Bullet TCV
The Bullet Troop-Carrying Vehicle is a light 4x4 armoured car demonstrator developed by Rhodesia in the late 1970s based on the body of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog light truck.
History
At the late 1970s when the Rhodesian Bush War was entering its final phase, the Rhodesian Security Forces were faced with an escalation towards conventional warfare when they learned that a mechanised built-up was being undertaken by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army guerrilla organisation based in neighbouring Zambia with material assistance from the Soviet Union. Eventually, by mid-1979 ZIPRA had brought to strength a fairly sizeable armoured corps trained by Cuban advisers, which aligned five BRDM-2 reconnaissance armoured cars, six to ten T-34/85 tanks and fifteen BTR-152 wheeled APCs.To deal with the potential threat of a possible conventional ground invasion from across the border, the Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment was reorganized in 1978, being expanded to corps strength to include additional tank and mechanized infantry squadrons. It soon became clear however, that the latter had to be provided with fast, more mobile troop-carrying vehicles designed for conventional armoured warfare. The heavier locally tailored TCVs – conceived primarily for the counterinsurgency role – already in service with the Rhodesian SF were found to be not entirely suitable for the task so a lighter alternative was sought.
Development
The Bullet was originally developed by the Rhodesian private firm Zambesi Coachworks Ltd of Salisbury to meet a requirement put by the Rhodesian Army for a low-cost mine-protected IFV mounted on a Unimog chassis capable of carrying 10 men.The first prototype was completed in late 1978.