Rhino Heavy Armoured Car

Rhino Heavy Armoured Car

The prototype Rhino with early heavier hull
Place of origin  Australia
Specifications
Weight 8.5 tonnes (8.4 long tons)
Length 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Width 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Height 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Crew 4 (commander, driver, gunner, and loader/radio perator)
Armour 30 mm
Main
armament
 QF 2 pdr (40 mm) Mk II
Secondary
armament
 One 0.303 (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun
Engine GMC 6-cylinder inline
Suspension 4x4 leaf spring

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

At the outbreak of World War II the United Kingdom was unable to meet the needs of the Commonwealth for armoured 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 in 1942. The vehicle suffered from excessive weight and in 1943 the project was cancelled.

Rear view of the prototype Rhino

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

Notes
    Bibliography
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