Shipbucket

The M42D(HL) was an AU Hellenic upgrade of the M42 Duster, known also as Actaeon, entered in early 1970's. HLK received or purchased about 450-500 M42 from various sources from mid 1960's to mid 1980's. The Actaeon upgrade included some modifications to suspension, a Detroit Diesel/AHC 8V71TTI with 450hp (later upgraded to 530hp), increasing range to about 480km. It featured a closed locally designed turret inspired from the Soviet ZSU-23-4 featured an FCS developed from Delta Electronics and Swiss Contraves. Due to lack of space, a separate radar unit was developed for the system. In total 432 Actaeon Fire Units were built plus 108 Radar Units, with last entered service in 1989, even though its electronics were somewhat obsolete. From 1992 the Actaeon was replaced in front line service by the state of the art Archer SPAAG (based on the Lion MBT hull) and the lighter and cheaper Leonidas S-30 SPAAG. Today all remaining Actaeon serve in Island Defence Forces after an upgrade with a new ballistic computer and IR/night/day camera.

Note that most Actaeon RU were actually converted M41 tanks.