The Marder is a German infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) operated by the German Army as the main weapon of the Panzergrenadiere (mechanized infantry) from the 1970s through the present day. Developed as part of the rebuilding of Germany's armoured fighting vehicle industry, the Marder has proven to be a successful and solid infantry fighting vehicle design. While it does include a few unique features, such as the fully remote machine gun on the rear deck, it is overall a simple and conventional machine with rear exit hatch and side gun ports for mounted infantry to fire through. Its successor, the Puma, is under development.
Around 2,100 were taken into service by the German Army in the early 1970s, but the vehicle in its German variant was not sold to any foreign militaries. As the German Army began to retire older vehicles, the Chilean government agreed to acquire 200 Marders; the government of Greece is considering the purchase of 450 retired vehicles. Argentina uses a simplified and locally produced variant, the VCTP, and has a number of vehicles based on that platform constructed by Henschel and built by TAMSE.
| Marder 1 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin |  West Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1971–present |
| Used by | Bundeswehr |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Rheinmetall Landsysteme |
| Designed | May 7, 1971 |
| Manufacturer | Rheinmetall Landsysteme |
| Specifications (Marder 1) | |
| Weight | 28.5 t (31.4 short tons) |
| Length | 6.79 m (22 ft 3 in) |
| Width | 3.24 m (10 ft 8 in) |
| Height | 2.98 m (9 ft 9 in) |
| Crew | 3+7 |
| | |
| Armor | Welded steel, protection up to 20 mm APDS DM43 from 0 m and 25 mm APDS from 200 m (220 yd) |
| Main armament | 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh 202 automatic cannon MILAN ATGM launcher |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun |
| Engine | MTU MB 833 Ea-500 diesel engine 600 hp (441 kW) |
| Power/weight | 21.1 hp/tonne |
| Transmission | RENK HSWL 194 |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 0.45 m (18 in) |
| Fuel capacity | 652 L (143 imp gal) |
| Operational range | 520 km |
| Speed | 75 km/h (47 mph) |
The hull of the Marder 1 is all welded steel, giving protection from small-arms fire and shell fragments with the front of the hull providing protection from up to 20 millimeters APDS rounds. Later variants had increased protection up to 30mm APDS, in response to the 30 mm autocannon armed BMP-2 and the development of top attack cluster bomblets.
The Marder is a relatively conventional design, with the driver sitting at the front left side of the hull with the engine to his right. The driver has three day periscopes mounted in a hatch that opens to the right. The center periscope can be replaced by a passive night vision device. Behind the driver is a seat for a single infantry man. In early version of the Marder this infantry man had a hatch which opened to the right and a periscope that could be rotated through 360 degrees, this hatch was removed in the 1A3 variant onwards.
In the center of the hull is the two man turret, which holds the commander on the right and the gunner on the left, both are provided with hatches. The commander has eight day periscopes for all round observation and the gunner has an additional three. The primary sighting system is the PERI-Z11 sight which has either 2x or 6x optical magnification. The sight can be replaced by a night vision device. To the rear of the turret is the troop compartment, which can hold six infantry men, sitting back to back facing outwards along the center of the hull.
The Marder is capable of fording in up to 1.5 meters of water unprepared, and can be fitted with a kit allowing it to ford water up to 2.5 meters deep.
The Marder is powered by an MTU MB Ea-500 six-cylinder liquid cooled diesel engine which develops approximately 600 horsepower at 2,200 rpm. The cooling radiators are mounted at the rear of hull either side of the exit ramp. The engine is coupled to a Renk four speed HSWL 194 planetary gear box with four forward and two reverse gears. The transmission also provides steering and braking via a stepless hydrostatic unit which transmits power to two drive units mounted at the front of the hull. The vehicle carries 652 litres of fuel, giving it a road range of around 500 kilometers. Early Marders could achieve a road speed of 75 km/h in 4th gear, but the extra armour of later vehicles reduced this to 65 km/h.
The Marder is propelled by a Diehl track which can be fitted with rubber road pads. The drive mechanism consists of six rubber tyred road wheel with a drive sprocket at the front of the hull and an idler at the rear. Three return rollers are also fitted. The suspension is a torsion bar system, with additional hydrostatic shock absorbers fitted to the front two and last two road wheels.
Armament
Primary armament is the 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 autocannon mounted in the small two-man turret which can fire either armour-piercing or HE rounds. Mounted coaxially to the left of the cannon is a 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun. The turret has 360 degree traverse, and can elevate from -17 degrees to +65 degrees at a rate of 40 degrees per second while traversing at a rate of 60 degrees a second. Early Marders up to and including version 1A1 had a second MG3 mounted on the rear deck in a remote controlled pod. Typically 1,250 rounds are carried for the 20 mm cannon, along with a further 5,000 rounds for the MG3.
On current models since version 1A2, a MILAN anti-tank guided missile launcher can be attached to the turret to provide enhanced anti-armour capabilities. Typically six missiles are carried inside the vehicle.
There are four (two per side) gun ports which can be used by mounted infantry to provide additional fire against attacking infantry targets. Only Marder 1A1 and 1A2 had been equipped with this. Marder 1A3 and above do not have gun ports due to an extra layer of amour and outside storage boxes.
Six 76 millimeter diameter smoke grenade dischargers can create a visual and infra-red blocking smoke screen.
