On track: while wheeled vehicles offer more practicality in terms of deployment and running costs, although their tracked counterparts appear to be no more expensive to build and, for any given overall width, tend to yield more internal space.

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On track: while wheeled vehicles offer more practicality in terms of deployment and running costs, although their tracked counterparts appear to be no more expensive to build and, for any given overall width, tend to yield more internal space.

In spite of the extraordinary proliferation of wheeled vehicles on the battlefield during the past decade--both in terms of market share and physical size--there still exists considerable room for tracked vehicles. As mentioned in the introduction paragraph above, they offer better internal width due to the fact that no clearance is needed for the steered wheels (although wheeled vehicles now tend to be equipped with differential steering a la track to reduce the problem). Tracked vehicles also better lend themselves to hybrid propulsion and the installation of heavier turrets--at least for the time being.

Wiesel 2 Treading Lightly

The Rheinmetall Wiesel 2 remains the lightest tracked armoured vehicle in service with a combat weight of only 4.1 tonnes. In 2004 the company received a 31 million [euro] contract to supply the German Army with 32 Wiesel 2 Mobile Command Post vehicles with an option for a further 16. Deliveries will be spread over a two-year period from mid-2005. The digitised command posts will be used by the army's Division of Special Operations. This is the sixth version of the Wiesel 2 to be ordered by the Bundeswehr since 1996.

The Wiesel 2 builds on the success of the Wiesel 1, of which 345 were delivered from 1989 to 1992. Rheinmetall co...

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