Today, we’ll be taking a look at the Desert Warrior, a modified export variant of the British Warrior purchased and used by Kuwait to this day. Coming soon in the Seek & Destroy major update!
Desert Warrior: A Light Tank for Great Britain at Rank VII
Features:
- Stabilized 25 mm Bushmaster cannon!
- 2 x TOW launchers.
- Good ammunition range.
- Good mobility.
- Light armor.
Vehicle History
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Following the Warrior’s introduction into the British Army, GKN Defence, the designers of the Warrior, were looking to export their vehicle to other countries. To attract potential customers, they opted to modify the Warrior to increase its outreach and interest, naming it the Desert Warrior. This new vehicle featured better internal cooling for the hotter desert climates, optimized areas for the desert sand, as well as a Delco turret featuring a stabilized 25 mm Bushmaster and TOW ATGMs on each side of the turret. In 1992 Kuwait gained interest in this new vehicle and put it up for trials against other similar vehicles. Following trials, Kuwait purchased around 250 Desert Warriors in 1993, where they have been serving in the Kuwait Army since 1995 until present day.
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Meet the Desert Warrior!
This is the Desert Warrior, a modified Warrior featuring a Delco turret with a rapid-firing stabilized 25 mm Bushmaster cannon and two TOW launchers. Built for the hot desert climate, the Desert Warrior is going to provide Great Britain with an neat little all-round IFV at the higher ranks when it arrives in the next major update. Let’s dive into the details!
The Desert Warrior came about when UK company GKN Defence were looking to find ways to export the Warrior to other countries. Kuwait were the only ones who purchased this vehicle, which takes the all-so familiar Warrior and looks to improve it further: first up is the firepower! Instead of the regular Warrior turret featuring a slow-firing 30 mm RARDEN, the Desert Warrior features a Delco turret with a 25 mm Bushmaster cannon, TOW launchers, and a 7.62 machine gun. Unlike the Warrior, this turret is fully-stabilized and can fire a range of good ammunition, including the M919 APFSDS round for the gun, found on the M3A3 Bradley.
Interesting: The Kuwait Army gave the Desert Warrior the nickname of “Fahris”, which can be roughly translated into several names such as Knight, Horseman, or Cavalier!
Next up, instead of the MILAN ATGM, there’s two deployable TOW launchers on the side of the turret which can launch TOW-2s, TOW-2Bs and the tandem-charge TOW-2A. These are three excellent ammunition choices to take out a range of enemies, whether they’re a tough nut or are lurking behind ridgelines. Additionally, the gunner’s thermal sight is GEN 2, perfect for homing-in on enemies at distances in all types of weather.
In terms of mobility, there’s not much difference between the Desert Warrior and Warrior. Infact, they both use the same Perkins V-8 engine, outputting up to 550 HP, plus a max speed of 75 km/h forward. In addition to this, this vehicle can also reverse at the same speed as it can drive forwards, which is perfect for map traversal and getting to good areas to hunker down and launch attacks from unsuspecting positions. This, combined with a relatively low mass, means driving on rougher surfaces such as mud, sand and snow will be a smooth experience overall. We must also not forget about the Desert Warrior’s ability to scout targets and launch a Scout UAV that overall, combined with all of the above can help you and your team win battles!
An IFV typically means thinner protection, and the Desert Warrior is no exception. This vehicle features light aluminum alloy armor, which is enough to protect against smaller caliber guns, but won’t stop larger caliber weapons and fragmentation from explosions that will cause maximum damage to internal components. Bare this in mind when driving around the map!
Zitat:
In your matches by magazine2, Community Manager: “Use your speed to your advantage, flank enemies and utilize your TOW missiles and great firepower well. Once researched, be sure to take the TOW-2B to use against enemies that you can’t hit if they’re hiding, they can be useful for sure, and the TOW-2A for anything else. Enjoy!”
The Desert Warrior will be sure to provide excellent firepower and overall utility to the British ground forces tree in several lineups. Flank, shoot & scoot and have a fun in this new light tank. That’s it for this one, keep an eye out for other dev blogs that we’re currently preparing. Until then, have fun!
