Military Vehicles Magazine • OCTOBER 2019 17
the PWCO, fi tted with comprehensive communications systems.
The others were the PW-GWT (ambulance), PW-V cargo carrier
for logistics and the PW-MT which could tow 120mm calibre
mortar on it carriage with the ammunition and crew transported
in the vehicle. The armored personnel carrier (APC) could carry
ten infantrymen and was operated by two men.
Further versions were also developed. These included a bat-
tlefi eld radar version and an anti-tank version armed with the
American TOW missile system.
Weighing 5.35 tons the YP-408 had an operational range of
300 miles on roads which was reduced to 250 miles when operat-
ing cross country. Fitted with a six-cylinder DAF DS575 petrol
engine developing 165 hp at 2,400 rpm, it could reach speeds of
up to 50 mph on roads. The vehicle had eight road wheels, but
only three axles were driven, the second axle was not powered,
making the vehicle an 8x6. It could negotiate vertical obstacles
up to 28 inches and cross spans of up to four feet in width. The
vehicle was not amphibious but it could cope with water ob-
stacles almost four feet in depth.
Double doors fi tted to the rear allowed the infantrymen to
deploy quickly. In the roof were six hatches to allow the infantry
to fi re without dismounting. A mounting for a .50-caliber heavy
machine gun was located at the forward end of the roof. It pro-
vided a full 360 degrees traverse for self-defence. Triple barrel
smoke dischargers were mounted on either side of the hull above
the front wheel. Armor protection was 8mm and 15mm to pro-
vide protection against small arms fi re. The vehicle was not fi tted
with either NBC system or infra-red equipment as standard.
The other versions of the YP-408 meant that one common
design could support an infantry battalion in operational duties.
The mortar towing version, for example, carried up to 50 rounds
of 120mm ammunition and the cargo carrier could transport al-
most 1.5 tons of supplies. The ambulance version carried a crew
of three men to treat wounded and allow two stretcher cases and
four sitting wounded to be carried.
In 1989, the YP-408 was retired from service from the Dutch
Army. It was sold to the Portuguese Army and a few served with
the army in Surinam.
While no longer in service, museums around the world, such
as the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England, have op-
erational examples. Those examples seen in museums and pri-
vate ownership serve as a reminder from the period known as the
“Cold War.” It also shows what a once-neutral country could pro-
duce for its army to function well alongside its NATO Allies. ✪