT, HIT, IAD, Nezrotek, Hotchinson (France), Kessler Magnet Motor (Germany) and MTU (Germany). VEG Magazine reported in 2006 the vehicle was fitted with a power supply control system feeding eight wheel-hub mounted M67/0 electric units and a two-phase pneumatic gearbox.
Designed to replace the Eland the Rooikat came too late for the war in Angola. It was designed to incorporate lessons learned from the bush war. One was turned into a conventional vehicle electric drive technology demonstrator (CVED) and displayed at AAD2006 in Cape Town in September of that year. The CVED project involved LMT, HIT, IAD, Nezrotek, Hotchinson (France), Kessler Magnet Motor (Germany) and MTU (Germany). VEG Magazine reported in 2006 the vehicle was fitted with a power supply control system feeding eight wheel-hub mounted M67/0 electric units and a two-phase pneumatic gearbox.
| Rooikat | |
|---|---|
| Type | Armoured fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin |  South Africa |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1976 |
| Produced | 1983 - Present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 28 t |
| Length | 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in) 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) with gun forward |
| Width | 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) |
| Height | 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) turret roof |
| Crew | 4 |
| | |
| Main armament | 1 x Denel GT4 76mm 62-calibre rifled gun, firing an APFSDS round Muzzle velocity: > 1600m/s. |
| Secondary armament | 2 x MG4 7.62 mm machine guns; 8 x 81 mm smoke grenade dischargers |
| Engine | 10 cylinder water-cooled diesel 414 KW (563 HP) |
| Power/weight | 14.89kW/t |
| Suspension | 8×8 wheeled, Fully independent active trailing arm |
| Operational range | 1000 km (621 mi) |
| Speed | Road: 120 km/h (75 mph) Off-road: 50 km/h (31 mph) |
