AEC armoured car

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AEC armoured car
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Production history
Produced	1941 onwards
No. built	629
Specifications (Mk I, Mk II & III[1])
Mass	Mk I: 11 long tons (12 short tons; 11 t) Mk II, III: 12.7 long tons (14.2 short tons; 12.9 t)
Length	17 ft (5.2 m)
Width	9 ft (2.7 m)
Height	8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)
Crew	Mk I: 3 Mk II, III: 4
Armour	16–65 mm (0.63–2.56 in)
Main armament	Mk I: QF 2 pounder Mk II: QF 6 pounder Mk III: QF 75 mm AA prototype: twin Oerlikon 20mm cannons
Secondary armament	1 × Besa machine gun, 1 × Bren light machine gun.
Engine	Mk I: AEC 195 diesel Mk II, III: AEC 197 diesel 105/158 bhp (78/118 kW)
Power/weight	Mk I: 9.5 hp/tonne Mk II, III: 12.4 hp/tonne
Suspension	wheel 4×4
Operational range	250 mi (400 km)
Maximum speed	36–41 mph (58–66 km/h)

AEC armoured cars are a series of British heavy armoured cars built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) during the Second World War.

The AEC armoured car came about following British experience in the Western Desert against Italian armoured cars. British armoured cars were only armed with light and heavy machine guns and the army was fitting captured Italian and German 20 mm or larger autocannon to have enough firepower when meeting enemy reconnaissance vehicles.

The Daimler armoured car was under development with a 40 mm 2-pounder gun as used on British tanks but no armoured cars were envisaged with the armour as well as the armament of a tank. AEC undertook development privately of a vehicle based on one of the lorry designs (an artillery tractor) that would have armour equivalent to a contemporary cruiser tank.^[2]