M93 Fox

Infobox Weapon
name=M93 Fox


caption=
origin= (then) flagcountry|West Germany flagcountry|United States
type=NBC reconnaissance vehicle
is_ranged=
is_artillery=
is_vehicle=yes
is_UK=
service=
used_by=United States
wars=Persian Gulf War
designer=Thyssen-Henschel
design_date=
manufacturer=General Dynamics Land Systems
unit_cost=
production_date=
number=
variants=XM93, M93A1
spec_label=
weight=17 tons
length=22.25 ft
part_length=
width=
height=8.1 ft
diameter=
crew=3
cartridge=
caliber=
barrels=
action=
rate=
velocity=
range=
max_range=
feed=
sights=
breech=
recoil=
carriage=
elevation=
traverse=
armour=
primary_armament=
secondary_armament=
engine=Mercedes-Benz Model OM 402A V8 liquid-cooled diesel
engine_power=320 hp
transmission=
payload_capacity=
fuel_capacity=
pw_ratio=
suspension=6x6 wheeled
clearance=
vehicle_range=
speed=65 mp/h
guidance=

The "Fox" ( M93, M93A1, and M93A1P1) vehicle is a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear reconnaissance vehicle. This vehicle is a variant of the German TPz1 Fuchs manufactured by Rheinmetall to survive and provide reconnaissance on a CBRN affected battlefield. It is currently undergoing a retrofit program to improve the survivability and relevance on the modern battlefield. In addition to the survivability upgrade, the mass spectrometer has the added capacity to identify numerous industrial chemical hazards. This allows the reconnaissance section to identify any environmental hazards(TIC/TIM) in its area of operations. The new US Army Stryker vehicle CBRN variant began to supplement/replace the FOX in 2007.

History

The Fox system was developed originally for use by the German Army; finding itself being requested by the US Military in the late 1980s under the NBCRS-Non-Developmental Item Program. Initially in the first of three phases, 48 working XM93's were delivered under urgent building guidelines, following that issue, another 60 working XM93 models were donated by the German Government for the US Military actions with Operation Desert Storm. The ongoing 'Block 1' modification phase is currently upgrading all previous XM93 models to the M93A1 configuration, which was officially approved for production and fielding in 1995. From January to July 1998 its production qualification runs were completed successfully and the US Army's first productions were equipped with the NBCRS-Fox Block 1 system (M93A1) in October 1998.

*Basis of Issue: 6 per recon platoon (1 platoon per heavy division); 6 per ACR; 1 per separate brigade; additional assets at Corps level

References