FV106 Samson is a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

armoured recovery vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...

, one of the

CVR(T) The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), abbreviated CVR(T), is a family of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) developed in the 1960s and is in service with the British Army and others throughout the world. They are small, highly mobile, air ...

family. The main role of this vehicle is to recover the CVR(T) family of vehicles, but can recover other light tracked vehicles such as the

FV430 series The FV430 series covers a number of armoured fighting vehicles of the British Army, all built on the same chassis. The most common is the FV432 armoured personnel carrier. Although the FV430 series has been in service since the 1960s, and som ...

Design and features

The Samson was conceived in the early 1970s with the final design entering production in 1978. The hull is an all-welded aluminium construction. It usually carries a crew of three operating a 3.5T capstan winch that can also be utilised in a lifting configuration. It carries suitable equipment to enable a 4:1 mechanical advantage with 228m of winch rope. This winch is capable of recovering up to 12 Tonnes of vehicle. A manually operated

earth anchor An earth anchor is a device designed to support structures, most commonly used in Geotechnical engineering, geotechnical and construction applications. Also known as a ground anchor, percussion driven earth anchor or mechanical anchor, it may be ...

is situated at the rear to anchor the vehicle while operations are carried out. Samson CVR(T) rear view

The Samson can be fitted with a flotation screen so it can be operated amphibiously using its own tracks at 6.5 km/h or at 9.6 km/h if also fitted with a propeller kit. The Samson can also be fitted with a full NBC protection unit.

Operators

A single Samson accompanied the two troops of

Blues and Royals The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) (RHG/D) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Colonel of the Regiment is Anne, Princess Royal. It is the second-most senior regiment in ...

CVR(T)s to the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

Current operators

* One in service * * – 2 vehicles in service * * – 3 vehicles in service * – 6 vehicles in service * * – In service with the

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Examples on display

The

REME Museum The REME Museum is within the MoD Lyneham site, in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon. The museum holds collections of technological and historical artifacts associated with the work of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers ...

has an example of a Samson on display in The Prince Philip Vehicle Hall.

References

*Foss, C and Gander, T, "Jane's Military Logistics" (1988) 9th edition {{DEFAULTSORT:Fv106 Samson Tracked armoured recovery vehicles Cold War armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom Military vehicles introduced in the 1970s

Design and features

Operators

Current operators

Examples on display

See also

References