Dragoon 300

With the end of the 1960s, the United States Army's Military Police Corps expressed the need for a vehicle capable of being transported by Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, intended to provide base protection, as well as carrying out convoy escort duties.[1] This eventually led to a formal requirement being issued in 1976. However, the requirement was allowed to lapse, probably due to budgetary pressures of the time.[1]

Despite this, one of the firms that had expressed an interest in meeting the requirement, the Verne Corporation, decided to build two prototypes of a vehicle that was initially called the Verne Dragoon and pitched it together with Arrowpointe to third party customers.[1] These prototypes made their first public appearance in 1978. The Dragoon is of a very similar configuration to that of Cadillac Gage V-100 and the vehicles 4 X 4 general-purpose of the V-150 range, but it has several parts in common with the M-113A2 tracked armored personnel carrier and the M809 series 5-ton 6x6 truck.

Verne was responsible for the Dragoon's development while Arrowpointe was responsible for marketing the vehicle.[1] The two companies merged to form AV Technology Corporation and continued to produce and market the vehicle until its assets were taken by General Dynamics Land Systems.[1]

While production continued until 2002, there was the option for small orders from GDLS in Spain until marketing was dropped in 2008.[1]

From the M113A2, the Dragoon borrows its starter, periscopes, drain pumps, control knobs and its electric and hydraulic components. The hull of the Dragoon is of entirely welded steel construction, ensuring crew protection against individual weapons of 5.56 and 7.62mm and against shell shrapnel. The driver sits on the left front with room for another man on his right, the crew compartment being in the center; the engine is located at the back on the right (which on the Cadillac Gage V-150 is in the left rear corner), and a passage connects the crew compartment to a door opening on the rear of the vehicle.

The soldiers enter and leave by two doors located on each side the vehicle, the lower part of these doors folding down to form a step-up, while the upper part swings clear to the side. Firing ports with periscopes are arranged on the sides and the back of the crew compartment. The Diesel engine is coupled with an automatic transmission, having five forward gears and one reverse, and with a single speed transfer case to provide power to all wheels.

The Dragoon is amphibious, and is propelled in water by its wheels at a speed of 4.8 km/h, while three drain pumps remove water entering through the doors. Utilized like an armoured personnel carrier, the Dragoon is usually equipped with a turret identical to that of the M-113A2 armed with a machine-gun of 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm assembled on pivot. The vehicle can also receive two-seater turrets carrying a gun of 25 or 90 mm and coaxial and anti-aircraft machine-guns of 7.62 mm. There are more specialized versions of the genus, including recovery and command vehicles.

This is the base hull of the LFV-90 Dragoon vehicle (see US light combat vehicles). The hull has some modifications to better suit it for use as an armored personnel carrier, and may have a pintle mount or one of several turrets. The basic APC version is used, in addition to military forces, by several police forces in the US, often with a ramming pole welded to the nose of the vehicle.

The Personnel Carrier is the base vehicle of the line, with two hatches in the front deck for the commander and gunner, a center hatch with a weapon mount directly behind those hatches for the gunner, and a large sliding hatch on the rear deck for the passengers. In addition, there are six firing ports, two on each side and one in the rear, as well as a door in either side of the passenger compartment. Among other roles that the Carrier can be used for is basic APC, reconnaissance, command, base security, convoy escort and Command and Control vehicle.

The Dragoon ACV (Armored Command Vehicle) is a Dragoon basic APC set up to be a command post carrier. In this variant, the Dragoon carries a folding worktable, at least three radios, a camouflage net, various drawers and lockers for equipment, and a 3 kW generator to run the vehicle with the engine off. The pintle-mounted machine gun is retained.

The Dragoon ALSV (Armored Logistics Support Vehicle) is a Dragoon APC fitted out as an armored truck of sorts. The load area in this vehicle is open-topped, and there is a materiel-handling crane with a capacity of 1 ton. It can carry standard NATO pallets and containers, as well as several makes of civilian ones. This vehicle is normally used to carry bulk cargo like ammunition and spare parts to forward elements, and is often found accompanying Dragoon EMVs on their rounds.

The Dragoon ASV (Armored Security Vehicle), also known as the Patroller, is the version of the Dragoon APC that is in service with several United States law enforcement agencies. The vehicle interior is a little taller to allow standing, and the weapon mount is replaced with a rotating box that carries surveillance equipment. The windows are larger, as are the firing ports and vision blocks. The vehicle is equipped with several surveillance devices, including a low-light television, video recorder, computer, shotgun microphone, and night vision gear. Many of these vehicles are equipped with pole-mounted ramming blocks mounted on the nose of the vehicle. Sirens and flashing lights complete the modifications.

The LFV-40 (Light Forces Vehicle) is a Dragoon APC with a one-man turret mounted on the deck behind the driver's hatch. This turret is armed with a heavy machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher. The LFV-50 is the same as the LFV-40, but the turret is armed with a heavy and light machine gun.

The Dragoon MGTS (Multi-Gun Turret System) is a Dragoon APC fitted with a two-man turret armed with Bushmaster Chain Gun in one of three calibers and a machine gun, as well as a commander's machine gun.

Dragoons in General Directorate of Security (Turkey) inventory modernized by Nurol Machine as TOMA vehicle's (armored water cannon designed for riot control)

Map of Dragoon operators in blue

•  Cameroon[5]
•  Pakistan: some produced under license.[6][7]
•  Thailand: 43[8]
•  Tunisia[5]
•  Turkey: 230[8]
•  United States[5]
•  Venezuela: 101[8]

• M1117 Armored Security Vehicle — a Commando derived vehicle for the military police
• Chaimite — a Portuguese vehicle similar to the Commando
• Cadillac Gage Commando
• The "Hari-Digma" was a contender in the competition for a new wheeled armoured personnel carrier for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It lost out to the Simba. There were two Hari-Digma prototypes, which differed in the location of the turret.
• The French "VXB" — built in small numbers for the National Gendarmerie and for Gabon
• BOV — a Yugoslav and Serbia manufactured vehicle
• Armadillo — based on a commercial truck chassis. Guatemala had to develop this armoured car on its own, because they couldn't purchase U.S.-made equipment. The design was obviously inspired by the Commando series. Only 18 were produced.
• DN Caballo — The DN-III (or DN-3) was the first vehicle of the Mexican DN-series that actually entered service (in 1979). The vehicle is probably based on the base of a US-made Dodge 4x4 truck and is also known as SEDENA 1000. The basic vehicle was armed with only a 7.62 mm machine gun FN MAG on top of a MOWAG-type of turret. The Mexican Army has 24 vehicles in service.
• BRDM-2 — a Soviet scout car