Buffel
Sign in to saveKey facts
- Weapon.is_vehicle
- yes
- Weapon.name
- Buffel
- Weapon.image
- Buffel armoured personnel carrier (9673155629).jpg
- Weapon.image_size
- 300
- Weapon.caption
- Decommissioned Buffel in Port Elizabeth.
- Weapon.type
- MPAV
- Weapon.origin
- South Africa
- Weapon.designer
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
- Weapon.crew
- 1+10
- Weapon.length
- 5.1 m (16.73 ft)
- Weapon.width
- 2.05 m (6.73 ft)
- Weapon.height
- 2.95 m (9.68 ft)
- Weapon.weight
- 6.14 t
- Weapon.primary_armament
- Optional M1919A4 / FN MAG 7.62 mm MG
- Weapon.suspension
- 4×4 wheeled
- Weapon.speed
- Road 96 km/h (60 mph) Off-road 30 km/h (19 mph)
- Weapon.vehicle_range
- 1000 km (620 mi)
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Production history
- Variants
- Operators
- Current operators
- Former operators
- Combat history
- See also
- Vehicles of comparable role, performance, and era
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
The Buffel (English: Buffalo) is an infantry mobility vehicle used by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War. The Buffel was also used as an armoured fighting vehicle and proved itself in this role. It replaced the older Bedford RL-based Hippo APC and itself was replaced by the Mamba from 1995 in South Africa, but remains in use elsewhere, notably Sri Lanka.
==Production history== The Buffel was the first truly effective landmine-protected armored personnel carrier to enter service anywhere. The South African Army began deploying it in the operational area from 1978. The Buffel was an improvement over the Bosvark which offered little protection to the driver. In 1974, 54 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416–162 chassis had been hastily converted into Bosvarks by 61 Base Workshops in Pretoria. The Bosvark offered limited landmine protection to the crew, but compensated for this with good off-road mobility. It is estimated that around 2,400 Buffels were delivered before production stopped. Sri Lanka purchased Buffels in the 1980s, and in the early 1990s the vehicle was exported to Uganda.