Outback 6×6 Air Defence

History

'Truck, Air Defence, Light, FFR, Winch, MC2' - the Outback 6x6 built to carry a ground-based air defence detachment of three with either six Rapier or twelve RBS-70 missiles and their fire and target equipment.

Deliveries began in March 1989. Its stated role is to move up to three people including the driver together with six Rapier or twelve RBS-70 missiles and associated equipment; it is not itself a firing platform, and the Rapier vehicles carried a hitch mount beside the number plate for manoeuvring the towed fire unit. REMLR argues the Air Defence Outback is really two vehicles under one name. In its first form the bodywork was deliberately kept close to the general service 6x6 for camouflage reasons - only a valance where the sideboards would sit gave it away - while underneath the tray was entirely different: the RBS-70 version carried twelve sealed, pressurised missile containers across the front of the load area with the rear given over to ancillary equipment, and the Rapier version was fitted out for that system's rounds, optical tracker and fire unit stores. REMLR's own counts are 51 built for Rapier and 17 for RBS-70. Six vehicles were converted to that later standard from Rapier and RBS-70 stock, and others were converted back to plain general service trays, which required replacing the rear bodywork outright. Mechanically the vehicle is standard 6x6 - 3,550 kg unladen, 5.6 tonne GVM and 7.1 tonne GCM, 2,000 kg carrying capacity, a 1,500 kg towed load, two 62-litre tanks and a Thomas T9000M winch.