FV103 Spartan
| Weight: | 8,153kg | Length: | 4.89m |
| Height: | 2.26m | Width: | 2,21m |
| Crew: | 6 with driver | Maximum Road Speed: | 85km/h |
The Spartan is based on the FV101 Scorpion Light Reconnaissance Tank chassis.
The FV103 Spartan is the Troop Commander's vehicle of the Amphibious Troop within the Amphibious Squadron.
A total of 4 Spartans within the Amphibious Regiment.
The FV103 Spartan tracked APC was not developed in isolation, but as a part of an armoured combat vehicle family
headed by the FV101 Scorpion Light Reconnaissance Tank armed with a 76-mm gun. There are seven main members in the family,
all produced by Alvis Vehicles, in which the Spartan was intended to be a specialist combat team carrier.
This means that the Spartan is normally operated as an infantry combat section vehicle but is often re-roled as a combat engineer,
battlefield reconnaissance or air defense missile team carrier.
FV103 Spartan demonstrating it's off-road ability
The FV103 Spartan was introduced in 1978 and a total of 967 were built.
Since the British Army has reorganized, many Spartans have become available from their former employment so are
now widely issued as general purpose liaison and patrol vehicles. The chassis and suspension of the Spartan
are shared with all other members of the Scorpion family, as is the Jaguar petrol engine. The Jaguar 4.2-litre petrol
engine was a standard car engine, however it's power was down-rated from 265 bhp to 195 bhp for a longer service life,
(later replaced with Cummins diesel providing 195bhp). On the Spartan the aluminum hull is enlarged to a box configuration
to accommodate the driver, team commander/radio operator and the vehicle commander who also operates the 7.62mm MG
mounted over his cupola, the MG can also be aimed and fired from within the vehicle.
The troop compartment at the rear, seats four personnel with space for their specialized and personal equipment,
however the seating is removed and map tables and communication systems are added for the Command and Control variant.
More equipment can be stowed externally in racks or boxes. Some Spartans have provision for mounting a battlefield
surveillance radar on the hull roof while others have internal racking for air defense missiles.
At one time British Infantry had tank destroyer Spartans with MILAN ATGW launcher turrets on their roof
but these have now been withdrawn.
FV103 Spartan
Another variant was known as the Streaker (mainly due to it's high speed potential although all members of the Scorpion family are agile and fast). The Streaker was a Spartan chassis with an open flat bead rear to act as a front line stores transporter or mine dispensing equipment carrier, however it did not pass the prototype stage.
FV103 Spartan
