Marder (infantry fighting vehicle)

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Schützenpanzer Marder 1
A Marder 1 in 2012.
Type	Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	West Germany
Service history
In service	1971–present
Used by	Bundeswehr
Wars	Kosovo War Prizren incident (1999) War in Afghanistan Russo-Ukrainian war
Production history
Designer	Rheinmetall Landsysteme
Designed	1959–1969
Manufacturer	Rheinmetall Landsysteme Maschinenbau Kiel
Unit cost	$390,000 (1975)
Produced	1969–1975
No. built	2,137 (incl. Marder 2 prototype)
Specifications (Marder 1)
Mass	28.5 t (31.4 short tons) Marder 1A1/A2 33.5 t (36.9 short tons) Marder 1A3 37.4 t (41.2 short tons) Marder 1A5
Length	6.79 m (22 ft 3 in)
Width	3.24 m (10 ft 8 in)
Height	2.98 m (9 ft 9 in)
Crew	3 crew + 6 passengers (prior to MILAN: 3+7)
Armor	Welded steel, protection up to 20 mm APDS DM43 from 0 m and 25 mm APDS from 200 m (220 yd)
Main armament	20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh 202 automatic cannon 1,250 rounds MILAN ATGM launcher
Secondary armament	7.62 mm MG3 machine gun 5,000 rounds
Engine	MTU MB 833 Ea-500 diesel engine 441 kW (591 hp)
Power/weight	15.7 kW/t (21.1 hp/t)
Transmission	RENK HSWL 194
Suspension	Torsion bar
Ground clearance	0.45 m (18 in)
Fuel capacity	652 L (143 imp gal; 172 US gal)
Operational range	520 km
Maximum speed	75 km/h (47 mph)Marder 1A2 65 km/h (40 mph) Marder 1A3

The Schützenpanzer Marder 1 (German pronunciation: [ˈʃʏt͜sn̩ˌpant͜sɐ ˈmaʁdɐ ˈaɪ̯ns]; "Schützen" carrying "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Marten 1") is a tracked German infantry fighting vehicle designed for use with the West German Panzergrenadiere units, mechanized infantry specialized for IFV combat. It has been operated by the German Army as the main Panzergrenadiere IFV since the 1970s through to the present day. Developed as part of the rebuilding of West Germany's armoured fighting vehicle industry, the Marder has proven to be a successful and solid infantry fighting vehicle design.

While it used to include a few unique features, such as a fully remote machine gun on the rear deck and gun ports on the sides for infantry to fire through, these features have been deleted or streamlined in later upgrade packages to bring it more in line with modern IFV design. The MG has been moved to be a coaxial, the gun ports entirely welded shut and uparmored. It is overall a simple and conventional machine with one large rear exit hatch and three top hatches for mounted infantry to fire from.

Around 2,100 were taken into service by the West German army in the early 1970s, but the vehicle in its German variant was not sold to any foreign militaries. As the West German Army began to retire older vehicles, the Chilean government agreed to acquire 200 Marders; the government of Greece has considered the purchase of 450 retired vehicles in the past. Argentina uses a simplified and locally produced variant, the VCTP, and has a number of vehicles based on that platform constructed by Henschel and built by TAMSE.

The intended successor to the Marder 1 was initially the Marder 2 project in the 1990s, but after its cancellation the successor became the Puma in the 2010s. The Marder is currently being replaced by the Puma.