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Old 02-09-2018, 09:50 PM
The Dark The Dark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic View Post
The West German forces used the Roland on a Marder chassis as well as shelter versions mounted on MAN 6x6 & 8x8 trucks and while it was a joint French-German project, West Germany was the lead partner for the all weather version (France being the lead for the day/clear weather version.
The Germans had the system in service before 1980 (I think it was 1977 or 1978).
1978, with the Roland II (the Roland I was the French clear-weather-only version, which entered service in 1977).

Quote:
So there would be a potential supply line in Germany and as mentioned, the US was going to produce the missile domestically if the system had been taken into service. I think it would be easy enough to justify the system going into US service with the increasing tensions during the build-up to the Twilight War including producing the missiles in the US.

However... Spain also used the day/clear-weather version on the AMX-30 chassis (like the French). While I don't know of any missile production in Spain, it's a potential resupply for the fair-weather missile albeit in limited numbers.
And the other interesting bit of information, in relation to the US, is that Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela all acquired the system (but in tiny numbers although Brazil did get the Marder version while the other two got shelter versions). I don't recall when these countries purchased the Roland but I believe it was no later than the 1980s (considering that British forces captured one Argentine example during the Falklands War in 1982).
Spain license-manufactured 18 AMX-30R, 9 each of the Roland 1 and Roland 2, and purchased 414 missiles. 8 of each system were deployed with 1 in reserve, forming 2 batteries each of 2 Roland 1 and 2 Roland 2. The procurement was announced in April 1984. They may have made missile spares, but I don't believe they built entire missiles.

Nigeria acquired 16 Roland 2/AMX-30R, and Qatar ordered 3 in 1986 that were delivered in 1989.

Argentina acquired the Roland "shortly before the outbreak of hostilities," according to Making and Marketing Arms, and they were still waiting for delivery of some missiles when the Falklands War began.

Brazil purchased 4 systems and 50 missiles. The order was placed in 1975, but I don't have a definite year for delivery.

Venezuela acquired 6 or 8 (reports vary) shelter units in 1985.

Iraq was a large user; they mounted 100 shelter units on MAN 8x8 trucks as mobile launchers, and also had 13 AMX-30R launchers, with deliveries early enough that some were in active service by 1982. Based on an analysis of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, it looks like the AMX-30R systems were Roland I and the shelter units were Roland II.
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