Notes: This German AVLB is based on the hull of a Leopard 1 tank, topped with a bridge and the equipment to deploy it. The driver is in the normal Leopard position at front right of the hull and the commander/bridge operator in the center of the hull. The bridge can span a gap of 20 meters and has a capacity of 60 tons. It may be deployed or recovered from either end, requiring 3 minutes to deploy and 7 minutes to recover. By itself, the bridge weighs 9.94 tons. The dozer blade on the front of the Biber is deployed before emplacing or recovering the bridge. The Biber is not issued with a weapon mount, but many crews have retrofitted their vehicles. Most of these vehicles are used by Germany, but small numbers are used by Australia, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands. A good number are also used by Italy, where they were license-produced.

Notes: This is a newer armored recovery vehicle based on the Leopard 2 chassis. The turret is removed, and from the front to the center of the vehicle is a raised superstructure. The Büffel has a crane on the right side of the superstructure that can traverse through 270 degrees and can lift 30 tons or pull 70 tons. This crane cannot be overloaded, as it will refuse to function at a higher load. The vehicle has a main winch with 180 meters of cable and a pulling force of 35 tons. This winch is mounted on the front hull and does not require the use of the dozer blade, since it is designed to distribute forces over the entire vehicle. It too cannot be overloaded. The Büffel also has an auxiliary winch with 280 meters of cable and a 650kg capacity. The Büffel has two tow bars, including one for quick recoveries that is attached to the dozer blade. Cutting and welding gear is carried along with a full set of tools. There is a cradle over the engine compartment to carry large assemblies such as engines. The Büffel has a crew heater and a bilge pump for deep fording operations (though it is not amphibious). The hull mounts 16 smoke grenade launchers. The Büffel is capable of towing 64 tons.

The Büffel is used by Germany and the Netherlands; Sweden also plans to have some delivered to them in late 2003. It is often found towing a trailer specially designed for it, carrying spare parts and more tools. This trailer is four-wheeled, partially powered, weighs 3 tons, can carry 7.5 tons, and does not affect the Büffel's mobility.

Notes: This is an armored engineer vehicle developed from the Bergepanzer. The crane is retained but has special attachments to allow work with mines, demolition charges, and special tools to build and destroy fortifications. The Pioneerpanzer has no generator or fuel pump, but has a 700mm auger, a dozer blade, a 70-ton winch, and a digging bucket that can lift 2 tons. The Pioneerpanzer typically carries a wide variety of excavation tools and attachments for its crane, as well as a welding set, 117kg of plastic explosives, and 10 engineer demolitions sets, and a variety of mines.

Notes: This is an armored recovery vehicle based on the Leopard 1 chassis. The turret is removed and replaced with a raised superstructure. The Bergepanzer is equipped with a crane on the front right side that can traverse 270º and lift 20 tons. The winch can tow a 70-ton vehicle with 90m of cable. The forward winch can pull 25 tons. The Bergepanzer is usually equipped with a wide variety of tools and has an integral fuel pump, 10Kw generator, and a dozer blade. The Bergepanzer has a driver’s hatch on the front center deck, a commander’s hatch on the front left deck, and two hatches on the left hull side.

Notes: As with the M-48 ARV (see below), this vehicle was originally produced by Germany for export and as kits for those retiring their M-47 main battle tanks. Another major seller of this vehicle was Spain, and the designs of the two countries are similar. The basic design is similar to the M-48 ARV, with the turret being replaced with a raised superstructure, crane, winch, fuel pump, and dozer blade. The M-47 ARV was used to recover both lighter tanks and armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. Slightly smaller than the M-48 ARV, it also is somewhat less capable than that vehicle in towing capacity. The crane is capable of lifting 18.7 tons at a reach of 5.3 meters, and unlike the M-48 ARV, can turn a full 360 degrees. The main winch of the M-47 ARV can pull 35 tons, or 70 tons with block and tackle. A secondary winch can pull 6.5 tons, or 13 tons with block and tackle. The dozer blade can excavate 190 cubic meters per hour, but is mainly used to brace the vehicle during heavy lifting or winching operations. The M-47 carries basic tools, wheeled vehicle tools, tracked vehicle tools, a welding and cutting set, an air compressor, small arms and heavy ordinance tools, a tow bar, several coils or rope and cable, and pulleys and snatch blocks for heavy winching operations. The M-47 ARV was developed for the Turkish, but has also been trialed in Pakistan.

Notes: This is a recovery vehicle based on the chassis of the M-48A3 or A5 main battle tank. These vehicles were first produced by Germany for export and as kits to be sold to countries retiring their M-48 tanks; however, M-48 ARV began to be used in front-line service by many countries as damaged vehicles became more common. As such, they can be found in many of the countries that once used the M-48A3 or A5. In this role, the M-48 chassis has its turret removed, and a raised superstructure, along with a crane, winch, fuel pump, and dozer blade are added. The crane is mounted on the front right side and can lift 20 tons (enough for most tank turrets) at a reach of 6 meters. The winch has a pulling strength of 35 tons without bracing and 70 tons with bracing, and has 90 meters of cable. There is a secondary winch with a capacity of 6.5 tons, or 13 tons with bracing, and 100 meters of cable. The dozer blade can excavate 200 cubic meters per hour and is also used to brace the vehicle during heavy lifting or winching operations. The M-48 ARV is equipped with a welding and cutting set, an air compressor, tracked and wheeled vehicle tools, basic tools, small arms tools, heavy ordinance tools, a tow bar, several coils of rope and cable, and items such as pulleys and snatch blocks. These vehicles were built primarily for use by Germany herself, but The Turks have 4 and the Greeks have 3.

Notes: This is an engineer vehicle based on the Leopard 1 AEV chassis. The Dachs has a dozer blade that can excavate 200 cubic meters per hour. It is equipped with a winch capable of pulling 70 tons with 90m of cable. A crane can lift 20 tons and has 100m of cable. The vehicle is equipped with a ½-meter-wide auger, a tow bar, internal welding tools, and a 10Kw generator. The driver’s hatch is on the front left deck. The turret is replaced by a raised superstructure upon which are two hatches. An MG-3 is located on a weapons mount next to the commander’s hatch; another is next to the driver.

Notes: This is the German Skorpion mine-laying system mounted on an M-548 load carrier chassis. In this role, the rear cargo area is totally taken up by the mine dispensers, six units of five box-shaped tubes. Each tube holds 20 antitank or antipersonnel mines, which are fused with a delay to allow friendly forces to get out of the new minefield safely. A self-destruct may also be programmed, and minefield densities of 0.05 to 0.3 may laid. Mines are ejected obliquely to the rear of the vehicle, on either side. A typical vehicle can lay an antitank minefield with a density of 0.2, 1500x50 meters, in 5 minutes. Typical mine is an AT-2 antitank mine.

Notes: This is a Wiesel 2 APC fitted out for the engineer reconnaissance role. In this role, the Wiesel 2 carries a remote mine detector, an engineer demolitions chest, several kilograms of plastic explosive, mines, an optical chemical sniffer, a Geiger counter, and radiation shielding. Other equipment carried includes an inertial navigation set, GPS, a rubber raft for water inspections of bridges and suchlike, a computer to compile the results of their investigations with a wireless modem to upload it to higher headquarters, and at least two radios.