[Petrus]

And now here is an excerpt from an article about the Bobcat by Fred Olsen (does anybody here know him?). A long time ago the article was available on the Internet, but a site where it was at does not exist anymore. What I have chosen here is about the Bobcat's origins, esp. its predecessors in a form of the XA20 and the XA92.

By the way, do you have any idea how the XA20 was to be deployed in combat? I wonder who was to be its crew and who was to dismount to fight. A role of the driver is obvious, but what about the gunner - was he the section leader? Was he to remain in the vehicle in battle or dismount with the rest of the section, etc.?

Best regards anyway,
Piotr

The 'BOBCAT' as this vehicle came to be known,was conceived as an infantry carrier. There were two versions; XA20 (pic. 1) and XA92. The XA20 was to be made solely for infantry purposes. The XA92 was to be a weapons carrier. It was also to be built in an unarmored cargo carrier version.

As you can see from this drawing (pic. 2), an infantry section would only use this vehicle to transport to the site of the fight. Once in the area they would disembark and proceed on foot. The exterior sides of the vehicle were configured in a shelf-like fashion to hold heavy weapons and equipment.

The Army actually built a test vehicle of this ungainly beast. The high angle of attack would be drastically reduced when the armoured body was attached. (pic. 3)

Once the basic concept had been proven the Army then built a prototype. (pic. 4)

Low ground pressure and ease of maintenance were the selling features. One man was supposed to be able to replace a track section in 8 minutes.

(pics. 5, 6, 7)

This project was doomed!!! The test establishment continued with the work on this vehicle,but the XA92 was to be the vehicle chosen to deliver the goods ,so to speak.

The XA92 was to become the 'BOBCAT'. It was determined that all tracked,amphibious vehicle requirements for the Canadian Army could be built on a basic chassis. From the sponson line down all vehicles would be the same. (pic. 8)

The vehicle shown above has a forward compartment added to the basic chassis. All models would have a crew compartment separated from the main compartment by a bulk head that would have a door or hatchway into the main compartment,with the exception of the personnel carrier. (pic. 9)

This is an actual photo of an early model of the Bobcat. The main problems with this vehicle were the heavy engine door that required more than one person to open and close,making daily engine maintenance very difficult. The upper hatch was also a swing open affair that was exceedingly awkward to operate.

(pic. 10)
The second concept vehicle was a Self-propelled gun. The basic C1 105mm was mounted on the vehicle.
In keeping with the whole vehicle program concept,this vehicle,with it's superstructure added could, and did, swim.

The following pictures were with the article (the captions are mostly original:


pic. 1 - XA20


pic. 2 - 9-man seating arrangement


pic. 3 - Mobile test rig


pic. 4 - Ugly little thing isn't it?


pic. 5


pic. 6


pic. 7
Pre-production model


pic. 8 - Concept Model of basic chassis


pic. 9 - Pre-production Model


pic. 10 - 105mm Howitzer mounted on the basic chassis