The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), abbreviated CVR(T), is a family of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) developed in the 1960s and is in service with the British Army and others throughout the world. They are small, highly mobile, air-transportable armoured vehicles, originally designed to replace the Alvis Saladin armoured car.
The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle, and also a light tank. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and was withdrawn in 1994. More than 3,000 were produced and used as a reconnaissance vehicle or a light tank.
The FV107 Scimitar is an armoured tracked military reconnaissance vehicle formerly used by the British Army, until it was retired from active service in April 2023. It was manufactured by Alvis in Coventry. It is very similar to the FV101 Scorpion, but mounts a high-velocity 30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon instead of a 76 mm gun. It was issued to Royal Armoured Corps armoured regiments in the reconnaissance role. Each regiment originally had a close reconnaissance squadron of five troops, each containing eight FV107 Scimitars. Each Main Battle Tank Regiment also employed eight Scimitars in the close reconnaissance role.
Sabre is a variation of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), featuring the turret from a wheeled Fox Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle mounted on the hull of a tracked FV101 Scorpion.
The Panhard ERC is a French six-wheeled armoured car which is highly mobile and amphibious with an option of being NBC-proof. While various models were tested, only two versions of the ERC entered production in large numbers: the ERC-90 Lynx and the ERC-90 Sagaie. The main difference between the two versions is the type of turret and 90 mm gun fitted. Sagaie is French for assegai, a type of African spear.
The Panhard AML is an armoured car with reconnaissance capability. Designed on a lightly armoured 4×4 chassis, it weighs an estimated 5.5 tonnes, and is thus suitable for airborne deployment. Since 1959, AMLs have been marketed on up to five continents; several variants remained in continuous production for half a century. These have been operated by fifty-four national governments and other entities worldwide, seeing regular combat.
The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler. It was widely used by regiments in the British Army, as well as the RAF Regiment and Commonwealth countries throughout the period.
The Formation Reconnaissance Regiment is a fighting unit provided by the Royal Armoured Corps or Household Cavalry. Previously it was known as a Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment.
The FV721 Fox Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled) (CVR(W)) was a 4 × 4 armoured car manufactured by ROF Leeds, deployed by the British Army as a replacement for the Ferret scout car and the Saladin armoured car. The Fox was introduced into service with B Squadron, 1st Royal Tank Regiment (Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth) in 1975 and withdrawn from service 1993–94.
The L21A1 RARDEN is a British 30 mm autocannon used as a combat vehicle weapon. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) and the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), were part of the Ministry of Defence, at the time.
A scout car is a light wheeled armored military vehicle, purpose-built and used for passive reconnaissance. Scout cars are either unarmed or lightly armed for self-defense, and do not carry large caliber weapons systems. This differentiates them from other reconnaissance vehicles and wheeled armoured fighting vehicles that may fulfill a similar mission but also possess much heavier armament. Scout cars are designed for carrying out observation and remaining undetected, while avoiding contact with the enemy. Armies which adopted the concept were likelier to place an emphasis on reconnaissance by stealth, unlike others which preferred more heavily armoured reconnaissance vehicles, designed to fight to obtain information if necessary.
The Rhodesian Armoured Corps, nicknamed the "Black Devils" — was the only standing armoured battalion of the Rhodesian Security Forces. During World War II, it took part in the Allied Spring 1945 offensive and the Battle of Monte Cassino as part of South Africa's 6th Armoured Division. The unit was among the first to enter a liberated Florence in July 1944. Prior to 1963, its crews were trained in the United Kingdom or Aden Colony and were known as the "Selous Scouts" under the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, maintaining the armoured vehicle fleet became a responsibility of the Rhodesian Light Infantry until Major Bruce Rooken-Smith reactivated the former Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment in 1972. During the Rhodesian Bush War, the regiment fought in several major campaigns and battles, particularly Operation Miracle in September 1979. It was superseded by the new Zimbabwe Armoured Corps between 1980 and 1981.
Armoured reconnaissance is the combination of terrestrial reconnaissance with armoured warfare by soldiers using tanks and wheeled or tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles. While the mission of reconnaissance is to gather intelligence about the enemy with the use of reconnaissance vehicles, armoured reconnaissance adds the ability to fight for information, and to have an effect on and to shape the enemy through the performance of traditional armoured tasks.
The Type 96 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier is an armoured vehicle that entered service with Japan in 1996. This vehicle complements the existing fleet of tracked Type 73 Armored Personnel Carriers already in service.
The Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle (AERV) is an Indian military engineering vehicle developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in coordination with C-TEC, as per General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) of the Indian Army for enabling the combat engineers to conduct recce operations.
Throughout its history, the Irish Army has used a number of armoured fighting vehicles.
A reconnaissance vehicle, also known as a scout vehicle, is a military vehicle used for forward reconnaissance. Both tracked and wheeled reconnaissance vehicles are in service. In some nations, light tanks such as the M551 Sheridan and AMX-13 have also been used by scout platoons. Their armament ranges from a medium machine gun to a large cannon. Modern examples are often fitted with ATGMs and a wide range of sensors.
The Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army from 1956 to 1971. Its lineage is maintained by the Yorkshire Yeomanry Squadron, the Queen's Own Yeomanry.
The LAV 6, sometimes written as LAV 6.0 or LAV VI, is the fourth generation of LAV, and is based on the LAV III. The first vehicles were delivered in 2013 and after testing entered service in 2016. The Canadian Army plans to replace its entire LAV fleet of various LAV II and LAV III variants with the LAV 6. The vehicle is being acquired in two main variants: a fighting vehicle equipped with the 25mm cannon seen on the LAV II and LAV III, and a support variant labelled the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV).
