Introduction
The following is taken from the Tankograd website:
After the failure of the project to develop the Armoured Engineer Machine and to close the existing equipment gap in the Bundeswehr's Engineer Corps, a solution was sought and found in the Pionierpanzer 2A0 Dachs AEV. The first of its kind was handed over in 1989. The early 2000s saw new equipment introduced and led to the new storage concept (Neues Verstaukonzept, or NVK) and from 2006 the new Pionierpanzer 2A0 NVK Dachs was fielded. Up till March 2021 a total of eleven Dachs armoured engineer vehicles were equipped with the Command and Weapon Engagement System Land-Based Operations (FUEWES LBO) and designated Pionierpanzer 2A0A2 FUEWES LBO Dachs.
This publication shows the three Dachs (badger) variants in action and takes a highly detailed look at their vehicle technology and specialised engineer equipment
Review
This offering from Tankograd, looking at the Dachs armoured engineering vehicle is authored by Ralph Zwilling, who is a well know author of Tankograd books. The book is a soft backed offering, with a reasonably robust card cover, that should provide adequate protection with reasonable handling. Inside of this title are 72 pages of a glossy paper that shows photographs off to good effect, and is approximately A4 in size. This is a duel text publication, with German on the left and English on the right of the page. The font used is easily read, but the text size does make me struggle a little as I get older. The contents of this title are presented as follows:
Pioner Panzer I
Dachs Development
System Description
The Hull
The Chassis
Powerpack
NBC Overpressure Protection System
Fire Warning and Suppression System
Coolant, Pre-heating and air heating Unit
Electrical System
Smoke Grenade Discharger System
Radio and inter-com System
Hydraulic System
ISAF-Service
Technical Data
Crew
In this offering Ralph has done what he does so well, and managed to condense the lot into a little, without making you feel like you have been robbed. I suspect that most people purchasing this title, are doing so for the photographs, but do yourself a favour and a least read some of the text. Based on the Panzer I chassis, the general shape of the hull should be well known to most of us. But what was added to this hull is a different story. The prototype PT I armed with two huge shovels, on hydraulic arms had an almost futuristic look about it, and the PT II looks even stranger with a small turret and a huge twin armed shovel on it. However, the general Dachs that went into service, has a lot in common with the British Trojan, and the Dachs may have been used to decide the final layout of the British vehicle. The photographs in this book, add a huge amount of appeal to a vehicle that is not really going to go to war. As you may have guessed the unsuccessful concepts particularly appeal to me. Each of the photographs is accompanied by a caption in both German and English, making the photographs particularly informative. Something that I particularly pleased to find was the inclusion of a scale drawing of the Dachs in 1/35th scale, and a number of schematics that show how many of the systems on the vehicle function as part of the whole.
Conclusion
This offering from Tankograd provides everything I expected and more. The provision of scale drawings make this title particularly useful to the modeller, and also due to the way the vehicle looks will I believe add appeal to anyone considering building one. Ralph Zwilling has again presented Tankograd with a winner, which due to the limited number of prints will likely make you kick yourself if you miss it.