Mine Protected Combat Vehicle

Mine Protected Combat Vehicle – MPCV
Mine Protected Combat Vehicles (MPCV) c.1979-1980
Type	Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	Rhodesia
Service history
In service	1978 - present
Used by	Rhodesia, Zimbabwe
Wars	1981 Entumbane Uprising Mozambican Civil War Second Congo War
Specifications
Weight	7.2 tonnes
Length	4.95 m
Width	2.4 m
Height	2.8 m
Crew	2+11
Armor	4.5 to 10 mm & composite
Main armament	one 7.62 mm, 12.7 mm or 14.5 mm machine guns
Secondary armament	personal weapons through gunports
Engine	Daimler-Benz OM352 turbo diesel 120 hp
Power/weight	hp/ton hp/tonne
Suspension	wheels, 4 × 4
Operational range	700 km
Speed	80 km/h/60 km/h km/h

The Mine Protected Combat Vehicle – MPCV (a.k.a. 'Spook') was a Rhodesian 4×4 Infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), first introduced in 1979 based on the body of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog light truck.

At the late 1970s when the Rhodesian Bush War was entering its final phase, the Rhodesian Security Forces (RhSF) were faced with an escalation towards conventional warfare when they learned that a mechanised built-up was being undertaken by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrilla organization based in neighbouring Zambia with material assistance from the Soviet Union. Eventually, by mid-1979 ZIPRA had brought to strength a fairly sizeable armoured corps trained by Cuban advisors, which aligned five BRDM-2 reconnaissance armoured cars, six to ten T-34/85 tanks and fifteen BTR-152 wheeled APCs.

To deal with the potential threat of a possible conventional ground invasion from across the border, the Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment (RhACR) was reorganized in 1978, being expanded to include additional tank and mechanized infantry squadrons. It soon became clear however, that the latter had to be provided with fast, more mobile troop-carrying vehicles (TCV) designed for conventional armoured warfare. The heavier locally tailored TCVs – conceived primarily for the counter-insurgency role – already in service with the Rhodesian SF were found to be not entirely suitable for the task so a lighter (and cheaper) alternative was sought.

Nicknamed the 'Spook' because of the secrecy and urgency surrounding the entire project, the MPCV was originally developed jointly in 1978 by the Rhodesian private firm Kew Engineering Ltd of Gwelo (now Gweru), RhACR and the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers (RhCE) to meet the requirements of the Rhodesian Army for a low-cost, mine and ambush protected (MAP) infantry fighting vehicle mounted on a Unimog chassis capable of carrying 10 men.