The British company Supacat has completed the development of a set of conversion of Jackal 1 diesel armored vehicles into hybrid ones without loss of driving characteristics. According to Jane's, the company also prepared the first such armored vehicle for the installation of the kit and testing. All work was completed in mid-December last year, but the company announced this only now.
Armored vehicles of the Jackal family, including the Jackal 1, were developed in the first half of the 2000s and entered service in the UK in 2008. Currently, the British military has 600 such machines. Armored vehicles are designed for conducting combat reconnaissance, assault operations, fire support and convoy escort.
The weight of the Jackal 1 is 6.7 tons with a length of 5.4 meters, a width of 2 meters and a height of 1.9 meters. The crew of the car consists of five people. The Jackal 1 is armed with a 7.62 mm machine gun. The armored car is equipped with a six-cylinder Cummins diesel engine with a volume of 5.9 liters and a capacity of 185 horsepower, as well as a five-speed Allison 2500 automatic transmission and a two-speed transfer case.
The armored vehicle is able to reach speeds on the highway up to 120 kilometers per hour, and its range of fuel is 800 kilometers.
The Jackal 1 conversion project with a 4×4 wheel formula involves replacing the engine with a diesel four-cylinder engine. It will run a generator that charges the batteries. The latter are placed in an armored compartment in the aft part of the armored vehicle. The batteries and the generator are responsible for powering the four motor wheels. Technical details about the conversion kit are not disclosed.
It is expected that the installation of the hybrid kit on the Jackal 1 armored vehicle will be completed in the near future, and before the end of the first quarter of 2021, the car will begin testing. The tests will be conducted at the Millbrook test site. Later, Supacat also intends to conduct demonstration tests of the optional Jackal 1 hybrid armored vehicle. Such a car will be able to drive without a driver in the cab.
Earlier it became known that the British company BAE Systems will modernize the American tracked combat vehicles Bradley. The company must equip combat vehicles with hybrid propulsion systems with electric drive wheels. It is assumed that this improvement will make the Bradley more maneuverable, lighter and more economical.
Vasily Sychev