Olifant Tank, South African Defense Force
Olifant Tank, South African Defense Force
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The Olifant Tank was developed by the Olifant Manufacturing Company which was based in South-Africa, and was basically a modified British Centurion tank. Development of the Olifant tank was started in 1976, and production started in 1983. Olifant is the Afrikaans word for Elephant, which I think is a good name for an unstoppable tank.
The tank is fitted with a 105mm gun, fitted with a thermal sleeve for sustained accuracy. The tank carries 68 rounds of ammunition, and is also fitted with two 7.62 mm machine guns, of which one is an anti aircraft gun. The tank is also equipped with a laser range finder as well as night vision. The tank can also emit a smoke screen to hide in - nice. The tank also protects the crew against landmines by a double armored floor.
The tank has a 900 horse power V12 air-cooled diesel engine, which powers the tank to a top speed of 58 km/h and a range of 350 km. The tank can wade through 1.5 m deep water and can go up a gradient of 60 degrees - Impressive.
Below is a photo of the upgraded MK1B Olifant Tank
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The video below is a rather long video comparing the American M1A2 Abrams SEP versus the South African Olifant Mk.1B tank! It however gives some interesting stats on both tanks.
Follow the links to read more about the Olifant Tank1, Olifant Tank2
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
Are you from South Africa?
Yes @bigram13, I stay in Pretoria, South Africa, from where are you?
Sweet, I am in Phoenix, Arizona. I want to head down and check it out down there. Hows the weather.
You are welcome. We have great weather, it is now in the middle of winter and mostly the minimum is around 6 degrees Celsius, with a maximum around 20 degrees. It seldom goes below zero. In summer it can get to around 36 degrees, with some places even higher.
Amazing tank ;) Great post my friend ;)
Thank you very much @margaretwise
You are so welcome my friend ;)))
Wow man!!! I have heard about this company .they are doing a great job to increase the power of defense
Thank you for your nice reply
That will rip everything apart :D
Yes it will, thanks for the comment.
I think I just found my new ride ;)
That is a crazy tank, out of the way!
Thanks for your comment
Pretty neat :) I liked the comparison video.
Thank you very much, the comparison is interesting.
I didn't know South Africa was that advanced in military technology, but they seem to be doing a great job...!
They also made a helicopter called the Rooivalk Helicopter, which is comparable to the best in the world, which you can google, I might make a post on it sometime.
WOW! Insane stuff.
900HP, v12, sounds like a tuned Lamborghini Aventador in a different shell :P
It does, I just think we will suffer to fit it into the Lamborghini, LOL.
the tank is very powerful
Thank you for the reply
@rynow,
It seems to be a powerful weapon coz it has 105mm artillery power. That would be an amazing power for a tank. Thanks for sharing those valuable information, coz I have never heard about this tank before! Really appreciate your effort!
Cheers~
Thank you very much @theguruasia, South Africa had quite a bit of advanced and high quality weapon systems made in small numbers, when compared to the large manufacturing companies.
Very nice post i like army force
Thank you for the nice reply