The Ratel the backbone of the SADF mechanized battalions. [SADF]

The Ratel vehicle is well named as its armament and mobility make it a formidable opponent. It was designed and produced at a time when South Africa was subject to ever more strict international embargoes. The Ratel allowed the SADF to wage conventional warfare from 1976 onwards as the South African Border War escalated and cross-border operations became more frequent and more complex.
The Ratel 90 serves as a fire support vehicle used to knock out strong points and, while not originally designed for the anti-tank role, proved more than a match for the T-34/85 encountered early on during the South African Border War. As from 1981, the stakes were raised when FAPLA received T-54, T-55 and T-62 tanks from the Soviet Union and Cuba. Mechanised Infantry Groups fielding Ratel 90s achieved success by skillfully outmanoeuvring the newer Soviet tanks which required multiple hits with 90 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds from their 90 mm guns, often at point blank range at vulnerable points (engine vents, turret rings) in order to disable them.
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#ratel #bushwar #borderwar #grensoorlog #Military #History #LestWeForget #Education #MilitaryHistory #UDF #SADF #SANDF #SAAF #SANavy #za_special_forces

[@Militaryheritage]

Suggest you add a link to Tank Encyclopedia so viewers can read further about this magnificent armored vehicle.

[@jeannekopp7234]

Ek het vir amper 3000 km in een gesit in die 80's. Hy word nie verniet n ratel genoem nie

[@Deontjie]

Ratel was the world's first wheeled APC.

[@bertm8621]

Btr152?

[@Deontjie]

@@bertm8621 That is an ugly Soviet armoured personnel carrier. Not an infantry fighting vehicle.

[@Deontjie]

I should have said wheeled infantry fighting vehicle.

[@bskiez]

@@Deontjie you still can edit it. Why is it in War Thunder the Eland or AML 90 is far much mobile than the Ratel 90 called an armored bus? Yet in real life the SADF wanted to get rid of the Eland as early as the 1960s. Then at the other video of the channel above it was said Rooikat replaced the Eland. Yet in Wikipedia it was the ratel 90 that replaced the eland in the border war. I know Ratels are primarily troop carriers unlike Eland and Rooikat which were IFVs

[@Deontjie]

@@bskiez When I was at Tempe / Akkidisbult in 1981, there were only Ratels with 20 mm cannons. But it fired an impressive high explosive 20 mm round. It could have been the same as the Mirages. There were no 90's yet. That Ratel was very effective in an infantry roll. I know, I was there. Most (but not all) Elande were 90's. So yes, the Ratel 90 competed against the Eland 90. But the Ratel had a big job to play in the infantry. The fact that the 20, the 90 and the missile carrier was so effective outside it's traditional roll was a bonus. I saw Ratels being ramped at the Koeikamp. All six wheels in the air. I, as a foot soldier, was always jealous of the Ratels. The Russian T34 (and even the T55) though the ratels would have been and easy target. But Angola is to this day still littered with burned out Russian tank wrecks.

[@roninsays]

Hey man I'm planning on going to the army this year July, do you think I should do it with the current affairs and happenings in SA at the moment?

[@Militaryheritage]

There are very good soldiers. If you get asked what branch, choose Armour. 1SSB is tops.

[@robroysen8387]

join the french legion...you be better off

[@Militaryheritage]

@@Stefan-X24 Incorrect.

[@Militaryheritage]

@@Stefan-X24 1SSB

[@kmuniqco]

The Afrikaners did good things.. isolation was their drawback..

[@skuzapo9365]

@Jou Moer bullshit. Sanctions was why Cuba had air superiority in Angola imo.

[@davidclarke2684]

@Joe Moer books on the border war. Detailed our lack of good AA systems and the low numbers of jets.

[@davidclarke2684]

@Joe Moer oh I know they had massive casualties. While our aircraft were very effective in the early stages of the Bush war. Once the mig 23 showed up we were in trouble. Those jets really interfered in the effectiveness of ground operations.

[@LaughingMan44]

They didn't choose isolation, they were sanctioned by abandoned by their so-called allies.

[@acerfnfinhouseacerfnfinhou2286]

Maybe the isolation caused "it can be done" were borne