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The Ratel is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), the South African National Defence and the battalions of mechanized infantry force, and its name is derived from an African animal known in English as the Honey Badger (Ratel), which has a reputation as a fierce fighter.
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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.
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The first Ratel prototype appeared in March 1972, and serial production commenced in 1976. Rights to the original prototype were also sold to Belgium, which produced an amphibious derivative known as the SIBMAS.
The Ratel was produced in three distinct marks between 1976 and 1987, when production ceased. All three marks were modified for a number of diverse battlefield roles. Specialised variants of the Ratel carried mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, or a turret-mounted 90 mm rifled gun.
Varian & Derivative
- Ratel 20 - Original version. French designed turret
- Ratel 60 - Crew of 3 plus 7 infantry. Turret is identical to that of the Eland 60 with a 60 mm breech-loading mortar
- Ratel 81 - No turret. An 81 mm mortar is installed in the crew compartment for use as a fire support platform
- Ratel 90 - Crew of 3 plus 6 infantry. Turret is identical to that of the Eland 90. Primary role: fire support for the Mechanized Battalions
- Ratel 120 - 120 mm mortar carrier. Prototype only
- Ratel Command - Crew of 9 men. Two-seater turret with a 12,7 mm machine gun
- Ratel EAOS - Enhanced Artillery Observation System
- Ratel Maintenance - setup as a mobile workshop
- Ratel ZT3 - Anti-tank guided missile turret. With a rack containing 3 anti-tank missiles ready for launch and additional missiles stored within the hull
- Ratel Logistic - 8x8 logistic vehicle. Only 2 prototypes were built
- Ratel AA - Anti-aircraft platform. Jordanian variant only, modified by KADDB before entering service with the JAF. New turret armed with a twin 23 mm cannon removed from Ukrainian supplied BTR-94
- Iklwa - A prototype built by BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa that is based on the Ratel but with the hull and drive train upgraded and the engine moved from the rear to the front
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The vehicle is not amphibious and is not fitted with an NBC overpressure system. Most production model Ratels did not have any specialised night vision equipment. As an interim measure, the SADF occasionally issued Ratel crews with night vision goggles, which aided navigation in the Angolan bush where the use of headlamps was precluded due to proximity to enemy positions.
This was impractical for night fighting as muzzle flashes could blind the crew and the bulky goggles hampered movement and reaction speed in the turret. In the 1990s, Denel Land Systems developed night sights which could be fitted on new Ratel-20 turrets or retrofitted on older turrets.
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The Ratel possesses rear-mounted engine and fighting compartments, while its turret ring and driving compartment are located towards the front of the vehicle. It has a long, box-shaped hull with slightly sloped vertical sides and rear.
The hull is of all-welded construction, with a maximum armour thickness of 20 mm on the hull front. Each Ratel hull is protected against 7.62×39 mm armour-piercing ammunition at any angle; it is also capable of stopping 12.7×108 mm armour-piercing ammunition on the frontal arc. The bottom of the hull structure is blastproof and vee-shaped to deflect mine explosions away from the passengers and crew.
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The Ratel's crew consists of a section commander, driver, turret gunner, and rear gunner. In addition to the crew, an attached infantry section of nine is carried in the fighting compartment of the vehicle. There are three firing ports with vision blocks on either side of the fighting compartment. Passenger capacity may be reduced to six or seven if additional ammunition racks or radio equipment is carried.
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The Ratel's standard armament is a 20 mm F2 M693 automatic cannon manufactured under licence as the Denel GI-2. The autocannon may be elevated to a maximum of +38° for use against low-flying, fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
The dual-feed system allows the gunner to swap between different projectile types fed from either chute as needed. Two types of ammunition can be selected: a high-explosive (HE) round with a range of 2,000 metres, or an armour-piercing tungsten carbide (APTC) round with a range of 1,000 metres.
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A co-axial 7.62mm Browning M1919 machine gun is mounted to the left of the main armament on nearly all variants of the Ratel. Aside from the co-axial machine gun, a second 7.62mm Browning M1919 is carried at the rear of the vehicle's hull for anti-aircraft purposes. Both the Ratel-60 and Ratel-90 are also armed with a third 7.62 mm M1919 on their turret roofs. A maximum of 6,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition are carried within the vehicle.
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All models of the Ratel have a 6x6 drive configuration with the long armored steel hull being specially contoured underneath to minimize land mine damage, if necessary the Ratel can travel with two wheels missing. In the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) the use of wheeled armored vehicles has always been an advantage. For decades South Africa was involved in conflicts where their forces had to travel great distances with a little logistical support. The Ratel's wheeled configuration was perfect for prolonged journeys.
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The Ratel is powered by a six-cylinder, liquid-cooled, turbocharged D 3256 BTXF diesel engine. This is housed in an engine compartment at the rear left of the hull and coupled to a fully automatic RENK HSU 106 automatic gearbox with six forward and two reverse gear ratios. The gearbox can be operated manually and has a mechanical emergency gearshift.
Production history
Designer: Springfield Büssing
Designed: March 1972
Manufacturer: Sandock Austral
No. built: 1,381
Specifications
Mass:
- 18.5 t (Ratel-20/Ratel-60)
- 19 t (Ratel-90)
Length: 7.21 m (23 ft 8 in) (hull)
Width: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Height:
- 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) (Ratel-20)
- 3.11 m (10 ft 2 in) (Ratel-60)
- 2.91 m (9 ft 7 in) (Ratel-90)
Crew: 3 (commander, gunner, driver) + maximum 9 passengers
Main armament: GT2 90 mm (depending on the variant)
Secondary armament:
- 7.62 mm Browning M1919 coaxial machine gun
- 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine gun on rear ring mount
- 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine gun on turret roof (Ratel-60/90)
- 3,600 - 6,000 stowed rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition
Engine: Büssing D 3256 BTXF six-cylinder turbocharged diesel 205 kW (275 hp) at 2,200 rpm
Power/weight: 11.36 kW/t (0.00691 hp/lb)
Ground clearance: 0.34 m (1 ft 1 in)
Fuel capacity: 530 L (140 US gal)
Operational range: 1,000 km (620 mi)
Maximum speed: 105 km/h (65 mph)
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