56 mm armoured glass windows, double-skin cab floor
Engine
turbo charged New Holland diesel engine 160 hp
Transmission
4-speed synchromesh; 4 gears, 16-speed
The Aardvark AMCS Mk4 is a British-made mine flail vehicle built by Aardvark Clear Mine Ltd of Dumfries, Scotland.
The AMCS flail system was developed in Aberdeenshire by David Macwatt of Elgin, Scotland and George Sellar & Son of Huntly (system designers were James (Barney) Hepburn, Pat McRobbie and Alistair Birnie) with the cooperation of Ford Motor Co, Basildon. George Sellar & Son owned a number of patents concerning the rotor and chain design and electronic depth contouring system and manufactured the flail assembly. The armoured vehicle was manufactured by Glover & Webb of Southampton until their acquisition by GKN who continued to armour vehicles for a period before Penman Engineering were given the contract.
Aardvark Clear Mine Ltd was acquired in 2016 from Penman Engineering Ltd of Dumfries, and is now owned by its shareholders.
Aardvark's global business is managed from the UK with operational and training facilities in Dumfries in the Scottish Borders and Insch in Aberdeenshire. The company also has offices in Washington, D.C. and in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Aardvark clearance machines have been used by the military, the UN, NGOs, and other charitable organisations for humanitarian mine clearance operations in Europe, Africa and in the Middle and Far East. Aardvarks have also been chosen by the British and American forces for landmine clearance in Afghanistan[1] and Iraq.[2]
Design
The vehicle consists of an armoured cab with a front-mounted flail system. The system has 72 chains with 66 striker tips.
Armour: 56 mm armoured glass windows, double-skin cab floor
Crew: two - one operator, one crew member
Powertrain: 160 hp six-cylinder turbo charged New Holland diesel engine
Transmission: four-speed synchromesh; four gears, 16-speed
Flail system: 72 chains, 66 tips
Users
An Aardvark captured in Syria and exhibited in Russia[3]
