Fox Armored Personnel Carrier
Transportpanzer 1 Fuchs

The Fuchs TPz-1 [transport tank 1] wheeled (6x6) APC, created by Thyssen-Henschel, was adopted in 1979. Around 1,000 of them were delivered to the Bundeswehr. The bulk of them are special-purpose vehicles (command and staff, transport, radiation and chemical reconnaissance, engineer, with the Rasit radar, and with EW equipment). The design of this APC uses some elements of series-produced military vehicles. The armor of the welded hull provides protection against bullets and fragments. A driving compartment accommodating a driver and commander is in its front, behind it is the engine-transmission compartment, and further on the assault compartment (ten fully equipped infantrymen). The APC is armed with a 7.62-mm machinegun. Smokegrenade launchers are mounted along the sides of the hull.

The all-welded steel hull of the FUCHS protects the crew from small arms fire and shell splinters and spall.The hull has a rhomboid cross section and incorporates spaced armor in critical areas. The driver sits at the front of the hull on the left and the vehicle commander on his right. A large bullet-proof windscreen to their front can be covered by an armored shutter hinged at the top. There are four periscopes fitted to the driver's roof hatch and the center one can be replaced by a passive periscope for night operations.

The engine compartment is located behind the driver and contains an eight-cylinder Mercedes-Benz OM 402A exhaust turbo-charged, liquid cooled, diesel developing 320 hp at 2500 rpm. The transmission is a ZF model HP 500 6-speed automatic. The Fuchs TPz-l crosses water obstacles without preliminary preparation. Movement and control afloat is accomplished by screw propellers located in recesses in the vehicle stern. The transporter is fully amphibious being propelled by two four-blade propellers beneath the floor level of the vehicle at the rear of the hull. The propellers can be traversed through 360 degrees to provide steering. Nominal amphibious payload is 4410 pounds.

There is an air filtration and ventilation system. The vehicle has a NBC over-pressure system, which can ventilate both the crew and personnel compartments. One export variant of this vehicle does have the ability to air condition the crew and driver compartment. The vehicle can mount a 7.62mm over the commanders hatch ring or a 20mm Rheinmetall cannon over the first circular roof hatch of the crew compartment. The cargo compartment has up to 19.6 square feet protection system, heaters, batteries and radio equipment are fitted on top of the wheel housing to save space.

The Fox is a wheeled armored, all-terrain vehicle (6 x 6), which was originally conceived as a pure transport vehicle. Today, it is used with different conversion rate variations with numerous branches. As the Hummel the Fox is used as an electronic warfare and reconnaissance vehicle. The communication of the opponent can be detected eavesdropping and also disturbed. In the front message troupe is also used of the Bumblebee. The Fox radar Armored Personnel Carrier with the CASS radar system can track persons up to 6 km and large vehicles within a radius up to 20 km. Each armored reconnaissance company has these type vehicles.

The Fox can be found in the NBC-Abwehrtruppe in a special version. There it is used not only as a command vehicle. In the vehicle are various accessories for analysis of nuclear and chemical weapons, as well as industrial hazardous substances and to determine local weather. The main application device is the mobile mass sprectrometer in connection with the so-called C detection probe, which ends at the characteristic "ABC-heck". It carries four soldiers (Commander, driver, Spürer 1 and Spürer 2) occupied vehicle for the investigation of radioactive contamination. Because above all local weather is critical influencing factor in the spread of contamination, the Fox can determine as well local weather data.