Introduction

The following introduction is as provided by Tankograd Publishing
The air-portable Einsatzfahrzeug für spezialisierte Kräfte (ESK, or Light Protected Vehicle for Specialised Forces) Mungo is used to transport personnel and equipment in airborne units of the Bundeswehr, in medical and support units. The Mungo entered service in 2005 and, since then, it has seen active service in Afghanistan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition to the ESK Mungo, the Bundeswehr also procured the Mungo 2 Mehrzweck Multipurpose Vehicle based on the same chassis but fitted with a deposit tipper system. In the near future, the Mungo 3 A/C-Spür Nuclear/Chemical (N/C) Reconnaissance Vehicle will also enter service with the Bundeswehr. This publication describes all Mungo variants for the very first time and in great detail.

Review

This offering from Tankograd Publishing is one of their duel language offerings, German on the left and English on the right. The book consists of 64 pages with a glossy finish and printed in portrait format, the pages are protected by a glossy card cover with further relevant printed information on the insides faces. The text in this offering is split over several areas of the title. The text covers all three variants of the Mungo going into Bundeswehr service and even looks at the Mungo 3 which is not yet in service. The author of this offering from Tankograd Publishing is Carl Schulze.

The text in this book is considerably more than I was expecting, but that for me is a good thing due to knowing nothing about it. I have zero knowledge of this vehicle and had no idea it existed. Looking at the first photograph in the book the vehicle reminds me of a vehicle you would see being used by the local council and from what I am reading it could be an ideal choice for that purpose. The text does a very good job of providing all of the information I could realistically want as a modeller and goes some way beyond that requirement.

The text covers the basis of the vehicle and looks at the requirements that the Bundeswehr had for the vehicle. If I understand exactly what the book is relaying to me the manufacturer actually had this in the works due to having an ear to the ground and designing a vehicle for the role. Reading through the text would seem to indicate that this vehicle in its various variants has proven to be a reliable vehicle that can be depended upon.

Now I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that the photographs in this title are of the usual high standard regular readers have come to expect. The photographs provided have covered all of the variants to a reasonable standard considering the available space in the title. There is of course good general walk arounds in addition to specific detail being covered by close up photographs. All told I got everything I wanted from the photographs at this stage. As usual with Tankograd Publishing titles, all of the photographs are accompanied with very clear captions that describe what you are looking at. The captions provided is one aspect of these books that rates very highly.

Conclusion

At the start of looking at this offering from Tankograd Publishing covering the ESK Mungo I knew nothing about it. Having read the book and examined the photographs I feel I have a reasonable grounding in the vehicle and could pick up on good and bad detail present on a model. Because I knew nothing of this vehicle I found myself very pleased with the provided text and still found that the photographic content was of a suitable quantity. There is currently only one model of the Mungo available and that is a resin 1/87th scale offering, but with the speed of new releases today I expect more will be available soon.