Sponsored by TEK Military Seating Limited
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02 Nov 23. Robust powering capabilities from Lincad ensure the future of electrification of military vehicles across land, sea and air. The world is seeing changes in the way that conflict plays out across land, sea and air like never before. Rapidly advancing innovations in technology are resulting in more powerful, robust and versatile armoured vehicles, weapon systems, sensors and other heavy-duty military applications. As these advances arrive and enter regular use in the field, so demand rises for reliable, sophisticated batteries, chargers and power management systems that will keep them operational in multiple demanding situations.
Hybrid and fully electric military vehicles must be equipped with the right kind of power systems to give their commanders confidence they can deliver exactly what is needed at exactly the right time. Where military vehicles have traditionally relied on the combustion engine, electric vehicle (EV) technology is taking a firm hold in the arena and armed forces are keen to leverage the benefits of this. Alongside the integration of more traditional EV technology within the land domain, batteries are proving hugely beneficial across both sea and air.
The electrification of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) allows operations to be commanded from distance. Electrification also ensures quieter powertrains for stealth and protection on the move, and more rapid acceleration. In addition, electric vehicles require less maintenance and reduce a military unit’s reliance on fossil fuels, whose transportation can be vulnerable to attacks.
Rising oil prices and increased restrictions placed on vehicle emissions are having a significant impact on how military vehicles are being designed, procured and operated. The perennial drive towards lower carbon footprints, energy efficiency and more sustainable operations in the military sector makes it clear why we are seeing this current rise in demand for hybrid and fully electric solutions.
As a consequence of the drive towards electrification, Lincad is currently seeing healthy growth in sales of its military-grade, rechargeable batteries, chargers and power management systems for defence and security applications.
Operating for nearly 40 years, the team at Lincad designs and manufactures lithium-ion batteries and charging systems requiring military-grade performance. Lincad’s engineers work from concept design to final production, aided by facilities such as 3D printing for rapid prototyping, a pick-and-place machine for PCB population, and comprehensive test expertise to ensure compliance with military standards. Following many years of experience working with the UK Ministry of Defence, Lincad also designs and manufactures products for other international armed forces and defence and security organisations around the world.
Lincad’s solutions for the military arena range from a single-cell battery designed to power a small handheld radio to a multi-cell modular battery system to provide propulsion power for remotely operated platforms.
Janet Rowe, Joint Managing Director at Lincad explains: “We have long prided ourselves on our experience and expertise in supporting global military organisations with their power management requirements. Recent developments have seen Lincad developing solutions at ever-increasing scales to support the electrification of a range of platforms across the land, sea and air domains. Whatever the future holds for large-scale military batteries, we’ll be ready and waiting!”
02 Nov 23. Tactical Resupply UAS ready for the fleet. The Navy and Marine Corps announced Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the TRV-150C Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) Oct. 27 at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The first six production systems arrived last week at the Marines Third Littoral Logistics Battalion (LLB-3) in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, which means that LLB-3 is sufficiently manned, trained and ready to deploy with the TRV-150C.
“This achievement means the fleet is ready and fully capable of deploying and using this game-changing system, which will enable Marines to perform forward deployed contested logistics missions,” said Gregg Skinner, Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program manager (PMA-263), whose Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A) team oversees the TRUAS program.
Prior to declaring IOC, support staff from the Air Test and Evaluations Squadron Two Four (UX-24) from Naval Air Warfare Center Webster Outlying Field in Maryland arrived at MCB Hawaii along with an instructor from the Training and Logistics Support Activity Pacific, to conduct final operator qualification with LLB-3. After reviewing the differences between prototype and production systems, the trainers and operators successfully completed 36 training flights to ensure that the unit was ready to deploy.
PMA-263 awarded the production contract for the TRV-150C in April 2023 following a rapid prototyping initiative that brought the system from inception to the fleet in less than four years.
“This was a total team effort in accomplishing this milestone in record time,” Skinner said. “Special thanks to the PMA263 Team, Training and Logistics Support Activity Pacific, Air Test and Evaluations Squadron Two Four (UX-24), and the Survice Engineering Company (TRUAS prime contractor) for their hard work and dedication aimed at getting this much needed Force Design 2023 capability in the hands of the Warfighter.”
TRUAS is a land based, autonomous UAS that provides organic logistics to Marine squads through automated launch, waypoint navigation, and automated landing and payload drop. The system provides battlefield logistics capability to distribute critical supplies at Expeditionary Advanced Bases, where the risk to manned aircraft would deny manned aviation resupply operations out to the last tactical mile.
“The contested logistics environment challenges the ability of our Marines to distribute necessary supplies to the right place at the time of need,” said Col. Aaron Angell, Logistics Combat Element Division director. “TRUAS gives a logistics unit the organic ability to immediately respond with a precision ground launched air delivery system. This is leap-ahead technology that we will learn to continue to shape future unmanned aerial logistics platforms.” (Source: ASD Network)
31 Oct 23. Italian Contract Manufacturer Ci-Esse Srl Acquires a Velo3D Sapphire Printer to Enhance its Additive Manufacturing Capabilities. Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), today announced Ci-Esse Srl, a precision machining contract manufacturer with more than 15 years of experience in additive manufacturing, has purchased a Sapphire printer from Velo3D to become the first member of its contract manufacturer network in Italy. This new, fully integrated metal additive manufacturing solution will be used to produce parts for Ci-Esse’s customers in aerospace, defense, motorsports, and other industries. Ci-Esse’s Sapphire printer will be calibrated to produce parts using Inconel 718 metal powder and will reside in the company’s additive manufacturing facility in Fiorano Modenese, Italy.
“With more than 40 years of experience in precision machining, 15 years using metal additive manufacturing technology, and a deep-rooted passion to solve their customers’ most difficult problems, it’s no surprise that Ci-Esse has developed unique processes and capabilities—from printing parameters and quality control to post-processing—that help them stand out among their peers,” said Benny Buller, Velo3D Founder and CEO. “The overlap of industries served by Velo3D and Ci-Esse is quite extensive, and I foresee a long and fruitful partnership where we learn from one another as we serve our joint customers. We look forward to seeing what their customers produce with Ci-Esse’s new 3D printing capabilities.”
Ci-Esse was founded in 1978 and has a large number of customers across space, aviation, defense, industrial tooling, racing, and automotive. Prior to 2007, Ci-Esse’s business focused on conventional manufacturing technologies. Since then, Ci-Esse has adopted advanced manufacturing technologies, like additive manufacturing, to differentiate itself from the competition. Its customers utilize Ci-Esse’s manufacturing capabilities to procure ready-to-use parts to support their various product lines and service offerings. The company’s extensive legacy is due to its focus on delivering quality parts that meet every aspect of its customers’ specifications. The company is AS9100D certified and maintains a metallurgical laboratory to monitor the quality of the powder used in its additive manufacturing processes.
“One of our core values at Ci-Esse is to strive for perfection in every part we deliver to a customer,” said Giorgio Canali, Ci-Esse CEO. “Velo3D’s solution, with its quality assurance and pre-print software, is an excellent complement to our extensive history of delivering parts produced with the highest quality. The fully integrated solution will help us monitor the quality of the parts we produce for our customers to add an extra level of validation in our quality.”
Within the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) industry, Velo3D has been able to differentiate itself with its solution that combines software and manufacturing processes with its metal 3D printers. The fully integrated solution streamlines the pre-print process, ensures quality in every layer of a 3D printed part, and enables reputability from one Sapphire printer to another. This allows engineers to easily scale production to new printers without having to complete the extensive process of qualification. This approach will allow Ci-Esse to produce parts for existing Velo3D customers with minimal effort. As its customers need to scale their production, Ci-Esse can simply add additional printers to meet its customer’s needs.
About Velo3D:
Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printing—also known as additive manufacturing (AM)—has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
31 Oct 23. Milrem Robotics presents a new combat UGV. Milrem Robotics, Europe’s leading robotics and autonomous systems developer, presents a new combat UGV. The new system is the combination of Milrem Robotics’ intelligent THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and HITROLE® Light Remote Weapon Station (RWS), one of the land turrets developed by Leonardo, a leading global Aerospace, Defence and Security company. THeMIS Combat UGV’s provide direct fire support for manoeuvre units and act as a force multiplier. With the HITROLE® Light RWS which can be fitted with a 7,62 mm or a 12,7 mm Machine Gun or a 40 mm Automatic Grenade Launcher and is assisted by AI functions for target acquisition, recognition prioritization and tracking, they provide the capability to perform multi-role tasks like surveillance, patrolling, border security, counter-sniper and asymmetric missions. Engagement of the target is always done by a human operator. THeMIS Combat UGVs enhance force protection and increase stand-off distance by allowing the operator to utilize the weapon system and observe, day and night from a protected position. The HITROLE® Light RWS is a multi-role ultra-lightweight turret of which more than 300 units are in service worldwide.
“The THeMIS has proven to be the most popular and suitable robotic mobility platform for RWS integrations. Our cooperation with Leonardo and the integration of HITROLE® represent the next crucial steps in this journey. Together with Leonardo, we can offer a highly capable robotic combat system to the Italian Army and customers worldwide. This will significantly enhance warfighting capabilities and, even more importantly, contribute to troop safety,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.
The THeMIS UGV is a multi-role unmanned system that is part of robotics programs in various configurations in 16 countries around the world, including 8 members of NATO. Milrem Robotics is the leading European robotics and autonomous systems developer and systems integrator, with offices in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the US. The company is known for their THeMIS and Multiscope UGVs, the Type-X Robotic Combat Vehicle and MIFIK.
30 Oct 23. Morocco fishing for Piranha? A high-ranking Swiss delegation visited Morocco earlier this month. Its members, led by Guy Parmelin, the equivalent of the Swiss Minister of the Economy, met with his counterpart Ryad Mezzour.
For the occasion, they visited a factory of Sabca, a Belgian aerospace company active in the country. The latter signed an agreement with Pilatus in 2021 to assemble the robust and powerful Pilatus PC-12 single-engined turboprop aircraft in its Moroccan factory, therefore increasing the importance of the Kingdom in the wider, global aerospace supply-chain.
Morocco and Switzerland currently exchange goods worth roughly $900 m to $1 bn a year. As the Swiss-developed PC-12 is purely civil, very few, if any, arms exports have been agreed between Rabat and Bern. The last major agreement between the two countries dates back to 2005, when Switzerland exported 40 of its old M109 artillery guns to Morocco, reportedly paid for by the United Arab Emirates. The Royal Moroccan Navy’s special forces also use the Brügger & Thomet MP9 selective-fire submachine gun, designed and built in Switzerland.
Switzerland has a competitive defence industry that could be of interest to Morocco. Rabat has been modernizing its armed forces, notably driven by on-going tensions with Algeria. In particular, the Moroccan Army could be interested in the Mowag Piranha infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). Such a vehicle could adequately replace the decades-old IFVs currently present in the Moroccan forces, which comprise a mix of South African Ratel, French AMX-10P and VAB VCI or even Dutch YPR-765.
Rabat does need a new-generation piece of equipment, which could well be the Piranha, probably built under license if a deal goes ahead. As the Piranha V comes in three variants – IFV with 30 mm cannon, anti-tank with missile launcher and artillery with 120 mm cannon – a single family of platforms would meet the different needs of the Moroccan army.
But such an agreement would have to pass through Switzerland’s arms export controls, which might consider the Western Sahara issue to be a problem, even if this was not the case for the M109s. As Morocco asserts itself as a military, economic and diplomatic power, it is highly likely that exchanges between the two countries will increase, and it is only a matter of time before an export deal is reached between the two countries. Written by ADIT – The Bulletin and republished with permission. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
31 Oct 23. Most SAAF aircraft maintenance contracts only partially funded. State defence materiel agency Armscor has maintenance contracts in place for most South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft, but most of these are only partially funded at present.
Only the Cessna Caravan, Beechcraft King Air and C-47TP Dakota fleets are without maintenance contracts (although the King Air contract is being finalised), according to an Armscor presentation delivered to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) in September. All four King Airs, eight Caravans and eight C-47TPs are currently grounded, with the prospect of the C-47TPs never flying again due to challenges finding a maintenance provider.
On the fixed wing side, maintenance contracts are in place for the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), Falcon fleet, C212, and PC-12. Regarding the BBJ, Jet Aviation AG has a contract to support the aircraft from July 2023 to July 2026 (the contract cost is R500m but only R64m has been funded). Jet Aviation, based in Switzerland, has identified two local subcontractors to carry out maintenance work (Yes Aircraft Maintenance and Dentec). The BBJ is serviceable and has been used by President Cyril Ramaphosa on numerous recent international trips, most recently to France for the Rugby World Cup.
Execujet MRO Services has the Falcon fleet maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) contract, running from March 2023 to February 2026. This is costed at R252m, of which R110m is funded, according to Armscor. A single Falcon 900 and two Falcon 50s are in the SAAF VIP fleet. Armscor reported that a C-check on the Falcon 900 has been delayed due to corrosion found on the fuel tanks, with completion scheduled by 31 October. defenceWeb understands that the corrosion is repairable and the Falcon 900 will be airworthy soon, while one of the Falcon 50s is currently airworthy.
As for the C212, Airbus is contracted to maintain the fleet between August 2022 and August 2025, at a cost of R70m (of which R39m is funded). Armscor reported the order is in progress and all spares and repairs have been provided to the SAAF in order to make the aircraft serviceable. One of three C212s is believed to be currently airworthy.
The Pilatus Centre Southern Africa has a contract in place from June 2023 to August 2026 to service the SAAF’s sole PC-12, at a cost of R50m (although R13m of this is funded). Armscor noted the SAAF can do all basic maintenance on the aircraft, with Pilatus supplying spares and support.
The PC-12, is however, currently unserviceable as the engine is due for an overhaul. “The quote for the engine overhaul is significantly higher than budgeted for; this is the second overhaul on the engine and the initial estimate was based on the first overhaul,” Armscor stated, with the SAAF currently sourcing the additional funds for this order. The estimated lead time to bring the PC-12 back to service is March 2024.
Regarding the other fixed wing aircraft in the SAAF fleet, National Treasury allocated R1 bn in the 2023/24 financial year for rejuvenating the SAAF’s medium airlift transport capability and this is going towards upgrading and maintaining the six C-130BZ Hercules. Marshall Aerospace received a R470m contract to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS B) transponders and replace the secondary flight display systems on C-130BZs 409 and 405 as well as complete major maintenance work. Marshall will work with Denel to upgrade the remaining four Hercules locally.
Armscor revealed that the balance of the additional R1bn in airlift funding will be utilised for the servicing of at least eight engines for the C-130BZ fleet, while Armscor is also placing a contract worth R40 m for aircraft spares.
R75m of the SAAF budget for 2023/24 is being allocated to Denel Aeronautics for C-130BZ maintenance, with the contract valid from January 2023 to end December 2025. These funds will be used for the servicing of aircraft, procurement of spares, repair of components and calibration of Ground Support & Test Equipment (GS&TE). Armscor noted that “C-130BZ product supply support (PSS) contracted to Denel from January 2023 to December 2025 is worth R500m, but only R177m is funded.”
The PC-7 Mk II turboprop trainer contract will end in less than a year and a replacement has yet to be placed. Armscor revealed the PC-7 contract runs from August 2023 to end March 2024 and is worth R130m, with R118m funded. Lead times for spares are between 8 months and 24 months. Of the 35 PC-7s in the fleet, around half a dozen are serviceable at present.
The PC-7, PC-12 and Caravan fleets use Pratt & Whitney Canada’s popular PT6 turboprop engine and to ensure these are kept running, on 1 August a contract with the company was placed for engine support across the SAAF. Although this is worth R250m, the funded value is just R40m.
Rotary wing fleet
As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Denel is tasked with maintaining the Oryx and Rooivalk helicopter fleets. The company presently has a contract in place for Rooivalk maintenance, running from April 2019 to end March 2024. This on-demand contract is worth R450m, with R186 m funded. A fixed cost contract (R500 m+) ran from April 2019 to end September 2023. Armscor was hoping to place another contract with Denel by end September. Several of the 11 Rooivalks in the fleet are currently airworthy.
Regarding the 39 Oryx, about half a dozen are flyable. Both Airbus Helicopters and Denel have support contracts in place, covering June 2021 to June 2024 and June 2019 to April 2024 respectively. These both come to R440m, although R283m is funded at present.
Leonardo South Africa is responsible for A109 airframe support for the 24-strong fleet, with two contracts each worth R125m running from December 2022 to end March 2025 (R12 and R16m of these are funded). According to Armscor, “the current budget allocation is insufficient for on demand requirements”, with efforts being made to secure additional funding. Similarly, there is insufficient funds for Arrius 2K2 engine support for the A109 fleet (R5 m funded against a R100 m requirement), with the SAAF trying to make additional funding available. Only half a dozen A109s are serviceable.
Maintenance funds for the eight BK 117s are in short supply, with the on-demand contract with Airbus Helicopters running from June 2021 to June 2024 funded to the tune of R19m against a required R100m. “Additional funds to be confirmed by SAAF to be added to the order to buy additional spares while waiting for the new contract to be placed,” Armscor stated. The new contract was to have been in place by end September 2023.
Armscor expected a new product support contract for the four Super Lynx 300 to be in place by 20 October 2023. Armscor said a challenge with the Lynx is the long turnaround time for spares and overhauls – one engine is at LHTEC for overhaul and the second awaiting delivery to the contractor. Half the Lynx fleet is airworthy at present.
Combat jets
Both Hawk and Gripen jets have maintenance contracts in place, but not for the entire fleets. Saab as the original equipment manufacturer of the Gripen has an airframe support contract in place from September 2022 to end August 2025, worth R650m (of which R476m is funded). After delays, Armscor placed a support contract with GKN Aerospace for the maintenance of the Gripen engines, running from August 2023 to end July 2026. It is worth R327m, of which R145m is currently funded. Armscor originally aimed to have the engine support contract in place with GKN by 1 December 2022.
Due to the SAAF’s tight budget, the support contract with Saab covers 13 Gripens over three years – the SAAF had 26 Gripen C/Ds, but one was written off following a ground incident. The remaining 12 will remain in storage.
The other jet combat aircraft in SAAF service, the Hawk Mk 120 lead-in fighter-trainer, also has maintenance contracts in place. OEM BAE Systems was awarded the airframe maintenance contract, valid from September 2021 to end August 2024. This is worth R250m, of which R221m is funded. Armscor said the order is progressing well, with 90% of the material supply already delivered. “The product support contract (PSC) strategy has proven to be effective for the Hawk maintenance and support,” Arsmcor told the PCDMV.
Rolls Royce, as the engine OEM, was contracted to provide support from June 2022 to end May 2025 for the Hawk’s Adour Mk 951 engine. This is valued at R29m, with R19m funded. “The order is progressing well,” Armscor reported.
Paramount Advanced Technologies is responsible for Hawk avionics maintenance from August 2023 to end July 2026. This contract is worth R9.6m, with over half (R4.6m) funded. Line replacement units that require repair are already at Paramount.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, replying to a recent parliamentary question about SAAF aircraft serviceability, said the unavailability of aircraft implies SAAF defence readiness is “compromised” with aircrew having to regain currency and “the lack of aircraft availability poses a challenge”.
She goes further stating: “The challenge is the severe unavailability of funds to place contracts and it’s not as a result of non-performance by Armscor or SAAF. Armscor had to engage with contractors within limited available funds and, in numerous instances, has not yielded positive results”. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
30 Oct 23. The EU has donated more than 100 armoured military vehicles to Ghana that were originally seized from a ship off the coast of Libya, as part of efforts to shore up the west African nation’s security. Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, formally handed over the 105 vehicles to Ghana’s armed forces on Saturday during a visit to the country. The military equipment, which includes armoured cars, was seized from a Libya-bound ship last year by an EU maritime task force, two senior EU officials told the Financial Times. The task force inspects vessels suspected of breaching the UN arms embargo on Libya. The EU has not disclosed the origin of the shipment or the previous owners of the cargo. The donation to Ghana comes as the EU seeks to increase support for friendly states in west Africa amid fears that the decade-long insurgency crisis in the Sahel, the semi-arid strip south of the Sahara, will spill into the relatively peaceful coastal countries in the region. The transfer of the confiscated vehicles — which were stored at France’s Marseille port after being captured as part of one EU initiative and then donated by another — is the first time such a mechanism has been used, according to one of the EU officials, who said member states agreed this was a better outcome than destroying them. Borrell, who met with Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo and top security officials during the trip, said the vehicles were part of a €20m support package for the country’s military. “Further equipment will also be delivered in the future: aerial surveillance, electronic warfare [systems] and river crafts,” Borrell added. “We are confident that this support will benefit not only Ghana but the entire subregion [of the Gulf of Guinea] as well. “The spillover of insecurity from the Sahel to the Gulf of Guinea is no longer a risk that may happen, it is a danger that is happening now. A reality that our partners cannot and should not face alone,” he added. The support for Ghana’s armed forces comes from the EU’s European Peace Facility scheme, which has provided aid to Ukraine, Moldova and other bloc allies. Benin, one of the west African countries deemed to be at risk of Islamist violence, received €11.75m in assistance from the same programme. Borrell described Ghana as “a prominent partner, considering its crucial role in furthering democracy, prosperity and regional stability”, adding that “these armoured cars were allocated to Ghana because we believe that it was the best way of using them”. Sahelian states such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling al-Qaeda and Isis affiliates for more than a decade in a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced ms more. The insecurity has contributed to a wave of coups in these countries since 2020, with the military taking over and promising to improve security. The coup crisis has led to concerns that coastal countries such as Ghana, Benin and Togo, which share borders with Sahelian states, will be affected. Ghana shares a border with Burkina Faso in the town of Bawku, which is the location of a long-running ethnic conflict that security officials fear could be hijacked by insurgents. (Source: FT.com)
30 Oct 23. SVI Engineering, leading specialist manufacturer of armoured products, has launched an advanced new Level B4 discreet package for the popular Toyota Land Cruiser 300, implementing enhanced measures to further minimise any potential ballistic gaps.
Offering upgraded 360-degree B4 protection against handguns (up to .44 Magnum), the Bashewa-based firm’s discreetly armoured J300-generation SUV represents the ideal anti-hijack solution.
“Having taken delivery of one of the very first Land Cruiser 300s to enter the South African market back in 2021, our development process has been nothing short of rigorous. While we’ve since armoured several units to Level B6, this is the first example of our further-improved Level B4 solution, here applied to the Japanese brand’s menacing GR-Sport derivative,” said SVI Business Development Director, Nicol Louw.
SVI’S ADVANCED LEVEL B4 PACKAGE FOR LAND CRUISER 300
What makes this latest advanced Level B4 concealed package different? Well, drawing on their vast experience developing bullet-resistant solutions for a wide variety of vehicles, SVI’s engineers extended the standard package to include overlaps around all door closures, the windscreen, the rear screen and all windows, further minimising any potential ballistic gaps.
In addition, while Kevlar – which is precisely cut and bonded to the large areas of sheet metal – is the lightweight composite armouring material of choice for such a package, SVI’s version also includes armoured-steel plates in various smaller, otherwise more vulnerable spots, such as the pillars.
Offering comprehensive protection for the entire passenger cell – all the way to and including the tailgate – SVI’s B4-armoured Land Cruiser 300 remains a fully fledged seven-seater SUV. Full protection for the vehicle’s sensor package (as well as for various critical under-bonnet components) is furthermore included, along with front-fender armour. All standard windows are replaced with imported 21 mm ballistic glass, carefully curved to original-equipment specification and appearance.
Since the additional weight of the armouring components comes to only approximately 350 kg, the body-on-frame SUV does not require a suspension upgrade. Similarly, thanks to the minimal overall mass added by SVI’s advanced Level B4 package, the standard door hinges are likewise retained.
COST AND BUILD TIME
The 360-degree B4 armouring solution for the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 is priced from R771 930 (excluding VAT), while the list of options includes items such as B4 roof armour, B4 floor armour, a PA system, heavy-duty runflat rings for the tyres and SVI’s recently launched luxury-seat conversion package.
The build time is set at approximately three months. SVI also offers a full B6 discreet package – providing protection against assault rifles, including R1, R5 and AK47 – which is priced from R1 060 369 (excluding VAT).
Toyota Land Cruiser 300 360-degree B4 armour – R771 930 (ex VAT)
Toyota Land Cruiser 300 360-degree B6 armour – R1 060 369 (ex VAT)
THE COMPANY
SVI is an original equipment manufacturer that has specialised in armoured vehicles since 2004. The company is a market leader in Africa, serving the private, corporate, security, mining and governmental segments. SVI holds a Level 2 B-BBEE certification and its quality management system is certified to ISO 9001:2015 by TÜV Rheinland.
(Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
27 Oct 23. The first batch of new Patria’s six-wheeled vehicles handed over to the Swedish Armed Forces.
The Swedish Army has officially received the first batch of new Patria’s six-wheeled armoured vehicles, in Sweden called Pansarterrängbil 300. The vehicles, which were manufactured in Finland, will be part of the current expansion of Swedish Armed Forces.
These Patria 6×6 armoured vehicles will be based at Livgardet regiment in Kungsängen, near Stockholm and further south in Sweden. An official hand-over ceremony marking the delivery took place at Ground Combat School in Kvarn on 26 October, 2023.
Apart from Sweden, Patria’s 6×6 solution is already in use in Finland and Latvia, and Germany has joined the Patria 6×6 -based Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme. These 6×6 deliveries further manifest that Sweden is one of the most important export markets for Patria.
“We are glad to see the vehicles in operation on Swedish soil. Patria was able to fulfil the order extremely quickly, which shows the benefit of cross-border cooperation that is at the heart of the 6×6 the joint CAVS programme. Pansarterrängbil 300 which is manufactured in Finland, with significant contribution also from Swedish industry, is a prime example of the benefits of technical cooperation between countries,” says Mats Warstedt, Senior Vice President of Market Area Nordics at Patria.
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TEK Military Seating Limited
TEK Military Seating Limited is a UK based designer and manufacturer of ProTEK military vehicle seating which offer the highest standards of safety and protection. The ProTEK brand is well respected across the globe for its robust construction, innovative design, built in modularity and cost effectiveness. Our superior products are supported by our experienced team who endeavor to offer unrivalled service to our customers from enquiry, through design and acceptance, to through life support.
From its inception ProTEK seats have been designed around a family of innovative seat frames onto which tested and certified modules can be fitted to create a bespoke solution for the user. These include Blast protection to Stanag 4569 standards, vibration reduction, head and body protection, seat risers and turntables, fore & aft adjustment, and seat back rake along with viable seat dimensions without the need for additional tooling costs.
Contact: David Parkman
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