The Swedish splitterskyddad enhets platform.

In Sweden the Sep programme was started before the turn of the millennium by Hagglunds. The project is now handled by BAE Systems Land Systems Hagglunds for the Swedish Army through the Forsvarets Materielverk (FMV). An Implementing Arrangement between the Swedish and British governments was signed in November 2003 on sharing Fres/Sep information and exchanging project personnel.

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From 2010 the Swedish Army needs to replace several families of ageing vehicles: the Pbv 302 APC, Pbv 501 (BMP 1) IFV, the Pbv 401 (MTLB) APC, the Lvrbv 701 air defence vehicle, the Pvrbv 551 anti-tank missile carrier, the Bv206 all-terrain vehicle and various wheeled logistics vehicles. Conceptual work on the replacement project began both within the army and Swedish industry in the early 1990s and progressed to a number of studies later that decade which examined the merits of wheeled versus tracked vehicles. Although the army preferred tracked vehicles it was decided both for operational and cost reasons to acquire a modular fleet of wheeled and tracked vehicles.

The selected B13 design concept from Hagglunds involves three modules: a tracked or wheeled chassis, a crew module and a mission module. To achieve modularity all vital vehicle systems are located in the front of the vehicle where there is also room for a two-person crew, sponsons are used to house the automotive subsystems, and located behind the crew compartment is space for a drop-in mission module that is identical for both wheeled and tracked variants.

Present plans call for APC, logistics, command and control, ambulance, repair, recovery, radio link and Arthur radar vehicles to be produced in Series 1. The next series would include Amos mortar, reconnaissance and surveillance, anti-tank and electronic warfare variants to enter service in 2013. Later in the decade Series 3 vehicles would include heavy APC, air defence, CBRN defence, mine clearance, mine laying and other variants.

The vehicle's high hardness steel hull is designed to offer shell fragment and small arms protection enhanceable using a three-level modular protection system developed by IBD of Germany. The first level provides protection against 14.5 mm armour-piercing attack through a 360[degrees] arc and protection against blast mines. The second is intended to defeat 14.5 mm armour-piercing and rocket-propelled grenades through a 360[degrees] arc and improves the mine protection to defeat anti-tank explosively-formed penetrator mines. The third level is expected to also defeat medium-calibre armour piercing, fin stabilised, discarding sabot ammunition across the frontal arc.

The FMV has collaborated with Germany's BWB defence procurement agency in the Vetec (Vetronic Architecture Integration Project) project and a prototype installation developed by Hagglunds and Diehl of Germany was successfully tested in the first tracked Sep prototype. According to Hagglunds the Vetec architecture is based on an open scalable, fault-tolerant databus which manages all the on-board systems and crew interfaces including the weapons systems, battlefield management, defensive aids suite, built-in test system, digital radio communications and other mission--or role-specific systems.

For combat or other complex roles, up to six flat-panel displays in the crew module can show images from cameras covering the front, sides and rear of the vehicle while three computer screens display digital information from the vehicle's systems, other vehicles and headquarters. For simpler roles this could be limited to two flat-panel monitors and a computer screen.

The first Sep-Tracked prototype was delivered to the Swedish Defence Material Administration in 2002 and was joined in 2004 by the first wheeled variant (W1). This is a 6 x 6 with an electric transmission and electric motors in the wheel hubs, which began 2000 km of endurance testing early this year. Hagglunds formally handed over the second tracked prototype (T2) on 22 November 2005 at the company's Ornskoldsvik facility. The company's managing director, Sven Kagevall, cited three essential improvements incorporated in T2: a new-generation electric drive that improves the steering qualities, improved signature management and the replaceable role module. Prototype T2, like W1, incorporates an electric transmission coupled to Magnetic Systems Technology permanent magnetic motors, and also features band tracks from Soucy that are lighter, quieter and have a longer operational life than steel tracks. T2 is undergoing 2000 km of endurance testing.

Continuing studies are focused on a single engine concept, a Y-drive system and advanced armour. Lindstrom disclosed at IQPC's Light and Medium Armoured Vehicle conference that BAE Systems is developing an 8 x 8 Sep prototype with Y-drive as a private venture. The rollout is scheduled to take place in Sweden on 29 December 2006, after which the chassis will be shipped to Britain to marry up with an APC role module built by BAE Systems. The module will have the same dimensions as for the tracked and 6 x 6 chassis but the larger 8 x 8 chassis, will allow the vehicle's total weight to be increased to 26 tonnes. The performance of this 8 x 8 chassis in comparison with the Ahed chassis will be closely examined.

Akers Krutbruk is developing a sensor-activated protection system to detect and defeat incoming shaped-charge and kinetic energy threats before they can impact the vehicle. A prototype system, weighing about 500 kg, has been installed on a CV 90 for trails and work is underway on integration into the Sep.

FMV expects to sign a contract with Hagglunds by the time these lines are printed (April) for Sep Development 1A. This will cover the development of two tracked and two wheeled chassis, three mission modules, a load-handling system for a cargo variant and four weapon stations. These prototypes are scheduled to begin extensive trials from 2008. Under present plans the first production vehicles will be delivered on 30 June 2011. The Swedish government has pledged to a have a battle group equipped with 128 vehicles available for European Union military operations by 2014.