Swiss Converting 160 More Piranha Panzerjaegers

Swiss Panzerjaeger(click to view larger) More than 300 Piranha-I 6×6 Panzerjagers (tank hunters) armed with TOW missiles have been in service with the Swiss Army since the beginning of the 1990s. If the design looks familiar, it’s because MOWAG’s Piranha family of vehicles is produced in North America by parent firm General Dynamics Land Systems as the 8×8 LAV-II (USMC) or Stryker/LAV-III. MOWAG GmbH was already conducting a Panzerjaeger re-role program announced in January 2006, turning 40 into protected ambulance vehicles. Deliveries began at the end of 2006. Now the Swiss Ministry of Defence is moving ahead with a second program, another 160 of these vehicles will be converted to protected command vehicles ready for integration with the Swiss Army’s future Communication and Battle Management System (FIS HE). Deliveries will take place between 2008-2010. Readers have looked at the photo we included below for the re-roled vehicles, and wondered at the absence of a raised roof and other features that normally distinguish command variants. DID has talked to MOWAG, and has some answers… Piranha IIIC 8×8 –Brigade C2 vehicle(click to view larger) This second Swiss re-role program is for company and battalion level command and control (C2) vehicles. The re-role […]