The FV432 has carried soldiers into battle for seven decades and is still going strong. John Ash profiles Britain’s iconic ‘battle bus’
Once a mainstay of the British Army’s mechanised units, the FV432 armoured personnel carrier (APC) remains one of its longest-serving vehicles. The requirement for a tracked APC was issued in September 1958, via War Office Policy Statement 26. The army was looking to continue the replacement of its ageing wartime vehicles and for a tracked alternative to the FV603 Saracen, a wheeled APC used since 1952. It sought to repeat the success of the FV600 series that led to the Saracen and designs such as the Saladin and the Stalwart. These Alvis-produced vehicles shared a common chassis – a consideration that reduced the maintenance and logistic load, as well as development and production costs.
“As common with post-war British military vehicles the F V432 had a boiling vessel , enabling crew and charges to heat rations and drinks and to wash”
The primary aim was to create a family of tracked vehicles – the FV430 series – using proven components with a common hull, running gear, engine and gearbox. The family needed to be futureproof, suitable for upgrading with, for examp…
