FV180 Combat Engineer Tractor

The Combat Engineer Tractor (C.E.T.) is an amphibious specialist armoured vehicle of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...

 and has been in general service since 1976. The CET is used by Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It provides combat engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces...

 in ground preparation for bridge construction and towing activities in the front line of battle, such as digging vehicle fighting pits, constructing earthen barriers, repairing roads, recovery of disabled vehicles from water and other obstacles, preparing riverbanks for vehicle crossings and clearing obstacles.

It is a tracked, lightly armoured vehicle, with amphibious capability.

The Combat Engineer Tractor (C.E.T.) is an amphibious specialist armoured vehicle of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...

 and has been in general service since 1976. The CET is used by Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It provides combat engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces...

 in ground preparation for bridge construction and towing activities in the front line of battle, such as digging vehicle fighting pits, constructing earthen barriers, repairing roads, recovery of disabled vehicles from water and other obstacles, preparing riverbanks for vehicle crossings and clearing obstacles.

It is a tracked, lightly armoured vehicle, with amphibious capability. The two crew sit in tandem positions on the left hand side of the vehicle, each with a set of driving controls facing opposite directions. A large earthmoving bucket is fitted at the rear of the vehicle and a rocket-propelled anchor on a 100m hawser

Hawser

Hawser is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole or cat hole, located on the hawse....

 attached to an 8 tonne winch can be fitted to the front. When operated from the rear seat the bucket is used for earth moving; clearing obstacles, paths or digging gun pits. When operated from the front facing seat it can be driven on the road, and the anchor can be used to pull the CET up steep obstacles such as riverbanks. The winch rope can be deployed to the front or the rear of the vehicle with a maximum pull of 8 tonnes in both configurations.

The amphibious propulsion is provided by to two Dowty water impellers, one mounted on each side of the vehicle and controlled by the commander in the rear seat facing forwards. The water jets are used to steer the vehicle when swimming, this is with the use of movable cowls directing the flow of water. When not in use, the propulsion unit water intakes are closed off with armoured covers to prevent damage during digging operations. Flotation aids are required to trim the vehicle for swimming and a "wash board" is fitted to the front of the vehicle to prevent the bow wave flooding the crew compartment when entering water. Maximum speed in water is 8.5 knots, the vehicle floats in 1.8m of water.

The CET is scheduled to be replaced by a new, larger vehicle - the 30 tonne Terrier. The Terrier vehicle

Terrier vehicle

The Terrier vehicle is an air-transportable armoured combat engineer vehicle for the Royal Engineers. It is being developed as a replacement vehicle for the FV180 Combat Engineer Tractor used by the British Army....

will be better protected, equipped with night vision and be remotely operated if required in more hazardous circumstances.