Sedena/Henschel HWK-11

     Notes:  The HWK-11 was designed by Henschel Wehrtechnik of then-West Germany in the mid-1960s at the request of the Mexican government for use as a general-purpose APC.  The conditions that sealed the deal with the Germans over offers from the US to sell the Mexicans M-113s hinged on the willingness of the West Germans to do a total technology transfer for building the HWK-11.  The West Germans were also willing to tailor the HWK-11 more specifically to Mexican requirements. The first dozen were built by the Germans, but most of the HWK-11s were built in Mexico by Sedena.  The original HWK-11s were “basic box” APCs, but they have been steadily upgraded since then, and still remain in service in Mexico in small numbers.  Mexico was originally going to have a fleet of 350 HWK-11s, but economic conditions and different opportunities intervened, and ultimately, only 40 were built, though most if not all remain in service.  Two prototypes of a reconnaissance model, the HWK-13 were built, but production was decided against, as was a tank destroyer variant. Henschel offered the HWK 11 for export until the mid-1980s, but never found any buyers. Production ended in Mexico in 1966.

 

The Original HWK-11

     The first version of the HWK-11 entered service in 1965. It was definitely a battlefield taxi, armed only with a single MG-3 machinegun which was mounted in a small turret atop the vehicle.  Armor is of welded steel and is not especially heavy. The driver is on the front left behind a sloped glacis; the sides also have a decent slope to them.  The crew compartment has only manual fire-extinguishing bottles, but the engine has an automatic fire detection and extinguishing system.  The driver has three vision blocks to his front and giving him some side vision.  The commander is behind the driver in the aforementioned turret, and has all-around vision blocks in addition to a periscope which can be turned 350 degrees (leaving him a small blind arc to the rear).  The turret-mounted machinegun actually has a decent degree of movement; it can be elevated straight up and depressed to -15 degrees.  Both the commander and driver had image intensifiers, the driver in the center vision block and the commander in the movable periscope that had an aiming reticule for the machinegun. (These were a last-minute add-on.) The troop compartment at the rear has two large hatches on the rear deck that open and lock straight upwards, and two large doors in the rear face for primary entry and exit.  A pair of air intakes at the front of the vehicle provides ventilation and modicum of low-tech air conditioning in the form of a sort of high-speed fan. A bank of four smoke grenade launchers are found along each side of the glacis.

     The engine first mounted in the HWK-11 was to be a 212-horsepower Chrysler gasoline engine, but before production commenced, a German 180-horsepower diesel was used instead.  The suspension gave a rather good ride for this type of vehicle, using torsion bars with shock absorbers on the first, second, and fifth roadwheels (out of five) having hydraulic shock absorbers.  The HWK-11 is not amphibious.

 

Upgrades

     In 1980, the Israeli company NIMDA upgraded Mexico’s HWK-11s, giving them a turret similar to the French Toucan II but with heavier armor.  Appliqué armor was also added to the hull itself.  The original engines were replaced with the same as fitted to US M-113A2, Detroit Diesel 6V53s with an output of 212 horsepower.

     In 1993, the HWKs-11s were again upgraded, given German-made M-113A2-type tracks and an engine of unknown origin (but probably also German), with an estimated output of 280 horsepower.  A turret similar to that mounted on the German Spähpanzer Luchs was mounted in place of the previous NIMDA turret; this turret has a ballistic computer.

Vehicle

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

HWK-11 (1965)

$86,708

D, A

1.2 tons

11 tons

2+10

6

Image Intensification (D, C)

Enclosed

HWK-11 (1980)

$63,333

D, A

950 kg

11.5 tons

3+9

7

Image Intensification (D, C)

Enclosed

HWK-11 (1993)

$112,466

D, A

950 kg

11.8 tons

3+9

7

Image Intensification (D, C), Passive IR (C)

Enclosed

 

Vehicle

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

HWK-11 (1965)

125/88

27/20

300

73

CiH

T3

TF2  TS2  TR2  HF8  HS3  HR2

HWK-11 (1980)

138/97

30/22

300

110

Trtd

T3

TF4  TS4  TR3  HF10  HS5  HR3*

HWK-11 (1993)

168/118

37/27

300

147

Trtd

T3

TF6  TS4  TR3  HF10  HS5  HR3*

 

Vehicle

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

HWK-11 (1965)

None

None

MG-3 (C)

2100x7.62mm

HWK-11 (1980)

+1

Basic

20mm M-693 Autocannon, MG-3

700x20mm, 2000x7.62mm

HWK-11 (1993)

+2

Fair

20mm Rh-202 Autocannon, MG-3 (C)

600x20mm, 1000x7.62mm

*Belly armor is 3.