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On May 7, 1971, the first series vehicles of the Marder armored personnel carrier were handed over to the troops at the same time in Kassel (Rheinstahl AG - special production) and Kiel (Krupp MaK).

When it was designed, it was assumed that the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, in conjunction with the Leopard 1 main battle tank, would make a decisive contribution to national defense in the army until around the year 2000. But the real course of the story should be different. Today, a Leopard 1 main battle tank has not been in use for 18 years and the Marder armored personnel carrier had to prove itself in firefights with the Quick Reaction Force in the areas of Kunduz and Mazar-e-Sharif. And a specific end to the vehicle's useful life is currently not foreseeable.

With this article we give all interested readers a technically oriented overview of 50 years of use, including the previous 11-year development period for this successful weapon system.

The development

During the development phase of the Bundeswehr, the procurement of a suitable armored personnel carrier was very difficult, as no foreign vehicle optimally enabled the style of fighting practiced by the German Panzergrenadiers, with the rapid change between mounted and dismounted combat. This also became clear during the provisional procurement of the M 39 and Bren Carrier vehicles, which were already used by the Allies in World War II. Therefore, in May 1956, the Swiss company Hispano-Suiza was commissioned to develop the HS 30 infantry fighting vehicle.

For many reasons, the HS 30 project turned into a lasting disaster and the troops had little joy in this vehicle. As early as the start of delivery of the vehicles in the fall of 1959, it was clear to the army command staff that the HS 30 could only temporarily cover the immediate needs of the Panzergrenadiers, particularly for training purposes. However, it did not represent an adequate solution for an infantry fighting vehicle capable of accompanying the 30 t standard tank under development (the later Leopard 1 main battle tank) in combat.

Therefore, in the fall of 1959, the Army command staff issued the corresponding military requirements for a vehicle family under the term “new infantry fighting vehicle”, within which the infantry fighting vehicle was initially supposed to be the pilot vehicle.

The requirements for the new armored personnel carrier included:

  • higher deployment strength (twelve instead of six soldiers),
  • Installation of a one-man turret with a machine cannon (MK 20) mm, maximum weight: 1,500 kg,
  • Possibility to quickly and safely switch between mounted and dismounted combat,
  • Off-road mobility, operational autonomy and operational duration should be based on the performance of the standard tank,
  • partial protection against 20 mm ammunition and complete NBC protection for the crew,
  • low silhouette, total height with tower under 1,890 mm,
  • Possibility of going underwater up to a depth of five meters
  • Use of cross-sectional assemblies within the vehicle family.

Wie so oft bei einer Panzerentwicklung wurden am Ende zwar viele, aber nicht alle der ursprünglichen militärischen Forderungen erfüllt.

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