VAL Cashuat
Notes:
This is an El Salvadoran light APC built on the chassis of the old M-37B1
3/4-ton truck of World War II vintage.
The vehicles were assembled in El Salvador using existing M-37B1 trucks
and kits imported from the US.
These were employed as low-cost troop carriers, convoy escort vehicles, and
scout vehicles. They have not been
exported; indeed, no other country has expressed any interest in such a
primitive carrier. I have not been able to discover whether or not El Salvador
is still using these vehicles.
The Cashuat has
had steel armor add-on panels added, as well as mesh to pre-detonate HEAT
warheads, such as the RPG-2 and RPG-7 which are so common in Latin America.
This primitive spaced armor stops only one extra die of damage instead of
two dice. Kevlar blankets are added
inside this armor to stop spalling, which also adds to the armor.
The armor is surprisingly effective given its thin profile, due to the
use of duel-hardness sandwich armor on the sides and front. The driver and
commander have an armored door, with bullet-resistant glass; the windscreen is
also made of bullet-resistant glass, and in the windshield frame on the
commander’s side is a firing port. The troop section is in the rear and simple,
with seats facing inwards. The
vehicle is open-topped, but there are three firing ports on each side on a
chamfered section at the top of the troop compartment.
These firing ports are simple shuttered holes in the armor.
The rear is closed off with an armored door in the rear, and a firing
port on either side of the door. The engine is a Detroit Diesel 353
110-horsepower diesel, replacing the original gasoline engine.
Two versions of
this vehicle exist. The first is
troop carrier; these vehicles have no armament.
The second type is the weapons carrier; these vehicles have a one-man
armored cupola directly to the rear of the driver and commander with a twin
weapon mount and a machinegun with an AV2 gun shield on either side of the troop
compartment. Recent upgrades have
improved off-road performance, but the Cashuat is more an on-road than an
off-road vehicle.
Vehicle |
Price |
Fuel Type |
Load |
Veh Wt |
Crew |
Mnt |
Night Vision |
Radiological |
Troop Carrier |
$4,855 |
D, A |
900 kg |
4.5 tons |
2+8 |
2 |
Headlights |
Open |
Weapons Carrier |
$37,767 |
D, A |
455 kg |
4.2 tons |
2+4 |
2 |
Headlights |
Open |
Vehicle |
Tr Mov |
Com Mov |
Fuel Cap |
Fuel Cons |
Config |
Susp |
Armor |
Troop Carrier |
230/56 |
53/13 |
90 |
42 |
Stnd |
W(2) |
HF2Sp HS2Sp
HR2* |
Weapons Carrier |
242/59 |
56/14 |
90 |
39 |
CiH |
W(2) |
TF2 TS2
TR2 HF2Sp
HS2Sp HR2* |
Vehicle |
Fire Control |
Stabilization |
Armament |
Ammunition |
Weapons Carrier |
None |
None |
2xM-2HB or 2xMk 19 or 1xM-2HB and 1xMk 19, 2xM-60 |
1000x.50 or 500x.50 and 160x40mm; 1000x7.62mm |
*The troop
and crew compartment is open-topped.
The front, rear, and sides are covered by mesh armor, similar to a
chain-link fence; this primitive spaced armor stops 1D6 damage, instead of 2D6.