Here shown is a Leopard 1 Wisent ARV. The
Wisent is a mid-life up-dated Leopard 1 ARV with
1000 hp engine, 30 tons crane and other improvements. Amongst them are a
engine Tropical Kit, add-on armour and air conditioning. The main winch
can pull with up to 35 ton, and the crane is capable of a 30 ton lift.
Besides the main winch a auxiliary winch is mounted to help to operate a
"Combat Recovery System", which makes is possible to collect a disabled
Leopard 2 with leaving the ARV.
A spare power pack can be carried at a platform at the rear of the
vehicle.
It's used to support the Danish Leopard 2 operating in
the Helmand province.
With implementation of the Leopard 2, a need for a more powerful ARV
became urgent. At first the Danish Army opted for the Bergepanzer 3
(BPz3) Büffel, but it soon became clear that funding was not at hand.
They then turned to the German Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft and
the Wisent.
A contract was signed in December 2006, and a demonstrator delivered to
the Army Combat School the 19th of March 2007. The Wisent was then
trialled until mid-June same year. A
preliminary report was shipped to Danish Defence Acquisition and
Logistics Organization (DALO) and the Army Operational Command on the
6th of July, which on their side concluded that the Wisent would fulfil
most tasks connected to servicing the Leopard 2A5.
A total of 5 ARV´s have been acquired with the last delivered in
February 2008.
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