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Compendium
by armada
Light Armoured Vehicles
The new-gen ‘Jeeps’
armada
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To Be Light or Not to Be Light? That is the question.
U
ntil a few years ago, the term Light Armoured Vehicle was typically materialised by the
Mowag Piranha, known to the New Continent as the LAV because the type was indeed in the
lighter segment of the overall armoured vehicle category, itself headed by the main battle tank.
Anything below that, like the Panhard VBL (in which L stands for Light to confuse everybody) for example, was not badly categorised because in fact not really categorised at all.
Below that, we had items like the Humvees, which were themselves successors to the ’Jeep‘, that had been
submitted to the same size and weight inflationary process as, for example in the civilian world, the Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit in America), to the extent of turning them into substantially different cars over the years.
Come the ex-Yugoslavia conflict and a blur started to blanket the armoured vehicle categorisation, which in
itself never had been an example of clarity, incidentally. This began with the Humvee class of vehicles that gradually put on weight as a result of the installation of mine protection kits (former O’Gara-Hess comes to memory
in this particular instance), then reinforced panels and armoured glass to protect international peacekeeping crews
against the dreaded snipers’ fire.
By the time the second Iraq and the Afghan conflicts broke out, the ’old‘ light armoured vehicle category started to be nudged upwards on the weight scale with all manner of kits added to them to afford decent protection
(sometimes placebos, really) against nastier than mere rifle calibres, namely anti-armour rocket-propelled grenades
exemplified by the Soviet-era RPG-7.
Soon after though, the buried or roadside makeshift explosive device trend emerged amongst insurgents, calling
for even more beefing up. This eventually spawned the development of so-called ‘new’ light armoured vehicles that
gently started to cross the line and step into the hitherto called Medium Armoured Vehicle category, as instanced
by the Piranha – now in its fifth iteration – which happily tips the scales at 30 tonnes max gross weight (where the
LAV III was half of that while the LAV II had started life at a mere 9.5).
In the meantime, the situation didn’t get any clearer in the new bottom-line ’lights‘ either, a category in which
the Humvee-sized cars started to mix genres with a newcomer, the Mrap style vehicles, which themselves borrow much of their mechanicals from heavy trucks.
One thing is clear though, the true meaning of certain acronyms gets forgotten over the years and invariably leads to some epic situations when, in spite of being still used, they are fully spelt out decades later.
Making things worse is that the understanding of ’light‘ may differ from one side of the Atlantic to
the other. Fair or unfair, and because a line had to be drawn somewhere, we had to arbitrarily set an
upper limit at eleven to twelve tonnes for the purpose of this survey.
Eric H. Biass
1
A New Breed
Caught in action by Armada, the Rheinmetall-KMW AMPV is one of
the all-new European light armoured vehicle offerings
As explained in the opening page of this Compendium, setting the parameters
to call an armoured vehicle ‘light’ is not an easy task. The increasing protection
requirements are inexorably moving the needle of the scale to the right for vehicles that originally targeted a gross weight of five to six tonnes, but with severe
limitations on mobility, which often call for a ground-up redesign.
Paolo Valpolini, inputs from
Eric H. Biass
I
ndeed, and more often than not, mobility considerations have brought the
seemingly endless increase of weight
and dimensions to a halt. The considerable difference between the Afghan terrain, with valleys and narrow tracks, and
that of Iraq, with its wide desert tracks,
for example, has compelled the US Army
to revise its policy towards Mrap vehicles,
leading to the Mrap-All Terrain Vehicle
(M-ATV), with the aim of packing a similar protection level into a smaller, more
agile vehicle that could ensure full mobility to its troops in Afghanistan.
However, in the asymmetrical type of
conflicts that now seem to prevail, opponents have no standards: if they realise that
a makeshift bomb is not powerful enough,
they will put two or more side-by-side to
send even main battle tanks toppling over
(as has happened). Thus, never by any
stretch of imagination will the best armour
ever be able to defy the laws of physics. At
the most, what armour and internal vehicle
layout can do today is limit the damage.
The only alternative, or rather additional,
solution is to limit vehicle exposure
through improved intelligence and sensors, but that is a different story.
Splitting wheeled vehicles into three
categories, light, Mrap and heavy, it seems
2
safe to heighten the limit between the
first two at around eleven tonnes.
Many of the vehicles born as ’light‘ are
evolving towards that limit, some new
ones are appearing at 7.5 tonnes with
growth potential, therefore one can
assume that today’s ’light‘ is about the
double of the original weight of many
vehicles of this category.
The JLTV Affair
The major light armoured vehicle programme currently in the pipeline, the
Joint Light Tactical Vehicle currently in
the technology development phase, is
clearly not exempt from risks of cuts and
rethinking. The programme should lead
to a part replacement of the Humvee fleet
currently in service with the US Army and
the Marines, but Australia is also taking
part in the technology development
phase in which it invested 40 million Australian dollars (€ 28.3 million). The interest shown by India for the JLTV programme in late 2009, which would have
led to a wider internationalisation of the
programme, did not materialise.
To align its fleet of LTVs the US Army
aims at replacing front line Humvees
with JLTVs, while current armoured
Humvees such as the M1114 and M1151s,
armada Compendium Light Armoured Vehicles 2011
most of which will be upgraded, would
replace the unarmoured M998, M1025
and M1026 Humvee series. In other
words, the entire programme should
bring about the ’recapitalisation‘ of some
50,000 Humvees and the replacement of
a similar number by the JLTV.
The US Marine Corps should acquire
about 5500 JLTVs and maintain in service
a fleet of some 20,000 Humvees. However,
at AUSA 2010 some doubts started to
emerge about the sustainability of the
JLTV programme as it was initially conceived. Army sources confirmed the service’s commitment to the programme,
however the purchase might be slowed
down and the concerned Humvees probably not replaced on a one-for-one basis.
As for the Marines, doubts on the vehicle’s gross weight seem to emerge every
now and then, resulting from the different
priorities set by the two US services, the
army looking at survivability while the US
Marine Corps, by definition focused on
expeditionary force capability, looks at
R
On the Cover
espectively
known
as
the
Lince
and the Panther
in the Italian and
British
armies,
the Iveco LMV
comes in many
variants, including one for special operations,
and has emerged as one of the most
successful
new-generation
light
armoured vehicles.
The JLTV programme
is currently in
development phase
and vehicles are
being tested at
Aberdeen and Yuma
proving grounds. The
JLTV prototypes
developed by Team
Lockheed Martin have
travelled over
200,000 km during
company trials.
(Lockheed Martin)
transportability, which in other terms
means respect for the original weight and
dimensions set for the programme.
Three payload categories are envisaged. The JLTV-A will serve battlespace
awareness missions by providing protected and networked mobility to the two
services’ general command and control
purposes. The JLTV-B will be aimed at
mounted infantry/combat arms forces,
while JLTV-C will be focused on logistics
for the transport of wounded personnel,
general cargo, ammunition and shelters.
The requirements for the different categories of vehicles and trailers are indicated in the table ‘JLTV Requirements’.
Following the delivery of seven test
vehicles by each of the three selected
competing teams, namely BAE Systems
and Navistar, the Lockheed Martin-led
team comprising BAE Systems Mobility
and Protection Systems, and General Tactical Vehicles (the joint venture company
of General Dynamics Land Systems and
AM General), durability trials are underway at Yuma Proving Ground (Arizona)
while performance trials are being carried out at Aberdeen Proving Ground
(Maryland), the latter including transportability tests and an evaluation of the
vehicles behaviour in urban terrain. Tests
are due to be concluded in May 2011.
The JLTV mission profile includes 30%
primary roads, 30% secondary roads and
40% cross-country travel, the fuel efficiency benchmark being currently set at 60 mpg
(3.92 litres for 100 km), a figure that the US
services hope should even be improved.
Following the users’ evaluation by the US
Marine Corps, the Department of Defense
should launch another full competition for
the engineering manufacturing development phase that would lead to a further
downselection, leaving two teams competing, with the award of two engineering and
manufacturing development contracts in
late 2011 or early 2012.
JLTV Requirements
Cat. A
Cat. B
3500 (T) – 4000 (O) 4000 (T) – 5100 (O)
3400 (T) – 4200 (O) 4200 (T) – 5600 (O)
exceed Humvee (all categories)
60 (T) – 90 (O) (all categories)
70 (all categories)
15 kW (T) – 20 kW (O) (all categories)
10 kW (T) – 30 kW (O) (all categories)
2 hrs (T) – 6 hrs (O) (all categories)
1x at GVW (T)
1x at GVW (T)
2x at ECC (O)
Transp. ext. CH-47F 1x at ECC (T)
1x at ECC (T)
1x at GVW (O)
Transp. ext. MH-47G 1x at ECC (T)
Transp. ext. CH-53E 1x at ECC
1x at ECC (T)
1x at GVW (O)
Transp. int. CH-47 F 1x at ECC (O)
and MH-47G
Transp. int. CH-53E 1x at ECC (O)
and CH-53K
Transp. int. C-130
2x (T) – 3x (O)
1x (T) – 2x (O)
Vehicle payload [lbs]
Trailer payload [lbs]
Performance
Fuel efficiency [mpg]
Speed [mph]
Onboard power gen.
Export power gen.
Silent watch
Transp. ext. CH-53K
Cat. C
Cat. C
5100 (T) – 5500 (O)
5600 (T) – 10,000 (O)
1x at GVW (T)
1x at ECC (1)
1x at ECC (1)
1x at GVW (T)
1x at GCVW (O)
T = Threshold O = Objective
ECC = Essential Combat Configuration = curb weight + ¾ tank fuel + 2 crew members with personal gear +
comm equipment + one day food, water and ammunition supplies
GVW = Gross Vehicle Weight = curb weight + payload + B armour kit
GCVW = Gross Combined Vehicle Weight = JLTV GVW + GVW of the towed load
(1) Excluding JLTV-C Ambulance and JLTV-C Utility with shelter
JLTV Sub-configurations
Cat. A
Cat. B
Team Lockheed Martin – which also
includes BAE Systems, Alcoa Defense
and JWF Defense – has build six company prototype vehicles spanning all payload categories in system test; the last
three already include some user feedback, mostly in the ergonomics, maintenance and supportability areas, and are
98% similar to the vehicles provided to
the US government.
Company prototypes have totalled
over 200,000 kilometres on mobility testing, more than half of which was off-road
to simulate mission conditions. As for protection, 24 hulls were blasted in mine and
IED tests while over 200 ballistic panels
were shot at with high-velocity rounds.
Lockheed Martin has delivered ten
JLTV prototypes to the US government
for the technology demonstration phase;
these are representative of all the payload classes of vehicles, two of them being
right-hand drive.
The Lockheed Martin approach to the
JLTV is based on a common frame on
General Purpose Mobility – four seats US Army/Marine Corps
Infantry Carrier/Fire Team – six seats US Army/Marine Corps
Reconnaissance – six seats US Army
C2OTM – four seats US Army/Marine Corps
Heavy Guns Carrier (MP, Patrol, Escort) – four seats + gunner
US Army/Marine Corps
ITAS Tow Carrier – four seats US Army/Marine Corps
Utility – two seats US Marine Corps
Ambulance – three seats + two litters US Army/Marine Corps
Shelter Carrier/Utility/Prime Mover – two seats
US Army/Marine Corps
Ambulance – three seats + four litters US Army/Marine Corps
which different modular cabs are
installed. The Cat. A version is the smallest, while Cat. B and Cat. C frames are
larger and identical.
Propulsion is also different, with the
Cat. A being equipped with a Cummins
4.5-litre high-efficiency diesel engine
while the Cat. B and C have a 6.8-litre
diesel (Lockheed Martin had proposed a
hybrid propulsion solution on its Future
Tactical Truck System (FTTS) prototype,
but this technology was not deemed
mature for deployment as weight and
’sustainment‘ penalties override the
small advantages gained in fuel consumption). All vehicles feature an inte-
3
The two right-handdriven JLTV
prototypes
delivered by
Lockheed Martin.
Australia is
currently the only
international
partner in the
programme, but
industry teams wish
to create a JSF-like
multinational team.
(Lockheed Martin)
grated starter-generator which provides
the levels of power required by the services, power being distributed along the
vehicle in what is defined as a plug-andplay computer environment, with the onboard network derived from the experience garnered in the Future Combat
System programme.
Among the vehicles delivered, TV6 is
fitted in the so-called C2 On-the-Move
variant; this features integrated prognostics, diagnostics and manifest file transfer
via WiFi along with a net-centric computing infrastructure with four scalable net-
line with requirements. The Cat. A, a general-purpose vehicle, has a curb weight of
12,650 lb and a GVW of 20,000 lbs, in line
with the Marine Corps’ requirements,
while the same vehicle in the Enhanced
Protection configuration unsurprisingly
has a marginally higher curb weight of
more than 20,000 lbs.
The BAE Systems Team proposal,
known as the Valanx, also sees a smaller
Cat. A and larger but similarly sized Categories B and C. The monocoque V-hull is
produced in armour grade aluminium. The
B-kit is made of a mixture of advanced
The BAE SystemsNavistar JLTV-EP
features improved
protection that
draws on further
optimisation of
armour and energy
absorbing package
technologies. (BAE
Systems)
work processors. These expanded features allow for intra-convoy live video
streaming. The company acquired experience in this field when it developed helicopter health monitoring systems.
Ride comfort is ensured by independent double control arm suspensions with
16-inch travel air spring struts. This provides for great ride height adjustment,
including reducing the overall vehicle
height to less than the 76 inches as
required for ship ferrying.
The Lockheed Martin JLTVs adopt a
C4I suite, dashboard, diagnostics and
integrated electronic technical manuals
that were already tested on the FTTS
prototype to reduce risks. This however
did not deter the company from integrating many innovations, having disclosed 33
inventions and filed 15 patents with two
already granted.
BAE Systems is also a centre partner
in view of mass production. Alcoa provides aluminium parts that are key in
keeping weight under control while
maintaining strength and reliability in
4
steels plus aluminium laminates for
perimeter protection, a titanium underbody against mines and roadside bombs
and B-glass for transparent surfaces.
The BAE Systems Navistar vehicle is
powered by a Cummins six-litre, 340-hp,
V8 diesel coupled to an Allison 2500 sixspeed automatic transmission with trans-
The Valanx in right-hand drive
configuration and Australian
camouflage. (BAE Systems)
fer case. Meritor Protec Series 30 High
Mobility independent suspensions feature
double control arms with airbag semiactive dampers offering ride height adjustments of between 178 and 610 mm.
Cat. B and C vehicles have steering on
all four wheels. An integrated starter-generator provides 20 kW of onboard power
and ten kW of exportable power, reaching the objective target in the first case
and the threshold in the latter.
The Navistar team handed over the
seven prototype vehicles and the four
companion trailers to the US Department of Defense in early May 2010; the
variants included two Cat. A General
Purpose, four Cat. B Infantry Carrier and
one Cat. C Utility. These were followed in
The Valanx is the vehicle proposed by
BAE Systems and Navistar Defense for
the JLTV programme. (BAE Systems)
mid-June by the three right-hand drive
vehicles for Australia, namely a Cat. A
General Purpose, a Cat. B Command-onthe-Move and a Cat. C Utility. The last,
the Enhanced Protection, was to be delivered at time of writing.
General Tactical Vehicles has a common base for all three categories. The
vehicles have a V-shape monocoque hull
with space frame upper structure. The Bkit, which would be mounted onto the A
structure to improve protection, has lateral ceramic appliqué armour and segmented aluminium under body protection, while B-type transparent armour
glass would be added to windows.
All are powered by a General Engine
Products Optimizer 3200-500 six-litre,
twin turbo diesel engine kicking 300 hp,
coupled to an Allison automatic six-gear
transmission with transfer case. Suspensions are fully independent through
short- and long-arm design with semiactive damper with compression fluid.
Height control is obviously available. The
typical in-line starter-generator provides
20 kW of on board power and ten kW of
exportable power.
Two right-hand cars were delivered in
mid-July 2010 together with one companion trailer for Australian testing. This
delivery followed the seven left-hand prototypes together with four companion
trailers to the American services delivered
ahead of schedule in late April 2010.
Humvee Upgrade Proposals
Both the US Army and the Marine Corps
are looking at a recapitalisation of part of
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Oshkosh Tak-4
independent
suspensions
mounted on a
Hummer. The
Humvee
recapitalisation
programme will
increase payload
capacities and
protection.
(Oshkosh)
their Humvee fleet, and industry is proposing various solutions to that end. With
the Expanded Capability Vehicle II
(ECV II) programme cancelled in 2009 a
partial fleet capitalisation remains
amongst the Department of Defense’s
plans, but a solution still has to be identified. A request for information was published in January 2010.
The US Marine Corps, for its part,
issued a solicitation in 2010 regarding the
upgrade of its Humvee fleet’s suspensions to improve stability, increase comfort and allow the adoption of heavier
armour. Various companies developed
advanced suspensions solutions. Lord
proposed a magneto-rheological active
shock absorber, which according to the
company, improved energy absorption by
more than 50%, the system absorbing
about 60% of peak loads while reducing
pitch and roll by 30%.
In September 2010 Oshkosh proposed
its Tak-4 independent suspension system.
This yields a 14-inch stroke while its 17inch ground clearance opens the way to
the installation of a V-shaped bottom
kit to improve mine and roadside bomb
blast resistance. The system was stated
to restore the original 2500-lb payload
capacity while increasing the maximum
speed by 40%. The Marines chose
the Horstman Compressible Fluid Strut
solution that ensures the required payload restoration, improves stability and
is easily adaptable to existing vehicles,
with full-scale production forecast for
early 2011.
As for increased protection, solutions
range from new add-on armour kits to
monocoque solutions that would replace
the whole current crew compartment. The
monocoque option would in fact transform the Humvee from an up-armoured
into a true armoured vehicle.
Granite Tactical Vehicles and Textron
Marine & Land Systems are proposing the
Small Combat Tactical Vehicle Capsule
(SCTVC). The new armoured cabin features a monocoque V-hull and is slightly
wider than the original, while the armour
solutions adopted reduce both the weight,
compared to the original up-armoured
The standard
Humvee rubs door
handles, so to
speak, with its
counterpart
equipped with
Oshkosh Tak-4
suspensions, as this
view clearly shows
the riding height
difference between
the two. (Oshkosh)
solution, and the centre of gravity (the
actual weight has not been disclosed).
Blast attenuation seats, floor pads and
other de-coupling solutions reduce the
load factor on the occupants in case of
under-wheel or under-floor blast, while
the energy dispersion obtained by shaping the underbelly considerably reduces
the height to which the vehicle rises and
thereby the slamdown energy.
One of the problems in the original
Humvee is that the transmission and
transfer case are inside the crew compartment, and those heavy metal items
can become lethal projectiles in case of
Granite Tactical
Vehicles and
Textron Marine &
Land Systems
teamed together to
propose the Small
Combat Tactical
Vehicle Capsule
(SCTVC), a
monocoque hull
installed over the
Humvee chassis.
(Textron)
6
explosion. As one of the objectives is a
bare minimum vehicle automotive element modification, these are isolated by
an armoured driveline tunnel. The cell is
pre-wired for easy installation of electronic equipment, and includes a front
and rear air conditioning system.
The SCTVC is undergoing validation
tests and Textron and Granite are awaiting
a US Marine Corps request for proposals,
and consider that their proposal might
also attract the interest from the army.
At AUSA 2010, BAE Systems
unveiled its Integrated Smart V (ISV)
solution that takes into account not only
the crew cell but also the automotive
aspect. The monocoque V-hull leverages
the RG Outrider development and maintains a 17-inch ground clearance at its
centre; the cell includes all the typical
decoupling systems to reduce load factors. The BAE Systems solution includes
semi-active suspensions and a larger
cargo bay at the rear.
The vehicle curb weight of 5.85 tonnes
turns out at 6.98 tonnes gross, the difference resulting from the two-man crew,
which accounts for some 315 kg, and by
the 815 kg remaining payload capacity. A
series of potential payload items are proposed and range from a 295-kg gunner
protection kit, to a 656-kg perimeter B-kit
to further improve ballistic protection,
with a 95-kg under-body B-kit to enhance
underbelly blast protection as another
option. AM General, the original producer of the Humvee, teamed with Plasan
Sasa to offer a non-monocoque solution
to enhance the vehicle protection.
A new technology unveiled at AUSA
2010 might well bring a revolutionary
solution to light armoured vehicles in
terms of underbelly protection. Developed by Hardwire under a Darpa contract, it is known as the Structural Blast
Chimney and consists of a funnel located
in the middle of the vehicle that allows
the blast to vent upwards. This is said to
not only decrease the under-belly pressure but also to generate an upward jet
that creates a downward force on the
vehicle to keep it on the ground and
thereby reduce accelerations.
Coupled to V-hulls this technology,
which is still to be certified but which has
already been blast-tested at Aberdeen
proving ground, might allow to break the
’iron triangle‘ of payload, protection and
performance.
Versatility for today’s challenges, Adaptability for tomorrow’s missions.
Ve tility
V
Versat
ili and
d adaptability
d
bili are jjust as
important to the transformation of today’s
fifighting forces as the introduction of new
technology itself. The HUMVEE® continues
to prove itself as the light tactical vehicle
of choice. With a GVW of over 6100 kg and
the adaptability to support transformation,
no other vehicle compares.
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One of the latest
proposals for the
Humvee
recapitalisation
programme is the
Integrated Smart V
(ISV) monocoque
V-hull unveiled by
BAE Systems at
AUSA in 2010.
(BAE Systems)
The Other Americans
Still in under the Stars and Stripes banner, some vehicles that can be considered
part of the light armoured vehicle category have been designed and produced
by companies normally involved in heavier products, mostly Mraps, and that can
be considered ’mini-Mraps’.
The Force Protection Cheetah is one
of those. The vehicle was proposed for the
JLTV programme but was not selected
for the demonstration phase, and subsequently failed to be chosen for the MATV programme. Its monocoque V-hull
provides a high degree of protection
against blast, while the ballistic protection
can be adapted to customer requirements,
with a Level 1 A-Kit and a Level 3 B-Kit,
leading to respective gross weights of 7.71
and 10.43 tonnes and payloads of 3.72
tonnes and one tonne. Equipped with
height-adjustable independent suspensions, maximum ground clearance turns
out at 475 mm, while power responsibility
is given to a Cummins ISB engine.
Navistar’s MXT-MVA is the intermediate model of the MXT family and its
armour package has been designed by
Plasan Sasa of Israel. Slightly lighter than
the Cheetah at 8.62 tonnes gross, it features leaf spring suspensions with
hydraulic shock absorbers and is powered by a Maxxforce D/VT-365 V8 engine
with 300 hp on tap. It seats two crewmembers plus a maximum of four other
passengers on a bench seat, though blastresistant seats are provided as option.
The standard cabin features four side
doors, but a two-door cabin is available
with three seats, as well as a two-door
extended cabin for five passengers. While
the MXT-MVA (IS) falls in the Mrap-type
category with its gross weight about 15
tonnes, the lighter version of the Navistar
vehicle known as the MXT-MVU (Utility)
is similar to the MXT-MVA but is longer
and lighter (being less armoured) at 7.19
tonnes gross weight with a higher payload
capacity of 2.43 tonnes.
A mix of those vehicles was used as the
base for the British Army Husky, of which
262 were acquired; this led to the International Husky which has the dimensions of
the MVU but muscled by a more powerful engine, a Maxxforce D6.0L V8 with
340 hp under the loud pedal. The Husky
can accommodate four crewmembers
under protection from ballistic threats by
a Plasan Sasa-developed add-on armour
kit of undisclosed level.
However, the MXT family does not
feature a V-shaped hull, which is something that attracted criticism in Britain
since the British troops are deployed in
what is currently considered to be the
worst area in terms of mines and roadside
bombs in Afghanistan.
Another American light armoured
vehicle is the Oshkosh Sandcat, which was
adopted by Canada and Sweden, as well
as by Bulgaria (which acquired 25) and
Israel (where the police acquired 79) – the
latter two having received their vehicles
in 2010. The Sandcats delivered to those
nations were built in different variants,
including utility, transport and special
forces. The utility version can seat four
passengers while the transport version
features a rear compartment with two
benches for a further four passengers.
Built on an upgraded Ford F chassis,
the Sandcat Kit A car – a base-level metal
composite hull – can be improved with
the adoption of the composite-based Kit
B, which brings protection up to Stanag
Level 3+ for ballistic, Level 2a for mines
and Level 4 for roadside bombs.
At Eurosatory 2010 the company
unveiled the Mine-Protected Light
The Navistar MXT
is here shown in its
unarmoured (left)
and Plasan Sasaarmoured versions,
the latter grossing
at 8.62 tonnes.
(Navistar)
8
Patrol Vehicle (M-LPV) version of its
Sandcat, which featured an even greater
protection level compared to the previous models thanks to new composite
ceramic materials and an improved blast
management system. This version has a
four-seat layout, with extra space for two
more optional seats.
MDT Armor and MDT Protective
Industries, respectively the American and
Israeli branches of Aerotech Armor Division, have developed the Tiger, which is
based on the Dodge Ram 5500HD chassis. Powered by a 350-hp Cummins turbodiesel engine (one of the most powerful
in the light armoured vehicle category) it
can carry up to nine passengers, with a
payload capacity of 1.5 tonnes as part of
an 8.8-tonne gross weight.
The crew capsule features four side
doors, one rear door and a roof hatch, and
an all-round view through armoured
glass windows. The layout sees a threecrew front seat row (for the driver, navi-
One of the features of the MDT Tiger is
its flat floor, which allows easy vehicle
ingress and egress and improved
stowage space. (Armada/JK)
gator and commander) and various layout options in the rear, including three to
five passengers seating facing forward or
two longitudinal three-seats rows. An
ambulance version with two or four
stretchers is also available.
Protection is provided in the form of a
basic armour package plus add-on panels; as MDT Armor specialises in lightweight composites and ceramics. Different levels of protection are available, the
Tiger Light having basic floor protection
and high-level side protection, while the
Tiger Medium, proposed to military
forces, has also high-level floor protection against mines (protection levels not
disclosed, though). An optional upgrade
allows a gross weight increase to 10.4
tonnes, the 3.08-tonne payload capacity
permits the installation of reactive
armour able to defeat RPGs and explosively-forged projectiles.
The Tiger was
developed by MDT
on the Dodge Ram
5500HD chassis.
(Armada/JK)
Compared to many other vehicles of
that kind, the Tiger features a flat floor that
makes movement inside the vehicle as well
as ingress and egress much easier. A
remote-control weapon can be installed on
the roof while gun ports in the doors are
available as option. At AUSA 2010 MDT
Armour announced a teaming agreement
with Textron for marketing, design and
manufacture of the Tiger Light.
Panhard of France, which developed
what can be considered the precursor to
multi-role armoured vehicle contract
should be split among two different vehicles, both aimed at combat missions: the
VBMR-heavy, which will replace the Vab
in French infantry units, and the VBMRlight. Some 1200 of the heavier are expected to be acquired, while the number of
VBMR-light should total around 800. The
latter vehicle will have a gross weight of
around ten to twelve tonnes and Panhard
considers that two of its existing products,
the PVP-XL or XXL and the VBR, could
well match that requirement.
Grossing at twelve tonnes and with a
transport capacity of nine (XL) or eleven
Beside numerous
upgrading
programmes for the
basic car, Panhard
now also offers an
all-comprehensive
VBL Mk 2 with
higher protection
and payload
ratings. (Panhard)
many light armoured vehicles in the form
of the VBL, is still very active in this specialty and its vehicles are the subject of a
constant evolution to adapt them to new
situations and missions.
For the company based in Marolles,
south of Paris, the concept of protection
goes beyond the mere notion of armour
to take mobility and stealth parameters
into account right from the inception.
This is why the vehicles conceived since
remain in the stream of the original VBL
in spite of higher mine protection levels.
Although Panhard does not intend to follow the path of the Mrap-type vehicles
developed as a result of the Iraq and
Afghanistan conflicts, the company is
fully convinced that a Level 2a/b will be
needed in future scenarios.
The 16 countries using its Véhicule
Blindé Léger show well how deeply the
company is involved on the export market, although its reference customer
remains the French Armée de Terre. Panhard thus has every reason to be looking
forward to the bids that should be issued
in the near-mid term.
As part of the Scorpion programme, the
VBMR (Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôles)
10
(XXL) soldiers, the stretched version of
the PVP has a three-tonne payload capacity; ballistic protection level can vary from
two to four for the crew cell while mine
protection can be at level 2a/b or 3a/b,
depending on customer requirements.
As for the VBR, this 11.5-tonner with
a 2.5-tonne payload capacity can accommodate up to nine men, with protection
levels of 3 to 4 ballistic and 2b against
mines. The request for proposals is awaited for 2013, but Panhard is already
strongly marketing these vehicles on the
export market, the VBR not only being
regarded as a troop carrier but also as a
fire support vehicle due to its ability to
carry a medium-calibre turret.
The VBMR is aimed at combat units,
but French Army support units should
also receive some light armoured cars, a
batch of over 2000 five-tonne vehicles
(gross weight including a one-tonne payload) are planned to cover their needs.
The PVP is being considered for that role,
while over 300 7.5-tonne vehicles with a
A French Army PVP in action in
Afghanistan in Spring 2010. This
vehicle is being ushered into sevice to
those units not equipped with the VBL.
(Panhard)
1.5-tonne payload capacity are needed,
mostly in ambulance configuration,
hence the presence of an ambulance PVP
HD on display at Eurosatory 2010.
Turning to vehicles currently in service,
Panhard is looking with interest at a project involving the upgrade of some 300
VBLs (over 1600 are currently in service).
Between October 2006 and December
2009 the Armée de Terre received 305 uparmouring kits that were developed following a roadside bomb attack in 2005, of
which 129 kits were intended for the
VB2L, which is the stretched version
ordered by the Armée de Terre for reconnaissance and command post use.
In addition, 69 interfaces for the CB52
turret were installed, including 24 on
VB2Ls. These interfaces were used to
allow the installation of the protected
ring mount formerly installed on Vabs to
be put on the VBL when the Vabs
received the Kongsberg remote-control
weapon station.
The VBL Mk 2
exhibited at
Eurosatory; this
version can carry
larger weapons.
(Armada/PV)
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A refurbished VBL
equipped with the
Wasp light turret
developed by
Panhard in cooperation with
Sagem. (Panhard)
Those urgent operational requirements aside, Panhard has proposed a suspension and braking system upgrade to
French Army vehicles that also sees the
adoption of a double triangle system on
the rear axle to allow a payload increase,
gross weight being thus nudged upwards
from four tonnes to five. This solution is
obviously available also to exported vehicles, since over 670 VBLs are in use in 15
other countries, with the car in both Mk 1
and Mk 2 configurations still attracting
much interest.
Returning to the PVP, a third, but
undisclosed, export customer may soon
join Chile and Togo amongst its foreign
users. Chile has nine and Togo ten that
were ordered with a view to equipping
their respective small peacekeeping contingents respectively deployed in Haiti
and Chad with a vehicle capable of ensuring sufficient mobility and protection.
Chile adopted a stretched version capable of accommodating six soldiers plus a
two-man crew.
Over 700 PVPs have been delivered to
the French Army. The first 299 were powered by an Iveco 80.40, but deemed too
weak to feed ancillary equipment. Thus
from number 300 hence this was replaced
by a beefier Iveco F1C, to provide the
higher electrical power required by the
installation of jammers, which are much
needed downrange. Other minor upgrades
were introduced, particularly footrests to
isolate the crew from the floor. In September 2008 the DGA ordered 30 protected
ring-mounts, which were delivered three
months later and installed on vehicles
operating in Afghanistan.
A number of PVPs are also deployed
in Lebanon. These vehicles are provided
in different versions to support units not
equipped with the VBL: engineers field a
mine clearing and a divers’ versions,
artillery a version tailored to the Drac
drone unit, signals an EW vehicle, while
one specific vehicle was developed for
maintenance and logistic units. Panhard
leverages its Wasp light remotely operated turret, developed with Sagem, to provide an integrated solution that enhances
crew self-protection.
A number of new projects are known
to be finalised at Marolles, although Panhard is keeping its cards up its sleeves in
view of Eurosatory 2012.
Over the last five years another
French company, Renault Trucks
Defense, has developed a completely
new range of 7.7 to 11-tonne tactical and
light armoured 4 x 4s known as the Sherpa Light. Formerly known as Sherpa 2
and Sherpa 3, these designations are no
longer used. The distinctive features of
the Sherpa Light are its all-terrain mobility and huge payload rating.
According to the company, when
equipped with purposely-designed addon armour in the form of ballistic, mine
and IED kits, the Sherpa Light does not
lose anything in terms of mobility and
payload, contrary to older vehicles. Its 60cm ground clearance further contributes
to this mobility and protection against
mines and roadside bombs. Powered by a
215-hp Renault engine torquing out 800
Nm at 1200 to 1700 rpm, its emissions are
Euro V compliant.
The Sherpa Light family currently
includes six versions that share the same
driveline to ease maintenance and
decrease lifecycle costs, but are available
with different wheelbases dimensions,
This is a PVP Heavy
Duty and preludes a
wealth of novelties
Panhard is bound to
come up with at
Eurosatory in 2012.
(Panhard)
12
cabs, protection levels, weapon systems
and equipment, depending on customers’
specific needs.
The first member of the Sherpa Light
family is the ’Scout‘, which is ideally suited for reconnaissance, surveillance,
patrol, command and liaison missions
with a four- or five-soldier cab and a rear
cargo space for all their equipment. The
Sherpa Light ‘Carrier’ is dedicated to
logistic missions in difficult terrain. It has
a two-man cab and the capacity to transport up to 4.5 tonnes of payload including
a ten-foot shelter.
Both the Scout and the Carrier have
been ordered by Nato and Renault also
secured an order for the Carrier to transport the French Army ’Syracuse III‘
satellite communication shelters on the
battlefield. Those two versions, along
with the Sherpa Light Special Forces, are
available with an unarmoured or a «fitted
for but not with» cab, plus different ballistic and mine protection kits.
The three other versions of the Sherpa
Light are all fully armoured. The Sherpa
Light ’Station Wagon‘ is very similar to the
A VBR equipped with a Nexter ARX 20
turret armed with a 20-mm gun; this
vehicle competed for the lower end
vehicles of the future French Army
VBMR bid. (Panhard)
Scout except that its cab has more protected internal volume and is ideally suited for
carrying weapon or mission systems. The
Sherpa Light ’High Intensity‘ is a heavily
armoured version in order to protect its
crew of four to six occupants against ballistic, mine and roadside bomb threats.
Last but not least is the Sherpa Light
’APC‘, the troop transport version of the
family with accommodation for two crewmen and eight soldiers, which was selected
in 2008 by the French Gendarmerie.
With some 2700 vehicles on order or delivered, the Iveco LMV has so far been one
of the most successful light armoured
vehicles produced in Europe, and is far
from being a static programme. The type is
under constant evolution under the thrust
of its various customers, with the Italian
Army obviously in the lead with 1200 so
far ordered. The service, to which it is
generically known as the Lince (Lynx),
will certainly add new batches in new configurations. Inevitably as we shall see, configuration names are far less bucolic.
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Renault Trucks
Defense has
developed a series
of light armoured
vehicle which is
known as Sherpa
Light and has a
gross weight of up
to eleven tonnes.
(Armada/PV)
In Autumn 2010, operational units
started receiving the so-called VTLM-1.
The VTLM is the basic configuration
adopted since 2005, the acronym meaning multi-role light tactical vehicle. The
first Italian Army vehicle to be produced
to that new standard was number 943,
injected into the production line in
December 2009 followed by first deliveries in mid-2010 and already earmarked
for deployment downrange.
One of the main improvements is in
the power distribution plant; while the
original vehicle had a two-voltage alternator (12/24 V) the new version features
a twice more powerful single-voltage (24
V) unit. Two voltage converters feed separate twelve-Volt lines, one for the engine
and the other for ancillaries while the
buffering function is entrusted to late-
that are still worthy of the treatment after
deployment downrange, to the VTLM-1
standard.
A further evolution is awaited with
the VTLM-1A, with a gross weight
increased by 100 kg to 7.1 tonnes. The 1A
adopts a totally new philosophy compared to the original LMV; the latter
could be provided as an unarmoured
vehicle and was then protected with modular kits according to customer requirements. This solution is abandoned in the
1A in order to save weight and in the consideration that the great majority of the
vehicles ordered until now featured a
high level of protection.
The new crew cell is therefore monolithic and the roof is configured to receive
a remotely controlled weapon station
without requiring modification. The cell
In British service the
Panther was first
deployed to
Afghanistan in Spring
2009 by the RAF
Regiment and by the
army’s Close Support
Logistics Regiment.
(BAE Systems)
generation Lithium batteries, as they are
able to sustain high peak consumption
and quickly recharge.
Numerous power points have been
installed in the rear compartment to operate jammers, fridges, a blood bank, etc. The
armoured panel between the crew cell and
the rear compartment features a passage
to allow cables for radios and other equipment to run between the two compartments. The protection continuity is
ensured by a ballistic labyrinth – a similar
solution having been adopted in the
British Panther. A switch allows one to
shift from buffer batteries to standard batteries in case of main battery failure.
The engine is now electronically
screened to avoid interference from the
jammers, while the bonnet is also
equipped with supports for a satcom aerial. The Italian Army is planning to bring
all its existing vehicles, including those
14
is also 40 mm taller, and the same height
increase has been adopted in the rear
compartment, which now has a singlepiece side-door. With such modifications
and the roof mount raising the centre of
gravity, the suspensions have been modi-
fied and toughened to cope with the extra
induced roll.
Finally, an infrared headlight has
replaced one of the fog lights. The Italian
Army is close to signing an add-on order
for a number of vehicles (about one fifth
of those hitherto ordered) in VTLM-1A
guise, as a prototype is already available.
A further batch may be ordered, but in
yet another version known as the VTLM2, the specifications of which are still in
definition phase.
This will feature a cabin derived from
that of the VTLM-1A, the automotive
components have been improved to cope
with a higher 7.5-tonne gross weight. The
chassis may be slightly elongated,
although no firm decision seems to have
been made on this particular point. A
VTLM-2 prototype is expected for mid2012. In fact, anticipation of these ver-
Italy is the principal user of the LMV
Lince (these are seen operating in
Afghanistan), having ordered over
1100 vehicles so far, with more to be
ordered. So far, Iveco has chalked up
orders for 2700 units. (Armada/PV)
sions has already been included in some
foreign contracts.
The qualification process of the vehicle developed for Austria, similar to the
1A version but with a 7.5-tonne gross
weight, is close to completion, deliveries
are scheduled to begin in 2011, with a
slight delay on scheduling. Iveco is currently discussing with Norway a further
batch of 63 vehicles that might be quite
similar to Austria’s.
Currently Norway fields 108 LMVs
acquired in three different batches (25 +
35 + 48, the latter equipped with a 240 kW
alternator) and outfitted for the installaThe Iveco LMV is
under continuous
evolution as
exemplified by this
long wheelbase
version with new
cabin shown at
Eurosatory 2010.
(Armada/PV)
The Italian Army
acquired a number
of tactical
ambulances based
on the stretched
version of the Iveco
LMV. (Armada/PV)
tion of a Kongsberg Protector weapon
station. They are also equipped with
EMC protection to lower the engineinduced noise in radio transmission.
In perspective, Norway announced the
P5929 programme for the acquisition of
armoured wheeled and support vehicles.
A contract to the tune of € 100 to € 150
million is expected in 2013 with deliveries
by 2022. This should include more light
armoured vehicles as, according to the
Norwegian Future Acquisitions document updated in February 2010, «it will
be necessary to reacquire this type of
vehicle fairly frequently due to high wear
during operations abroad».
The multi-year contract with Spain is
flowing at a pace of some 50 vehicles per
year, while the interest shown from Finland for the Special Forces version seems
to be on stand-by, probably due to financing issues. Twenty LMVs per year are
being provided to the Czech republic,
which also adopted the ambulance version
based on the long wheelbase chassis.
Belgium launched a bid for remotecontrol weapon stations to be installed on
its LMVs and this might lead to the
upgrade of its 440 vehicles. Slovakia
selected the vehicle but the contract is
still on stand-by, the Portuguese bid is
currently stalled, Poland put its programme on stand-by though money
might be back soon to allow a slow kickoff, while France is looking at what is
available in Europe.
The Netherlands may launch a bid for
up to 1200, but this won’t happen before
2012. As for Britain, the Operational
Utility Vehicle System was put on hold in
December 2009 and the programme is
not mentioned in the Strategic Defence
and Security Review.
An Istar version is also being studied
for an Italian requirement, but may well
attract the interest of various other countries. This will be based on the long
wheelbase chassis, with a short four-door
cabin and a rear flatbed for customised
payload. The Italian version may be
equipped with a Selex Galileo Janus
panoramic sight and Austria might
decide to order this version.
Much was said about the contract with
Russia, as Iveco is currently in the process
of setting up a joint venture with Kamaz,
General Dynamics’ Mowag is another
major player here, with 900 of its Eagles
ordered in different guises around by
many countries. At Eurosatory 2010 the
company unveiled its new Eagle family,
but by no means does this put an end to
the production and marketing of the previous Eagle IV model, as the two orders
filed by the German BWB in April and
July 2010 for 70 would tend to prove.
These add to the November 2008 contract for 198 (25 of which were ordered
back in July of that year as an urgent
operational requirement) as part of the
GFF2 programme, and to that for 20
ambulances of November 2009.
Known in the Bundeswehr as the
Eagle Bat (Beweglicher ArztTrupp), the
protected ambulance version ordered
can accommodate one stretcher, the driver, the vehicle commander and two medical attendants. Among the latest orders,
60 vehicles will add to the previous fleet,
of these, ten will be painted blue and will
be deployed to support the German Federal Police in Afghanistan. Mowag delivered the last vehicle of the batch of 198 in
Germany ordered the
ambulance version of
the Eagle IV in late
2009; it accommodates one stretcher.
(Mowag)
the contents of the document are in the
definition phase. A specific version will be
developed mostly for use by Russian
security forces. It will be able to operate
down to -45°C, will have a four-door cabin
and a gross weight of 7.5 tonnes, the ballistic protection level has been purposely
adapted to the requirement. The number
of vehicles might reach around 1700 and
be assembled at the Naberezhnye Chelny
plant, 900 km east of Moscow.
The new Eagle has a
higher internal
headroom and
protected volume
together with a
protection against
mines that is claimed to
be equal to that of an
Mraps. (Mowag)
September 2010 three months ahead of
schedule; the first vehicle was deployed
to Afghanistan in May 2009.
Improving protection, increasing the
payload and internal volume as well as
improving ergonomics, the new family of
Eagles nevertheless maintain the same
width, length and height as the previous
Eagle IV as well as most of the automotive components, although the gross
weight is increased from 8.5 to ten tonnes.
The new 4 x 4 version with four-door
crew cab can seat four to six soldiers, the
internal volume has been increased to 6.5
metres3 by raising the roof in the forward
part of the crew-cell and by moving the
cell 150 mm forward to optimise the driver position.
In this configuration the payload has
been increased by one tonne to 3.3
tonnes. Ballistic, roadside bomb and antimine protection levels remain classified,
the only statement being that the vehicle,
«can withstand very large IEDs», and
that it has, «an Mrap class mine protection», thanks to its integrated mine-protected cab with double V-shaped floor,
15
AC
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
Aligator Master
4.34
2.39
2.02
9.80
125
2.80
8
4x4
n/a
Kerametal, Slovakia
Shown here in NBC reconnaissance guise. Slovakian forces operate a
number of versions.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
LMV
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
metres
metres
metres
tonnes
km/h
tonnes
AMPV 2
KMW-Rheinmetall, Germany
A co-development between Rheinmetall and KMW, the AMPV rests on
Boxer-derived suspensions.
4.79 metres
2.20 metres
2.05 metres
7.00 tonnes
130 km/h
2.30 tonnes
4-5
4x4
Iveco 190 hp
Iveco DV, Italy
Known as the Lince in Italy and the Panther in Britain.
Musketeer
Saymar, Israel
Based on the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Musketeer entered the market in
2009.
Panhard, France
Stretched PVP version marketed as troop carrier and in other missionoriented configurations such as ambulance.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
RG Outrider
TMV, UK
Being developed with a twin V-hull structure using Plasan Sasa Smart
Strike material.
Rejec
suspe
MX
Armo
of th
6.00 metres
2.20 metres
2.19 metres
9.50 tonnes
120 km/h
1.90 tonnes
4
4x4
Steyr 272 hp
BAE Systems OMC, South Africa
Derivative of the RG32; optimises curb weight/payload ratio.
Length:
5.70 metres
Width:
2.36 metres
Height:
2.23 metres
Combat weight: 7.50 tonnes
Maximum speed: 137 km/h
Payload:
4.00 tonnes
Passengers:
10
Drive:
6x6
Engine:
Cummins 200 hp
TMV 6x6M
Ch
Length:
5.08 metres
Width:
1.85 metres
Height:
2.00 metres
Payload:
1.60 tonnes
Passengers:
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Toyota 129/168 hp
Length:
5.47/5.87 metres
Width:
2.50 metres
Height:
2.33 metres
Payload:
3.00 tonnes
Passengers:
9/11
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
300 hp
PVP XL-XXL
5.36 metres
2.27 metres
2.19 metres
9.30 tonnes
110 km/h
2.00 tonnes
4
4x4
272 hp
RG
Prod
has v
Length:
5.56 metres
Width:
2.44 metres
Height:
2.84 metres
Payload:
1.59 tonnes
Passengers:
4
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 340 hp
Valanx JLTV
BAE-Navistar, USA
Currently undergoing users trials with the US Army and US Marine Corps
for the JLTV programme.
Armada Compendium Light Armoured Vehicles 2011
Va
In se
Thail
A Compendium of Light Armoured Vehicles for 2011
es
es
es
es
h
es
ny
Length:
5.51 metres
Width:
2.52 metres
Height:
2.46 metres
Combat weight:
10.43 tonnes
Payload:
1.00 tonnes
Passengers:
5
Drive:
4x4
Engine: Cummins 275/300 hp
Cheetah
Force Protection, USA
Rejected as a JLTV contender, it features a V-hull and height-adjustable
suspension.
es
es
es
es
h
es
MXT-MVA
Navistar Defense, USA
Armour package developed with Plasan Sasa; compared to other vehicles
of this kind it lacks a V-shaped hull.
es
es
es
es
h
es
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
hp
ca
RG32M
BAE Systems OMC, South Africa
es
es
es
es
h
es
Developed in the late 1990s, the Cobra is based on the Humvee chassis.
Length:
6.40 metres
Width:
2.44 metres
Height:
2.31 metres
Combat weight:
7.19 tonnes
Maximum speed: n/a km/h
Payload:
2.43 tonnes
Passengers:
5-6
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Maxxforce 300 hp
MXT-MVU
Navistar Defense, USA
Longer version of the MXT, has a smaller cabin and thus trades weight for
extra payload.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
Sandcat
Vamtac S3 4PC
Uro, Spain
In service with the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Romania,
Thailand, Venezuela and Spain (main user with more than 1200 units).
5.05 metres
2.16 metres
2.25 metres
8.85 tonnes
120 km/h
2.10 tonnes
4-8
4x4
325 hp
Oshkosh, USA
Built on an upgraded Ford F chassis, it fits neatly between the Humvee and
the JLTV series.
Length:
4.85 metres
Width:
2.18 metres
Height:
1.90 metres
Combat weight:
5.30 tonnes
Payload:
1.5-2.5 tonnes
Passengers:
5
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Steyr 188 hp
hp
ps
Otokar, Turkey
5.30 metres
2.14 metres
2.18 metres
9.50 tonnes
110 km/h
3.00 tonnes
5-7
4x4
Steyr 181 hp
Produced in South Africa, it is the lightest member of the RG family and
has various levels of protection.
A
Cobra
Length:
5.97 metres
Width:
2.44 metres
Height:
2.31 metres
Combat weight:
8.62 tonnes
Payload:
1.68 tonnes
Passengers:
5-6
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Maxxforce 300 hp
hp
el
Length:
5.23 metres
Width:
2.24 metres
Height:
2.10 metres
Combat weight:
6.30 tonnes
Payload:
1.10 tonnes
Passengers:
45
Drive:
4x4
Engine: General Motors 190 hp
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
VBL Mk 2
3.96 metres
2.02 metres
1.74 metres
5.00 tonnes
110 km/h
0.90 tonnes
3
4x4
Steyr 125 hp
Panhard, France
VBL with upgraded suspension and armouring, hence gross weight
increased from 4 to 5 tonnes.
Length:
5.36 metres
Width:
2.16 metres
Height:
2.30 metres
Combat weight:
8.50 tonnes
Payload:
2.30 tonnes
Passengers:
4-5
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 250 hp
Eagle IV
Mowag, Switzerland
Based on Duro, has bagged numerous orders, including Germany where it
won the first batches of the GFF2 programme.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
New Eagle
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
Hawkei
Thales, Australia
Kitted monocoque developed with Plasan Sasa, can be quickly equipped
with a B-Kit to increase protection.
5.36 metres
2.16 metres
2.30 metres
10.0 tonnes
110 km/h
3.30 tonnes
4-6
4x4
250 hp
Mowag, Switzerland
The New Eagle made its public début at the Eurosatory exhibition in 2010.
Length:
5.50 metres
Width:
2.20 metres
Height:
2.50 metres
Combat weight:
9.25 tonnes
Payload:
1.25 tonnes
Passengers:
4
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 300 hp
Nimr II
Bin Jabr Group, UAE
Sold to the United Arab Emirates and to Libya, the latter received vehicles
with Level 3 ballistic and Level 3A anti-mine protection.
Length:
5.43 metres
Width:
2.35 metres
Height:
2.10 metres
Combat weight:
2.10 tonnes
Payload:
1.50 tonnes
Passengers:
4-5
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Renault 215 hp
Sherpa Light
Renault Trucks Defense, France
The Sherpa Light constitutes Renault’s first step into the world of light
armoured vehicles.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
VBR
Length:
5.31 metres
Width:
2.06 metres
Height:
2.47 metres
Combat weight:
7.50 tonnes
Payload:
2.00 tonnes
Passengers:
6
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 183 hp
SPV400
Very upper limit of light vehicles; not only for patrol duties, but also a
highly-armed recce car with a medium-calibre gun.
Supacat, UK
Composite cell developed by NP Aerospace mounted on the Supacat
chassis.
5.45 metres
2.50 metres
1.99 metres
11.5 tonnes
110 km/h
2.50 tonnes
4-9
4x4
MTU 325 hp
Panhard, France
5.50 metres
2.36 metres
2.25 metres
10.0 tonnes
110 km/h
3.10 tonnes
6
4x4
268/300 hp
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
Wolf
5.90 metres
2.39 metres
2.59 metres
8.70 tonnes
130 km/h
1.30 tonnes
9
4x4
Ford 300 hp
Hatehof, Israel
In service with the Israel Defense Force, by numerous other countries and
the United Nations as a troop carrier.
Length:
5.99 metres
Width:
2.35 metres
Height:
2.30 metres
Payload:
2.10 tonnes
Passengers:
4-7
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 245 hp
Hurricane
Hatehof, Israel
In standard form the Hurricane accommodates a team of five soldiers, but
can receive an extra two seats.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
Ocelot
Length:
4.90 metres
Width:
1.90 metres
Height:
1.90 metres
Maximum speed: 95.0 km/h
Payload:
1.10 tonnes
Passengers:
4
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Mercedes 184 hp
LAPV 5.4
Mercedes-Benz, Germany
This armoured patrol vehicle is based on the company’s G-Wagen series.
5.32 metres
2.10 metres
2.35 metres
7.50 tonnes
110 km/h
1.50 tonnes
6
4x4
Steyr 193 hp
Force Protection, UK
Developed by Force Protection in Europe with Ricardo. Winner of the
British LPPV requirement.
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
PVP
Panhard, France
Developed for the French Army, the PVP is an affordable protected vehicle
for units not equipped with the VBL.
Length:
5.60 metres
Width:
2.42 metres
Height:
2.39 metres
Payload:
1.50 tonnes
Passengers:
6-9
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 350 hp
Tiger
MDT Armor, USA
Based on the Dodge Ram 5500HD chassis for paramilitary and military
forces. Available with different protection levels.
Length:
5.70 metres
Width:
2.20 metres
Height:
2.40 metres
Payload:
1.20 tonnes
Passengers:
2+4
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 205 hp
Tigr ASPV
Arzamas, Russia
Manufactured in numerous versions; Armoured Special Purpose Vehicle
shown here.
Length:
4.98 metres
Width:
2.51 metres
Height:
2.49 metres
Payload:
2.75 tonnes
Passengers:
7-9
Drive:
4x4
Engine:
Cummins 245 hp
Xtream Light
Hatehof, Israel
At the upper limit of Light Armoured Vehicles, it can have a protection level
up to 3 against ballistic and mine threats.
4.18 metres
1.97 metres
2.18 metres
5.30 tonnes
120 km/h
1.00 tonnes
2-7
4x4
Iveco 160 hp
Length:
Width:
Height:
Combat weight:
Maximum speed:
Payload:
Passengers:
Drive:
Engine:
zx2SRV
5.08 metres
2.00 metres
2.38 metres
7.50 tonnes
130 km/h
2.50 tonnes
8
4x4
MAN 180 hp
Creation-Babcock, UK
Formerly known as the Zephyr, SRV stand for Specific Requirements
Vehicle.
The new Eagle 4 x
4 reached the tentonne gross weight
limit, a 14-tonne
6 x 6 version is
currently under
development.
(Mowag)
internal decoupling measures and energy
absorbing seats.
Considering that the Eagle IV with
add-on protection has Level 3 ballistic
and Level 2a mine protection, the new
family should have a protection level
equal to or more probably greater than
that. A utility version is proposed, with a
three-metre3-volume two-man cabin and
a rear transport platform, the reduced
armoured volume allows an increased
payload of up to 3.6 tonnes.
The 250 hp engine is good for a maximum speed of 110 km/h in high gear
while range stands at about 650 km.
Mowag is also planning a stretched 6 x 6
version, the length of which will be
increased from 5.4 to 6.6 metres while
gross weight towers at 14 tonnes, making
it hard to consider that version a light
vehicle. Two options are offered, one with
a four-door crew cab and 6.5-tonne payload and the other with a utility two-door
cab and 6.8-tonne payload capacity.
According to the company, some new
contracts are in the pipeline but no
details were given neither on the type of
vehicle nor on the potential customers,
but what is certain is that it is bidding for
the Land 121 Phase 4 contract in Australia, the prime contractor being in that
case General Dynamics Land Systems
Australia.
Although the Bundeswehr has acquired
an initial batch of Eagle IVs, this does not
mean that the German industry, historically more active in the heavy vehicles
arena, does not have some interesting
programmes in the light category as well.
The main one is the Armoured MultiPurpose Vehicle (AMPV), developed by
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Defence and aimed, at least initially, at the German GFF 1 and 2 classes
of vehicles.
The programme is steadily progressing, the first version developed by the two
The new Eagle
unveiled at Eurosatory
was equipped with the
Sidepro Lasso RPG
protection system
developed by Ruag.
(Armada/PV)
companies is the heavier one of the two,
grossing at 9.3 tonnes with a payload of
two tonnes. More specifically, the first to
be built is the Type 2a, which is the patrol
version with a 5.5-metre3 internal volume
plus one cubic metre of unprotected volume at the back (although there are provisions for armouring this as well).
The self-supporting safety cell is
designed to ensure maximum protection
from mines, the level is defined as ’heavy‘
and from IEDs, ’medium‘, as well as from
small arms ballistic threat. The steel welded hull is the responsibility of Rheinmetall while KMW is working on ceramThe first version of the
AMPV to be developed
is aimed at the Class 2
GFF German contract.
Currently four
prototypes of the AMPV
are undergoing user
trials. (KMWRheinmetall)
20
ic add-on armour. The purposely-developed chassis is equipped with Boxerderived independent suspensions with
double-traverse control arms and
hydraulic dampers. The engine is a ’militarised‘ Steyr 272-hp six-cylinder diesel
mated to an automatic gearbox.
Energy absorbing seats have been
made by König, and according to Rheinmetall specifications. In Fall 2010 four
prototypes were running. Following the
manufacturing and initial testing of the
first two, the second pair of vehicles was
subject to some improvements, particularly in the cooling and braking departments, while some ancillaries were
moved in order to avoid stores under the
vehicle floor.
The floor itself is attached to the roof
and between its surface and the
armoured bottom there is a space of
about 20 cm. While company tests continued with the two latest prototypes, the
first two were updated to the same standards. Moreover, one qualification model
was produced to be provided for qualification to WTD91, the BWB proving
ground in Meppen, which is responsible
for ballistic and blast tests.
Company testing was nearly finished
and in-house blast tests have proven very
successful, with Level 3a/2b against
mines, while the vehicle withstood a blast
of 100 kg TNT equivalent at five metres
to simulate a roadside bomb explosion. In
early 2011 the prototypes will start mobility tests at the WTD41 proving ground
in Trier.
In the meantime, the consortium made
of the two main land defence companies
in Germany is thinking forward, as indeed
a fifth seat might be added (at least in the
form of an emergency seat, the problem
being the required stand-off distance
between the seats and the sidewall for lateral protection), while a stretched ambulance is envisaged. KMW and Rheinmetall will bid for the second batch of the
GFF2 programme, for which a request for
proposals should be published in late
2011. As for the AMPV 1A its development is scheduled for after 2011.
A new German contender in the light
armoured vehicle arena is MercedesBenz, which developed a family of LAPVs
with two of its members extensively based
on the G-Class chassis. The LAPV 5.4
offers a 1.1-tonne payload, which, in the
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The LAPV 5.4 is an armoured patrol vehicle based on the G-Wagen chassis and has a
1.1-tonne payload capacity. The first LAPV 5.4 was handed over by Mercedes to the
BWB in early November 2010. (Mercedes-Benz)
basic version with monocoque armour
steel body, provides Level 2 ballistic protection and Level 1b anti-mine protection,
although part of the payload capacity can
be used to increase these levels. It is available as a five-door car with fully armoured
passenger and luggage compartments, or a
four-door type with unprotected rear
body assembly.
Powered by a Mercedes-Benz G 280
CDI engine coupled to a five-speed automatic transmission, with integrated
reduction gear and three fully engageable differential locks, it has a range of
about 700 km. The Bundeswehr acquired
45 units under the GFF1 programme, the
first of which was delivered to the German BWB 9 November 2010. The deployment of the Enok (as it is known to the
Bundeswehr) to Afghanistan is planned
for early 2011 and the procurement of a
further batch of 100 is planned between
2011 and 2012.
As a follow-on to the Enok, Mercedes
unveiled the LAPV 6.X concept at
Eurosatory 2010. It retains the monocoque
hull of the 5.4 but increases mobility and
payload capacity thanks to the adoption of
newly-developed portal axles with coilover-air suspension damper units, a central
tyre inflation system and a levelling system
to adjust ground clearance (at maximum
height the 6.X can cross a one-meter-deep
water obstacle).
The new suspensions also afford a 6.4tonne gross weight, which, in turn, allows
for the adoption of heavier Level 3 ballistic and Level 2a anti-mine add-on armour
as well as some envisaged engine compartment protection. The prototype that
was exhibited featured a number of
EADS-integrated mission equipment.
A third LAPV family member was also
unveiled at Eurosatory, the 7.X, born this
time by Unimog frame and axles while
powerplant and cockpit remain those of
the G-Class vehicles. The prototype fea-
The LAPV 7.X concept
unveiled by MercedesBenz was developed
on a hybrid solution
between the G-Wagen
and the Unimog
chassis. (MercedesBenz)
tured a four-door cabin and an open pickup rear platform. Gross weight was given
at 7.5 tonnes, with protection levels similar
to those of the 6.X family.
A programme that sparked off the inception of a number of new light armoured
vehicles types was certainly the British
Army Light Protected Patrol Vehicle
(LPPV) programme aimed at seeing the
replacement of Snatch Land Rovers
that are no match against the increasing
effectiveness of roadside bombs in
Afghanistan.
In September 2009 three British vehicles lined up for that bid, namely the
Zephyr developed by Creation and Babcock Land Systems, the Ocelot by Force
The prototype of the
Mercedes LAPV 6.X
unveiled at
Eurosatory 2010.
The new suspension
system adopted to
improve its crosscountry performance
and its payload
rating are seen here
painted in bright
orange.
(Armada/PV)
22
Protection Europe and the SPV400 by
Supacat. The requirements called for a
7.5-tonne gross weight with at least 1.5
tonnes of payload, a width of less than
two metres for a length of six, seats for six
passengers and a protection level «equal
to or greater than that of the Mastiff» –
the latter being a 28-tonne vehicle.
The Zephyr vehicle was built around
an eight-passenger composite survival
cell surrounded by protection add-ons in
terms of ballistic and mine-defeating
armour. The baseline protection provided by the Zephyr SRV (Specific Requirements Vehicle) is Level 2a/b anti-mine
and Level 3 ballistic and includes a
V-shaped belly plate made of ten-mmthick special steel. Part of the payload can
be used to increase protection both in the
anti-mine and ballistic fields but the company declined to communicate on the
levels reached during blast trials.
To isolate the survival cell from blast
accelerations, four rubber dampers interface with the chassis, and passengers are
equipped with newly developed energyabsorbing seats. Serviceability was taken
into account, the 180-hp engine and fivespeed auto-shifter form a single block
that can be removed in 45 minutes. The
company is planning to offer a startergenerator option to provide a considerable amount of exportable power. The
Internal layout of Creation’s zx2SRV
with its energy-absorbing seats.
(Creation)
Zephyr’s four-corner independent suspensions are designed to be sacrificed in
case of blast.
In late 2009 Babcock decided to withdraw from the competition for strategic
reasons; the Zephyr is therefore now a
product wholly developed by Creation, the
company concentrating on the export market as evidenced by the development of a
Formerly managed by
Team Zephyr, which
included Babcock
Land Systems, the
Zephyr programme is
now in the hands of
Creation, which
renamed it zx2SRV.
The vehicle is here
seen equipped with a
protected position for
the machine gunner.
(Creation)
pre-production left-hand drive 4 x 4. A 6 x
4 version has also been developed, known
as the zx3SRV, the original 4 x 4 has now
been renamed the zx2SRV. This twelvetonne 6 x 4 has a four-tonne payload capacity and can seat a two-man crew and ten
troops if no blast seats are used.
The zx3SRV is currently undergoing
what the company defines as ’growth trials‘. Creation is considering transforming
the free axle to make it electrically powered, possibly with the use of two wheel
motors, in order to provide customers
with an optional silent drive mode. A
three-axle version in a 6 x 6 configuration
should be available in early 2011. Team
Zephyr is looking at the world market
(and at bids such as Canada’s Light Tactical Vehicle) and, while over 20 countries
have shown interest in the vehicle, the
main areas of interest originate from the
Middle East, North Africa and the Far
East, areas for which Creation is prepared to ensure technology transfer for
local production.
The Supacat SPV400 features a composite armour survivability cell developed by NP Aerospace linked to the
chassis by four connectors. This configuration allows the cabin to be tilted sideways – left to right – to access the automotive components in the chassis. The
latter is made of a front module, cradling
the 185-hp power pack based on a Cummins ISBe 4.5-litre turbocharged diesel
engine, a rear module carrying the rear
axle and a central V-shaped hull in which
nestles the Allison 2500 six-speed transmission and the two-speed transfer box.
Splitting engine and transmission
improves protection but also offers the
flexibility required for an eventual hybrid
propulsion.
Supacat made sure that, in the event of
an explosion, no systems included in the
V-hull would brake free and hit the floor,
thereby transferring energy to it. Both
the front and rear modules would be sacrificed in case of blast under the wheels or
between the wheels, while in case of a
blast under the belly the front and rear
modules will remain linked to the main
body, thus increasing the weight and
reducing the height reached by the vehicle in the upwards thrust.
The SPV400 carries double-wishbone,
air-sprung, fully independent suspensions.
The composite armour survivability pod
is mounted over the central armoured
borne bomb in the region of 50 kg,
although the distance from the blast was
not provided, while some testing with
Level 4b mine protection were also carried out with positive results.
The most recent data about the vehicle shows an increased kerb weight of 6.5tonnes, in other words, half a tonne more
than disclosed at DSEi in 2009, which
brings gross weight to eight tonnes. This
might be a choice of the company to pursue an even higher degree of protection
now that the SPV400 is no longer running
for the LPPV programme. A noteworthy
point is that since both pod and V-hull
protection is modular, not only could pro-
The zx3SRV is the 6 x 4 variant of the
former Zephyr developed by Creation
in Britain, and tips the scales at twelve
tonnes gross. Its central axle is currently
not powered but it could become
electrically driven, giving it a stealth
approach option. (Creation)
An SPV400 prototype
undergoing mobility
tests. Supacat is
currently producing
the seventh test
vehicle, which is very
close to production
standard. New
envisaged versions
will include an opentop car for special
forces. (Supacat)
hull, well away from the wheels. The cell
provides Level 3 ballistic protection, the
combination of the central hull and cell
giving a Level 3a/b mine protection level.
However, company sources state that the
vehicle survived a simulated vehicleA rear view of the
SPV400 developed by
Supacat. This vehicle
has a peculiar chassis
that allows its front
and rear axles to be
sacrificed in case of
under-wheel
explosion. (Supacat)
tection level be increased if and when
new materials are available, but weight
could also be decreased if the vehicle is
operating in lower threat scenarios.
Supacat is currently assembling the
seventh prototype, which can be considered a pre-production vehicle. Compared
to its six predecessors, of which three
were blown up during testing, the new
SPV400 features some minor changes in
the design of the V-hull, while the composite pod remained unchanged. Some
modifications to the automotive components were also made following trials; for
example, the headlights were moved
from the bumper into the bonnet. Prototype 7 will be exhibited at Idex 2011.
Supacat says that the SPV400 will be
ready for production in March or April
2011. The company identified seven
countries that have an absolute requirement for a vehicle of this category, and is
obviously considering them as the pri-
23
This drawing reveals
the philosophy
adopted by Supacat in
the design of the
SPV400. (Supacat)
mary targets of its marketing campaign,
but declined to name them.
Supacat wants to develop a series of
new mission-oriented pods, such as an
open-top Wmik, a two-man pod with rear
cargo space, as well as ambulance, command and control and recce versions.
These should be ready before mid-2011
and will allow Supacat to demonstrate
The first vehicles should be deployed to
Afghanistan in early January 2012.
The Ocelot was designed, developed
and built by the European branch of
Force Protection, together with Ricardo
in Britain. The vehicle features a crew cell
that is fixed to the chassis (often referred
to as ’the skateboard‘) with four connectors and is therefore easily interchangeThis rear view of the
Ocelot allows one to
appreciate the deep Vhull developed to
withstand heavy mine
blasts. (Force
Protection)
the vehicle’s flexibility to potential customers. The SPV400 pod is attached to
the chassis by four connectors, it takes a
crane and about two hours to replace a
pod for a different mission (the only
other elements requiring decoupling are
the steering, the brakes and the electronics). As for the SPV600 6 x 6, Supacat stated that it would wait a firm order for the
4 x 4 vehicle before moving on to a new
stretched version.
On 22 September 2010 the British
Ministry of Defence announced that the
preferred bidder status for the LPPV
programme was awarded to Force Protection Europe’s Ocelot, and that an initial 200 vehicles would be acquired following the completion of contract
negotiations. The contract was signed 30
November 2010 and is worth approximately €215 million. The first production
vehicle should be ready in Q2 2011, the
delivery of 35 vehicles for training is
expected by late September 2011 and all
200 are to be handed over by spring 2012.
24
able, allowing the cells to be swapped
over between missions. Disconnecting
two connectors on the same side allows
the cabin to be shifted sideways to access
the power pack and all the other automotive components, considerably easing
the maintenance task.
To minimise slamdown, the Ocelot
deflects as much blast as possible away
from the platform while keeping as much
weight as possible in the platform. The
composite cabin answers the LPPV ballistic protection requirement without add-on
armour, and is ready to accept additional
armour packages to defeat the RPG and
EFP threat. The deep V-shaped hull, the
crew cell floor and the decoupling solutions
provide a Level 2b mine protection.
The Ocelot has only two points of
access, one door on the right for the com-
Britain opted for the Force Protection
Ocelot for its Light Protected Patrol
Vehicle programme. It has also been
downselected for the Land 121 Phase
4 programme in Australia. (Force
Protection)
mander and the door in the rear for the
remaining personnel. The PPV version
seats six soldiers, two upfront and four aft
(the FSV seats four). Curb weight is at six
tonnes, which means that the 1.5-tonne
payload allows the PPV to transport the
two-plus-four soldier complement as well
as a roof-mounted remotely controlled
self-defence weapon, or a larger calibre
weapon on the FSV. The Ocelot has a
193-hp Steyr 3.2-litre diesel engine and a
power management system. The digital
architecture is from Thales UK.
The Ocelot is amongst the contenders
of the Australian Land 121 Phase 4 in the
Protected Mobility Vehicle - Light (PMVL) category, and to that end Force Protection reached an agreement with the South
Australian Government for producing the
vehicle locally, should the Ocelot win. In
the first quarter of 2011 Force Protection
will deliver two vehicles to Australia, one
protected patrol and one in the pick-up
type logistic variant equipped with a twoman cabin. Such a configuration might
The Ocelot’s crew cell
is hinged onto one
side, allowing easy
servicing of automotive
components. (Force
Protection)
AVOID THIS!!!
Tire without Shield protection
cut by rocks & debris
Tire with Shield protected
from damaging rocks & debris
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Approximately 70% of all combat
tires need to be replaced due to
damage. 40% of the damage is to
the tire side wall. The HUTCHINSON
Tire Shield guards the tire sidewall
from such costly damages while
allowing the vehicle to complete the
mission and return the crew to
safety!
0$79&RXUWHV\RI2VKNRVK'HIHQVH
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ĨŽƌĞŵĞƌŐŝŶŐƚŚƌĞĂƚƐŝŶƚŚĞŵŽƐƚĂƐǇŵŵĞƚƌŝĐďĂƩůĞĮĞůĚƐ͘
A fully enclosed cabin
derivative of the TMV
6 x 6 is currently
being developed with
a V-shaped hull.
(Armada/PV)
sions for a two-man crew and eight passengers. The vehicle is aimed at an Asian
country and will maintain the same
dimensions as the open-top special forces
vehicle. It will be armed with a 12.7-mm
machine gun on a ring mount, although
the roof is outfitted to accommodate a
remotely controlled weapon station.
SLOVAKIA FLAG
well be of interest to the British Army for
the Operational Utility Vehicle System,
which might be revised in a form or another as the need for such a category of vehicles remains.
More recently, Force Protection
announced its intention to take part in
the JLTV engineering and manufacturing
phase of the bid, possibly teaming with a
strong industrial partner, as the Ocelot
matches JLTV Cat. A requirements. The
US Marine Corps has shown an interest
in the vehicle. Force Protection Europe is
working closely with the UK Trade &
Investment Defence and Security Organisation to identify new potential markets,
particularly in Latin America, the Middle
East and North Africa.
The modularity of the vehicle means
that less sophisticated and cheaper solutions in terms of protection could be
offered should the market require such a
move. On the other hand, the company is
already thinking of improvements and
potential growth margins: a starter generator should be coupled to the transmission as part of an enhancement package,
if required, while an increase in the curb
weight to enhance protection should
bring the Ocelot gross weight to about
ten tonnes (but this would require modifying the suspension).
being developed. The vehicle adopts a
twin ’V‘ hull structure made of formers
and stringers, the armoured superstructure being mounted on outriggers to minimise blast effect.
The four tonne payload of the open
version will of course be reduced in the
all-protected cabin with Level 3 against
ballistic threats and Level 2a/b against
mines obtained using Plasan Sasa’s Smart
An Aligator in route
clearance
configuration. From
that vehicle Kerametal
developed an
upgraded version
known as Aligator
Master. (Armada/PV)
strike face materiel. Power is by virtue of
a Cummins 200-hp engine coupled to an
Allison 2500SP six-speed automatic
transmission with high and low ranges,
although TMV is open to adopt a different engine if required by a customer.
A Slovak Army
Aligator in NBC
reconnaissance
configuration.
Kerametal provided
numerous vehicles of
this type in various
configurations to the
Slovak national forces.
(Armada/PV)
As for now, the company made it very
clear that the absolute priority is to deliver the vehicles to Britain within the
scheduled timeframe.
Another vehicle of British origin in
the same 7.5-tonne class is the TMV 6 x 6.
The basic version features an open crew
compartment and is therefore not eligible as a light armoured vehicle. However,
a version with a fully enclosed cabin is
26
In the Slovak Republic, Kerametal has
further developed its monocoque Aligator, which is currently in service with the
local army in various configurations,
among which an NBC reconnaissance
vehicle. Known as the Aligator Master, it
has a 9.8-tonne gross weight including an
eight-tonne payload, which is a considerable increase over the previous model’s
6.7 tonnes gross and 1.2-tonne payload
allowance.
While the vehicle maintains the same
4.34 metre length, it is slightly wider at
2.39 metres (vs. 2.37 metres) and higher
at 2.02 metres (vs. 1.95). The height
The TMV 6 x 6 features fully independent, double wishbone suspensions
and air bladders operated by rockers that
allow ground clearance adjustment. In offroad driving all three axles steer, a facility
that is reduced to the two front axles only
on roads. The fully armoured TMV 6 x 6
under development is a three-tonne payload armoured personnel carrier with a
4.5-tonne curb weight and seating proviarmada Compendium Light Armoured Vehicles 2011
increase is mostly due to new and bigger
tubeless Michelin 335/80 R20 XZL tyres
that provide a higher ground clearance
(460 mm vs. 390 mm) and thereby considerably improve the effectiveness of the
anti-mine detachable V-shaped floor.
The weight increase was only partially
compensated by the adoption of a new
engine, an MTU 4R106 TD21 4.8-litre
four-cylinder intercooled turbo diesel
yielding 160-kW (20 kW more than the
Depending on the versions developed
by Arzamas for military and
paramilitary duties, the Tigr has a
payload capacity of 0.9 to 1.2 tonnes
and can be armoured at different
levels of protection. (Arzamas)
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www.aepetsche.com
Featuring:
The most recent
version of the Wolf
armoured car
developed by Hatehof
features a series of
improvements to
increase its crosscountry mobility. It can
carry up to nine
passengers, three up
front and six aft.
(Hatehof)
previous Deutz BF6M 1013) with the
power-to-gross weight ratio dropping
from 16.4 kW/tonne to 22. Externally, the
two vehicles are easily recognised as the
Master features a new engine bonnet and
three front horizontal air intakes.
The higher payload allowed increasing the number of seats in the basic transport version from six to eight. However,
the payload should be used also to further increase the protection level, the
Master in the basic configuration ensures
a ballistic Level 2 all round and an antimine higher than Level 1, although the
company does not specify if this is underwheel or under-belly. The adoption of an
add-on armour kit brings the ballistic
protection to Level 3, while the modular
V-shaped kit increases anti-mine to over
Level 2. The Master maintains the
amphibious capability of its predecessor,
and has a 1.3-metre fording capacity.
In Spain Uro-Vehiculos Especiales’ S3
HD (Heavy Duty) version of the Vamtac
has a gross weight of 5.8 tonnes and a
payload capacity that varies between 1.5
and 2.5 tonnes depending on the protection level chosen. The vehicle is provided
in many different versions and is currently in service with the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Romania, Thailand and Venezuela, with Spain
remaining obviously the main user with
over 1200 vehicles in service.
The most recent version, known as BN3,
is more heavily armoured and is powered
by a 218-hp Steyr to cope with its 8.5 tonnes
gross weight. The armoured cell fixed to the
chassis was developed by Uro in conjunction with Composhield of Denmark and is
based on the latter’s ceramic polymer technology. It provides Level 3 ballistic protection and Level 2a mine protection. Maximum speed is 115 km/h.
In Russia, Arzamas developed the
Tigr; a family of vehicles ranging from 7.4
to 8.8 tonnes gross weight offering payloads of between 0.9 and 1.2 tonnes. The
version more apt for military purposes is
the Armoured Special Purpose Vehicle
232014, which can accommodate two
An interesting view of
a semi-finished
Hurricane. Its gross
weight is close to ten
tonnes, but the vehicle
features high ballistic
and mine protection
levels. (Hatehof)
crewmembers and four more soldiers in
the rear, and can be armed with a Pecheneg 7.62-mm, a Kord 12.7-mm machine
gun or with an AGS-17 30-mm automatic
grenade launcher. Powered by a six-cylinder 205-hp engine it is equipped with
independent wishbone and torsion bar
suspensions.
ISRAEL FLAG
Many companies all over the world have
started to produce light armoured vehicles, albeit with varying degrees of
sophistication. The tense situation in
Israel has made this country one of the
most advanced suppliers of military hardIn standard form the
Hatehof Hurricane
accommodates five
soldiers, but can
receive an extra two
seats. (Hatehof)
28
ware, vehicles being no exception to that,
while its armour specialists are rated
amongst the world’s top.
Hatehof has become a specialist in
highly protected vehicles, three of which
with a gross weight below the ten-tonne
mark and can thus be considered light.
The lightest is the Wolf, which is also the
bigger one, which makes it immediately
clear that it is also the least armoured,
although its ballistic protection reaches
Level 2 while anti-mine protection is at
up to Level 1a.
The adoption of the latest Ford chassis
led to some changing, such as the marginal increase of its gross weight to 8.7
tonnes. Maximum payload remains at 1.3
tonnes, which allows it to transport up to
three crewmembers in the front cabin and
up to six in the rear, one seated behind the
front seats and looking backwards and
the remaining along each side.
Even derivatives of armoured vehicles
succumb to the ‘light’ treatment like this
Xtream Light, which enabled the basic
type to diet down to the ten-tonne
gross mark. (Hatehof)
Two gun ports per side are available
plus another in the back doors while a
further one in the front windscreen is
available as an option. The crew compartment features two side doors, two
more are available for the troops in the
back, while an emergency exit is located
in the roof. Powered by a 300-hp Ford 6.7litre engine, it has a range of 500 km. Better rough terrain manoeuvrability
through, inter alia, new differentials, is
amongst the most recent upgrades. The
Wolf has been in service since 2004 with
the Israel Defense Force and was also
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The standard
protection level of
Saymar’s Land Cruiserbased Musketeer can
be increased up to
Level 3 with add-on
armour. (Saymar)
of anti-personnel mines and hand
grenades. Add-on armour can be used to
increase ballistic protection to Level 3.
The crew can fire individual weapons
through firing ports, one in each door,
though another one can be fitted in the
front windscreen, while a machine gun up
to 12.7 mm or a remote-control weapon
station can be mounted on the roof.
Numerous Musketeers have been sold to
undisclosed countries since development
work was completed in 2009.
TURKEY FLAG
ordered by Peru, although the fate of that
order is uncertain. It was also sold to
Georgia in ambulance configuration, to
Romania in ’fast intervention‘ configuration, but also to Bolivia, Turkey and the
United Nations.
The Hurricane is a tougher vehicle, the
prototype of which is being finalised and
should soon undergo ballistic and mine
blast trials. Its 9.6-tonne gross weight is
higher than previously announced (9.2
tonnes), but offers a 2.1-tonne payload
capacity when equipped with the A Kit
armour that provides a ballistic protection at Level 2. In standard layout it seats
a crew of two and three soldiers in the
back where an extra two seats can be
installed. Two doors per side are normally available, there is also an option for a
rear door.
The vehicle retains the five firing
ports, two per side and one aft, as well as
the roof emergency exit. Powered by a
245-hp Cummins ISB 245 turbo diesel, it
has a 700-km cruising range. Forecast
mine protection is at Level 2a/b, while a
B kit installed on the monocoque hull
increases ballistic protection to Level 3.
Hatehof is looking forward to future tenders, but does not wish to expand on this
subject. The toughest of the family is,
however, the Xtream. This is available in
a Light and a Heavy version, the latter
grossing at 16 tonnes, which puts it into
the Mrap category. As for the Light, gross
and payload figures are the same as the
Hurricane, although the engine is a Cummins ISBe 250 with similar output at 245
hp. Up to eight soldiers can be hosted in
the monocoque hull, which can withstand
Level 2b/3a mine blasts, its A-Kit ballistic
protection is Level 2. The B-Kit brings
this to Level 3, which is the limit for the
Light version of the Xtream.
Another Israeli company involved in
this field is Saymar, which has developed
a light vehicle based on the Toyota Land
Cruiser aimed at the paramilitary, though
a command version will suit military
The Turkish Cobra,
developed in the late
1990s by Otokar, is
based on the chassis
of the Humvee.
(Otokar)
units. This version can seat up to five or
six passengers, while a troop carrier version known as Musketeer-E (Extended)
can transport a two-man crew and eight
more soldiers in two inward-facing rows
along the walls. Ingress and egress of
troops takes place via four side doors.
Standard armour is at protection
Level 1, the floor withstanding the blast
Otokar’s Cobra, here
showing its amphibious capabilities, has
been sold to numerous
countries and is
obviously in service in
the Turkish forces.
(Otokar)
30
The latest version of the Cobra, developed by Otokar of Turkey in the 1990s,
reaches a gross weight of 5.2 tonnes without weapon station and has a 1.1-tonne
payload capacity. The Cobra is based on
the Humvee ECV (Expanded Capacity
Vehicle) chassis equipped with a locally
manufactured monocoque all-welded
steel hull; this has angled surfaces that
further improve protection against ballis-
tic and mine threats. Although Otokar
has never unveiled protection levels, addon armour could well improve the basic
protection.
The vehicle seats a crew of two plus up
to nine passengers, with three seated
behind the driver and the vehicle commander, the remaining six seated along
each side of the rear compartment, the
access via two side and one rear door. The
Cobra is available in various versions and
can be armed with weapons up to 20 mm. It
can be fitted with two hydrojets to provide
it with an eight km/h swimming speed.
Versions are currently in service in the
Turkish Land Forces Command and
Gendarmerie. At least seven other countries have adopted that vehicle, notably
Slovenia with ten in CBRN reconnaissance guise, while undisclosed numbers
have been sold to Algeria, Bahrain, the
Maldives and the United Arab Emirates.
The Ministry of the Interior of Georgia
has acquired at least 18 Cobras armed
with 12.7 NSV machine guns or Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launchers. A new
vehicle is under construction at Otokar,
but details will not be unveiled before the
tected vehicle, which is mostly intended
as a troop carrier. Based on the Tatra 715
2.5-tonne truck chassis, which ensures
worldwide servicing, the Puma M26-15
all-welded steel hull provides Level 1
protection while the V-hull gives an
unspecified anti-mine protection.
Maximum seating is for ten personnel;
the APC version has a 1+9 configuration
while the patrol variant has a crew of six.
The latter version can be equipped with a
light turret armed with a 12.7-mm or 14.5mm heavy machine gun. Surveillance
vehicle, command post and ambulance
versions are also anticipated, as well as a
crowd control vehicle. Available both in
right and left-hand drive, the vehicle is
mostly aimed at African customers
although Ott does not exclude other marketing areas. The Puma M26-15 exists in
the form of two prototypes and is ready
for production.
The Outrider is the latest evolution of the RG32 developed by BAE Systems in South
Africa and is currently being promoted worldwide. (BAE Systems)
Idef 2011 exhibition that will take place
this May in Istanbul.
SOUTH AFRICA FLAG
Moving south, BAE Systems’ South
African branch has two light armoured
vehicles in its catalogue, the RG32 and
the RG Outrider. The RG32M minehardened armoured patrol vehicle provides Level 1 ballistic and Level 1b mine
protection, Level 2 ballistic protection is
available with appliqué armour. Powered
by a 181-kW Steyr M16TCA diesel
engine, its chassis is carried on portal
axels with selectable differential locks
and dampened by coil springs on longitudinal arms and double-action hydraulic
shock absorbers.
The better-protected RG32M LTV
has a longer chassis, the wheelbase being
extended from 2.9 to 3.34 metres, a higher curb weight (8.3 tonnes up from 6.5)
and Level 2 ballistic protection with
Level 2a/b mine protection. This family of
vehicles is still attracting customers, as
exemplified by the 16 RG32Ms sold to
Finland in April 2010 and by the vehicles
being delivered to the Irish Army.
The RG Outrider draws on the
RG32M LTV design. The adoption of
new armour packages decreased the curb
weight to 7.6 tonnes while maintaining
the same protection level, thus increasing
payload figures and mobility. Better still,
internal space has been increased by
AUSTRALIA FLAG
Amongst the contenders eyeing the Australian Land 121 Phase 4 programme is a
national product, the Hawkei developed
by Thales Australia. Drawing on experience garnered with the Bushmaster, the
Ireland and Finland
signed the two most
recent contracts for
the RG32M, the
latest version of the
South African
vehicle manufactured by BAE
Systems. (BAE
Systems)
virtue of a widened hull and redesigned
load bay. That vehicle was demonstrated
in early 2010 to the American armed
services.
Another South African company, Ott
Armoured Vehicles, has recently
unveiled its Puma M26-15 4 x 4 mine-proThe armoured
patrol vehicle
version of Ott’s
Puma M26-15
features a heavy
machine gun on the
roof and has a
reduced crew. (Ott)
manufacturer has come up with two versions, the Crew Vehicle with five seats
and an optional sixth, and the Utility
Vehicle, with two seats and an optional
third.
The curb weight of the two versions is
respectively 6.9 and 6.1 tonnes; the maximum payload has a declared value of 3.1
tonnes depending on the variant (which
can be assumed to be that of the two-man
cabin), which would bring gross weight to
9.2 tonnes. With independent suspensions
on all four corners, the vehicle is designed
from scratch to be fully net-centric as its
vetronic architecture can easily accept and
integrate C4I systems. An in-line starter/
generator provides 65 kW of rated power
with a 105-kW peak output.
The kitted monocoque hull was developed in co-operation with Plasan Sasa,
and can be quickly equipped with a B-Kit
to increase protection, actual levels
remaining undisclosed. The Hawkei has
survived a series of under-belly blast and
simulated roadside bomb tests. Boeing
Australia is in charge of the integrated
31
logistic support and provides the health
systems monitoring.
Powered by a 268-hp engine coupled
to a six-speed electronically monitored
automatic transmission, the Hawkei has
been tested over 20,000 km. The vehicle is
on its marks for the Land 121 Protected
Mobility Vehicle - Light (Phase 4) Australian bid, with 1300 units at stake, but
the Ocelot and Eagle are also drawing
out their claws.
The PMV-L programme will include
four variants: PMV-L Command, a fourseater with C4I system; PMV-L Liaison, a
four-seater used to enable mobility for
key personnel; PMV-L Utility, a twoseater vehicle with a tray used as generalpurpose light-cargo carrying and PMV-L
Reconnaissance, a five- to six-seater to
provide mobility for light-infantry-battalion reconnaissance elements. A PMV-L
Trailer completes the programme providing additional load-carrying capacity to
the PMV-L vehicles. Following the presence of the mock-up at Eurosatory 2010,
Using experience
garnered with the
Bushmaster, Thales
Australia has
developed the
much lighter
Hawkei, which is
competing for the
Land 121 Phase 4
bid in Australia.
(Thales)
but this can be increased through add-on
armour packages. Powered by a 300-hp
Cummins ISBe 300 Turbo 6.7-litre engine
coupled to an Allison 5-speed automatic
transmission with transfer case, it is
equipped with independent double wishbone over coil-spring suspension with
dual-action hydraulic shock absorbers.
The Nimr has been sold to the United
Arab Emirates and to Libya, the latter
having adopted a Level 3 ballistic and
Level 3a anti-mine protection.
The Nimr family of
vehicles developed
by the Bin Jabr
Group of Abu
Dhabi is in service
in the Emirates and
in Libya.
(Armada/PV)
the Hawkei prototype was shown at the
Land Warfare Conference at Brisbane,
Australia, in November 2010 and is now
available on the international market.
In Abu Dhabi, the Bin Jabr Group developed a whole family of light armoured
vehicles known as Nimr. Standard ballistic and anti-mine protection is Level 1,
Compendium Light Armoured Vehicles 2011
Supplement to
issue 1/2011
Volume 35, Issue No.1, February/March 2011
INTERNATIONAL
is published bi-monthly in Zurich, Switzerland.
Copyright 2011 by Internationale Armada AG,
Aeulestrasse 5, LI-9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Head Office: Armada International,
Hagenholzstrasse 65, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
Phone: +41 44 308 50 50, Fax:+41 44 308 50 55,
e-mail: mail@armada.ch;
www.armadainternational.com www.armada.ch
Publisher: Caroline Schwegler
Editor-in-Chief: Eric H. Biass
Editor/Artwork: Johnny Keggler
Advertising & Production Manager: Thomas Schneider
Administration: Marie-Louise Huber
Regular Contributors: Roy Braybrook, Paolo Valpolini,
Thomas Withington
32
In the Far East, Chinese Norinco proposes
its VN3, VN4, CS/VP1 and CS/VN1
armoured vehicles with combat weights
ranging 5.6 to 9 tonnes and seating capacities of five to twelve. While the VN3 is
a high-mobility independent suspension
vehicle with a three-plus-two crew and
a 5.6-tonne gross weight, the 8.5-tonne
CS/VP1 is derived from a truck chassis
and can carry up to twelve soldiers. No
details have thus far been provided on proa
tection levels.
Index to Advertisers
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AM General
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CMI Defence
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Elbit Systems
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