Schützenpanzer Jaguar (SPz 15-2)
Not too happy with this illustration but wanted to explore the idea. The scenario is that West Germany wanted a Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle to augment the unreliable Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30 (SPz-12-3). Henschel began design of this new Schützenpanzer based on components from the Jagdpanzer Kanone 90mm.
Deliveries of the new SPz 15-2 to Bundeswehr Panzergrenadier units begin in 1966 but numbers are small. The superior SPz Marder begins replacing the SPz-12-3 in 1971. By 1976, all SPz Jaguars had been consigned to second-line units (often replacing M113s). In 1980, the SPz 15-2 was withdrawn from Bundeswehr service and most of the surviving Schützenpanzer Jaguars were donated to Portugal just as that country rejoined NATO exercises.
