Bridging the protected vehicles gap

Christopher F Foss

Thursday, 19 June, 2008

Being shown at Eurosatory for the first time is the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) protected vehicle developed to meet the German Army Class 4 part of the major Geschützte Führungs und Funktionsfahrzeuge (GFF) (Armoured Command and Control Vehicles) programme. this was completed earlier this year by the company and handed over to the German Army for extensive trials that will be completed after Eurosatory.
GFF4 aims to bridge the gap between the Boxer (8x8) Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) – of which 272 have been ordered by the German Army – and the lighter GFF Class 1, 2 and 3 vehicles, which have already completed their German Army trials.
The KMW solution to meet the demanding GFF4 requirement is based on the latest IVECO Defence Vehicles (6x6) Trakker chassis. In this has been integrated a monocoque safety cell comprising driver’s and crew compartment that provide a high level of protection against small arms fire, shell splinters, anti-tank mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Located at the front of the vehicle is the well protected 330kW diesel powerpack, which gives
a maximum speed of 90km/h and has an operating range of more than 700km. Commander and driver are seated to the rear of the powerpack to provide enhanced safety against mine attack, and to their immediate rear is specialised equipment stowage including an air-conditioning system, an NBC system and a 20kW auxiliary power unit. This leaves the remainder of the vehicle clear for troops or cargo up to a maximum load of 4 tonnes, but with built-in growth potential. The first example has a gross vehicle weight of 25 tonnes, but is still air-transportable in an A400M transport aircraft.
The design is flexible to enable it to be rapidly adopted for roles such as ambulance, command post and cargo carrier. This 6x6 protected vehicle is the first of a complete family being developed by KMW that will also cover 4x4 and 8x8 types.