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09 Jul 14. Nigeria plans to manufacture South African APCs. The South African company DCD Protected Mobility has unveiled a new type of mine-protected patrol vehicle that it says will be built for the Nigerian Police Force’s (NPF’s) paramilitary units. Named after a mythical Nigerian creature, the Ikri has been developed by DCD Protected Mobility and Nigeria’s Mekahog in close co-operation with the NPF. It is based on DCD’s Springbuck protected all-terrain armoured personnel carrier (APC), which has been in service with the NPF since 2006. While DCD did not say when Ikri production would begin, it said that it is poised to establish a military vehicle maintenance and repair facility in Nigeria in collaboration with Mekahog. This will be followed by the commencement of local assembly of ‘completely knocked down’ Ikri kits and then complete assembly of the vehicles. Mekahog was established in 1993 as an engineering, construction and procurement company and has since diversified into security and defence equipment. Compared to the basic Springbuck the Ikri offers better protection, mobility and crew comfort, according to DCD. It has B6 level ballistic protection (capable of stopping a 7.62 x 51 mm round at 10 m), which can be upgraded to B7. Together with careful interior design, its V-shaped armoured hull protects the crew against a TM57 anti-tank mine or similar charge anywhere under the vehicle or two mines under any wheel, according to DCD. Specific upgrades for the Ikri include improved ballistic protection of the front grille, an armour enclosure around external air-conditioner components, enclosed reservoirs for the air brakes, and protective plates for the axles. The mobility upgrade includes a 145 kW turbo-charged six-cylinder MWM diesel, a six-speed automatic transmission, improved engine cooling, a 200 litre diesel tank, APS brakes and an upgraded suspension that provides both better off-road mobility and greater crew comfort. Other improvements include side doors for the driver and co-driver, revised driver controls, new flip-up seats for the ten passengers to ease access and egress, improved air-conditioning ducting for greater air flow, and dark-tinted windows to reduce heat in the cabin and to make it difficult to see how many people are in the vehicle. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
19 Jul 14. AM General BRV-O JLTV Completes Engineering Manufacturing and Development Offroad Testing. AM General announced that its entrant into the U.S. Government’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) competition, the Blast Resistant Vehicle – Offroad (BRV-O) has completed months of rugged off-road testing during the competition’s Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase. AM General has successfully completed every milestone to date throughout the JLTV program’s EMD phase, including the design understanding review, manufacturing readiness assessment and ahead of schedule delivery of 22 BRV-Os to the U.S. Government for EMD testing. “As the most experienced Light Tactical Vehicle company in the world, having designed, tested, built and fielded more than 1.5 million vehicles, we are very pleased with BRV-O’s performance to date and EMD testing was very much in line with our projections,” said AM General Vice President of Business Development and Program Management Chris Vanslager. “We look forward to getting this modern and innovative vehicle that provides unmatched situational awareness, protection, performance and payload at an affordable price into the hands of our customers as soon as possible. Light tactical vehicles are in our DNA and we are setting the pace on integrating components, meeting timelines and other requirements and working closely with our military customer representatives daily.” (Source: ASD Network)
17 Jul 14. Oshkosh Defense L-ATV Su