Hippo APC: Difference between revisions

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{{refbegin|30em}}

*Harold D. Nelson, ”Zimbabwe: A Country Study” (DA PAM 550-171), United States Govt Printing Office, Washington D.C., 2nd edition (January 1, 1983). {{ISBN|978-0160015984}}

*Harold D. Nelson, ”Zimbabwe: A Country Study” (DA PAM 550-171), United States Govt Printing Office, Washington D.C., 2nd edition (January 1, 1983). {{ISBN|978-0160015984}}

*Helmoed-Römer Heitman, ”South African Armed Forces”, Buffalo Publications 1990. {{ISBN|0-620-14878-0}}

*Helmoed-Römer Heitman, ”South African Armed Forces”, Buffalo Publications 1990. {{ISBN|0-620-14878-0}}

*Steve Camp & Helmoed-Römer Heitman, ”Surviving the Ride – A Pictorial History of South African-Manufactured Armoured Vehicles”, 30 Degrees South Publishers, Johannesburg (South Africa) 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-928211-17-4}} – [https://www.30degreessouth.co.za/surviving_the_ride.htm]

*Steve Camp & Helmoed-Römer Heitman, ”Surviving the Ride – A Pictorial History of South African-Manufactured Armoured Vehicles”, 30 Degrees South Publishers, Johannesburg (South Africa) 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-928211-17-4}} – [https://www.30degreessouth.co.za/surviving_the_ride.htm]

*Paul L. Moorcraft & Peter McLaughlin, ”The Rhodesian War: A Military History”, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Barnsley, South Yorkshire 1983 (2008 ed.). {{ISBN|978-1-84415-694-8}}

*Paul L. Moorcraft & Peter McLaughlin, ”The Rhodesian War: A Military History”, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Barnsley, South Yorkshire 1983 (2008 ed.). {{ISBN|978-1-84415-694-8}}

South African armoured personnel carrier

The Hippo is a South African armoured personnel carrier. Specially designed to be mine resistant, it can carry ten infantrymen and a crew of two.^[3] The vehicle’s remote-operated turret mounts dual 7.62mm machine guns, but like other improvised fighting vehicles, it is only lightly protected against ballistic threats.^[3]

An interim solution adopted to deal with the threat of land mines deployed by the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) in northern Ovamboland, the Hippo was simply a blastproof hull fitted to a Bedford RL chassis. Similar to the BTR-152, it offered a staggered troop compartment with seating facing inwards. Vision was restricted to narrow plate glass windows. This layout was universally unpopular and later corrected with the Buffel.^[2] There were firing ports for the occupants and a powered machine gun turret could be braced on the open top, though these were seldom fitted. Passengers and crew debussed from a rear deck.^[2]

The Hippo Mk1-R was based on a M1961 Bedford truck chassis, which was being phased from South African service in 1974.^[1] The Mk1-R was manufactured using mild steel and RB390 armour steel.^[3] Some 150 Mk1-R were ordered and shipped to the South African Police in 1974, another 5 being donated to the South-West African authorities.^[2] Police units left behind several when they withdrew from Rhodesia in 1976; these were retained by Rhodesian Security Forces and later passed on to the Zimbabwe National Army.^[4] In 1978, 120 Hippo Mk1-R conversions of M1970 Bedfords was undertaken for the South African Defence Force, which had assumed responsibility for patrols along the Angolan border and needed a new mine protected vehicle.
The Hippo Mk1-M used ROQ TUFF steel instead of mild steel. The South African Army ordered 402 Mk1-M.^[3]

The Hippo served its purpose for the South African Army but it was heavy, and lacked true off-road capability. A new mine-protected vehicle had been designed in April 1976 although it would be another two years before the Buffel would eventually replace the Hippo as the Army’s premier troop-carrying mine-protected vehicle.^[3]

• Hippo Mk1-R – 1974 model, built on the 1961 Bedford chassis.
• Hippo Mk1-M – 1978 model, built on the 1970 Bedford chassis.

The Hippo made some appearances in television and film productions shot in Zimbabwe and set in the Apartheid era of the 1970s-1980s. In one such production, the British 1987 epic apartheid drama film Cry FreedomZNA Hippos appear on several scenes portraying South African Defence Force (SADF) and South African Police (SAP) armoured vehicles.