top of page
90MMBREN.jpg

Belgian CATI 90 Loyd Carrier

A Belgian CATI 90 Loyd Carrier with 90mm anti tank gun. After WW2, the Belgian Army purchased a number of British Loyd Carriers and modified some with the addition of a 90mm MECAR gun to produce a light tank destroyer.

These vehicles were designated CATI 90 or "Canon antitank d’infanterie automoteur 90mm". They had a crew of 4 men, Gunner, Loader, Commander, Driver, and was powered by a V8 engine. Armour was rifle level protection, but extra armour was also added around the gun mount and on the front to protect against Armour Piercing rifle rounds rather than just standard ammunition.

To keep costs low, it was decided to convert Loyd carriers into tank destroyers as these carriers were largely available.

The light carriers, however, could not carry a large gun with heavy recoil. During the early 1950s, the Belgian joint-stock company MECAR S.A. (Mécanique et Armement – Mechanics and Armament), which was situated in the city of Roeulx-lez-Nivelles, had been developing a low pressure semi-automatic 90 mm gun. Due to its low pressure, the gun had very low recoil and low weight, so unlike other AT weapons of the size and calibre could be mounted safely.

It is not apparent as to which 90mm MECAR gun is equipped in this vehicle (there were several variants) but it is likely to be the CAN-90L as that seems to be the lightest at 285kg. The gun is capable of firing HEAT-FS and High Explosive rounds at a rate of fire of 7-10 rounds per minute, with 18 rounds stored in the vehicle.

Construction of the new vehicles was initiated in 1953 and the guns were mounted onto the Loyd carriers by Usines Émile Henricot (Émile Henricot Factories), located at Court-Saint-Etienne, central Belgium. In 1954, each infantry battalion was equipped with a platoon of four of these CATI vehicles together with four regular carriers which served as ammunition carriers, each of which carried 54 additional rounds.

They served from the 1950's until 1962, when they taken out of frontline infantry roles, hanging around into 1966 elsewhere with them being replaced by armoured cars mounting Anti-Tank missiles instead of a gun carrier.

bottom of page