Roland Land Systems Defender
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
| Roland Land Systems Defender | |
|---|---|
 An Shenandoahan Army National Guard RLS Defender being operated by the 4th Cavalry Battalion, 2nd Brigade during training exercises outside of Morgantown. | |
| Type | Armored car |
| Place of origin | Shenandoah |
| Service history | |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1962 |
| Manufacturer | Roland Land Systems |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 7.37 tonnes (8.12 short tons; 7.25 long tons) |
| Length | 18 ft 8 in (5.69 m) |
| Width | 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) |
| Height | 7 ft 10 in ( 2.4 m) |
| Crew | 3 (commander, gunner, driver) + 9 passengers |
Main armament | Various weapon systems including machine guns or automatic cannon |
Secondary armament | 2x 6x 40mm smoke grenade launchers |
| Engine | Albertson Motors 361 V8 gasoline engine 210 hp (156 kW) at 4,000 rpm |
| Power/weight | 20.42 hp/tonne (15.22 kW/tonne) |
| Ground clearance | 14.9 in (0.38 m) |
| Fuel capacity | 80 gallons |
Operational range | 400 miles (644 km) |
| Speed | 62 mph (100 km/h) |
The Roland Land Systems Defender is an armored car in use by the Shenandoahan National Guard. It is utilized in a variety of roles, including as an internal security vehicle, command vehicle, ambulance, reconnaissance vehicle and fire support vehicle. It was designed by Roland Land Systems in 1962, and has been in production since that time. The Defender has undergone several updates and upgrades since its introduction. The Roland Land Systems Defender is known as the M311 Defender in service with the Shenandoahan military.
Design
The RLS Defender is equipped with four-wheel drive capability, and utilizes the same axel system as the Albertson Motors M118 Bison series 2½-ton 6×6 cargo trucks also in sue by the Shenandoahan National Guard. Its 5-speed manual transmission and four wheel drive capability allows it to traverse relatively rough terrain It is powered by a gasoline fueled 360-cubic-inch Albertson Motors 361 V8 producing 210 hp (156 kW) at 4,000 rpm
The Defender is an amphibious vehicle, able to achieve a speed of 3 mph while fording, with a maximum road speed of 62 mph.
The Defender's high hardness alloy steel armor allows it to withstand attacks from rounds up to .30 caliber. Partly because of its armor, the vehicle has an unloaded mass of over 7 tons, particularly heavy for the vehicles intended role. However, the armor provides the monocoque structural framework, and is therefore, in general, lighter than a soft vehicle to which armor has been added, and the angled armor also helps protect explosions from mines or another hazards. As a result of the high weight of the vehicle, a common problem is rear axle failure caused by the extreme weight.
Armorment for the Defender various upon its mission and role, with both turreted and open-top models being used. Standard configuration for turreted vehicles featured a combination of either two .50 caliber machine guns, two .30 caliber machine guns, or one of each. A variety of machine guns could be used on the vehicle, although the most common weapons used are the .244 Blackrock M-3 Machine Gun General-purpose machine gun, the Blitz & Keckler M-4 .50 BMG machine gun, and the Lumenic M-2 automatic grenade launcher. In addition, though somewhat uncommon, early examples of the Defender were seen equipped with the .270 Grady M-2 Machine Gun.
The Defender could also mount a single 20 mm automatic cannon, such as the Reich Ausrüstung Gesellschaft Mk 66.
One open-topped version of the Defender featured a central parapet intended for use as a mortar portee, but a total of five machine gun mounts could also be fitted, configured so that there are two weapons in front, one in the rear, and one folding pintle point on each side capable of mounting a GPMG.