Denel’s big reveal at this year’s Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition was the mating of its RG41 eight-wheeled combat vehicle to a modified version of its G7 105 mm gun, which could provide excellent fire support for mechanised or motorised infantry.
Business Development Manager Isaac Karelse said the origin of the RG41 platform went back to the beginning of Project Hoefyster as Denel’s alternative to the Finnish Patria eight-wheeled platform, which became the South African Army’s Badger 8×8. He said that at the time, the Patria was one of the very few eight-wheeled infantry fighting vehicles available on the market.
“While the discussions were going on, the platform was designed, tested and then it went to the UAE for summer trials, in which it did exceptionally well. However, the requirements from the customer in the UAE changed and were replaced by another Denel vehicle, the RG35,” Karelse said.
As delays in the manufacture of the Patria/Badger system developed, Denel mooted the RG41 as a “drop-in” possibility for Project Hoefyster, for a possible range of vehicles alongside the Badger. Karelse explained that the RG41 became a “future requirement”. Also, the type was widely advertised for Middle Eastern markets but then Covid-19 hit, and this possibility was shelved for the time.
In the meantime, Denel was fitting remotely-operated turrets to the RG41, these being Denel’s Tactical Remote Turret (TRT), which was tested with both 20 mm and 30 mm cannon variants.
Karelse explained that during last year’s shooting trials (at Armscor’s Alkantpan test range) with the G6 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and the truck-mounted T5 system, they thought: “why should we not put a 105 mm gun onto this platform?” The 105 mm gun is basically the G7 105 mm LEO towed howitzer, but adapting it to a vehicle mount required technical changes, resulting in the Denel GT7 gun.
Next, Denel developed the T7/105 mm turret, which weighs 3 750 kg. Karelse said the turret was planned to eventually be an unmanned one, but currently– during testing and trials – is manned. The configuration shown at AAD 2024 has a vehicle commander, a driver, a gunner, and eight soldiers – seven “troops” and the section commander.
A standard infantry section is 10 men, but in a mechanised environment, this can be less due to the impact of the vehicle on the operational situation.
The RG41 has a V-shaped hull for landmine protection, with a hardened armoured “shell” for the crew; then a gap, then the “armour package” (100 mm to 130 mm) which can be augmented with add-on armour. In counterinsurgency deployments, wire mesh can be added, also with a gap, to protect the armour from Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and other projectiles.
Karelse stressed that crew survivability was key in the design, so even if the vehicle were to be destroyed, the crew would be saved. The logic behind this is that vehicles can be replaced, but soldiers cannot.
As the T7/G7 combination is still in the prototype phase, there is much work to be done, but the vehicle could act as a highly mobile self-propelled artillery system in a mechanised battalion setting, adding a much-needed punch to SANDF troops.
The G7 gun has a range of 30 km, with ammunition lethality exceeding standard 155 mm high explosive shells – the G7 basically provides 155 mm capability in a 105 mm package. Ammunition was developed by Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) and includes high explosive, high explosive pre-formed fragmentation, smoke, illuminating and other rounds. Standard projectile range is 24 km with boat tail and 30 km with base bleed. Direct fire range is from 500 to 2 000 metres.
The G7/RG41 system is equipped with an Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) which interfaces to the Gun Control Unit (GCU) that provides for automatic gun laying through hydraulic elevation/traverse drives for rapid target engagement. The ammunition handling system is a positive chain type rammer controlled from the integrated Loader Control Panel. This system enables fully automatic ramming of both the projectile and charge. Manual loading of the system provides for redundancy.
The RG41 has sufficient payload (11 000 kg) to accommodate the new turret, for a gross vehicle mass of 30 000 kg. Powered by a Deutz diesel engine, the RG41 can reach 100 km/h.
