Denel Olifant ARV

     Notes:  This is an Armored Recovery Vehicle variant of the Olifant 1 main battle tank.  These were conversions of existing Olifant tanks and were done only for the SANDF, with no exports being sought or done. 16 Olifant ARVs were built in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  They are primarily meant to service Olifant tanks, but are also used to recover other vehicles.

        In this role, the turret is removed and replaced with a raised superstructure. A crane with a capacity of 10 tons is mounted on the left side of the raised superstructure; it has a traverse of 270 degrees.  An extendible boom crane reaches over the entire vehicle, with a capacity of 30 tons. The front has a dozer blade for bracing, and can also be used for obstacle-clearing.  The internally-mounted main winch can be led out the front or the rear and has a capacity of 60 tons (115 tons with block and tackle) and 80 meters of cable.   The Olifant ARV is equipped with tools for tank repair including basic tools, tracked vehicle tools, small arms tools, heavy ordinance tools, and an arc welder. There are also three hand-held WL spotlights. There also scads of spare parts both inside and attached to the outside of the vehicle, or in exterior lockers. Larger tools are also carried inside these lockers. There are two cupolas on the roof and there are four sets of four-barreled smoke grenade launchers, one on each corner of the superstructure.  There is a flat area on the rear of the superstructure, which is able to carry up to a complete Olifant powerpack.

     During the conversion, Olifant 1A fuel tanks were put into the vehicle.  The engine is a Teledyne AVDS-1790-2A 12-cylinder 750-horsepower diesel integrated powerpack with a semiautomatic transmission.  All electrical systems were also upgraded, and the ARV received a small computer to assist the mechanics with information about the SANDF's vehicles. 

     The driver's seat is raised further up, as the roofline of the superstructure is also raised.  The commander has a cupola with all-around vision and a night vision channel; this position is unarmed. One of the mechanics acts as gunner with a weapon on a pintle mount; this is usually a double weapon.  He has a cupola. One mechanic rides in the center of the hull; he usually mans the radios when traveling. The Olifant ARV has a 90-liter insulated drinking water tank.  The night vision suite is somewhat improved.

     At least one ARV based on the Olifant 1A was built for trials.  It uses the armor suite of the Olifant 1A, and the roof and floor armor of the Olifant 1B. It adds a long-range radio, which is data-capable. As of 2016, no more have been built, though it remains in trials, awaiting the money to replace or upgrade earlier versions of the Olifant ARV. For other game purposes, the Olifant 1A ARV is the same as the Olifant 1 ARV.

*Depending how high the dozer blade is raised, the blade may act as armor for the part of front end.  The blade has an AV of 5Sp.

**The floor armor for the Olifant floor is 8Sp.

***The commander and gunner have hand-held Image Intensifiers; they are not mounted in the vehicle, though they may be mounted on the cupola or the gun shield of the gunner’s position.