Sponsored by TEK Military Seating Limited
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17 Aug 22. American Rheinmetall Vehicles and GM Defense Team to Pursue U.S. Army’s Common Tactical Truck Program. American Rheinmetall Vehicles, a leading developer of tactical wheeled and tracked combat vehicles and systems has formed a strategic collaboration with GM Defense LLC, to compete in the U.S. Army’s Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program. The CTT program seeks to identify a replacement platform for the Army’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles.
The Army expects to execute multiple Prototype Projects before determining whether to proceed to initial production that could entail purchase of approximately 5,700 vehicles at a value of around $5 bn. A Request for Prototype Proposals for the first phase was issued in late June with an expected Contract Award in December 2022.
Rheinmetall, with its subsidiary Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV), is a global leader in tactical military truck development and manufacturing. The Group’s HX family of trucks have been sold to 20 customers globally including an active Allied user group consisting of Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Rheinmetall recently unveiled its HX3, next-generation series of truck with advances in power, mobility, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and an open systems architecture with pathways to hybrid technology incorporation, leader follower driving, and autonomous operations. The militarized HX3 series incorporates substantial commercial technologies reflecting Rheinmetall’s joint venture with MAN Truck & Bus which streamlines logistics and sustainment burdens and provides benefits in vehicle upgrades. An Americanized HX3 forms the basis of what the American Rheinmetall Vehicles and GM Defense team will offer the Army in the first phase of the CTT program. Combined with an open architecture, the commercial backbone of the HX3 will support persistent modernization and allow for increases in capability as technologies mature. This will reduce obsolescence issues and overall lifecycle costs.
GM Defense is a rapidly expanding, wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors — one of the largest automotive producers in the world, delivering 2.2m vehicles in 2021 alone, and remains the largest commercial provider of military vehicles in history. As GM’s purpose-built government-facing entity, GM Defense will bring its formidable manufacturing capabilities and technological excellence to the CTT team, leveraging GM’s innovation and portfolio of commercial technologies to advance customer capabilities. Having been selected to deliver the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) to the Army under an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract, GM Defense understands rapid prototyping, agile design and engineering, and rapid delivery.
The CTT Program is a rapid prototyping effort that uses a middle tier acquisition strategy and OTAs to enable the Army to quickly procure and test tactical truck prototypes to replace its family of heavy tactical trucks. The Army is seeking a modern platform featuring advanced driver safety systems, increased off-road mobility, cybersecurity, machine learning, artificial intelligence, improved survivability, and fuel efficiency among other emerging technologies. The program will enable the Army to replace legacy vehicles like the Palletized Load System (PLS), Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), M915 Line Haul Tractor, and other platforms in the current heavy and medium tactical wheeled fleet. A truck with maximum commercial elements, able to perform military missions, and that can bring commonality among mission roles are top priorities for the Army in the program.
“American Rheinmetall Vehicles is a committed partner to the Army, bringing next-generation capability, technology and competition to high priority Army modernization programs like CTT. GM Defense shares our commitment, and together our team will provide a transformational truck to support the Army and its Soldiers,” said Matthew Warnick, managing director for American Rheinmetall Vehicles. “General Motors has a century of experience supporting the Department of Defense with a remarkable heritage in design, engineering and manufacturing. GM Defense continues that heritage with the ability to rapidly develop and deploy advanced technologies, bringing an important capability to the American Rheinmetall Vehicles team and our exceptional CTT offering.”
“On the heels of successfully delivering the ISV to our Army customer, GM Defense is excited to join American Rheinmetall Vehicles on the CTT program to deliver another exceptional mobility solution for our Soldiers,” said Steve duMont, president of GM Defense. “This strategic collaboration enables GM Defense to continue showcasing our advanced capabilities, leveraging GM’s innovation and proven commercial technology. With American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ HX3 as the starting point, I’m confident that together we will deliver a winning solution that meets or exceeds the Army’s requirements and provides a platform for growth and technology insertion to support our warfighters well into the future.”
HX3 Common Tactical Truck (HX3-CTT)
Technology for the future: The HX3-CTT features an advanced, interchangeable protected cab design, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and drive by wire operation. The new open systems electrical architecture allows rapid integration of leader follower and autonomous capabilities that focus on protecting our most valuable combat asset – the Soldier.
Common Platforms and parts to support a family of vehicles: The HX3-CTT is the new, next-gen variant of the globally successful HX family of military-off-the-shelf tactical trucks. It possesses an extremely high level of commonality and modularity across variants: cargo, load handling systems, tankers, and line haul tractors. With an HX family that can scale from 4×4 to 10×10, the HX can meet any military need.
Commerciality in its DNA: The HX3-CTT leverages best-in-class advances in commercial truck technology, safety, fuel efficiency, and emissions reduction. Ruggedized for the stresses of military service, the HX family provides an “off the shelf” capability. This commercial backbone reduces obsolescence risk/cost, expands parts availability, and reduces sustainment demands.
Allied Interoperability: The HX family of trucks have been sold to 20 customers globally including an active Allied user group consisting of Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, creating common global supply chains, training opportunities, and integrated operations among key allies operating around the world.
About American Rheinmetall Vehicles
American Rheinmetall Vehicles delivers next-generation, advanced tactical wheeled vehicles and innovative tracked and wheeled combat vehicles in support of today’s highest combat vehicle modernization priorities. Rheinmetall’s collaborative global structure allows for the maturation and strengthening of the U.S. Industrial Base now and into the future. American Rheinmetall Vehicles is part of the American Rheinmetall family of U.S. companies including American Rheinmetall Munitions in Stafford, VA, American Rheinmetall Systems in Biddeford, ME and U.S. corporate parent American Rheinmetall Defense in Reston, VA. www.rheinmetall.com/arv
About GM Defense, LLC.
GM Defense delivers integrated vehicles, power and propulsion, and mobility and autonomy solutions to global defense, security, and government markets. The exceptional reliability of GM Defense’s technologies results from decades of proven performance and bns of dollars spent in independent research and development by its parent, General Motors, a world leader in global design, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities. For more information, please visit www.gmdefensellc.com.
11 Aug 22. Testing of the Army’s first autonomous vehicle speeds ahead. Engineers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center, or AvMC, don’t have to imagine it, they are building it. The Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher takes a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — or HIMARS — and modifies it with hardware and software to be controlled remotely and driven autonomously.
“[The Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher] represents a significant and exciting modernization improvement for the Army,” said Christi Dolbeer, director of DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center’s Technology Development Directorate. “Adding autonomy to drive mobile launchers and increasing the firing power of those launchers represents a powerful combination. I am very proud of the DEVCOM AvMC and DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center teams working together to give Soldiers even greater capabilities.”
While it resembles the self-driving cars in the news, the Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher — or AML — will have capabilities that those vehicles will never possess — but also challenges. Regular autonomous autos operate on established roadways, they aren’t navigating a sometimes treacherous terrain. They also aren’t being fired upon by enemy combatants. Then there is the matter of size.
“We are talking about putting a 36,000-pound vehicle in an area where there will be humans running around,” said Lucas Hunter, AML project manager for AvMC. “Tesla and other companies are working on vehicles that can sense cars in front of them and behind them; they have these nice stripes on the road that tell it, ‘I am getting out of my lane.’ Well, we are driving through open country, we don’t have stripes — we have holes, we have cliffs.”
AML in its current incarnation will look notably different than the final system as the existing cab will eventually be eliminated from the vehicle. Later iterations will also boast a new launcher and increased firing power.
AML was conceptualized as a tool to increase mass fires and “thicken the force,” but what exactly does that translate to in theater?
“AML applies a wingman concept to the Soldiers we already have on the battlefield,” Hunter said. “That spreads out capabilities. So more targets have to be addressed by the enemy. At the same time, it increases the number of rounds that our Soldiers have available which keeps them in the fight longer. With HIMARS, once they fire their six rounds, they have to reload. If you add 12 more, now they are able to support frontline troops three times as long.”
How this new capability will be utilized is currently being explored by the Fires Center of Excellence and the Strategic and Operational Rockets and Missiles Office. Concept testing was conducted in 2021 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to demonstrate how the wingman concept might look, emulating a mission with the Precision Strike Missile — the missile being part of the Army’s Long-Range Precision Fire cross-functional initiative and also in the AvMC portfolio.
For Hunter, AML marks not just a landmark paradigm shift for Army battlefield technology, but for the world of robotics itself. With the strides already made in breaking the manual chain and developing the robotic applique kit, it is easy to forget that AML has only been in existence since February 2020.
“There are all kinds of situational awareness challenges that the robotics industry is just now starting to look at,” Hunter said. “AML, which will be called HIMARS Increment 2, has to be able to travel wherever it is told to travel. It has to be able to tell, ‘Hey, there is a cliff right here.’ It has to be able to recognize whatever terrain it is on.
“This is a career field in robotics — how to enhance that situation awareness and do so in passive manners. We need sensors that collect situational awareness data without emitting detectable energy like light or sound. Because you don’t want this to light up like a Christmas tree when the enemy is looking.”
The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the Army’s research and development focal point for advanced technology in aviation and missile systems. It is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. AvMC is responsible for delivering collaborative and innovative aviation and missile capabilities for responsive and cost-effective research, development and life cycle engineering solutions, as required by the Army’s strategic priorities and support to its Cross-Functional Teams. (Source: https://www.army.mil/)
17 Aug 22. Rheinmetall delivers AI-based navigation system for UK project. Polaris MRZR D4 will be integrated with the Rheinmetall PATH Autonomy Kit to support Project Theseus 2.2. Rheinmetall has announced the delivery of the first batch of artificial intelligence-based (AI) navigation systems to support the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Project Theseus 2.2.
The delivery is part of a contract awarded by the UK MoD on 21 February 2022 to support its initiative to automate supply delivery to soldiers deployed in tough terrains.
Prime contractor Rheinmetall is working in collaboration with its Ottawa-based robotics division Rheinmetall Provectus, and Polaris subsidiary Polaris Government and Defense.
Polaris Defence United Kingdom will deliver in-country support.
As part of the contract, Rheinmetall Group’s subsidiary Rheinmetall Canada, and Polaris Government and Defense are working to modernise the Polaris MRZR D4 ultra-light tactical vehicle with the Rheinmetall PATH Autonomy Kit (A-kit).
The PATH A-kit is an AI-powered navigation system that converts a crewed vehicle into an optionally crewed ground vehicle (OCGV).
It uses sensor fusion and environment mapping to help vehicles navigate autonomously. The system enables vehicles to easily move in challenging terrains and rough weather conditions, thus keeping troops safe. (Source: army-technology.com)
15 Aug 22. The ‘Boxer Village’ will display a wide range of Boxer platforms at DVD2022. On 21st and 22nd September 2022, industry and Defence in the Land Equipment sector will meet at UTAC Millbrook for the biennial Defence industry exhibition, DVD2022. This year’s focus ‘Mobilise and Modernise – A Decade of Delivery’ will see the themes brought to life through presentations, demonstrations and a ‘Boxer Village’
Boxer, the state-of-the-art wheeled armoured vehicle, designed to allow role specific Mission Module configuration, will be displayed with a variety of Modules. The off-road exhibition will enable visitors to see kit, meet the people behind it, and find out more about future innovations available for UK Boxer.
Defence industry, DE&S Delivery Teams, Army HQ staff and other Defence community users of Land Equipment will have an opportunity to learn more about how collaboration on Boxer’s Strategic Pipeline project is influencing the ongoing Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme.
The DVD2022 theme aims to ‘Mobilise the Army’ to meet the threat in Europe and meet the NATO Model 24 by increasing readiness and competitiveness of the Army today and accelerating delivery of Future Soldier. ‘Modernising through a Decade of Delivery’ will see the implementation of major equipment programmes, streamlining support and collective training, the exploitation of future technology and it will light the forges of industry through the Land Industrial Strategy (LIS).
Lt Col Hugh O’Neil Roe, who is helping to deliver the programme on behalf of DE&S, said:
“The aim of DVD2022 is for the Army and DE&S to explain known capability requirements and future intent, to influence industry research and development and for industry to demonstrate current products and explain their development plans”
“We’re looking forward to seeing a number of platforms within our ‘Boxer Village’ and to demonstrating how the team is working together to bring Boxer into UK service, whilst keeping an eye to meeting emerging requirements.”
For those involved in Land Equipment for Army Headquarters, DE&S and Front-Line Commands DVD2022 provides an ideal opportunity to identify innovation, develop ideas and generate a greater understanding of technologies, capabilities and requirements. To register as a visitor please visit www.theevent.co.uk/visitor.
12 Aug 22. USMC CH-53E marks first transport of JLTV to ship and back to shore. The US Marine Corps (USMC) used a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter to transport a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) to a ship and back to shore for the first time.
Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit logistics combat element and Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) 31, along with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), transported the JLTV from a beach at a training area in Okinawa, Japan, approximately 13 n miles, to USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5). The CH-53E performed two lifts at the beach landing zone and two lifts aboard Miguel Keith before transporting the vehicle back to the beach, Captain Pawel Puczko, director of communication strategy at the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, told Janes via email.
“The CH-53 and Helicopter Support Team provide a pretty unique capability to get those systems to otherwise inaccessible locations,” said Captain Tyler Hopping, CH-53E pilot with VMM-262 (reinforced), in a statement.
(Source: Janes)
07 Aug 22. Spanish truck manufacturer UROVESA has unveiled a Special Operations Vehicle (SOV) variant of its VAMTAC LTV (Light Tactical Vehicle) model, writes Bob Morrison.
Ready for production in 2018, the URO VAMTAC (Vehículo de Alta Movilidad Táctico or High Mobility Tactical Vehicle) LTV variant was publicly displayed at the FEINDEF defence and security expo in Madrid in November 2021 and the new SOV (Special Operations Vehicle) version was shown at Eurosatory 2022 in Paris this June.
The original VAMTAC, a Hum-vee / HMMWV lookalike produced in both softskin and armoured versions over the last 25 years, has evolved into quite a heavy vehicle (up to 8500kg for some armoured versions) with many of its variants unable to be driven by soldiers who do not possess a truck category entitlement on their driving licence. The LTV (Light Tactical Vehicle) variant, recognisable from the frontal arc by its higher and more rounded bonnet / hood plus its one-piece windscreen, was designed from the outset to have a maximum GVW under 4500kg. Presumably UROVESA are aiming at a SANTANA ANÍBAL MILITAR 4×4 potential replacement as the utility vehicles batch ordered for Spanish Army service in 2007 is reaching the end of its planned 15-year service life. The Ejército de Tierra is currently in the throes of long-term modernisation, with both early VAMTAC versions and the ANÍBAL fleet earmarked for replacement in the not too distant future.
The standard VAMTAC LTV (Light Tactical Vehicle) displayed at FEINDEF 2021 was not exhibited at Eurosatory 2022 but a hitherto unseen LTV SOV (Special Operations Vehicle) variant was shown on the UROVESA stand, along with a VAMTAC ST5 Armoured Ambulance developed for a Portuguese Army contract and a forward control VAMTAC SK cargo / troop carrier variant. This minimalist four-seat SOV shares the same front end, from engine compartment bulkhead forward, plus floor pan and rear cargo tray as the basic LTV but its upper hamper is tubular with a simple canopy for foul weather protection. A machine gun or grenade launcher can be mounted on a pulpit ring on the roll cage, which can be folded to allow transportation inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter or C-295 transport aircraft.
The SOV prototype displayed in Paris this June had simple independent suspension but a hydraulic suspension system allowing variable ride height is also an option, and another option is hybrid propulsion. Traction is permanent 4×4 with differential locks on both axles plus the transfer case. This prototype was fitted with tubular gates instead of side doors, but lightweight fabric doors and side panels can be fitted if deployed in cold / wet operational theatres, and webbing mesh doors are also shown on one company photo of the SOV. A lightweight appliqué armour package bringing protection up to STANAG 4569 level can also be fitted, though of course fitting this would either reduce the ability to carry 1000kg of payload or would push the vehicle’s GVW above 4500kg.
At time of writing I have not been able to source accurate SOV dimensions from the manufacturer. Photographs of three-door van body and four-door crew cab versions of the LTV, including an air defence version with firing post and flat folding gunner’s platform at the rear, have been displayed on the the UROVESA expo stand since late 2021. (Source: www.joint-forces.com)
12 Aug 22. Details emerge on mesh hybrid networking system for EU’s UGV programme. Details on the mesh communications system in development as part of the Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) programme, the European Defence Fund’s (EDF) project for a common unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), have been revealed to Janes. Speaking to Janes, an industry source familiar with the iMUGS communications effort provided details on the objectives and testing of the hybrid networking system.
The iMUGS sub-project for a mesh communications system is being undertaken by Finnish telecommunications company Bittium, part of the consortium of companies led by Estonia’s Milrem Robotics.
“We are developing communications, which is based on mesh technology and which allows all the vehicles, the troops … [to be] part of one big network, and all the traffic is based on IP [internet protocol traffic],” the source told Janes. “There’s no predefined structure, so you can add vehicles or nodes, and you can remove [them],” he added. (Source: Janes)
12 Aug 22. More Mambas on the move. Almost a month after the first batch of refurbished Mamba armoured personnel carriers (APCs) left De Brug for Wallmannsthal, they are today (Friday, 12 August) being followed by another 40 destined for service in the landward force’s new specialist brigades.
As with those in the July convoy, the second tranche of Mambas were sourced nationally by an SA Army recovery team, then moved to the Free State training area and its workshop facilities. Once delivered, 170 Technical Service Corps (TSC) mechanics and their Cuban equivalents, in South Africa as part of the overall Cuban/South African defence co-operation agreement and memorandum of understanding, took over bringing the repairable Mambas back to fully serviceable and ready for utilisation.
Along with the first 60 Mambas delivered to Wallmannsthal last month, Friday’s convoy brings to 100 the number of these locally designed and built section APCs ready for service with the new modern brigades of the landward force. They at present go by indication of specific tasking rather than name and are termed the airborne, light and motorised modern brigades.
Repair and refurbishment of the APCs started in February.
The four-wheel Mamba, initially based on a commercial Toyota truck chassis and subsequently the Mercedes-Benz Unimog chassis, was developed as a replacement for the Buffel APC in the late eighties. The Mamba has gone through various improvements and upgrades with the last to Mark 5 standard, which is still in service. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
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Contact: David Parkman
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