RATEL 90 6X6 IFV

This is a 1/64 (scalable to other scales: 89% for 1/72, 84% for 1/76, 64% for 1/100, 74% for Ho Scale, 114% for 1/56, 133% for 1/48) scale model of the Ratel, a South African infantry fighting vehicle 90 turret version. It was the first wheeled infantry fighting vehicle to enter service worldwide and was built on a modified MAN truck chassis. The Ratel was designed in response to a South African Army specification for a light armoured vehicle suited to the demands of rapid offensives combining maximum firepower and strategic mobility. Unlike most contemporary IFVs, Ratels were not intended to fight in concert with tanks in a major conventional war, but provide strategic mobility to mechanised infantry units accustomed to operating independently across the vast distances of Southern Africa. The Ratel was a simple, economical design which helped reduce the significant logistical commitment necessary to keep heavier combat vehicles operational in undeveloped regions. It was generally regarded as an influential concept which incorporated a number of novel features, such as a mine-protected hull, an extended operating range of 1,000 kilometers, and a 20mm autocannon fitted with what was then a unique twin-linked ammunition feed, allowing turret gunners to rapidly swap between ammunition types during combat.

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