The Condor is a 4×4 wheeled

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

originally designed by Thyssen-Henschel of Germany and manufactured by Henschel Wehrtechnik GmbH. The first prototype was completed in 1978. The Condor was designed as a successor to its UR-416 APC. The upgraded Condor 2 was first sold in 2004. Today, the Condor is considered a legacy product of

Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH (RMMV) is a joint venture company between German companies MAN Truck & Bus AG and Rheinmetall AG. RMMV is part of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems Division. Rheinmetall AG holds a 51% stake in RMMV, with the re ...

, part of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems Division. The nearest vehicle to the Condor in RMMV's current product range is the

Survivor R The RMMV Survivor R (presented SURVIVOR R by the company) is a medium weight armoured-wheeled vehicle developed jointly as the result of a strategic co-operation between Germany’s Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) and Austria’s Achl ...

Design

The Condor is designed primarily as an APC but it can also adopted for a variety of other roles including anti-tank, cargo carrier, command vehicle, ambulance, fitters' vehicle and reconnaissance vehicle. The Condor is based on the automotives of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog, the Condor 2 based on the Unimog U5000. The hull of the Condor is made of all-welded armoured steel protecting the crew from 7.62 mm armour-piercing (AP) rounds and 5.56 mm ball-type rounds, shell splinters and anti-personnel mines. The Condor is fully amphibious, propelled in the water by a propeller mounted under the rear of the hull. It is air-transportable in

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

and in

C-160 Transall The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and ...

type aircraft. In 2016, Deftech showed a working upgraded Condor prototype at the DSA 2016 convention. A Condor prototype converted to serve as a logistics transport vehicle was unveiled at the DSA 2018 convention.

Operators

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

's National Guard received 8 Condor 2 in 2010. *:

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

ordered 460 Condor APCs in late 1981, with the last being delivered in March 1984. It's due to be replaced completely under the Next Generation Wheeled Armoured Vehicle project. *:

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

has 12 Condor; these are operated by the

Polícia Aérea The ''Polícia Aérea'' (Portuguese for "Air Police") or PA is the military police and ground combat force of the Portuguese Air Force. The Air Police has as its main symbol the Blue Beret with the Emblem of the Air Force. Missions The ''Políci ...

of the

Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

*: Military of South Korea, South Korea, 2 Condor 1 (used in general hospital) *:

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

received 18 Condor in 1995, these are operated by the

Royal Thai Air Force "Royal Thai Air Force March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day) , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles ...

) *:

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

has 25 Condor (inactive; currently being retired). *:

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

has 55 Condor.

References

External links

Malaysian Condor upgradeCondor test drive
{{Modern IFV and APC Wheeled armoured personnel carriers Armoured personnel carriers of Germany

Design

Operators

See also

References

External links