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FV-432 Mk-3 Bulldog Armoured Personnel Carrier

NATO collection

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Introduced in December 2006, the Bulldog was designed to meet an urgent operational requirement for extra armoured vehicles for use in counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vehicle features an applique reactive armour package designed by Israeli company Rafael capable of defeating hollow charge warheads, such as the RPG-7 rockets used by insurgents.[2] A new engine and steering gear provide better mobility and maneuverability. Other features include air conditioning and a gun station fitted with a 7.62mm machine-gun that can be controlled from inside the vehicle. Nine hundred FV430s were expected to be modified in this way and deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside the new Mastiff PPV and Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle (Vector), relieving some of the pressure on the Warrior fleet.[3][4]

The modifications, in addition to upgrades allowing the Bulldog to match the Warrior's level of protection, give it better cross-country performance and a new top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h).[5]

Modifications on the first 50 units between January and October 2006 took place at the ABRO facility in Dorset by BAE Systems Land Systems, at a cost of £85 million. However, the Bulldogs were deployed to Operation Telic in an incomplete state and brought to completion in theatre, along with the rest of the Bulldog fleet, in a joint venture between BAE Systems Land Systems and 6 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers