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Marder is a German Infantry Fighting Vehicle operated by German Army as main-weapon of the Panzergrenadier from the 1960s through the present day. OVERVIEW Developed as part of the rebuilding of Germany 's Armoured Fighting Vehicle industry, the Marder has proven to be a successful and solid Infantry Fighting Vehicle design. While it does include a few unique features, such as the fully remote machinegun on the rear deck, it is overall a simple and conventional machine with rear exit hatch and side gun ports for mounted infantry to fire through. The government of Greece (as of 2005 ) is in negotiations with the German army for the purchase of 500 Marder vehicles. The vehicles were previously used by the German army and are to be retired. ARMAMENT Primary armament is the 20mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 Autocannon mounted in a small two-man Turret mid-mounted on the hull with armour-piercing and HE rounds. Secondary weapon is a 7.62mm MG3 Machine Gun mounted Coaxially to the main gun. Early Marders up to and including version 1A1 had a second MG3 attached to the rear deck in a fully remote controlled housing. On current models since version 1A2, a MILAN anti-tank guided missile launcher can be attached to the turret to provide enhanced Anti-armour capabilities. There are four (two per side) gun ports which can be used by mounted infantry to provide additional fire against attacking infantry targets. Six smoke dischargers can create a visual and Infra-red blocking Smoke Screen (only five of them can be used on current models). VARIANTS The Marder 1A3 is the currently most common version of this system, and is in service with the German Bundeswehr , the '''Marder 1A4''' differs from the 1A3 only by the use of a Cryptography -capable radio-set. Newest Version of the Marder is the '''Marder 1A5''' with advanced mine protection. But only a small number is in service. The Marder served as the basis for Thyssen-Henschel 's medium tank design which became the TAM for Argentina . The Marder is also used as a carrier for the Roland air defence system. The Kanonenjagdpanzer and Raketenjagdpanzer 2 , which have been developed in parallel with the Marder, use the same chassis as the Marder. |