Piranha I
The MOWAG company at one time foresaw the need of the Swiss army and the world arms market for a modular armored vehicle that would have low operating costs, high reliability and availability of production at private enterprises. In 1972, such a machine with a 6 × 6 wheel formula was released - the first of the Mowag Piranha family.
Piranha was developed by the MOWAG design office in the early 1970s. as a universal chassis for various military and special vehicles with a wheel arrangement of 4 × 4, 6 × 6 and 8 × 8, with bulletproof wheels that provide the possibility of accident-free driving on flat / bullet-riddled and other damaging tires. All members of the Piranha family of machines are floating, for which they are equipped with two propellers in the aft part of the hull.
The first representative of the future family was the Piranha 4x4 armored car, which later also received the designation Piranha I. It was a four-wheel drive armored car with a combat weight of about seven tons, designed to carry up to nine people. The protection of the crew of two people, the landing of seven, as well as components and assemblies of the vehicle itself was carried out using an armored hull. The maximum thickness of its plates was 10 millimeters, which provided all-round protection against conventional bullets of 7.62 mm caliber. The front plates of the car, in turn, protected from armor-piercing bullets of the same caliber. The landing and disembarkation of the crew with the landing force was carried out only through double doors in the rear of the vehicle.
The power plant of the very first "Piranha" has undergone several changes. Initially, taking into account export prospects, a gasoline engine with a capacity of up to 200 horsepower was offered. A little later, the look of the promising car changed, and as a result, a six-cylinder Detroit V6 diesel engine with a capacity of 216 hp was installed on the Piranha 4x4. The engine had a water cooling system and was equipped with a turbocharger. The torque was transmitted from the engine to the wheels through a manual gearbox and a transmission manufactured by Chrysler. For movement on water, Swiss engineers provided two propellers at the rear of the machine.
The wheels of the car had a torsion bar (front axle) and a spring (rear) suspension. In addition, hydraulic shock absorbers were provided on all wheels. The power plant and chassis used on the Piranha provided it with excellent driving performance. On the highway, the armored car accelerated to a hundred kilometers per hour. The propellers provided a speed on the water of 9-10 km / h. A 200-liter fuel tank was enough for a march along a highway up to 750 km long.
The armament of the Piranha 4x4 armored car consisted of one 7.62 or 12.7 mm machine gun. The choice of the type of machine gun remained with the customer. Any suitable weaponmounted on a special turret above a small turret on the roof of the car. A characteristic feature of the weapons of the first "Piranha" was the remote control system. Guidance, aiming and fire from a machine gun could be carried out while remaining under the cover of armor. Additional firepower was provided by the paratroopers' personal weapons. To do this, there were four ball mounts of the original design in the sides of the hull. Two more were located in the aft doors. During their development, some features of the armored vehicles of that time were taken into account. In this regard, the Piranha 4x4 became the first European armored car, the loopholes of which made it possible to fire even in the conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The very first "Piranha" became the basis for several machines for various purposes. This is a command and staff armored car with additional communications equipment and related equipment, a communications vehicle, as well as an armored truck. In the latter case, all the differences were in the layout of the troop compartment, which had a smooth floor without any protrusions and easily removable landing seats. However, the presence of modifications had almost no effect on the success of the armored car. All deliveries were limited to 80 vehicles for Argentina (under the name Grenadier), as well as some armored cars for Liberia. In general, the Piranha 4x4 project cannot be called completely successful. When applying a number of original solutions, the armored car did not receive any special advantages over competitors, including cheaper ones.
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