Place of origin Rhodesia Used by Rhodesia
Zimbabwe | In service 1977 - present Length 7.65 m | |
Type Armoured personnel carrier Wars Rhodesian Bush War
1981 Entumbane Uprising
Mozambican Civil War
Second Congo War |
The Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier or “Croc” is a Rhodesian armoured personnel carrier first introduced in 1977 and based on Japanese commercial trucks’ chassis. It remains in use with the Zimbabwe National Army.
Contents
General description
Built on a Nissan, Toyota or Isuzu 5-tonne truck chassis, the Crocodile consisted of an open-topped hull or ‘capsule’ faceted at the sides, which were designed to deflect small-arms’ rounds, and a flat bottom or 'deck' reinforced by a v-shaped ‘crush box’ meant to deflect landmine blasts. Three inverted U-shaped high ‘Roll bars’ were fitted to protect the fighting compartment from being crushed in case the vehicle turned and roll over after a mine detonation.
Protection
The hull was made of ballistic 10mm mild steel plate; front windscreen and side windows had 40mm bullet-proof laminated glass.
Armament
Rhodesian “Crocs” were usually armed with a FN MAG-58 7.62mm Light Machine Gun (LMG), sometimes installed on a locally-produced one-man MG armoured turret to protect the gunner. Vehicles assigned to convoy escorting duties (‘E-type’) had a Browning M1919A4 7.62mm medium machine gun mounted on an open-topped, cylinder-shaped turret (dubbed ‘the dustbin’) whilst those employed on ‘externals’ received a tall, square-shaped and fully enclosed MAG turret mounted on the roof over the commander’s seat. The Zimbabwean vehicles after 1980 sported pintle-mounted Soviet-made 12.7mm and 14.5mm Heavy Machine Guns (HMG) instead.
Combat history
They were employed by the ZNA forces in Mozambique guarding the Mutare-Beira oil pipeline in 1982–1993, and served with Zimbabwe troops in the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Somalia (UNOSOM I) from 1992 to 1994. During that assignment, a few "Crocs" were loaned to the U.S. Marines contingent for convoy escort and security duties in the Mogadishu area.