Denel Land Systems’ (DLS) Mechem division is successfully marketing the latest version of its highly regarded Casspir mine-protected vehicle, the Casspir NG2000 series wide-body ambulance. As its description says, this has a notably wider body than standard Casspirs, including previous Casspir ambulance vehicles. The design of a dedicated operational wide-body ambulance variant started in 2011 and development was completed last year.

“Angola and the United Nations (UN) have ordered the new ambulance vehicle,” reports DLS Mechem senior manager: mine-protected vehicles Jack Geldenhuys. “An East African country has shown interest in the specific type of vehicle. The UN will use them to support Amisom in Somalia.” (Amisom stands for the African Union Mission in Somalia, which exists to stabilise that country and support and protect the Somali transi- tional government.)

“The wide body gives more space,” he explains. “The NG2000 series ambulance can accommodate four stretchers plus two sitting patients plus two medics. It is fully equipped with medical equipment required to treat any operational casualty. This is much improved over the previous models. Older generation Casspir ambulances could take only two stretchers, one sitting patient and one medic.”

All NG2000 models use better quality steel and fabrication processes and are equipped with more powerful engines and drivetrains than the previous generation Casspirs. But the new vehicles remain simple, easy to maintain (even to repair) and relatively cheap. They can withstand a 21 kg TNT blast under a wheel and a 14 kg blast under the hull.

The wide-body ambulance is part of the NG2000 series family of vehicles, the other main versions being the infantry vehicle, the command and control vehicle and the recovery vehicle. To complement them and to sustain operational logistical requirements, special cargo carrying and water and fuel variants are available. Very specialised versions can also be supplied, such as the improvised explosive device/land mine disposal vehicle. All these have standard width bodies, with the exception that the company can supply a wide body version of the command and control vehicle.

“Taking into consideration the wide spectrum of variants for various applications, the Casspir can be a force multiplier to any operational or humanitarian force,” he observes. “The added advantage is to have a family of vehicles that share the same drivetrains, which simplifies maintenance and repair.” NG2000 series Casspirs also come with a choice of various drivetrains, to cater for the global market. The NG2000A has a Mercedes Benz drivetrain, while the NG2000B has a Powerstar South Africa drivetrain. The latter includes some Mercedes and some Chinese components.

The name Casspir is an anagram of CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), the agency which originally designed the vehicle, and SAP (South African Police – today the South African Police Service) which issued the original require- ment for such a vehicle. The Casspir Mark (Mk) 1 entered service in 1981 and was subsequently followed by the Casspir Mk 2 and Casspir Mk 3. Thereafter the Casspir NG2000 was developed.

The Mk 1 and Mk 2 were the first generation vehicles of which more than 2 500 were reportedly manufactured before production stopped in the early 1990s. Mk 3 vehicles include both new build vehicles (produced to sustain the then South African Defence Force) and refurbished Mk 1 and Mk 2 Casspirs. The NG2000s are new build vehicles. All Casspirs have a V-shaped bottom monocoque hull which maximises blast resistence and all are 4 × 4 vehicles. (There are closely related 6 × 6 vehicles, but these have different names.)

Mechem was recently incorporated into DLS, itself part of the State-owned Denel defence industrial group. Previously, Mechem was a standalone entity within the Denel group. Mechem’s area of expertise is demining and the clearance of the explosive remnants (unexploded bombs, shells and so on) left by wars. It can provide vehicles, demining expertise (advice and training) and deploys demining teams. The latter uses both technology and specially trained dogs. Mechem has become a world-leader in the use of dogs, expanding from demining to explo- sives detection in general to anti-smuggling ope- rations. It can also provide training for both dogs and handlers, it breeds and can supply dogs and provide kennelling for them.

In a recent briefing to the media, DLS CEO Stephan Burger reported that Mechem was active in 11 countries. He noted that his company was “very proud” of Mechem’s record and continuing operations.