DN-IV Caballo

     Notes:  The DN-I, DN-II, and DN-III were prototype APCs based on the Cadillac-Gage LAV-150, but which never went into production. The DN-IV armored personnel carrier was thought at first to be based on the US LAV-100 and LAV-150 designs, but is in fact an indigenous design.  The DN-IV has never been exported, probably since it is simply a run-of-the-mill APC.

     The DN-IV looks like a blend of the LAV-150 and the Swiss MOWAG Roland, but has a beefier suspension than either of those vehicles, with bigger tires.  The vehicle is topped with an open turret with a pintle-mounted machinegun, sometimes surrounded with AV2 gunshields (often, the open hatch serves as the rear gun shield).  The driver has a hatch on the front left deck and there is a rear door for passengers. At least three versions were developed and fielded: as version with a simple commander’s cupola as described above, a version with a one-man KUKA turret armed with a 20mm autocannon, and a version with a French SAMM 208 turret armed with an M-2HB and a 7.62mm machinegun.  There are two hatches on the rear deck; the rear deck has a pintle mount for a machinegun. The DN-IV is otherwise undistinguished as an APC, not being blessed with heavy armor or any sort of NBC system and having a fire extinguishing system consisting of manual bottles in the vehicle. The engine is a derivative of a Cummins diesel truck engine, the V8-504, which develops 202 horsepower.  It does have the virtue of light weight, however, which makes its powerplant adequate. Suspension is 4x4 and of the off-road-type.  Driver’s controls are conventional, with a manual transmission.

DN-VI Ocelote

     Notes:  This newer Mexican APC is similar in appearance to the 4x4 version of the French VAB wheeled armored personnel carrier, and may in fact be based on an unlicensed copy of that vehicle.  The Mexicans already have a number of VABs on their rolls.  The DN-VI is also known as the Ocelote.  It has not been exported and will probably never be so, as the VAB is a better vehicle and the DN-VI cannot compete with the VAB on the world market.

     For the most part, it is a basic APC, but can also be topped by turrets of the same type on the DN-IV, and several variants exist.  APC-type variants include a scout/reconnaissance vehicle with extra radios (one extra long-range radio and medium-range radio) and enhanced vision equipment; a command version with two long-range radios, two medium-range radios, and two short-range radios and a map board, map storage, and office and plotting-type supplies, as well as fold-out shelves and three folding chairs, a hand-held thermal imager, image intensifier, and laser rangefinder (and with the machinegun shifted to the commander’s position); a logistics carrier with enlarged roof hatches and a widened single rear door, and a 5-ton crane to help load and unload cargo (with the machinegun shifted to the commander’s position); and an armored ambulance which can carry four stretcher cases, two stretcher cases and four seated patients, as well as a medic, a defibrillator, an oxygen administration kit, , the equivalent of a doctor’s medical bag and 10 personal medical kits, a small refrigerator, and items such as bandages, splints, burn treatment kits, ointments, cravats, and other such materials.

     The DN-VI has the basic same sort of body as the VAB, with the driver on the front left and commander to the right, behind a bullet-resistant windshield, and small windows to either side of the vehicle.  There are no doors to the cab, the crew entering and exiting through the rear hatches or the hatches over their position.  On the rear deck is a large hatch for standing troops, and this has a pintle mount at the rear.  The basic APC has a gunner’s station with twin machineguns and sometimes with AV2 gun shields, though as noted above turrets may be mounted.  The vehicle has a collective NBC system, as well as improved manual fire suppression equipment (actuated by external and internal pull handles.  There are twin doors at the rear for troop access.  The sides of the vehicle have three small vision blocks for the troops to see out, and each door has vision blocks, but there are no firing ports.

     The DN-VI has 4x4 off-road-type suspension, switchable to 4x2 for road use.  The vehicle is amphibious with preparation (2 minutes), and propelled in the water by its wheels.  The vehicle is powered by a 120-horsepower engine coupled to a manual transmission; the driver has conventional controls without power boost.  The DV-VI is reportedly difficult to drive because of this.