The world’s largest land-warfare trade show begins next week in Paris with all eyes trained eastward toward NATO’s border with Russia, which in the two years since the last Eurosatory meeting has cause a resurgence of Cold War tension.
U.S. and foreign defense manufacturers see a ripe market for component upgrades to existing vehicles, which militaries see as a way to affordably speed technologies to the field. Topping the list of common requirements are upgraded armor and lethality to contend with the perceived threat from Russian anti-tank guided missiles.
News trickling out of industry ahead of Eurosatory suggests the focus of most prime contractors will be combat vehicles while component manufacturers like Raytheon [RTN] and Thales are focusing on upgrade options for existing vehicles.
“What’s the shortest path to getting our war fighters the most up-to-date capability? Upgrade programs are clearly that path right now,” Brad Barnard, Raytheon’s director of strategy for land warfare systems, told Defense Daily.
The United Kingdom is developing a new scout vehicle called Ajax, a turreted tracked armored vehicle made by General Dynamics UK [GD] to replace its old CVR(T) family of vehicles. Similarly, Australia is in the midst of a program called Land 400 to build a next-generation family of armored fighting vehicles that emphasize firepower, protection and mobility as well as state-of-the-art sensor and communications systems.
France is developing a similar family of armored fighting vehicles under the international Project Scorpion. Several of the resultant vehicles should be on display at Eurosatory, including the Griffon multi-role and Jaguar reconnaissance vehicles. The country plans to buy up to 1,668 Griffons through 2033 and 248 Jaguars. Both are being built by a consortium of companies that includes Nexter Systems, Renault Trucks Defence and Thales.
France also is upgrading 200 LeClerc main battle tanks, first fielded in 1997. Nexter is on the hook for upgrading the tank’s electronic architecture, installing a remote-control turret system and enhancing crew protection.
The U.K. army also is looking to upgrade its Challenger 2 main battle tank through a comprehensive life extension and capability enhancement program. BAE Systems recently announced it has formed a team of contractors that includes General Dynamics Land Systems, Qinetiq, Leonardo, Moog [MOG.A], Safran and GD Mission Systems to bid for the program to upgrade 227 of the U.K.’s 386 tanks.
Plans are to update the tank’s systems that have been upgraded piecemeal over two decades in an effort to keep them running and relevant through 2035. BAE’s offering includes upgrading the thermal-imaging system, commander’s primary sight, gun and fire control systems, electronic architecture and other options, according to a product brochure.
The U.S. five-year defense plan includes Europe-inspired upgrades to Stryker, Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks as well as a new vehicle called mobile protected firepower the requirements for which are not set.
Traditionally, being an incumbent weapon provider to the U.S. military lends credibility to a company selling its wares to allies, especially for high-end platforms like fighter jets and combat vehicles. That is less the case with Europe, which is focused on developing and supporting its indigenous prime vehicle manufacturers, Barnard said.
The market for providing command-and-control, communication and weapon systems for those vehicles to make them interoperable with the U.S. and among NATO militaries, is ripe, he said. Another driver is the need to keep existing platforms relevant in the near term as threats develop faster than new-start vehicles can be built.
German vehicle manufacturer Rheinmetall Land Systems is taking that tack with its Puma armored fighting vehicle, built in concert with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Designed to meet the German Army’s requirement for an infantry fighting vehicle, it was intentionally built with modularity in mind so that capabilities could be installed or enhanced as perceived threats changed.
“There is the requirement that platforms are adaptable as customer requirements change and the threats change,” Ben Hudson, chief executive of Rheinmetall Military Vehicles, was quoted as saying at the company’s 2015 annual symposium. “Vehicles need to be in service for 25 or more years.”
Puma already has a remote controlled automatic cannon turret armed also with air burst munitions. Plans are to upgrade the vehicle with a turret-independent secondary weapon station (TSWA) with 40mm low- and medium-velocity airburst weapons that will provide short-range protection.
General Dynamics European Land Systems will introduce at the show two new tracked vehicles, including the new PIRANHA 3+, developed in response to customer requirements for increased levels of protection, off-road mobility and inherent growth for the future, and recently selected by the Swiss Army for its Mortar Carrier program.
Also on display will be the PIRANHA 5, the company’s standard 8×8 fighting vehicle recently selected by Denmark and Spain and the newest version of the DURO 4X4 vehicle now equipped with updated automotive systems that provide high mobility, driving safety on and off the road, compact dimensions and flexible loading space for a wide range of military applications. The DURO 4×4 was initially designed and produced for the Swiss Army to replace a number of smaller and larger transport vehicles with a single transport platform.
As a systems integrator, Raytheon’s key marketing push in Europe is the FGM-148 Javelin missile, a man-portable ATGM developed in partnership with Lockheed Martin [LMT]. The weapon recently was integrated onto a U.K. fighting vehicle and has wide applicability in other European militaries, he said. Anything that can host a remote weapon station can be immediately outfitted with the Javelin.
“We’re seeing pull for capabilities like that,” Barnard said. “The beauty of the Javelin launch system is that it is quite flexible and you are able to use the existing sensor and fire-control system on a platform to enable that capability.”
Javelin is also being paired with the Kongsberg remote weapon station to enhance the lethality of the U.S. Army’s Stryker wheeled combat vehicle. The Kongsberg turret already has been approved for installation on a Stryker variant that will carry a 30mm cannon as an immediate lethality enhancement in direct response to the Russian threat to NATO. Initial work on integrating Javelin on Stryker is scheduled for this year.
Raytheon also provides the Extended Long-Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (ELRAS3) next-generation FLIR for the scout and fire-support Stryker variants, as well as the TOW tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided weapon missile.
“We think we’re in a good position to address those evolving threats that have been validated and highlighted by U.S. Army documentation and research, as well as European security specialists,” Barnard said. “Given our capability as an owner as what we call ‘the engagement chain’ – owning the sensor-to-effect piece of the story, we can offer system solutions and evolve in the space referred to as lethality integrator.”