Israeli Nimda Shoet 6x6 wheeled APC

[Pioneer]

G'day gents

I am looking for information on the Israeli Nimda Shoet 6x6 wheeled armoured personnel carrier!
It was developed by Nimda Group of Israel as a private venture, along the concept lines of the Soviet BTR-152 APC.
The vehicle successfully passed tests with the IDF but didn't reach production.
The only thing I have on it is :
It weighed about 8 tonnes, was protected by 8-14mm sloped armour.
The power pack was a 172 hp GMC 6-cylinder V-53 engine and Allison MT-643 automatic hydromech torque converter transmission.

Does anyone have a date of when this was developed?
Did the Israeli's use and large number of M3 halftrack have an influence on its basic design - a sort of wheeled M3?
Does anyone know how many prototypes were built?
Any other pictures out there?

Thanks in advance!!

Regards
Pioneer

 

[Apophenia]

From: A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware, Christopher Chant, ISBN: 9780710207203, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1987.

NIMDA Shoet II

Crew 2: + 10
Combat weight: 9700 kg (21,384 lb)
Dimensions: length 6.64m (21.78 ft); width 2.20 m (7.22 ft); height 2.08m (6.82 ft)
Armament: up to four 0.5-in. (12.7-mm) or 7.62-mm (0.3-in.) machine-guns pintle-mounted round the top of the vehicle
Armour: welded steel varying in thickness from 8 to 14 mm (0.315 to 0.44 in)
Powerplant: one 172-hp (128-kW) Detroit Diesel 6V-53 diesel engine with 170 litres (37.4 Imp gal) of internal fuel, and driving a 6 x 6 layout
Performance: speed, road 90 km/h (56 mph); range, road 400 km (249 miles); fording not revealed; gradient 60%; side slope 30%; vertical obstacle not revealed; ground clearance not revealed

Variants
Shoet II: developed as a private venture, the Shoet II has an open-topped troop compartment which allows the vehicle to be transformed rapidly into an anti-tank vehicle (106-mm/3.17-in recoilless rile or anti-tank missile launcher), an anti-aircraft vehicle (guns or missiles), a mortar carrier (81-mm/3.2-in mortar and machine-guns), a reconnaissance vehicle (61-mm/2.4-in light mortar and machine-guns), an ambulance and a recovery vehicle; standard equipment includes night-vision devices, a central tyre pressure regulation system, and a fuel tank protection

Shoet III: improved features with more advanced operational features and other significant modifications"

Among othe things, Shoet III was fully-roofed unlike the the open-topped Mk II (I believe that Shoet I differed in having a gun-ring). Note that Chant's weight numbers vary from other sources - eg: 7264 kg (16,000 lbs). More photos: http://en.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/t/54422

 

[Pioneer]

Some good and interesting info there Apophenia
Thanks a lot!!

Regards
Pioneer

 

[Petrus]

A few photos of the Nimda Shoet that I've found in my files.

 

[skylancer-3441]

Google Translate from Hebrew to English of some article on this vehicle's development

and same pics but saved separately

 

[skylancer-3441]

more pics

 

[skylancer-3441]

International Defense Review on the subject

 

[Pioneer]

Thank you for the pictures skylancer-3441 & Petrus


Regards
Pioneer