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I disagree with this. Anything that the RSA could have developed that was less sophisticated than the Rooikat would not be much more capable than the Ratel 90. They would have had to use off the shelf weaponry so fire power and fire control would be the same as the Ratel 90. The hull and running gear could have been optimised for the armoured car mission but would this have provided much of an improvement over the Ratel? The only other off the shelf gun alternative to the 90mm F1 was recycled 17 Pounders (from Fireflies) or 77mm guns (from Comets). There were only a handful of 77mm guns (20-30) on hand and the 17 Pounders would need a new development recoil system to be manageable in an armoured car (and the recoil system in the Ratel 90 was the significant failure point in combat for that system). Also the stock of 17 Pounders would require a lot of work to bring to operational standard because they had been in unmaintained storage for so long. The Rooikat on the other hand was only made redundant by the change in strategic requirements brought about by unforeseeable political changes. Back in the 1970s, early 1980s, it was unreasonable to expect a prediction at the arms development level that both the Soviet Union and Apartheid would collapse by the 1990s. It was however reasonable to expect that if the SADF defeated the Owambo insurgency in the 1980s (which they did) they could face new Soviet and Cuban reinforcement of the Owambo and even ANC in the 1990s. Which could include the next generation of Soviet weapons, like T-72 tanks, on the ground. Since "N boer maak 'n plan" the SADF/ARMSCOR had the next generation of weapons in development to face these threats. Including the Rooikat armoured car and the RSA version of the Leopard 2 tank called the TTD (so a Leopard can change its spots). The Rooikat, Rooivalk and ZT3 were available for service (with the Luiperd hot on their tails) at the time when the SADF could have faced a more potent tank threat in southern Africa. And if they had been required they would have made a real mess of any attacking tank force using T-72s.
I disagree with this. Anything that the RSA could have developed that was less sophisticated than the Rooikat would not be much more capable than the Ratel 90. They would have had to use off the shelf weaponry so fire power and fire control would be the same as the Ratel 90. The hull and running gear could have been optimised for the armoured car mission but would this have provided much of an improvement over the Ratel? The only other off the shelf gun alternative to the 90mm F1 was recycled 17 Pounders (from Fireflies) or 77mm guns (from Comets). There were only a handful of 77mm guns (20-30) on hand and the 17 Pounders would need a new development recoil system to be manageable in an armoured car (and the recoil system in the Ratel 90 was the significant failure point in combat for that system). Also the stock of 17 Pounders would require a lot of work to bring to operational standard because they had been in unmaintained storage for so long.
The Rooikat on the other hand was only made redundant by the change in strategic requirements brought about by unforeseeable political changes. Back in the 1970s, early 1980s, it was unreasonable to expect a prediction at the arms development level that both the Soviet Union and Apartheid would collapse by the 1990s. It was however reasonable to expect that if the SADF defeated the Owambo insurgency in the 1980s (which they did) they could face new Soviet and Cuban reinforcement of the Owambo and even ANC in the 1990s. Which could include the next generation of Soviet weapons, like T-72 tanks, on the ground.
Since "N boer maak 'n plan" the SADF/ARMSCOR had the next generation of weapons in development to face these threats. Including the Rooikat armoured car and the RSA version of the Leopard 2 tank called the TTD (so a Leopard can change its spots). The Rooikat, Rooivalk and ZT3 were available for service (with the Luiperd hot on their tails) at the time when the SADF could have faced a more potent tank threat in southern Africa. And if they had been required they would have made a real mess of any attacking tank force using T-72s.