INFANTRY

MCV 80 FV 510 (WARRIOR)

Warrior is an armoured infantry fighting vehicle (AIFV) that replaced the AFV 432 in the armoured infantry battalions. The original buy of Warrior was reduced to 789 units. Of this total the vast majority had been delivered by early 1995 and the vehicle is in service with three armoured infantry battalions in the UK with 3 (UK) Div and six armoured infantry battalions in Germany with 1 (UK) Armd Div.

Warrior armed with the 30 mm Rarden cannon gives the crew a good chance of destroying enemy APCs at ranges of up to 1,500 m and the vehicle carries a crew of three and seven dismounted infantry.

The vehicle is NBC proof, and a full range of night vision equipment is included as standard.

The vehicle has seen successful operational service in the Gulf (1991), with British troops serving in the Balkans and more recently in Iraq. The vehicle has proven protection against mines, and there is dramatic BBC TV footage of a Warrior running over a Serbian anti-tank mine with little or no serious damage to the vehicle or crew.

The hull and mechanical components of Warrior are exceptional and few other vehicles in the world can match it for reliability and performance. The Warrior armament fire control system and electronics require upgrading if the vehicle is to remain in service to 2025 as intended.

A Warrior Mid-Life Improvement Programme is due to be implemented between 2007 and 2012. This should provide a new power pack, vehtronics enhancement, a digital fire control system (FCS) and a modern medium calibre cannon system. This extension of capability for Warrior will provide the necessary lead time for the introduction of future advanced capability systems vehicles to replace both Challenger 2 and Warrior.

The future digitisation programme in-service date (ISD) has slid to around 2017. Current thinking suggests that the British Army may replace existing rifle platoon Warrior with the improved Warrior 2000. This would release existing Warrior to be refitted to fulfil roles currently carried out by ageing and obsolescent FV 432s. This plan would create a new Battalion Assault Support Vehicle (BASV) which can carry Manoeuvre Support elements, principally 81 mm mortars, at the same pace as the Warrior fighting vehicles.

Numbers in UK service are believed to include 482 x Warrior Basic; 59 x Warrior RA; 126 x Warrior Recovery and Repair. The Kuwait MoD has signed a contract for the purchase of 230 Warrior vehicles some of which are Recce vehicles armed with a 90 mm Cockerill gun.
 

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