Talk:Southern African Union/@comment-14850713-20171130115527

IC:

After the AFOH High Command deemed the Matador too heavy to replace the Griffin light tank as the direct fire-support vehicle (DFSV) for the Light Reaction Brigades (LCB), the SAU commissioned Denel to come up with an alternative. Following the direction the AFOH DORAD took with the Mauler MBT, Denel mated the Matador's automated turret and 127mm gun to a new hull and chassis to come up with the Zulu light tank.

To keep cost down while delivering high cross-country performance and mobility, the Zulu uses a compact 1,500 hp hybrid diesel-electric engine running on synthetic fuel and a lightweight torsion bar suspension with 5 bogies per side. It has top speed of 100 kph and an unrefueled range of over 600 km, surpassing the Griffin in both aspects. The 127mm conventional gun fires Advanced Hypersonic Projectiles (AHVP) as well as conventional high munitions. Its relatively thin armor can withstand only up to 30mm shells, but is backed up by the integral, turret-mounted Zebra active protection system (APS) and non-explosion reactive armor (NERA) panels on the side skirts.