FV432

Armoured Personnel Carrier

Pictures kindly provided by Nick Williamson - thanks Nick

Photo - Nick Williamson

The FV430 series of vehicles has a long pedigree which can be traced back to the origins of the famous WW II bren gun carriers/universal carriers. The immediate predecessors of the FV430 series were the FV420 series, themselves developed from these carriers. The prototype vehicle, FV431, provided the basis for the FV432. FV432 is essntially a steel box on tracks. It was built by GKN Sankey and production finished in 1971.

There are four basic marks, Mk 1, Mk 1/1, Mk 2, and Mk 2/1. The Mark 1 had a roof mounted exhaust. The Mark 2s are identifiable by the prominent exhaust on the LH side of the vehicle..

An excellent FV432 website by Dave Giles can be found at http://www.apcman.btinternet.co.uk/

Photo - Nick Williamson
This and the next photo are of a Mk 2 - note the exhaust

Photo - Nick Williamson

The FV432 has povided the basis for many other variants/special purpose vehicles. These include:

Command Vehicle
Ambulance
Cargo Carrier
Recovery Vehicle.
Each of these versions essentially involves a simple refit of the basic vehicle.

FV432 Mortar Carrier
Fitted with an L16A1 81 mm mortar

FV432 with 84 mm Carl Gustav

Turreted FV432
The most common version is with a GPMG turret. There are also vehicles used by the Berlin Garrison with 30 mm Rarden turrets, as well as some vehicles fitted with Scorpion turrets for use as Opposing Force (OPFOR) vehicles in exercises.

FV432 Battery Command Vehicle (Royal Artillery)
Distinguished by a extensive roof racking and large box-like awning on the top rear of some vehicles.

FV432 with Sound Location (Royal Artillery)
Box like structure on roof. Lots of aerials.

FV432 (Royal Engineers)
Mine layer variants, such as Ranger

FV433 Abbot 105 mm SP Gun

Falcon AA Vehicle (based on Abbot)
Never went into production: prototype only

FV434
Engineering vehicle with crane jib and open top.

FV436 Radar Vehicles (Royal Artillery)
FV432 variants with Green Archer, MSTAR or ZB298 battlefield radars, or later, Cymbeline mortar location radar.

FV438 Swingfire Missile Vehicle
Subsequently modified for command and control purposes.

FV439 with Wavell or with Ptarmigan
This had roof mounted generators and air conditioning equipment. Wavell is a battlefield computerised data management system (Automatic Data Processing = ADP). Ptarmigan is a battlefield communication system.

(pre-GS 'A' number designations)

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