In the News

Mbombe Breaks Cover - Janes

September 20, 2010

Here at AAD, Paramount Group has unveiled the latest member of its growing mine-protected vehicle family. Named Mbombe after a famous warrior in West African mythology, the vehicle is a 6x6 armoured infantry vehicle that employs an innovative new form of construction to give unprecedented levels of protection, while keeping profile to a minimum.

Developed at Paramount’s Innovation Centre in Midrand, Mbombe draws on the company’s experience of designing the highly effective Marauder and Matador mineresistant vehicles. What makes Mbombe special is that the Paramount team has achieved vehicle protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4, but without recourse to the V-shaped hull that characterises other mine-protected vehicles.

This has become something of a holy grail for vehicle designers in recent years. Paramount is naturally coy about the exact technology employed, but said the “flatbottom hull uses a special honeycomb and welded structure to afford the required strength and resistance against mine blasts and IEDs, and gives the hull the required stiffness and rigidity in withstanding the forces induced from the explosions.”

The flat-bottom hull is tactically significant because it greatly reduces the vehicle’s profile and makes it a more difficult target.

Mbombe is the first vehicle in its class to use this technology, and the first to offer all-round protection against a variety of threats. Ballistic protection is provided against 14.5mm heavy machine gun rounds, while it offers similar levels of protection against 155mm artillery burst. Level 4 mine protection is offered against 10kg mines detonating under the hull or wheels. Against IEDs, it can withstand a 50kg TNT blast at a distance of 5m.

Internally it is fitted with anti-blast seats to offer protection against the extreme accelerations experienced in an explosion, and it has the power to handle the weight of additional protection such as bar armour if required.

Despite its capabilities, Mbombe has been designed with low operational costs in mind, and uses COTS components and automotive assemblies where possible. The vehicle on display at AAD has a 336kW Cummins diesel engine, Allison automatic transmission and independent suspension at each wheel station. Other driveline options are expected to be offered if there is market demand.

In its baseline armoured personnel carrier configuration, Mbombe provides high-mobility transport for driver, commander, gunner and eight troops, but it can also be configured for other roles, such as battlefield ambulance, command post and as an armoured fighting vehicle with a roof-mounted weapon station.

High mobility is ensured by its 40° obstacle entry angle and 49° departure angle, ability to climb 70% gradients and to handle more than 35° of side-slope. It can climb steps greater than 0.5m, and tackle ditches of 3.3m, while being able to ford water of up to 0.9m without any preparation.

The unveiling of Mbombe highlights the capabilities of South Africa’s engineers, particularly in the field of mine-protected vehicles.

“The world has finally discovered that Africa has some of the best technologies at affordable prices,” said Ivor Ichikowitz, executive chairman of the Paramount Group. “We have an amazing skills base, we are home to some of the best engineers in the world and they have developed technologies that are used globally and save lives every day.

With Africa now home to some of the world’s best protected vehicles, these are exciting times. Africa is establishing for itself a lead role in innovation, security and as a major contributor to global peacekeeping.”