The brand new multipurposed armoured fighting vehicle of SANDF. In 1995 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) wrote the required operational capability report, asking for replacements in priority, of the Ratel ICV that was approaching 40 years of service. But budget constraints meant funds were redirected to the modernization of the air force and navy. Ten years passed before the project of replacing an ageing park of the border war veterans became even more urgent, and the Armaments Corporation of South Africa SOC Ltd (ARMSCOR) started working on the “Project Hoefyster (Horseshoe)” in 2005. After publication of the requirements, a bid was received for a local version of the Patria’s 8×8 Armored Modular Vehicle (AMV), to be built locally at 70%. Indeed OMC would manufacture the hulls and Denel the turrets and main armaments.. The final US$780 million budget was approved and in May 2007, Denel Land Systems (DLS) was tasked to produced a prototype for each envisioned variant. These are: A section variant (the regular IFV, with the Light Combat Turret or LCT that can be tailored for all variants), armed in this case with a Denel 30 mm dual feed linkless Camgun (EMAK 30), a mortar variant, a command variant, and a missile variant (armed with Denel Dynamics’s ‘Ingwe’ (Leopard) laser-guided AT missile). The multi-layered, classified armour protects the crew of four and seven infantry (section variant) from 30mm APFSDS rounds over the frontal arc, and 23mm AP rounds in other angles. The Badger is propelled by a Scania fuel injected diesel engine which produces 543 hp @ 2100 rpm. (21.7 hp/t), while the roadwheels are suspended by Hydro pneumatic struts. Currently, an order for 244 hulls to be delivered has been passed, with completion estimated for 2022.