Notes:
The HWK-11 was designed by Henschel Wehrtechnik of then-West Germany in
the mid-1960s at the request of the Mexican government for use as a
general-purpose APC. The conditions
that sealed the deal with the Germans over offers from the US to sell the
Mexicans M-113s hinged on the willingness of the West Germans to do a total
technology transfer for building the HWK-11.
The West Germans were also willing to tailor the HWK-11 more specifically
to Mexican requirements. The first dozen were built by the Germans, but most of
the HWK-11s were built in Mexico by Sedena.
The original HWK-11s were “basic box” APCs, but they have been steadily
upgraded since then, and still remain in service in Mexico in small numbers.
Mexico was originally going to have a fleet of 350 HWK-11s, but economic
conditions and different opportunities intervened, and ultimately, only 40 were
built, though most if not all remain in service.
Two prototypes of a reconnaissance model, the HWK-13 were built, but
production was decided against, as was a tank destroyer variant. Henschel
offered the HWK 11 for export until the mid-1980s, but never found any buyers.
Production ended in Mexico in 1966.
The Original HWK-11
The first version of the HWK-11
entered service in 1965. It was definitely a battlefield taxi, armed only with a
single MG-3 machinegun which was mounted in a small turret atop the vehicle.
Armor is of welded steel and is not especially heavy. The driver is on
the front left behind a sloped glacis; the sides also have a decent slope to
them. The crew compartment has only
manual fire-extinguishing bottles, but the engine has an automatic fire
detection and extinguishing system.
The driver has three vision blocks to his front and giving him some side vision.
The commander is behind the driver in the aforementioned turret, and has
all-around vision blocks in addition to a periscope which can be turned 350
degrees (leaving him a small blind arc to the rear).
The turret-mounted machinegun actually has a decent degree of movement;
it can be elevated straight up and depressed to -15 degrees.
Both the commander and driver had image intensifiers, the driver in the
center vision block and the commander in the movable periscope that had an
aiming reticule for the machinegun. (These were a last-minute add-on.) The troop
compartment at the rear has two large hatches on the rear deck that open and
lock straight upwards, and two large doors in the rear face for primary entry
and exit. A pair of air intakes at
the front of the vehicle provides ventilation and modicum of low-tech air
conditioning in the form of a sort of high-speed fan. A bank of four smoke
grenade launchers are found along each side of the glacis.
The engine first mounted in the
HWK-11 was to be a 212-horsepower Chrysler gasoline engine, but before
production commenced, a German 180-horsepower diesel was used instead.
The suspension gave a rather good ride for this type of vehicle, using
torsion bars with shock absorbers on the first, second, and fifth roadwheels
(out of five) having hydraulic shock absorbers.
The HWK-11 is not amphibious.
Upgrades
In 1980, the
Israeli company NIMDA upgraded Mexico’s HWK-11s, giving them a turret similar to
the French Toucan II but with heavier armor.
Appliqué armor was also added to the hull itself.
The original engines were replaced with the same as fitted to US M-113A2,
Detroit Diesel 6V53s with an output of 212 horsepower.
In 1993, the
HWKs-11s were again upgraded, given German-made M-113A2-type tracks and an
engine of unknown origin (but probably also German), with an estimated output of
280 horsepower. A turret similar to
that mounted on the German Spähpanzer Luchs was mounted in place of the previous
NIMDA turret; this turret has a ballistic computer.
Vehicle |
Price |
Fuel Type |
Load |
Veh Wt |
Crew |
Mnt |
Night Vision |
Radiological |
HWK-11 (1965) |
$86,708 |
D, A |
1.2 tons |
11 tons |
2+10 |
6 |
Image Intensification (D, C) |
Enclosed |
HWK-11 (1980) |
$63,333 |
D, A |
950 kg |
11.5 tons |
3+9 |
7 |
Image Intensification (D, C) |
Enclosed |
HWK-11 (1993) |
$112,466 |
D, A |
950 kg |
11.8 tons |
3+9 |
7 |
Image Intensification (D, C), Passive IR
(C) |
Enclosed |
Vehicle |
Tr Mov |
Com Mov |
Fuel Cap |
Fuel Cons |
Config |
Susp |
Armor |
HWK-11 (1965) |
125/88 |
27/20 |
300 |
73 |
CiH |
T3 |
TF2
TS2 TR2
HF8 HS3
HR2 |
HWK-11 (1980) |
138/97 |
30/22 |
300 |
110 |
Trtd |
T3 |
TF4
TS4 TR3
HF10 HS5
HR3* |
HWK-11 (1993) |
168/118 |
37/27 |
300 |
147 |
Trtd |
T3 |
TF6
TS4 TR3
HF10 HS5
HR3* |
Vehicle |
Fire Control |
Stabilization |
Armament |
Ammunition |
HWK-11 (1965) |
None |
None |
MG-3 (C) |
2100x7.62mm |
HWK-11 (1980) |
+1 |
Basic |
20mm M-693 Autocannon, MG-3 |
700x20mm, 2000x7.62mm |
HWK-11 (1993) |
+2 |
Fair |
20mm Rh-202 Autocannon, MG-3 (C) |
600x20mm, 1000x7.62mm |
*Belly armor is 3.