"Africa is a tough country!" is in fact true and not only a saying..... The harsh environment, climate extremes, difficult terrain and vast long distances let, to a range of highly sophisticated products - developed for the South African Defence Forces. The arms embargo against South Africa (SA), from 1977 until 1994, forced SA to set up its own defence industry. Ironically, the embargo had the opposite effect, with the local SA defence industry developing world class products that are regarded as the best in their class. This is due to the vast combat experiences of the Bush War and the high ingenuity of our defence industry.

One such a world class product is the ROOIKAT.

(Rooikat is the Afrikaans name for Caracal, but the armoured car is known as "Rooikat").

Operations in the Bush War set forward a requirement for a new type of Armoured Car to replace the Eland 90, then in service. More accurate fire power and greater combat range were the main criteria.

First to appear was the Rooikat 76 Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV), with a 76 mm gun. This was developed by Reemit for the South African Defence Force (SADF - now SANDF, SA National Defence Force). It entered service in 1980, but did not see combat in Angola. Some of the test vehicles for this project can today be see at the Armour Museum in Bloemfontein. At the time, the role of AFVs was re-examined world wide, with the advent of a new generation of fast, highly mobile wheeled AFVs.

The original Armoured Car concept became obsolete in the new high mobility warfare. South Africa already recognised the advantages of high mobility with the RATEL, and the ROOIKAT was the next step in a dedicated AFV. Designed for Deep Reconnaissance and Raiding operations, emphasis was placed on high mobility and endurance, even down to the 76mm main gun instead of the more usual 105mm (permitted more rounds to be carried). High mobility was the reason a wheeled system is used and not tracks. The pro's and con's of wheels versus tracks is beyond the scope of this article.

Advances in automotive technology, weaponry, fire-control systems and cost effectiveness let to these vehicles obtain a status of a fully fledged combat vehicle. Indeed, a force to be reckoned with on any current or future battlefield. Although only 76mm, these rounds feature the latest high velocity, armour-piercing fin stabilized, discarding sabot technology todestroy most modern tanks with a extremely high first round kill probability. The main difference between the Rooikat 76 and the Rooikat 105 is the main gun. Although the 105 is fitted with a re-designed turret the capabilities and equipment are fairly similar. These are listed more in detail under the next section.