Trojan | |
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![]() A Trojan AEV in Afghanistan during 2010 | |
Type | Combat engineering vehicle |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 2007–present |
Used by | Royal Engineers |
Wars | Operation Moshtarak, Afghanistan (since 2010) |
Production history | |
Designed | 2000s |
Manufacturer | BAE Systems Land Systems |
Unit cost | ~£4,217,000 ~$6,694,400 ~€5,338,860 [1] |
Produced | 2004– |
No. built | 33 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 62.5 tonnes (61.5 long tons; 68.9 short tons) |
Length | 8.3 m (27 ft 3 in) 11.50 m (37 ft 9 in) |
Width | 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) [lower-alpha 1] |
Height | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Crew | 3 (commander, operator, driver) |
Armour | Chobham/Dorchester Level 2 (classified), |
Main armament | 7.62 mm L94A1 (remote controlled) |
Engine | Perkins CV12-8A Diesel 1,200 hp (890 kW) |
Power/weight | 19.2 hp/t (14.2 kW/t) |
Transmission | David Brown TN54ETS epicyclic transmission (6 fwd, 2 rev.) |
Suspension | Hydropneumatic |
Operational range | 450 km (280 mi) |
Maximum speed | 59 km/h (37 mph) 40 km/h (25 mph) off road |
The Trojan Armoured Engineer Vehicle (AEV) is a combat engineering vehicle of the British Army. It is used to breach minefields and for many other tasks. It is currently in use with the Royal Engineers.
The Trojan Armoured Engineer Vehicle is based on a Challenger 2 tank chassis, but lacks the main armament. In place of the turret, it has a large hydraulic excavator arm, which can be used to excavate areas, move obstacles, and deposit the fascine that the Trojan carries at its rear. The Trojan is usually also fitted with a plough on the front, which enables it to clear mines, either detonating them on contact, or pushing them out of the way to clear a safe channel for following vehicles.
For self-defence only, it carries a 7.62mm machine gun.
For rapid mine-clearing purposes, the Trojan can also tow a trailer carrying the Python, a rocket-propelled hose similar to the Giant Viper. This allows for a much quicker way of clearing a path for ground forces. The hose, packed with explosive, is launched across a minefield, and detonates after it hits the ground, clearing a 7-metre wide path for 230 metres.
The vehicles were built at BAE Systems Land Systems plant in Newcastle upon Tyne. The contract was awarded in 2001 to Vickers Defence Systems, who were bought by BAE Systems in 2004. The project was known as the Future Engineer Tank. 33 have been built.
It was first used on exercise in May 2007 with the 1st Battalion (Mechanised) of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.
A number of Trojans are permanently based in Canada at British Army Training Unit Suffield in order to allow the Royal Engineers to support Armoured Battle Groups on major exercises.
Trojans were first deployed operationally by the British Army to Afghanistan in 2009 engaging in their first advance under contact in 2010. [2] During Operation Moshtarak 28 Engineer Regiment operated the Trojan attempting to use its traditional mine clearance equipment in the Counter-IED role in support of a major British Army advance. [3]
Its companion vehicle, developed at the same time, is another variant of the Challenger 2, the Titan armoured bridge layer, of which 33 have also been built.
A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment or purpose-built military vehicles. The first appearance of such vehicles coincided with the appearance of the first tanks, these vehicles were modified Mark V tanks for bridging and mine clearance. Modern military engineering vehicles are expected to fulfill numerous roles, as such they undertake numerous forms, examples of roles include; bulldozers, cranes, graders, excavators, dump trucks, breaching vehicles, bridging vehicles, military ferries, amphibious crossing vehicles, and combat engineer section carriers.
The FV4034 Challenger 2 is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine.
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A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II.
The Giant Viper was a trailer-mounted, vehicle-pulled, mine clearance system, designed to be deployed in areas containing land mines. It was developed for the British Army in the 1950s. It was designed to be towed behind a Centurion gun tank, FV4003, AVRE ; and also the FV432 Armoured personnel carrier.
Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE), also known as Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers is the title given to a series of armoured military engineering vehicles operated by the Royal Engineers (RE) for the purpose of protecting engineers during frontline battlefield operations.
The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers was a specialised armoured formation of the British Army active in the Second World War. It was formed in mid-1943 and its structure was three assault regiments of the Royal Engineers. It was assigned to the 79th Armoured Division in preparation for the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944. The unit comprised armoured vehicles modified for specialist roles, intended to assist with the landing phase of the operation.
A mine-clearing line charge is a device used to create a breach in minefields under combat conditions. While there are many types, the basic design is for many explosive charges connected on a line to be projected onto the minefield and then exploded, detonating any buried mines, thus clearing a path for troops to cross.
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The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) is a U.S. military mine- and explosives-clearing vehicle, based on the M1 Abrams chassis, equipped with a mine plow and line charges. Its first large scale use by the US Marines was in the joint ISAF-Afghan Operation Moshtarak in Southern Afghanistan during the War in Afghanistan in 2010 against the Taliban insurgency.