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VAL Cashuat - Wheeled APC

The Salvadorean VAL Cashuat (an indian word for horse) wheeled APC is an armored Dodge M37 weapons carrier. To meet requirements for an inexpensive wheeled armored personnel carrier, El Salvador's National Armoury built a prototype Cashauat based on the chassis of the US unarmored M37B1 (4×4) ¾ ton truck.

Initial tests with the mild-steel prototype showed that it lacked ballistic protection. Most ball and AP ammo can go through significant quantities of mild steel [1 Inch of armor steel is ~40 pounds per square foot (~11 square feet per square meter].

El Salvador turned to the US for assistance and the US Army Tank Automotive Command's RDE Center's Design and Manufacturing Technology Directorate became involved. After studying the first prototype in El Salvador in February 1985 it became apparent that the country lacked the facilities to build the required numbers of vehicles.

Tank Automotive Command offered a three-part plan to El Salvador. First, to build the prototype of the APC in its own facilities in Detroit and then take it to El Salvador to be used as a reference model. Second, to pre-cut dual-hardness armor and carry out critical welding on the side panels, side rails and windshield before shipment to El Salvador, with a total of 66 kits to be provided. Third, to train a team of El Salvadoreans in the required welding techniques.

This plan was accepted by El Salvador. Redesign work included changing the driver's compartment doors and rear crew compartment doors from a flush to a surface mount design, modifying the rear fenders and cutting the hood configuration straight across in front of the windscreen. The first prototype was completed in Detroit in March 1985.

Trials in the US showed that the armor could not be penetrated by 5.56 mm ball ammunition fired from a range of 25 m. This was followed by two days of mobility trials during which the prototype was driven over 500 km of varying terrain. In April 1985, the prototype was shipped from Tank Automotive Command for its flight to El Salvador, 74 days after receiving the go-ahead. Before being fitted with the new armored body, the chassis was stripped down, cleaned and reinforced, the suspension was uprated, and new brakes, shock-absorbers and springs were fitted. In May 1986, TACOM shipped the last of 66 kits to El Salvador, which assembled them at the rate of two a week.

By late 2007 some estimated that about 41 of these vehicles remained in service, with 15 of these being weapons carriers and 26 in armoured personnel models.

The Cashuat is an M37B1 (4×4) truck chassis fitted with an armored body to protect the occupants from small arms fire. Dual-hardness armour protects the crew compartment, high-hardness armour protecting less crucial areas. Kevlar is fitted inside the troop compartment and on the outside of the 12.7 mm turret. Belly armor was not fitted.

The layout is conventional with the armor-plated engine compartment at the front, driver and vehicle commander to its immediate rear, and the troop compartment at the very rear of the hull. Both commander and driver have a forward-opening side door with a bulletproof window in the upper part and a firing port underneath. To their front is a bulletproof window with a firing port underneath and armour protection is provided above their position. Provision has been made for installing a radio.

The open-topped troop compartment is at the rear and the troops normally enter and leave via two outward-opening doors in the rear that have a firing port on either side. An additional three firing ports are provided in the upper part of each side of the troop compartment. There are no associated vision devices with this firing port. The tires are filled with a Du Pont component to allow the vehicle to travel up to 90 km with a perforated tire.

There were two versions of this vehicle in service with the El Salvadorean Army. One is the armored personnel carrier, which had a crew of two and carried eight fully equipped troops. The second version is a gun carrier and is fitted with a manually operated armoured one-man turret, to the immediate rear of the commander and gunner, which is mounts a .50 (12.7 mm) M2 HB machine gun and a 7.62 mm M60 machine gun and shield, mounted either side towards the rear.

Some vehicles have also been fitted with wire mesh screens to neutralise RPG-7-type rocket propelled unguided anti-tank projectiles before they contact the main armour of the vehicle. More recently, some of these vehicles were upgraded further by replacing the existing front and rear axles with new axles taken from 2.5 t (US) (6 × 6) Reo trucks. Two .50 (12.7 mm) M2 machine guns were installed on the roof of the vehicle.

Specifications: Property Value