South African ROOIKAT 8X8 Wheeled AFV - The Best?

Not bad for a AFV, but I wouldn't bet my money on it against a Leo, M1,or CH2. The M1 can engage helo's, I don't know about the CH2 or Leo.

If you have a limited amount of money, need a vehicle that can zap a T-55 or T-62 and is good on gas the ROOIKAT is the vehicle for you.
 
Does anybody know why Australia never looked at Ratels or Rooikats???
Conditions in South Africa mirror Australia's outback to some degree.
The Bushmaster that we have is a rather large profile vehicle. Guys are calling it an RPG magnet (non have been shot at yet).
Will be interesting to see how they fair in Iraq.
Wonder if politics had something to do with us not getting South African equipment. There G9 ? wheeled artillery piece is excellent.
 
Warwick, it is all about politics in this case. The ratel and Rooikat would suit Australian conditions very well - and, for that matter, Iraqi conditions as well.
The Oz govt couldn't purchase any weapons from SA because of arms embargoes during the 70's, 80's and early 90's. By that time the Oz govt already invested heavily in other countries' weapons systems. The entire G serieas of artillery is great!
 
The Rooikat is cool, but I think that the gun ,as has been stated already, is most likely too weak to penetrate a tank ,T-62 onward, so I would have South Africa and Australia consider the Italian B1 Centauro 120. A 120mm main gun that can fire all NATO rounds including the US M829A3 DU penetrators and composite armor with additional add-on armor packages,this thing can go up against almost anything.

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Wheeled armored vehicles are probably okay with South African forces due to the terrain and weather in their area of operations and the threat level they face from neighboring countries. They probably wouldn't work elsewhere for the same reasons. Once wheeled vehicle reaches the twenty ton weight range they become very difficult to use in soft ground, snow, mud etc. Twenty tons seems seems to be the upper limit in Europe. There are of course, road vehicles in excess of this weight, but take them offroad and see what happens. There is a limit to the amount of armor and the size of the gun that can be placed on a vehicle and keep it below that weight threshold.
 
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