EE-9 Cascavel
The EE-9 Cascavel (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐʃ.kɐ.ˈvɛɫ] , translated to Rattlesnake) is a six-wheeled Brazilian armoured car developed primarily for reconnaissance. It was engineered by Engesa in one thousand nine hundred seventy as a replacement for Brazil’s ageing fleet of M8 Greyhounds. [6] The vehicle was very first fitted with the Greyhound’s 37mm main gun, and subsequently, a French turret adopted from the Panhard AML-90. Later models carry unique Engesa turrets with a Belgian 90mm Cockerill Mk.Three cannon produced under licence as the EC-90. [1]
two hundred twelve hp (158 kW) at Two,800 rpm [Four]
The Cascavel shares many components with the EE-11 Urutu, its armoured personnel carrier counterpart; both entered production in one thousand nine hundred seventy four and are now operated by over twenty nations in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. [6] Rights to the design were also sold to the United States via the FMC Corporation. [7] About Two,767 Cascavels and Urutus were manufactured before Engesa ceased operations in 1993. [6]
Contents
Development Edit
Via the early 1960s, Brazil’s bilateral defence agreements with the United States ensured effortless access to a postwar surplus of American military equipment, including a number of World War II-vintage M8 Greyhound armoured cars. The Brazilian arms industry limited itself to restoring and maintaining this obsolete hardware until 1964, when American involvement in the Vietnam War placed limitations on the amount of defence technology available for export. [8] Brazil responded by creating an indigenous import substitution programme in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight aimed at reproducing US equipment already in service. [9] By one thousand nine hundred seventy the Brazilian Army was developing an updated Greyhound known simply by its Portuguese initials, CRR (Carro de Reconhecimento sobre Rodas). [6] Engesa, then an obscure civilian engineering hard, took over the project and by November one thousand nine hundred seventy a prototype was finished. [1] The fresh EE-9 Cascavel entered the pre-production phase inbetween one thousand nine hundred seventy two and 1973. [Ten] Assembly lines for the Cascavel and its armoured personnel counterpart, the EE-11 Urutu, were opened in 1974. [1] The hulls were purchased by the Brazilian Army, but mounted the same antiquated 37mm cannon and turret recycled from its elderly Greyhounds. [11] To rival with more formidable armament available on the international market, Engesa also marketed a strenuously modified Cascavel with an automatic transmission and the same 90mm (Trio.54 in) low-pressure gun found on the Panhard AML. [Four] This model, intended for export, drew interest in the Middle East and twenty were instantaneously purchased by Qatar. [12]
The Qatari Cascavel sale proved to be a major success for Engesa, and Brazil’s very first successful inroad into the Arabian arms trade. Abu Dhabi followed suit with an order for two hundred Cascavels in 1977. Both Iraq and Libya chose the Cascavel in preference to the Panhard AML-90 or ERC-90 Sagaie, [Two] with the former negotiating a $400 million deal for the delivery of two hundred Cascavels and two hundred Urutus. [12] Following the Libyan sale, Engesa unveiled a fresh production model carrying a Belgian designed, Cockerill main gun [6] manufactured under licence as the EC-90 in Brazil. [Four]
Service Edit
The Armed Coerces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya successfully deployed a number of EE-9 Cascavels against Egyptian tanks, likely T-54/55s or T-62s, during the Libyan–Egyptian War in 1977. [13] Libyan Cascavels also witnessed activity in Chad, where they engaged AML-90s of the French Foreign Legion and French Marines. [14] An unknown number of these armoured cars were later donated to the Polisario Front [15] and Togo, [16] while others remained in service as late as the two thousand eleven Libyan Civil War. [17]
Chad’s Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT) received five EE-9 Cascavels from Libya in 1986. [Legal] Over the course of the Chadian–Libyan conflict, seventy-nine ex-Libyan Cascavels were captured or recovered from the Aouzou De-robe by the Chadian military, which proceeds to hold them in storage. [Nineteen]
During the Iran-Iraq War, EE-9 Cascavels were operated by Iraqi garrisons near the Persian Gulf. The armoured cars were frequently able to outmaneuvre the stronger Iranian tanks and tracked combat vehicles on the relatively plane, sandy terrain near the coastal region. [20] Coalition air strikes later demolished several north of Kuwait City in Operation Desert Storm. [21] Following the two thousand three invasion of Iraq, the surviving fleet was condemned for scrap; however, American technical personnel did restore thirty-five to working order in two thousand eight and present them to the Fresh Iraqi Army. [22]
Zimbabwe procured ninety EE-9 Cascavels in one thousand nine hundred eighty four as a suitable replacement for the Eland Mk7. [Legal] At least one Zimbabwean Cascavel squadron deployed into Mozambique during the Mozambican Civil War to protect Harare’s primary commercial links in Tete Province. The armoured cars provided armed escort for local convoys and patrolled the roads to preempt attacks by South African-backed Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgents. [23] During Zimbabwe’s intervention in the 2nd Congo War, Ilyushin Il-76s commandeered from local charter firms were used to airlift twelve Cascavels to N’djili Airport. [24] From there they subsequently engaged Rwandan troops advancing on Kinshasha. [25] Some were abandoned by Zimbabwean troops in the Congo after being sabotaged beyond repair, [26] while four others were captured by rebel factions. [27] Few remain in present service due to lack of funds to source fresh parts from Brazil. [28]
The EE-9 Cascavel has found favour with many armies due to its simplified design and use of components already ubiquitous to civilian industry. [29] Its low cost next to comparable Western armoured cars makes it an attractive purchase to developing nations in particular. At the height of the Cold War, the rigorously commercial nature of Engesa sales—devoid of any political supplier restraints—was also perceived as an acceptable alternative to arms from NATO and the Warsaw Pact. [29]
All EE-9 Cascavels have a similar layout—the driver is seated at the front of the vehicle and to the left, turrets are typically fitted above the centre, with motor and transmission situated at the rear. [1] The Cascavel Mk II has a manual turret, but all later variants have electrically powered traverse. [Four] Cascavel Mk IIIs are tooled with an Engesa EC-90 90mm gun firing high explosive (HE), high explosive anti-tank (Fever) or high explosive squash head (HESH) shells in cartridge form; a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun is also mounted to the left of the main armament. [30] The EC-90 has an elevation of +15° and a depression of -8°. [1] It is not stabilised and only mounts a rudimentary optical fire control system, which has been upgraded with a laser rangefinder in Brazilian service. [Four] Late production Cascavels were fitted with run-flat tyres and a unique central tyre pressure regulator accessible from the driving compartment. [1]
Outer Edit
A boxy, boat-shaped vehicle, the EE-9 Cascavel has a steep frontal glacis which slopes upwards and back towards the horizontal hull roof, with recesses for the headlamps and a thick glacis plate over the driver’s seat. [1] The hull sides are almost vertical, but also sloped inwards towards the roof. There is a low, well-rounded turret on the forward section of the hull with a long, tapered gun barrel and a triple baffle muzzle brake. [Five]