Iguana infantry carrier

The Iguana (Tipsprek: Leguaan), officially the "Iguana" Rifle Carrier (Tipsprek: Geveareferager «Leguaan») abbreviated as '''Gvf. Leguaan''', was a Tiperyn family of light tracked armored vheicles. Production of the Iguana began in 1944, forming the foundation of Tiperyn's early combined arms formations.

The vehicle was based on the chassis of the earlier Psk. Rattelslang or Rattlesnake light tank, although the Iguana quickly surpassed the Rattlesnake in production. The Iguana was used heavily in Mounted Rifleer and other units during the Great Kesh War. The Gvf. Alligator or Alligator began to phase out the Iguana in 1956, although the latter would see widespread service until the early 1960s and limited service until the 1970s.

The concept of the Iguana was developed by Oermakt Motor Werken as a complement to Tiperyn's tank forces and supplement truck-borne Lorried Rifleer units and unmounted light infantry. The Iguana was designed to carry a section of men (2 crew and 8 passengers) and protect its occupants against rifle and medium machine gun fire. As Tiperyn's first fully-tracked infantry carrier that could carry a full section, the Iguana was the progenitor to all of Tiperyn's modern tracked armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. It also allowed for Tiperyn to develop truly combined arms formations composed of tanks and mechanized infantry, carrying the former in newly formed Mounted Rifleer units resurrected from historical units.

It was found during the Great Kesh War that the Iguana was vastly superior to the trucks of the Lorried Rifleers. The new infantry carrier was able to keep up with Tiperyn and Guurdalai armor across rough terrain to a greater degree than either motorized or more common footmobile infantry and with greater protection from small arms fire and shrapnel. Although Tiperyn had mostly replaced the Iguana with the Alligator—a true infantry fighting vehicle—it saw longer service with the paramilitary Holy Guard, as well as allied nations such as Nasiria, Asharistan and Guurdalai which acquired large amounts of surplus, obsolescent military equipment from Tiperyn during and after the Kesh War.

Impetus
Following the Grand Campaigns and the advent of the, Tiperyn began to rapidly motorize its Realm Guard to increase operational mobility, decrease reliance on permanent infrastructure—such as rail—and allow infantry to provide support to tanks that were steadily increasing in speed. The cornerstone of this effort was the wide array of trucks and modified tractors that had been pressed into service in the 1920s and 1930s. Although by the late 1930s only a fraction of Tiperyn's infantry were so called "Lorried Rifleers" transported into battle via unarmored and unarmed trucks, such trucks and tractors converted into weapons carriers had largely replaced horse-drawn carriages for combat service and support missions. However, as Tiperyn developed its nascent tank corps, the motorization of the Lorried Rifleers began to show its limitations.

Although the trucks of the Lorried Rifleers were more operationally mobile than the more numerous footmobile Rifleers, it was found that they could not keep up with Tiperyn's newer generation of tanks in all terrain. Further, the trucks were largely unprotected with no armour and minimal options for mounting weapons. In addition to the infantry carrying requirement, the Realm Guard also wanted a light universal platform that could be used as a weapons carrier, command vehicle, and as a platform for mounting self-propelled artillery and mortars. Thus, in 1941, the Secretariat on War and Crisis issued a tender to its private and state-owned automotive and defense manufacturers to design and produce a replacement to the truck for infantry units that worked closely with the tank corps in combined arms formations.

Design competition
Tiperyn had been observing other nations' solutions to the problem, chief among them being half-tracks and tank chassis converted to mount a small contingent of infantry. The half-track concept was appealing as it could take advantage of existing industry, potentially allowing a manufacturer to augment a pre-existing model of truck with a rear track assembly to increase off-road mobility while retaining parts commonality and keeping training procedures simple. A number of entrants into the competition submitted half-track designs. Although none were ultimately chosen for the infantry carrier role, some went on to serve as the basis for prime movers and artillery tractors.

In 1942, Oermakt—Tiperyn's largest automotive company and one of the three original Tiperyn manufacturers of tanks—submitted its design. The Oermakt entrant was essentially a modified Psk. Rattlesnake light tank chassis with a rearranged engine layout and a passenger compartment that could fit up to eight passengers in addition to two crew. The Rattlesnake had just been adopted that year as the Realm Guard's new light tank platform, serving primarily as a reconnaissance vehicle in tank regiments. This design is what would become the Iguana, and offered a number of advantages over its primarily half-track and converted medium tank competitors. First, the Iguana was much lower profile than other designs, especially in the role of mounting self-propelled artillery. Whereas other designs had to mount guns high to see over the cab or rearward, necessitating the driver to drive backwards to get the gun into position, the Iguana's mounting solution allowed for the guns to be mounted low in the hull. Additionally, it was found that the Rattlesnake's basis was marginally more mobile over soft terrain than its half-track competitors. The Iguana was also about 66% as heavy as the half-track designs and 33% as heavy as converted medium tanks, albeit less protected than the latter. At the same time, the Iguana could not take advantage of existing production of trucks, making it more expensive—even if more versatile—in the short-term. The Ordnance Corps's preferred entry was a half-track due to the parts commonality, while the Secretariat on War and Crisis favored the same design due to the relative ease of training on half-tracks when compared to fully-tracked vehicles. However, the preferences of the Tank Corps—which was planning on creating a new branch of infantry under its regime based on the selected entry—ultimately won out in the competition findings in favor of the Iguana.

The Tank Corps Acquisitions Board decision in the contest was likely influenced by two factors external to the merits of the designs: preference towards Oermakt—producer of most of the Realm Guard's newest tanks—and a desire to make its infantry and weapons carrier a distinctly Tank Corps project. The use of the Rattlesnake light tank chassis as the basis gave the Iguana a distinct character that was unique to the Tank Corps as no other service branch fielded that platform. Given that the Iguana shared a significant amount of components in the drive train with the Rattlesnake, which the Tank Corps had just acquired, it could be argued that much of the logistical benefit that half-tracks had could be realized for the Iguana as it was intended to be an asset used primarily by the Tank Corps—although the Ordnance Corps and other combat service branches would be responsible for much of the supply and service for them in combat. Additionally, from an aesthetics point of view, the Tank Corps preferred fully-tracked vehicles as they had become symbolic of their branch. To adopt what essentially amounted to a truck with a downsized prime mover track assembly was viewed as regressive by Tank Corps leadership, particularly because the Lorried Rifleers—then mounted in that same truck—were part of the Infantry Corps rather than the Tank Corps.

Ultimately the Tank Corps' opinion won out, with the Iguana being adopted in 1944. Some of the entrants—particularly the half-track designs—would go on to compete in other concurrent trials with other branches where they would eventually be adopted as prime movers and as supplements to trucks for the Lorried Rifleers.

Variants

 * Infantry Carriers
 * Iguana A — Original production variant
 * Iguana B1 — 1951 upgrade of the Iguana A. Featured heavier armor, upgraded engine, upgraded stowage, improved passenger seat layout, a tow hitch, and provision to mount a magazine-fed light machine gun at the driver's position and rear of the vehicle.
 * Iguana B2 — 1955 upgrade of the Iguana B1. Featured a hatch for rear entry and exit as well as a light, removable steel roof for increased protection from shrapnel to supplement the standard canvas coverings.
 * Weapons Carriers
 * Iguana C — 1951 modification of the Iguana A. Featured an upgraded engine, increased fuel capacity, and decreased passenger capacity.
 * Queen Iguana — 1952 modification of the Iguana C. Featured a 89mm anti-tank gun.
 * Fire Iguana — 1952 modification of the Iguana C. Featured a flamethrower and replaced passenger compartment with fuel tanks.

Current operators

 *  Kaya — Used as tractor by civilian forestry department. Formerly used by the Unified Armies during and shortly after the Great Kesh War.

Former operators

 *  Akiteiwa — Captured from Selengeria forces during the Great Kesh War
 *  Kodeshia — Captured from Selengeria forces during the Great Kesh War
 *  Asharistan — Acquired from Tiperyn during and after the Great Kesh War
 *  Selengeria — Acquired from Tiperyn during and after the Great Kesh War
 *  Nasiria — Used by the Nasiri Territorial Corps of the Realm Guard until the 1990s
 *  Tiperyn — Used by the Realm Guard and Fleet Marine Corps until 1963 and the Holy Guard until 1978
 *  Veikan Kingdom - Used until after the fall of the Veikan Kingdom during the Veikan Conflict.