Summary
Company overview
See the full content of this document
Extract
Weight or budget watchers?
What is the upper limit of 'medium' in armoured vehicle parlance is pretty much a matter for conjecture, as are most categorisations. However, as a result of the increasing threat from improvised explosive devices and from rocket-propelled grenades, vehicles have recently had a propensity to put on weight--wheeled and tracked alike. Additional armour is not the only factor behind the increase in dimensions and weight: since the end of World War II the average height of the western soldier has increased by about ten centimetres.
The increasing amount of personal equipment and embarked electronic gear have also played a major role in the weight and volume inflation. Electronics--or vetronics to use the fashionable contraction of 'vehicle' and 'electronics'--have been requiring more and more power over the years, which had in turn, commanded the production of larger alternators and power supplies. Air conditioning and NBC protection are also part of the equation and require further volume. Once all the bits of the puzzle are put together, the picture inevitably shows a new breed of much larger vehicles, their imposing mass being further emphasised by their overall height which results from an increased stand-off distance from the ground to improve protection against mines and other buried explosives. Increasing protection has a perverse snowball effect as it implies increased weight and larger surfaces to be protected although new developments in armour technology, not to mention active self protection, are coming to the rescue to reduce specific weight against an equal given protection level. Dimensions also have an impact on mobility. Far gone are the times when units were to be deployed in predictable places. Nowadays the confrontation with unpredictable scenarios means that no one can forecast what maximum vehicle width and weight will be required to meet the challenges of future operational theatres. Deployment capabilities also have their say. C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and Antonov 124 are the typical heavy-lifters used to ensure air deployability of vehicles. The A400M will be able to carry vehicles of up to 37 tonnes with dimensional limits given by the cargo bay, which is four metres in width and 3.85 metres in height, while the C130, which still is the most-used intra-theatre lift asset, is unable to transport the most recent vehicles and is playing with limits when having to carry those of the previous generation. Generally speaking, the average combat weight of the most recent wheeled armoured vehicle is now much closer to that of the previous generation tracked vehicles, and although the most recent of this latter category have grown heavier, their increased modularity makes them air-transportable, which in certain circumstances can bring them back to below the 'medium weight' mark. In fact, many nations are shifting from a light/heavy mix to a light/medium/heavy mix of brigades. Most 'medium' units will be equipped with wheeled vehicles. However, as noted above, their weight will not be dramatically lower than that of the previous generation tracked vehicles and in the end, the overall weight of such brigades will be lower mainly because of the absence of main battle tanks. Indeed main battle tanks are seldom used in current operations, although some nations still deploy them as last-ditch resource when the life of their soldiers is put at major risk. The mix between tracked and wheeled vehicles is shifting in favour of the latter, although the psychological impact of tracked vehicles remains certainly higher than that of armoured vehicles on wheels. Wheeled Armoured Vehicles If the market for new tracked vehicles is drying up--something that is precipitated by numerous surplus vehicles available around the world that can be upgraded and sold at reasonable prices -that of wheeled armoured vehicles is definitely increasing. Among the most evolutionary wheeled vehicles currently at prototype phase is the BAE Systems Sep (Splitterskyddad EnhetsPlattform, for Modular Armoured Tactical System). SEP: In fact the Sep is not really a wheeled system, as it is a multi-role platform concept that can be developed in ...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
