When the Marder was born in 1971, the Bundeswehr was still flying the Starfighter F-104 and the Leopard 1 served as the standard tank 2030 last. Then the last martens should be replaced by the puma.
Cold War development
When it was put into operation, the marten replaced the hapless HS-30. This model of the Bundeswehr was blessed with countless shortcomings and the procurement was probably only owed to extensive bribe payments that led to the HS-30 scandal. The Marder is designed as an armored personnel carrier, which means that it is supposed to bring a group of infantrymen into battle. Due to its speed, the infantrymen should be able to follow the battle tanks. The armor provides a certain protection, a machine gun fire support.
The concept wasn’t new. The grenadiers followed the tanks in this way as early as the Second World War. But the vehicle itself was far more powerful than the armored personnel carriers of the Second World War, such as the Sd.Kfz, which were open at the top and were insufficiently protected. 250. In addition, the Marder was a significant further development compared to the American M 113 with its steeply rising walls.
Over 2000 pieces in service
The marten relies on angled armor, the engine is housed at the front to protect the occupants. The grenadiers leave the vehicle through the rear gates. With 600 HP at 35 tons combat weight, it is also well motorized. The armored personnel carrier is armed with a 20-millimeter cannon. The cannon could not pose a threat to other main battle tanks, however. The armament was quickly expanded to include anti-tank guided weapons of the Milan type. As in the Second World War, variants for mortars and for tank hunting were developed on the basis of the basic vehicle.
At the height of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr owned over 2,000 units of the armored personnel carrier. Unlike the Leopard battle tanks, however, the Marder was not well received internationally, as it was only exported in insignificant quantities as a new vehicle.
Later combat use
Like most Cold War weapon systems, the marten never saw the use for which it was built. As is known, the mobile combat of large tank formations did not take place. Up to 15 armored personnel carriers were used in parallel in Afghanistan. The experiences were rather mixed. In 2011 a marten near Kunduz was shot at with a simple RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) and caught fire. In June of the same year, an explosive charge of around 100 kilograms of explosives completely destroyed a marten.
The marten was still popular with the crews, because alternative vehicles would not have offered better protection. The automatic cannon provided massive fire support and a sense of security. For the patrol trips in Afghanistan, the marten was converted into a “moving fortress” so that the grenadiers did not have to sit inside the vehicle, but could watch the surroundings from positions on the roof and fire them up. The operating conditions in Afghanistan, however, were special. The insurgents there only had the old-fashioned RPGs and not modern anti-tank missiles like the insurgents in Syria. Not to mention heavy weapon systems.
Shortly before retirement
Despite several modernizations – combat value increases – the great days of the army’s workhorse are over. Even adjustments to the protection and electronics cannot compensate for the outdated concept. As a rule, an unmanned and automated turret is used in today’s armored personnel carriers. Since there are no people in the exposed tower, the survivability of the crew increases. In addition, it is easier to develop different towers for a base. However, the marten is no longer intended for the future project of the army of “Division 2027”. The extensive networking of the units on the battlefield takes place without him, even if the Marder will remain in service until 2030. The Marten’s successor is the Puma infantry fighting vehicle.
Source From: Stern
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