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18 Nov 13. USAF receives initial Guardian Angel air-droppable rescue vehicles. The US Air Force’s (USAF) 88th Test and Evaluations Squadron (TES) has taken delivery of the initial set of the Guardian Angel Air-Deployable Rescue Vehicles (GAARV) for operational testing. Scheduled to commence in March 2014, the testing will validate the vehicle’s suitability and effectiveness for the Guardian Angel (GA) weapon system, which is a non-aircraft, equipment-based weapon system organised into nine specific capabilities, such as prepare, mission plan, insert, movement, actions on objective, medically treat, extract, reintegrate and adapt. Designed to help combat search-and-rescue (SAR) teams retrieve isolated individuals, the GAARV multi-purpose utility vehicle is also expected to expand their ability to quickly reach further into the battlefield to offer a more mobile rescue capability. 88th TES Guardian Angel Test Division commander captain Francis Hallada said the vehicle may be used in varied physical environments across a range of military operations, and also enable rescue teams to maintain terrain and distance separation from hostile forces to provide recovery package enough time to reach the objective area. 88th Test and Evaluations Squadron Guardian Angel In addition to this, the tactical ground vehicle is designed to move through rubble and debris fields during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts to transport survivors and rescue equipment. The 88th TES is focused on maximising HH-60 Pave Hawk, HC-130 Hercules, and the GA weapon systems capability through fielding of combat-ready solutions to combat SAR forces through innovation, test and evaluation and tactics development. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
17 Nov 13. MBDA has just completed the integration and factory acceptance test of the first Multi-Purpose Combat Vehicle (MPCV) vehicles designed to operate the Mistral surface to air missile. Built for export, these vehicles represent the first production batch. In the next few days, they will be shipped for delivery to the customer country before the end of the year, as announced at the contract signing in February 2011. In parallel, MBDA is completing the installation of a final assembly line in the customer country so that the customer will be able to carry out the final integration of its own combat vehicles using MBDA provided MPCV kits. In Bourges, MBDA personnel have also trained the customer’s technical staff during the integration of the first MPCV’s.
On the occasion of the delivery, Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA, said: “With the MPCV program, MBDA once again demonstrates its mastery of the architecture of air defence systems. Self-funded by MBDA, the MPCV was developed in four years. It then took less than three years after the signing of the first contract to integrate the systems on a vehicle chosen by the end customer, deliver at the agreed date and implement a technology transfer under which the customer will be able, in complete autonomy, to keep its equipment in operational condition.”
With this first version in full production, MBDA is now ready to move ahead with a land combat version of the MPCV. This will deploy the totally new MMP surface attack missile which is currently being developed by MBDA. The MPCV, developed by MBDA in cooperation with Rheinmetall Defence Electronics (RDE) of Germany, has been designed to meet emerging requirements for a highly mobile weapon system which can be adapted for different missions, either air defence or land combat, depending on the type of missiles it operates. The first development, which is now being delivered, is aimed at air defence and comprises a motorized and stabilized turret that includes electro-optical sensors, a small caliber gun and four, ready-to-fire Mistral