Rhino Heavy Armoured Car

Infobox Weapon
name=Rhino Heavy Armoured Car


caption=The prototype Rhino with early heavier hull
is_vehicle=yes
crew=4 (Commander, Driver, Gunner, and Loader/Operator)
length=4.6 m
width=2.3 m
height=2.6 m
weight=8.5 tonnes
armour=30 mm
primary_armament=QF 2 pdr (40 mm) Mk II
secondary_armament=One 0.303 (7.7 mm) Vickers MMG
engine=GMC 6 cylinder inline
engine_power=
suspension=4x4 leaf spring
speed=
pw_ratio=
vehicle_range=

Car, Armoured, Heavy (Aust), also known as Rhino, was an armoured car designed in Australia during the Second World War. Due to enemy action and design problems the project never got beyond a prototype stage.

History and description

At the outbreak of the World War II the United Kingdom was unable to meet the needs of the Commonwealth for armored fighting vehicles. It led many Commonwealth countries to develop their own AFVs.

In mid to late 1941 a specification for a heavy armoured car was issued to the Australian Directorate of Armoured Fighting Vehicles Production. Two prototype hulls and turrets were built and tested on the same chassis 1942. The vehicle suffered from excessive weight and in 1943 the project was cancelled.

The vehicle utilised a CMP chassis and engine produced by General Motors Canada, the rear-engined model 8446, the same chassis as used for the Canadian "Fox" armoured car. To this a welded armoured body fabricated from Australian Bullet-proof Plate (ABP-3) of 30 mm thickness to the front and 11 mm to the sides and rear was fitted. The vehicle was completed by a welded turret with 30 mm all-round protection similar in design to that of the Crusader tank. The armament consisted of a QF 2 pounder Mk IX gun and a coaxial .303 inch Vickers machine gun.

A pilot model of an armoured personnel carrier with an open-topped hull and without a turret was also built.

References

* "Michael K. Cecil - Australian Military Equipment Profiles vol. 3, Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945", 1993 Australian Military Equipment Profiles, ISBN 0-646-14611-4.

External links

* [http://users.bigpond.net.au/blitz_trucks/AUSTCARS.html Australian CMP Based Armoured Vehicles]