Warrior

   The tracked IFV known to the British Army as the Warrior was originally known as MCV-80. It was intended to replace the old FV432 armored personnel carrier. This vehicle was developed via a series of pre-production prototypes from 1980 onwards, with production by GKN Defence commencing during 1986.

   The Warrior has been in British Army service since 1988, seeing combat in the Gulf in 1991 and during Iraq war. Production of this armored vehicle ceased in 1995. The original order was for over 1 000 units but Army reorganizations reduced that to 789 of all types sufficient to equip seven Mechanized Infantry battalions. The British Army plans to operate these armored fighting vehicles until 2035.

   The base model is the Warrior Section Vehicle armed with a 30-mm Rarden cannon and a 7.62-mm machine gun in a two-man turret. The main gun is capable of destroying enemy armored personnel carriers at ranges of up to 1 500 m.

   The Warrior IFV has an all-welded aluminum armor hull. This armored fighting vehicle is fitted with NBC protection system. During military conflicts vehicles were provided with extra passive armor panels but these are not normally carried during peacetime operations.

   The seven troops carried enter through a door in the hull rear. Once they are inside there are sufficient combat supplies carried to maintain them in action for at least 48 hours.

   The British Army also operates a Warrior Mechanized Artillery Observation Vehicle (MAOV) on which the only turret armament is a 7.62-mm machine gun and a dummy cannon barrel. There are two repair and recovery vehicles, the Warrior Mechanized Recovery Vehicle (Repair) (MCV(R)) and Mechanized Combat Repair Vehicle (MCVR), both armed with a single 7.62-mm machine gun and equipped for their roles with winches, cranes and other equipment.

   A Warrior Command Vehicle is produced in four sub-variants (one for the artillery), all outwardly identical to the Section Vehicle.

   Warriors may be fitted with dozer blades or light mine-clearing ploughs and an ATGW Warrior carrying MILAN or (eventually) TRIGAT entered service during the last decade.

   Several trial armament installations have been tested on Warrior including one with a 90-mm gun turret.

   A special hot weather version known as the Desert Warrior, or Fahris, has been ordered by Kuwait - this model has a 25-mm cannon main armament. A total of 254 Desert Warrior IFVs were built.

   British vehicles have seen frequent use and are undergoing an upgrade programme. It includes new armor, new turret and 40-mm cannon. Over 600 of these IFVs will be upgraded to keep them in service. Remaining Warriors will be converted to armored recovery vehicles.