Wiesel 1, The last tankette

Development work on the Wiesel began in 1969, when for the first time, tacticians and technicians of the West-German MOD and Heeresamt (Army Department) conducted studies on replacing the ageing Kraftkarren (KraKa). The KraKa is a quad bike developed by Zweirad Union that was procured to serve as a high mobility platform for the light forces of the Bundeswehr. The vehicle served both as a light transport for troops and as a heavy weapons carrier.

In the heavy weapons role, it carried a TOW or Milan ATGM launcher or a 20mm automatic cannon. While the vehicle met the initial needs of the Bundeswehr, the lack of any sort of small arms or artillery shrapnel protection was later deemed unacceptable.

This caused the Bundeswehr to issue an innovation tender for a new armoured weapons carrier. Among the requirements were good cross-country mobility, a large operational range, a limited logistical footprint, and light armour protection for the crew. By 1970, a set of technical requirements for the vehicle had been defined, and Porsche was issued a contract to perform a feasibility study on the vehicle with both wheeled and tracked concepts. Initially the vehicle was meant to have a weight between 6 and 7,5 metric tonnes, meaning that it could only be transported by C-160 and C-130.

This requirement was revised with the 1970 technical requirement and now specified a maximum weight of 6 metric tonnes and restricted the vehicle’s dimensions so that it could be carried in a CH-53G transport helicopter.

Lastly the capability to para-drop the vehicle was also added.

Armaments wise, the vehicle was meant to be capable of carrying several weapons systems. Among these are the MK20 20mm automatic cannon, HOT Anti-Tank Guided Missile, and a 120mm mortar. With the new requirements, Porsche conducted a second round of feasibility studies in which both looked at modifying the existing concept from the previous study to meet requirements as well as designing an air-transportable concept at 2,75 metric tonnes.

This last concept was aimed at the idea of being able to transport 2 of the weapons carriers in a CH-53G, which heavily restricted the vehicle in weight and size. With these concepts ready for evaluation, West Germany once again revised the requirements, opting to use the TOW ATGM instead of the previously planned HOT. It was also required that the vehicle needed a crew of 3 and carry at least 7 spare TOW missiles.

At the same time requirements for the cannon and mortar armed variants were dropped from the development programme. By July of 1973, the Heeresamt finally issued a tactical requirement for an armoured weapons carrier for the airborne forces under the Waffentrager LL designation. 6 companies, including Faun, GST, IBH, Porsche, and Rheinstahl, conducted engineering studies and submitted proposals to the programme.

In parallel to these, the Heeresamt also developed a set of validation guidelines for the project. Of the proposals, only the submission from Faun was for a wheeled vehicle. After evaluating all the proposals, Porsche was selected as the primary contractor for the programme. Their earlier concept work had shown that only a tracked vehicle would be able to meet the program’s requirements.

The vehicle’s engine would be positioned in the front of the vehicle and sit next to the driver’s position. 2 further crew positions are placed in the back of the vehicle with a weapons station placed between them. The contract for the development of the Waffentrager LL was signed with Porsche on the 27^th of June 1974. Shortly after the contract signing, West Germany once again changed its mind and now wanted a 20mm cannon-armed variant again.

A year later, in April 1975, West Germany increased the number of vehicles it wanted to procure from 270 (170 TOW and 100 cannon armed) to 500 (170 TOW and 330 cannon armed). A couple of months after this decision, Porsche delivered a 1:1 wooden mock-up of the vehicle to the Heeresamt and BWB. The first prototype vehicle was ready for testing in October of 1976.

Further tests were run between 1977 and 1978 at WTD-41. At the same time, the first technical manuals were developed by KUKA and Techdonk. Thanks to this, the trials at the Schule Technische Truppen 1 and the Luftlande- und Lufttransportschule could start without any delays.

These trials were completed successfully, which led to a final development contract being signed between Porsche and BWB. This contract included a final set of changes to the vehicle to solve some of the problems encountered during the physical trails.

Then something dumb happened in 1979.

West Germany reneged on this contract days before it went into effect, and the Waffentrager LL project was cancelled outright. Porsche was issued a contract to phase-out development and hand over copies of all the data from the development process. The decision was a massive blow to the airborne forces, who had already planned to retire the Kraka fleet by 1989. Thus, 2 years after the cancellation of the Waffentrager LL, a new market survey was conducted for an airborne weapons carrier.

As part of this survey, a total of 19 national and international manufacturers were contacted. Part of this programme restart was yet again to alter the design requirements, now asking for 2 designs. One was to weigh no more than 6,4 metric tonnes and fit inside the cargo bay of a CH-53G, while the second vehicle had to weigh no more than 3,2 metric tonnes so that it could be carried as underslung cargo by a CH-53G.

Further alterations to the design followed in 1983 with yet another round of concept studies. In the end, only 2 of the submitted proposals met the requirements and would be more closely examined. These were a tracked design by our good friend Porsche and a wheeled design by Daimler-Benz. Physical trials followed, in which one of the 2 designs would then be chosen for adoption.phase

During these trials, it was also tested if commercially available engines could be used in the design due to the vehicles low weight. Additionally, they tested if they could fit an automatic transmission, a bigger cannon, thermal sights for the cannon, and a TOW-2 version of the system. Furthermore, several turret types were tested for the 20mm cannon, with the manned low-profile turret being the preferred option as it reduced overall vehicle height. They also settled on a VW-made diesel engine to power the vehicle.

All these changes lead to the vehicle increasing in weight. To compensate for this and keep it within the requirements, a special steel alloy was used for the armour. Another major point of contention was the delivery timetable. The airborne forces were still planning to start retiring the Kraka by 1989, so the winner must be capable of delivering production vehicles by that year.

At the end of these trials, the Heeresamt, NWN, and Logistics Command of the Bundeswehr recommended the vehicle for adoption, and Porsche was once again given a contract to finish the vehicle’s development on the 7^th of June 1985. The timeline for this was very short by German standards, with Porsche only having 18 months to get the vehicle development finished and 4 prototypes (2 of each the MK and TOW carriers) delivered.

9 months later, the weapon systems for the 4 prototype vehicles were delivered for testing with their carriers to follow in June of that same year. These were then tested by WTD-41 and 91 before troop trials commenced in Autumn of 1986.

Already on June 5th,1987, the 2 vehicles were accepted for service in the Bundeswehr, and development was officially completed in September of that same year. A production contract was awarded to Krupp MaK in March of 1988 for 210 Wiesel TOW and 133 Wiesel MK.

After 19 years of development hell, the first units would be delivered to the Bundeswehr in 1990, with delivery lasting till 1992. The Wiesel 1 remains in service to this day, but a replacement programme is underway.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1

Armour: The vehicle is constructed from high-hardness steel plates in various thicknesses. This gives the vehicle all-round protection against 7.62mm small arms fire as well as from artillery shell splinters, but not much more.

Mobility: Weighing in at less than 5 metric tonnes, the vehicle does not need the most powerful of engines. For this reason, equipping it with a civilian engine from VW was deemed sufficient. Equipped with a 5-cylinder Volkswagen turbocharged diesel engine, the Wiesel reaches a top speed of 80 kph on the road with a cross-country speed of 60 kph. During peacetime, the speed is governed to 50 kph to prevent accidents.

Communications equipment: This consists of a SEM80/90 radio with command variants receiving a second SEM80/90. The radios are mounted onto a shock-absorbing GP80 baseplate. Additionally, an intercom system is installed to allow the crew to communicate with each other.

Variants

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A0 MK: ´The direct fire support variant of the Wiesel armed with the 20mm RH202 DM 6 automatic cannon made by Rheinmetall. The gun is mounted in a 1-man turret with a +-110° traverse and -10°-+45°’s of elevation. The turret holds the vehicle commander, who does double duty as the vehicle’s gunner. The RH202 is capable of dual feeding, which means that it can switch between ammunition feeds without the need to reload the gun.

For this reason, 2 ammunition boxes are situated on each side of the gun. The left box contains 60 rounds of AP ammunition, while the right box holds 100 rounds of HE. An additional 240 rounds of 20mm ammunition are carried inside the vehicle. The gunners sights consisted of a PERI Z16 day sight with 2 and 6x zoom. This could be swapped with the PERI Z59 image intensifier for nighttime operations.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A1 MK: This variant saw the AOZ 2000 Autonomous Optronic Sighting unit mounted onto the vehicle, which offered improved night vision capability, a new CCD day camera, a laser range finder, and a ballistics computer. A total of 74 Wiesel 1 MK received this upgrade.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A2 MK; To Upgrade programme was launched in 2006 to improve the capability of the remaining 1A0 MK models. These vehicles received the PERI Z17 BM48 WBG periscopic sights equipped with a basic thermal imager. 25 of the Waffenträger Wiesel 1A0 MK would be upgraded to this standard. Plans had been made to convert 13 more, but funds were never approved.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A3 MK: This is a Waffenträger Wiesel 1A1 MK equipped with the FüInfoSysH Battlefield Management System.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A4 MK; Waffenträger Wiesel 1A2 MK equipped with the FüInfoSysH Battlefield Management System.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A5 MK: As part of a comprehensive Midlife Update, the Wisel MK received several upgrades. The 2 main upgrades include the EOPTRIS LR lightweight electro-optical fire control and observation system and the CAMAC lightweight armour solution.

EOPTRIS LR is made by Elbit Systems and consists of a cooled thermal imaging camera, a CMOS day-vision channel, and a laser rangefinder.

The CAMAC armour package grants protection against medium-calibre weapons, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), depending on the configuration. Which configuration was chosen for the 1A5 MK is not public. These upgrades are meant to keep the Wisel 1 MK capable of operating on the modern battlefield until its planned retirement in 2030.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1 RMK30: Experimental variant of the Wiesel 1 MK armed with a Recoilless 30mm revolver cannon made by Rheinmetall in an unmanned turret with automatic tracking.

This turret was initially meant to be mounted on the German Tiger attack helicopter fleet but ended up never being adopted.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A0 TOW: A variant of the Wiesel dedicated to carrying the TOW Anti-Tank Guided Missile System. The TOW missile launcher is mounted to the vehicle’s roof and is operated by a crew of 2. This means that unlike the MK version, this variant has a crew of 3 with a driver, loader, and commander/gunner. The vehicle carries 7 additional TOW missiles onboard.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A1 TOW; A Wiesel 1A0 TOW that received an additional MG3 7.62x51mm machine gun mounted in front of the loaders position for self-protection. Additionally, a change was made to the seats for both the commander and loader to allow them to more easily stand upright in the vehicle.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1A2 TOW: These are Wiesel TOW that received the FüInfoSysH Battlefield Management System.

Waffenträger Wiesel 1 MELLS: When Germany adopted the Euro-Spike ATGM, the decision was made to replace the TOW launcher on the Wiesel for a Spike launcher. This upgrade is part of a wider MLU for the Wiesel fleet

Waffenträger Wiesel 1 HOT: During the Wisels development, several variants were made that mounted the HOT ATGM onto the platform. Germany opted to adopt the TOW armed variant instead.

Aufklärungsfahrzeug Wiesel 1: The dedicated reconnaissance variant of the Wiesel 1. 16 of this model would be built using existing Wiesel 1 TOW hulls. A number of modifications were made to them to better fit the reconnaissance role.

The rear compartment roofs were raised by several centimetres, and new seats were mounted to increase crew ergonomics. Additionally, the LLN-GY navigation system and AOZ-2000 sighting system with HALEM 2 laser range finder and OPHELIOS thermal sight would be installed.

The AOZ-2000 system can be raised to a height of 2 metres above the ground. Communications-wise, the vehicle is equipped with the FaKoM C2I system and carries a HRM 7400 (HF) and SEM 52L radio onboards for dismounted use.

The vehicle’s armament consists of an MG3 machine gun for self-defence. As part of the full fleet MLU, these are receiving the EOPTRIS LR systems, which come with a cooled thermal imaging camera, a CMOS day-vision channel, and a laser rangefinder.

Wiesel 1 ATM TOW: A concept for a Wiesel-based vehicle dedicated to carrying spare TOW ATGM’s for the Waffenträger Wiesel 1 TOW.

Wiesel 1 BTM-208: Experimental variant of the vehicle that mounted the SAMM BTM-208 turret, which was armed with an M2 50-calibre machine gun and an MG3 7.62x51mm machine gun.

Wiesel 1 DTT: A variant specifically made to train drivers on the Wiesel platform. This variant comes with a driver-instructor position mounted over the rear of the vehicle.

Wiesel 1 Radar: An experimental variant of the Wiesel that mounted the RATAC-S multi-purpose radar.

Wiesel 1 Mine Clearance: A remote-controlled variant of the Wiesel 1 dedicated to mine clearance operations. It does this by carrying a ground-penetrating radar, which it uses to detect buried mines and IEDs.

Weasel DIOK; An experimental model of the Wiesel 1 MK fitted with the Hemscheldt Hydropneumatic suspension and 2 additional roadwheels.

Recent deployments

Wiesel recently came into the spotlight when it was airlifted into Khartum as part of the German civilian evacuation mission. Here both Wisel 1A5 MK and Wiesel 1 MELLS provided overwatch for the evacuation centre at the Wadi Seidna Air Base.

Wiesel 1, The last tankette

Waffenträger Wiesel 1

Variants

Recent deployments

Sources

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