Navantia unveils VVT land surveillance vehicle

Navantia is developing a new version of its land-based multi-sensor surveillance system called the Vehículo de Vigilancia Terrestre (VVT-Land Surveillance Vehicle) for the intelligence units of the Spanish Army and showcased a prototype at the Eurosatory 2018 exhibition in Paris.

The company has partnered with GTD System Software and Engineering for the project.

An earlier version of the VVT, the Vehículo de Exploración y Reconocimiento Terrestre (VERT-Land Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicle), has been in service with the Spanish Army’s 11th Cavalry Regiment since 2015. The VVT has evolved from this to meet a requirement for an intelligence collection and surveillance capability for the 1st Intelligence Regiment.

The VVT prototype system displayed in Paris incorporates a mast-mounted sensor cluster integrated into a Urovesa VAMTAC light vehicle. The sensor cluster consists of a FLIR Ranger R20SS ground surveillance radar and a customised version of GTD’s G-Patrol Watcher solution. This is a motorised pan and tilt optronics package comprising a Tecnobit thermal imager, a daylight camera, and a laser rangefinder from Hensoldt. It is integrated with an iXblue inertial navigation system.

The radar is capable of detecting vehicles up to 30 km away and dismounted troops at 12 km. The optronics package can detect targets at a 10 km distance and identify them at 6 km.

The sensor cluster is controlled and monitored from an operator’s workstation in the rear of the vehicle. It is integrated with Indra’s Silver battle management system (BMS) with a display at the front passenger seat for the intelligence analyst/commander. The Silver BMS is in Spanish Army service.

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