FV432

The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier member of the British Army's FV430 series. GKN Sankey produced the vehicle from 1962 until 1971, building approximately 3,000 examples, making it the most numerous variant of the series. Peak strength was reached in the 1980s, when the British Army fielded close to 2,500 vehicles. The Australian Army evaluated two pre-production FV432s in Queensland during 1962 and 1963 but selected the M113 instead, trials having shown the American vehicle to perform better.

Construction is all-steel, with a conventional tracked chassis, the engine at the front and the driver seated on the right. The commander's hatch sits directly behind the driver. The troop compartment holds five seats along each side, folding flat to create a cargo bay, and is accessed through a side-hinged door in the rear and a concertina hatch in the roof. In keeping with British doctrine of dismounting infantry to fight, no firing ports are provided. A boiling vessel on the rear door supplies hot water and heated rations. An NBC system draws air through an externally mounted paper filter and distributes it through a roof-level duct extending into the driver's compartment; carbon filters can be added against gas attack, and a roof relief valve maintains slight overpressure. Wading screens, a trim vane and an exhaust extension were fitted as standard, allowing amphibious crossing propelled by the tracks after about five minutes of preparation, though most vehicles have since had this capability removed. Armament in infantry battalions is a pintle-mounted L7 GPMG or a Peak Engineering turret with the L37A1; Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Signals vehicles originally carried the L4A4 Bren. Two three-barrel smoke dischargers are mounted at the front.

Three principal marks were built: the petrol-engined Mark 1, the Mark 2 with the Rolls-Royce K60 multi-fuel engine, and the diesel Mark 3. Installation kits allowed rapid role changes, and the hull served as command post, ambulance, cargo and communications vehicle, mortar carrier with a 360-degree turntable-mounted 81mm mortar, WOMBAT and Carl Gustav recoilless rifle carrier, ZB 298 surveillance radar vehicle, MILAN carrier, Cymbeline radar and artillery command post with FACE or BATES fire control. Royal Engineers variants towed the Bar Mine layer and Giant Viper. The FV434 recovery variant carried an internal winch and a lift arm, while the FV438 mounted twin Swingfire ATGM launchers with an internal magazine of ten missiles. Thirteen vehicles received the 30mm RARDEN turret from the Fox scout car and served with the Berlin Brigade.

An £85m contract with BAE Systems Land Systems covered conversion of over 1,000 vehicles to Mark 3 standard, with the first batch handed over in December 2006. Iraq and Afghanistan deployments prompted air conditioning, reactive armour, Kevlar-lined belly plates against IEDs, an upgraded engine, steering and brakes, and IED jammers; these vehicles are known as Bulldog. FV432s also served with British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia. Mozambique received 40 vehicles in 2013, surplus stocks went to India, and Bulldogs have been supplied to Ukraine.