Big Bang Ricochet 018: The Vickers Valkyr

Meet the big brother of Belgium's BDX. The Valkyr is a redesign of the BDX, featuring a longer, stronger hull and improved mine protection. The Valkyr is the victim of a cruel fate, designed in the 1980's and promoted through much of the decade. After losing the British APC competition to the AT105 Saxon in the mid-80's, the vehicle finally found a buyer in the Middle East in 1990. That buyer was Kuwait, and through great misfortune, the order was cancelled when Iraq invaded Kuwait in the summer of that year.

Along with several pages detailing the Vickers Valkyr in its three forms (Armored Personnel Carrier, Fire Support Vehicle and Internal Security Vehicle), details are provided for the Cockerill Mk. III 90mm gun. This issue also introduced something few expect of the defense industry - the spares, custom parts, and accessories aftermarket. Just as with the car or truck in your driveway, the militaries of the world can buy different parts and accessories for their combat vehicles as well, ranging from added armor to new weapons to entire new drive trains, and even spare turrets to mount on vehicles that had none. This issue details four aftermarket turrets available for export from Belgium and the United Kingdom. Two are large turrets designed to provide support for large bore weapons, namely a 90mm tank gun, while the other two are small, light one-man turrets that could be mounted on virtually any track, SUV or van roof, as well as the typical armored military or security vehicle. Vickers listed all four turrets as options for the Valkyr

11 pages of content.