Side view of Bateleur in the firing position with MAG machine gun on the roof.
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The Bateleur is a modern era multiple launch rocket system of South African origin. It was developed as a more capable successor to the original Valkiri. The Bateleur was also known as the Valkiri Mk II during its development. The upgrade focused on improved range and protection, while retaining the mobility.
The Bateleur, also known as the Valkiri Mk II, is the product improved version of the original Valkiri. It is based on the SAMIL-100 truck and has been fitted with an armored and mine protected cab. Two hydraulic stabilizers are fitted at the rear and are lowered before firing. The Bateleur fires longer range 127mm rockets, but is also able to fire the original 127mm rockets.
The Bateleur is fitted with a 40 round launcher which fires its salvos at one rocket per second. Compared to the Valkiri Mk I the launch tubes are longer. This allows it to fire longer range ammunition as well as the standard range rockets of the Mk I. The longer range rockets have a maximum range of 36 km. Standard rockets may reach up to 22 km. A 7.62mm FN MAG machine gun is fitted for self-defense.
The Bateleur has an increased protection level over the original Valkiri. The armored cab protects the crew from small arms fire and shell splinters. A unique feature of the Bateleur is its level of mine protection, which isn't found on other multiple launch rocket system. The armored SAMIL chassis uses the proven V-shaped design developed in South Africa during the Bush War. The crew is exposed during firing and reloading.
The SAMIL-100 6x6 truck chassis has a good mobility on paved and dirt roads. With the long distances involved in the South African Bush War wheeled vehicles were deemed preferable due to their lower fuel consumption and posing less demands on the supply train.
The Bateleur was adopted by South Africa. It entered service in the early 1990's. Only 16 vehicles have been produced. Currently six vehicles are kept operational, with the others being in storage.
Bateleur, which is also known as Valkiri Mk II, is an improvement over the earlier Valkiri. These two generations are easy to distinguish from each other, since the Valkiri Mk I is based on a much smaller 4x4 Unimog chassis.
The Bateleur was developed to be able to combat the Soviet produced BM-21 from longer distances.
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