Moving on land. Military fly-and-drive?

The new world order is imposing an entirely different way of looking at the manner in which forces must be deployed. In fact 'despatch' would be a better word to use in this context. Land vehicles, hitherto essentially designed to transport men and gear, are now requested to be themselves more easily transported. Groups will be more autonomous as well, meaning that vehicles will have a tendency to become their 'home-base'.

While the efficiency of any given vehicle on the terrain is still of prime importance, the ability to see such vehicles reach the heart-of-action area as quickly as possible is gradually becoming an equal necessity. Progress made in recent years, particularly with wheeled armoured vehicles, has been such that they have now managed the feat of becoming the first option considered by a potential client, thereby tearing down for good the 'lightish' image they used to carry about them versus the more 'testosteronic' tracked vehicle. Indeed, the advances achieved in the rolling gear department have been such that the gap between the places a tracked vehicle can reach and a wheeled vehicle cannot is narrowing. Until not so long ago amenities such as all-round independent suspensions were widely considered a luxury. Yet they are a sine qua non for moving rapidly cross-country, and no one will argue with this nowadays. Centralised tyre inflation is yet another item that further enhances a vehicle's efficiency, both on-road and off-road. But there we are, macadam or dirt track is certainly a place on which, speed-wise, the wheeled vehicle beats the track hands down. Most wheeled vehicles are capable of reaching or exceeding speeds of 100 km/hour. Wherever such challenging paces are actually allowed by individual armies is another matter, but even assuming that tracked vehicles were able to achieve the same performance, they will have long shed and kicked all their pads sky-high before getting anywhere near the magic three-digit figure.

This does not mean that the tracked vehicle has become history. Its much lower footprint makes it the ideal candidate in marshlands, like northern Scandinavia and certain areas of South East Asia, and it is thus hardly surprising to see how well vehicles like the Hagglunds BV-206 have scored in those corners of the world. This articulated means of transportation now has some company, Singapore Technologies--a revamped and dynamic group from which anything that has potential seems to be springing--having developed the Bronco. Furthermore, the track is perfectly at ease in deep snow, but in the type of operations that have prevailed in the pass decade, awareness of, and consideration for, a certain respect of the 'invaded environment has increased; here the wheel also has an edge over the track as the latter tends to be a surface ripper in hot weather conditions. This is particularly true of the heavier vehicles. Where the CV-90 now reigns supreme, and quite rightly so, in Scandinavia, a battalion of these (or any other vehicle of the same category for that matter!) will plough away a regional sun-beaten country tarmac road in record time. The sole presence of armoured vehicles de facto means that the area and its population have already been suffering for, a while, if not years; it may thus not be, psychologically speaking, a good choice to add to the damage if this is not absolutely necessary.

Inhabitants 

Then there are the occupants of such vehicles. More often than not they are forgotten. Well, no longer that much now. In the 'old days', they were packed in with little more care than if they had been cattle, taken from A to B in a vehicle and released to fight it out. There might have been the odd waiting period inside the vehicle, but in Kosovo, for example, United Nations peacekeeping soldiers often had to wait for hours on end under the protection of their armour. Then suddenly the word was barked: 'debus!', which, after a protracted forced pause, could have more generally meant 'unfold!'. Mobility reaches that far down. In current vehicle designs, ergonomics are definitely being given a serious look, particularly in view of the sharp current propensity for people to grow taller. Some epitomising examples of this willingness have emanated from Mowag in the Piranha IV and from the Australian ADI Bushmaster. The fact that the latter has a range of 1000 kilometres almost says it all: it thus carries 270 litres of cooled water--yes, cooled!--for its nine occupants who are seated in side-wall suspended bucket seats complete with rear and side head rests (the latter in the event of a abrupt deceleration of the vehicle). Headroom and knee clearance between facing occupants must make BTR inhabitants dribble with envy, as they respectively stand at 141 and 20 centimetres.

In the Piranha IV, the disposition of the seats goes one step further and enhances the protection of the soldiers in case of brutal vertical acceleration due to mine explosion by being affixed to the roof of the vehicle, which is also a reason why the seats are fitted with footrests. More than ever now, mine protection is also part of the mobility concept. Indeed a suitable protection provides two advantages in this respect: firstly to ensure that none of the occupants gets seriously injured as otherwise the medical services with ambulances and even medevac helicopters would have to be called in with all the resultant delays; secondly, if only a torn-off wheel or element of the drivetrain needs to be replaced, the vehicle may quickly be made fit to run again. Incidentally, this is again an instance where an independent suspension design may score points against a live axle as only that particular damaged side would need fixing, particularly with the current propensity to sandwich the drivetrain within a double-floorpan design. On smaller scout vehicles manufactured by O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, Mowag (Eagle II) and Panhard, wings (or fenders in America) are of the blow-off design, meaning that they do not retain the blast effect under the vehicle but allow it to dissipate easily upwards.

Two crewmen of an O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt-armoured Hummer have quite unintentionally tested the design over a tank mine in Kosovo and were still in good enough shape to send a fine bottle to the designers.

In the lighter vehicles spectrum, mention must be made here of the Rheinmetall Light Infantry Vehicle which made its first public debut at the Idex exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Based on the Mercedes-Benz G Wagen, the CH-53 transportable permanent 4 x 4 is so substantially remanufactured that the logbook of the vehicle bears the Rheinmetall mark under the manufacturer entry. In fact the Liv, as it is called, doesn't even sport the three-spoked star on its front grille. It was developed specifically to meet the needs of the Bundeswehr and about five units are already criss-crossing the vast expanses of Afghanistan with the service. As far as accommodation is concerned, the Liv took some inspiration from modern monospace family vehicles layouts, whereby the seven rear seats can be removed and rearranged into a number of configurations. The closed front cabin with open roof which accommodates two in addition to the driver offers 'partial ballistic protection' as well as protection from hand grenades. The rear compartment receives similar armour plates on its three sides and can receive two robust roll-over bars which can themselves accommodate various pintle-mounted machine-guns or 40 mm grenade launchers.

Equipment

The smoother the ride the quicker a vehicle will be able to get to its destination without braking any of its components (or the spine of its occupants for that matter). However, onboard equipment and systems also benefit from well-dampened shocks, particularly in the vicious short stroke, higher frequency range. Radios and other electronics are particularly sensitive to vibrations, but so are stabilised systems, whether sights or weapons are concerned. One simply needs to imagine the incredibly dense and never-ending stream of the very quick and short corrections that stabilising systems have to cope with to visualise the punishment all the components--particularly micro bearings and stepping motors--have to endure. While these are now better able to cope with such drumming, the wear and tear factor is greatly reduced and thereby has a non-negligible positive impact on maintenance requirements and, therefore, demands on logistics.

The C-130 Norm

C-130 transportability has, with the passing of years and the proliferation of the bird, become a standard which most vehicle manufacturers boast in their selling argument, both in their brochures and on their exhibition stand plaques. However, there are two sub-norms in this context in that aero-transportability does not necessarily mean that the vehicle can be rolled straight into or out of the aeroplane. In some instances any roof-mounted weapon and sight would have to be dismantled or folded (the latter is the case of the Stryker), but in other worse cases even the wheels have to be removed and the vehicles rested on a special stand and hoisted in or out. This can be required either if the track is too wide or because the vehicle is too tall when shod. Indeed, the available size of the C-130 hold does not necessarily mean that a vehicle that fits within the theoretical template frame can gun its way straight up the ramp: because of the angle of the access ramp, its roof may hit the aircraft's flame under the tail. Thus the upper cross-section limit is 3.07 metres wide and 2.74 metres high. This explains the term "C-130 transportable with preparation" used with the proverbial Swiss precision by Mowag in reference to the Piranha IV.

Another way of coping with size is gaining popularity, and this is modular armour. Primarily intended to be easily replaced in case of localised damage, or simply to tailor the protection to the threat level, they provide a collateral advantage in aerotransportability. Indeed a vehicle which is too heavy or too large can be stripped of its armour--the latter either piled in a suitable part of the aircraft (which can also help with centre of gravity issues) or simply carried by another transport.. The most extreme example is currently under development at Giat where the hull of the VBCI is made of aluminium and then clothed in modular armour sections.

When it was ushered into service, the C 17 totally repainted the airlift world. which larger than the Hercules, it can nevertheless load and unload its cargo in a shorter period of time thanks to its unique one-man handling system. Just to give an idea, the Globemaster III can carry three Apaches (rotor blades removed); however, it can haul only one Abrams tank, as this is where another factor comes into play: weight limitations of course, but also centre of gravity. Then, it also generally accepted that any vehicle must clear all the walls of an aircraft by six inches. Another factor to be taken into consideration is centring: in the Globemaster, for example, the centreline of tracked vehicles of more than 29.5 tonnes must overlap that of the aircraft within an eight inch tolerance.

And Now the A400M

When it enters service in 2010, the A400M will neatly bridge the gap between the C-130J and the C-17. In terms of vehicle size it will accept, however, the new aircraft will be very close to the Boeing bird (see diagram page 44). The Europeans will be able to ship out Two Pirants IIIs at a time or one M-109. It could also rush out an NH-90 where it is urgently needed, but even more importantly the larger and new generation of armored fighting vehicles now being developed in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain (the Boxer) and in France (VBC; family) as well.

Howitzers and Mortars

A whole new path is currently being paved here. If the airlifting of light towed howitzers poses relatively few problems, the mobility of the latter once on terra firma, on the other hand, does. One may always argue that trucks can also be brought in to do the job, but this requires advanced planning, which is not always possible in today's conflicts. Then trucks are not permanently assigned to towing guns and when things hot up they may be carrying out other duties somewhere else. Furthermore, while a relatively large truck with a 155 mm gun on tow can easily cope on open terrain, reaching a suitable firing position in the jungle or on mountain roads gets closer to mission impossible. Such a duo simply cannot negotiate mountain road hairpin bends.

The idea of mounting existing howitzers onto a commercial-based vehicle started to emerge about a decade and a half ago, when Bofors offered the idea of mounting the FH-77 on an articulated Volvo dumper truck chassis. However, Sweden had other priorities at the time and the idea was finally dropped. Other projects then grew out of the ground, the most noticeable ones being the Giat Caesar and the RDM Mobat. While the former nearly clenched an export deal with Malaysia about a year ago, the latter did succeed to find a first export customer--Jordan, who bought 18 units. It must be added, though, that the Mobat is a 105 mm, which puts it in a very different category of weapon--both in terms of costs and development constraints--compared with the French 155 mm. The Caesar is now a mature system and the French Army has taken delivery of a first batch of five units. This is expected to be followed by another 72. The Caesar is not only an example of mobility in the context of large calibre weapons, but also of autonomy. Offered as a companion to the Caesar, Giat has also developed a remarkable command system derived from the Finders used by the United Arab Emirates Leclerc tanks.

Named the Fast-Hit, this essentially visual system enables a commander to permanently assess the status (and this includes performance fluctuations due to barrel wear and ammunition batches--particularly propellants as recorded by the muzzle radar, available rounds and fuel, and so forth) of any one of his guns, know their current position on a displayed map, assign new firing positions and targets and mark target damage as described by an forward observer or even an observation drone. As the commander drags the icon of any of the available guns on his screen to a new position, these coordinates are instantly transmitted to the vehicle together with target co-ordinates and firing orders. This system certainly speeds up matters, particularly in the decision-making phase, and when associated with a base--the 6 x 6 Unimog in this instance--able to move in narrow, deep-mud jungle trails but also up to 110 km/hour on open roads, the package takes all its significance. Furthermore, the Caesar drops neatly into the C-130 aero-transportability pattern. The Fast-Hit can, however, be adapted to any other type of vehicle-mounted howitzer.

The 52-calibre Caesar might be given a prominent position in this discussion, but it is the most mature in the 155 mm league and thus best illustrates the principle of such systems and the advances they can bring. The concept, however, has also been adopted by other manufacturers, including in the East, where ZTS developed the Zuzana. This, however is a much heavier device that tips the scales at well over 28 tonnes and requires an 8 x 8 platform, compared with 17.7-tonne combat weight of the French 6 x 6.

The second in the 'lightweight' league will almost certainly be the Singapore Technologies LWSPH. Actually, at seven tonnes (empty--no ammo), it rather more belongs to the 'featherweights' club of which it is, incidentally, the only member so far. It uses a shorter, 39 calibres barrel and sits on a purpose-made, four wheeled spaceframe chassis, but it might well be the first 80 km/hour capable 155 howitzer able to be carried by a helicopter.

It goes almost without saying that such vehicles require proper navigation systems. A number of options are available, such as the easily retrofittable kits produced by KVH 

Another howitzer on the wheel theme, but still at project stage, is the Condor from Denel/Liw in South Africa. This would use the new G5-52 in association with a Tatra 8 x 8 truck chassis. Interest is said to have been shown by India (where the Tatra chassis is built under license).

Some criticism has been made over those highly mobile guns, in that their crew need to dismount to feed the gun (or the rammer). However, given their range-anything between 30 and over 40 km--and the speed in which they can be put into and out of action (typically 3 minutes) and moved out of the way, the crew members do not remain vulnerable for any extended period of time. Like any novelty hitting the ranks, a certain period of time is required to really absorb and assess the different combat methods required.

Very much the same reasoning affects the similarly mounted 120 mm mortar, although, in this instance, these can be more easily protected given the infinitely smaller space they occupy on their platforms. These can be lorries or light armoured vehicles. Three systems spring to mind, the TDA 2R2M, the Ruag Bighorn and the Singapore Technologies Srams. All three feature hyper-efficient recoiling systems that enable them to be mounted on trucks. The most advanced of the three are the 2R2M and the Bighorn, which are available with semi-automatic loaders and automated fire control systems. The Singaporean system is still in development, albeit at an advanced stage. As with the howitzers, the basic idea is to have a highly mobile, all-terrain weapon that can be put into and out of action in record time. The added advantage of such mobile mortars is that they really are Q vehicles: they simply look like ordinary trucks and are thus very inconspicuous.

Another interesting 120 mm mortar system in this survey due to its aero-transportability in a CH-53 and high agility in very difficult terrain is the Light Armoured Mortar Carrier devised by Rheinmetall and Mak. Based on the Wiesel 2, this little device permanently keeps its three-man crew under cover and can punch out three bombs in under 20 seconds in rapid fire, or an average of up to six in six minutes in sustained fire. The barrel is in the horizontal position for travelling but as its muzzle protrudes into the cabin, this is also the loading position. It is then elevated over the rear of the vehicle to the required angles and the round is on its way.

In a somewhat heavier category of mortar mobility, one could also mention the Delco Defense (now part of General Dynamic Land Systems) 120 mm Armoured mortar system that is typically mounted on an LAV or an M113. These would, however, need to see their turrets removed before they step into a Herc. A more recent development is, of course the Patria Amos turret which can be dropped either onto a CV 90, a Patria XA-203 or an AMV 8 x 8--the latter being the current production standard. Those systems are breech-loaded and operated from under armour cover.

The Fighting Vehicle-Centre

During the Cold War era, the role of armed forces essentially amounted to counter anything that moved close to a virtual red line on a map. Every effort was to be thrown in the same direction while the enemy would be doing exactly the same thing. At the time, and because two ideologies were being defended, the loss of lives was an accepted notion.

Today, the scenario is totally the opposite. Not only the soldiers themselves, who are generally fighting for a cause that is not directly pertinent to their homeland are not supposed to lose their lives or the tabloids will whip up the story into a massive chantilly with dire consequences at political level, but the lives of the locals is also to be preserved to avoid immediate scorching denunciations on the part of certain associations. Western defence circles are now increasingly looking at ways in which operations can be conducted in a more surgical manner. The word surgical has perhaps been used, overused and abused--and basically misunderstood--in the context of weapons. What is being looked at now is how smaller units--as apposed the to massive crushing forces of the past--could be emplaced and managed. The whole idea is to establish a system whereby all components can receive, relay and despatch any source of information--voice, data and images. Quite obviously a man on foot cannot carry a massive radio system with dish aerials and all the required batteries for long-distance connections. So resources need to be distributed and appropriately sized. The concept is reminiscent of the traditional Russian Matrioshka dolls: all dolls are identical, but of different sizes, and the smaller fits in the slightly larger one and so forth up to the larger one. In other words, unity, but distributed unity.

We shall not dwell on the actual personal weapons carried by the soldier, since much of this is covered in an article in this issue (on page 68) with which this supplement came (and the subject of the modern soldier electronic gear was also the subject of an extensive article in issue 4, page 82). More pertinent in this context is to have a look at a warfighter's closest ally, his vehicle.

In France, for instance the D616gation Generale a l'Armement and the Army have launched a study called the "Bulle Operationnelle Aeroterrestre" which literally translates as "aeroterrestrial operational bubble", a concept the procurement agency hopes to be fully implemented by 2025. The motivating factor behind the project is the fact that according to the agency, "the traditional approach precluded the guarantee of all the coherence (operational, technical, organisational and schedule-wise) that is necessary to obtain an efficient military operation".

The first phase of the study is to be completed in the next three years to the tune of 60 million [euro]. The Boa project, as it is called, evolves around smaller vehicles, typically between 18 and 25 tonnes, and a high degree of miniturisation. These vehicles would be fitted with their own armament, missiles, mini-drones and robots. The ultimate aim is to achieve much of what is described in this supplement--in other words, improve:

* the combatants' protection and their mobility

* the efficiency of forces in urban environments

* the adaptability to the various natures of interventions

* the adaptability to the digitisation of the battlefield.

The first resultant vehicle should be able to perform recce and combat missions in 2011. Designated EBRC (Engin Blinde a Roues de Contact) the vehicle will be able to obtain a wealth of data from stand-off sensors (robots and drones) which will enable it to fight an adversary beyond its direct line-of-sight. Currently, a modular test-bed vehicle has been fabricated to test all manner of propulsion and transmission options. The illustrations reproduced on the previous page clearly reveal the aim which is pursued by the Boa project: high-mobility, reduced human exposure and autonomy. It becomes quite obvious that the entire concept will hinge around an extension and improvement of systems that already exist, such as Thales' PRC4 radio and Giat's Sit, Finders and Fast-Hit.