SHE » K15-100

The requirement for a tank transporter capable of transporting the Spanish Army's Leopard 2 MBT and Buffel armoured recovery vehicle fleets was announced in 1997. A number of companies expressed an interest in the requirement, these including IVECO (Italy), Kynos (Spain), MAN (Germany), Mercedes-Benz (Germany), Renault (France) and Scania (Sweden). Two companies, Kynos and Mercedes-Benz were subsequently invited to furnish vehicles for technical evaluation and trails, and during late 2000, following two years of assessment of the Kynos K15-100 and Mercedes-Benz 2636AS, a production contract was awarded to Kynos SA. The initial contract award called for 32 combinations of K15-100 tractor trucks and associated GP6CHS13T semi-trailers, with a further 15 combinations ordered during 2001. Deliveries were scheduled at seven combinations between contract award and May 2001, a further 10 during 2001, five during 2002, 10 during 2003, 13 during 2004 and the final two combinations during 2005. A further two combinations were subsequently ordered, bringing total requirements to 49. The final 14 K15-100 tractor trucks and semi-trailers ordered were produced by Group SPA. The K15-100 (6 × 6) tractor truck is of conventional design and is intended for heavy-duty haulage operations on a mix of roads. The C-section chassis is fitted with bolt-in cross-members and mounts beam-type axles sprung by multileaf springs, an anti-roll bar and shock-absorbers being fitted to the front steer-drive axle. All axles are fitted with hub-reduction gearing and the rear drive axle bogie is fitted with dual wheels and tyres. The six-seat all-steel purpose-designed cab is a two-door flat-panelled design. Located immediately behind the cab is a spare wheel for the tractor truck, plus the driveline cooling pack. Between these and the fifth wheel are a pair of Rotzler 25 kN winches, each fitted with 50 m of 26 mm cable. Motive power is provided by a four-stroke Deutz diesel engine coupled to a ZF manual gearbox with integral retarder and single-speed transfer box. All drive axles are fitted with differential locks. The standard semi-trailer is a GP6CHS13T, the laden combination meeting all current relevant traffic legislation. In addition to a single Leopard MBT, the trailer has been designed to accept a variety of other loads, including other MBTs, two APCs or a selection of shelters and containers.