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Trials of Truth
Monday, 10 September, 2007
By the year end, many of the key decisions for the British Army’s high-priority Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) will have been made if the selection process runs to plan.
With a potential value of GBP14 billion, FRES is the largest armoured fighting vehicle programme in Europe, with up to 3,000 vehicles expected to be procured. The stakes are high for all the companies and consortia taking part. The three remaining contenders to meet the FRES Utility Vehicle (UV) requirement for about 2,000 8x8 vehicles are currently being put through their paces at the Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) at Bovington Camp in southern England. These vehicles are the German/Netherlands ARTEC Boxer, the French Nexter Systems VBCI (Véhicule Blindé de Combat d’Infanterie) and the General Dynamics/MOWAG Piranha Evolution. BAE Systems Land Systems, the only remaining major UK-based vehicle manufacturer/integrator, has been eliminated from these trials.
In addition, there are separate competitions for the vehicle integrator, for which the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) has still to be issued. PQQ for the overarching System of Systems Integrator (SOSI) has been issued and returned to the MoD.
Known bidders for SOSI are Lockheed Martin teamed with Ultra Electronics, Thales teamed with Boeing, and the recently announced team Fusion. This is led by Finmeccanica and also
includes MBDA, General Dynamics UK and BAE Systems.
The UV will be first member of FRES to enter service — possibly in 2012. It is expected that first vehicles will be produced offshore until quantity production gets underway by a UK contractor or consortium. FRES UV will be followed by a number of other vehicles, the first being Scout, which will replace the current Scimitar. This will be followed by direct fire variants, manoeuvre support vehicles (engineer and bridgelayer) and a basic utility variant.
FRES will be part of a network-enabled system that will also include a wide range of other assets including air, surveillance and command and control.
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