Rhino Heavy Armoured Car

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Rhino Heavy Armoured Car
The prototype Rhino with early heavier hull
Specifications
Weight	8.5 tonnes
Length	4.6 m
Width	2.3 m
Height	2.6 m
Crew	4 (Commander, Driver, Gunner, and Loader/Operator)

Armor	30 mm
Primary armament	QF 2 pdr (40 mm) Mk II
Secondary armament	One 0.303 (7.7 mm) Vickers MMG
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.

[edit] History and description

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

Rear view of the prototype Rhino

The vehicle utilised 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.

[edit] References

Michael K. Cecil - Australian Military Equipment Profiles vol. 3, Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945, 1993 Australian Military Equipment Profiles, ISBN 0-646-14611-4.

[edit] External links

Australian CMP Based Armoured Vehicles

v • d • e	British Commonwealth armoured fighting vehicles of World War II

v • d • e Tanks

Light tanks	Vickers 6-Ton • Mk II • Mk III • Mk IV • Mk V • Mk VI • Mk VII Tetrarch

Cruiser tanks	Mk I • Mk II • Mk III • Mk IV • Mk V Covenanter • Mk VI Crusader • Mk VII Cavalier • Mk VIII Centaur • Mk VIII Cromwell • Challenger • Comet • Sherman Firefly • Ram (Canada) • Sentinel (Australia)

Infantry tanks	Mk I Matilda • Mk II Matilda • Mk III Valentine • Mk IV Churchill

v • d • e Self-propelled artillery

Bishop • Sexton • Deacon • Archer

v • d • e Armoured personnel carriers

Universal Carrier • Loyd Carrier • Kangaroo • Terrapin

v • d • e Scout Cars and Armoured cars

Scout Cars	Daimler Dingo • Dingo Scout Car (Australia) • Humber Scout Car • Lynx Scout Car (Canada) • S1 Scout Car (Australia)

Light Reconnaissance Cars	Humber LRC • Morris LRC • Otter LRC (Canada)

Armoured Cars	AEC Armoured Car • Coventry Armoured Car • Daimler Armoured Car • Fox Armoured Car (Canada) • Guy Armoured Car • Humber Armoured Car • Lanchester Armoured Car • Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car (South Africa) • Morris CS9 • Rhino Heavy Armoured Car (Australia) • Rolls-Royce Armoured Car • Rover Light Armoured Car (Australia) • Standard Beaverette • Armoured Carrier Wheeled Indian Pattern (India)

Armoured Trucks	Bedford OXA • C15TA Armoured Truck (Canada)

Armoured Command Vehicles	AEC ACV • Guy Lizard ACV

v • d • e Experimental vehicles

Avenger • Black Prince • Centurion • Excelsior • TOG 1 • TOG 2 • Tortoise • Valiant • Harry Hopkins • Alecto • Thornycroft Bison

v • d • e Unarmoured vehicles

Artillery tractors	AEC Matador • Morris C8 Quad • Scammell Pioneer • Canadian Military Pattern

Trucks and lorries	Bedford QLD • Austin K2 • Morris 15 cwt

Tank transporters	Diamond T tank transporter • Scammell Pioneer Semi-trailer

Utility and cars	Car, Heavy Utility 4x2 Ford C11 • Car, Light Utility ("Tilly") • Car, 4-Seater 4x2

British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II