RHEINMETALL TRANSFERS KODIAK AND DEMONSTRATES ADS AND HIGH ENERGY LASER
21 Nov 11. Rheinmetall announced three major developments this month, the transfer of the first Kodiak armoured engineering vehicle to Sweden and the demonstration by Rheinmetall and ADS GmbH of ADS. In addition, the Company carried out a successful target engagement with high-energy laser weapons
Rheinmetall Defence has handed over the first “Kodiak” AEV 3 S
A state-of-the-art combat support vehicle based on the Leopard 2. Rheinmetall Defence has handed over the first “Kodiak” AEV 3 S armoured engineering vehicle to the Swedish armed forces procurement agency (FMV, Försvarets Materiel Verk). At an official ceremony in Kiel, Harald Westermann, Member of the Executive Board of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH of Kiel, presented the symbolic vehicle keys to Stefan Grann, Head of Vehicles and Engineering Equipment Office at FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration). Known in Rheinmetall parlance as the “Kodiak”, the AEV 3 S is a heavy-duty combat engineering system that falls into the military weight category MLC 70. Its mine-protected MBT (main battle tank) Leopard 2 chassis and 1,100 kW diesel engine assure outstanding mobility and a high level of protection. It is equipped with a powerful hinged-arm excavator with different excavator tools, a dozer system featuring cutting and tilt angle settings and a double-winch system consisting of two 9-ton capstan winches. For its self-protection, the vehicle is equipped with a remote control weapon station and a smoke grenade launcher system. Six cameras provide the two or three-man crew with a panoramic view of the vehicle’s surroundings, enabling them to switch tools and carry out a full range of combat engineering tasks without leaving the safety of the armoured fighting crew compartment. If required, the dozer blade can be replaced with a mine-breaching plough. By adapting the mine breaching kit to the AEV 3 S, the vehicle can be used as a mine breaching system. Among other things, this enables the Kodiak to cut through minefields and to erect or dismantle artificial obstacles. Thanks to its extensive array of equipment, it can also be deployed in a civil defence or disaster recovery capacity as well as in joint civil-military operations. Rheinmetall manufactures and markets the Kodiak worldwide as part of a consortium with RUAG Defence, the strategic technology partner of the Swiss armed forces. This vehicle delivery is the start for further deliveries to Switzerland and The Netherlands, which will use the Kodiak to support their Leopard 2 main battle tanks and to supplement their previously fielded ARV 3 armoured recovery vehicles, likewise supplied by Rheinmetall.
Rheinmetall and ADS GmbH demonstrate ADS
Rheinmetall and ADS GmbH demonstrate their innovative ADS force protection technology for tactical vehicles. Rocket-propelled grenades, antitank guided missiles and explosively formed projectiles (a particularly pernicious type of IED) all pose a severe threat to troops deployed in modern conflict and post-conflict situations. Produced by Rheinmetall and ADS GmbH, the newly developed Active Defence System (ADS) is a reliable countermeasure, as demonstrated during recent live fire testing at Rheinmetall’s test centre at Unterluess in northern Germany, conducted in the presence of some 120 experts from ten nations. ADS is the world’s most advanced and effective standoff system for protecting military vehicles in practically every weight class from contemporary operational threats. It operates according to the hard-kill principle. The sensor system detects an incoming projectile as it draws close to the vehicle, e.g. a shaped charge or antitank missile. Then, in a matter of microseconds, the system activates a protection sector, applying directed pyrotechnic energy to destroy the projectile in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle. Owing to its downward trajectory, ADS minimizes collateral dama