MOWAG Shark

     Notes: The Shark was designed as sort of a universal weapons carrier for light and medium weapons systems and turrets.  The Shark is based on the Piranha I chassis, but greatly modified for its role as a weapons carrier. (There is a rumor, however, that an APC variant of the Shark was also designed.) Despite several variants tested or on paper, the Shark was never adopted by any country’s armed forces, and never put into production. In the end, only three Shark hulls were produced as prototypes; turrets were swapped out on these hulls to show the versatility of the chassis. The variants shown below were three variants which fit the definition of light combat vehicles, but variants ranging from ATGM carriers to heavy antiaircraft vehicles were tested, and several other versions were conceived of on paper.

     Vehicles were produced (at least to the prototype stage) with a 35mm autocannon in a modified GDD-BOE turret, a 105mm French gun in an FL-12 turret (the same as on the SK-105), and the 105mm Rh-105 low recoil gun in an experimental Rheinmetall turret were also tested. Both of the 105mm versions can fire standard NATO ammunition; the FL-12 turret included the SK-105/AMX-13 12-round autoloader/magazine, with more reloads carried inside the hull. The Rheinmetall turret carried 15 rounds in an internal band-type autoloader with the rest carried inside the hull. The chassis is a lightweight 8x8 chassis that, while not offering lots of armor protection, does give good mobility and speed.  The engine is a Detroit Diesel 8V71T providing 560 horsepower with an Allison HT 750 ORD automatic transmission, providing five forward and one reverse gears. The Shark is an 8x8 vehicle, with front and rear axles steering and the center two axles staying straight; the Shark has a 12.5-meter turning radius. All wheels have independent suspension, with built-in shock absorbers on the front and rear pair of wheels in addition to leaf springs, and the center pairs of wheels having torsion bar springs and external shock absorbers. The front and rear wheels have locking differentials. Brakes and steering are power assisted. Tires are run-flat and puncture-resistant.

     The driver is in the front left of the hull; a passenger seat is located to the right of the driver.  The remaining crew members will have hatches on the turret roof, with the hatch layout depending on the turret used.

MOWAG Spy

     Notes: This is basically a greatly scaled-down version of the MOWAG Piranha wheeled armored personnel carrier.  It is a small, light, quick vehicle without a great deal of armor protection, but a lot of agility.  It is designed primarily for local security forces, but is also useful for scouts.  The Spy is supposed to be light and inexpensive. An undisclosed Asian country placed an order for 20-50 Spies in the early 1980s, but MOWAG has not divulged the actual customer; however, it is believed that the customer was Indonesia or Myanmar. Various other customers have placed small orders for the Spy, mostly for internal security and police SRT-type forces. The Spy is still being built for various customers and is offered for export.

     The hull roof may be fitted with a cupola that allows a light machinegun to be aimed and fired from within the vehicle. The V 042 turret has a remotely operated M2HB on an external mount on a small cupola.  The M2HB has a maximum elevation of +45 degrees, depression of -8 degrees, and 360-degree rotation.  The V 041 small turret has a hatch on top and is armed with an M2HB/MAG combo.  The machineguns have a maximum elevation of +50 degrees and depression of -10 degrees.  The gunner has a PERI Z-11 sight with a magnification of x2/x6 with seven vision blocks on his cupola.

     Armament for the Spy is very light, primarily to keep weight down.  The driver has a hatch on the front left deck; a windshield may be fitted in front of this that also gives splash protection when fording.  The four wheels have independent suspension and are fitted with run-flat puncture-resistant tires. The engine is a Detroit Diesel 295-horsepower engine with an Alison AT-545 automatic transmission. Steering is only on the front axle. The axles have locking differentials.