Page 36 - Australian Defence Magazine March 2019

LAND WARFARE
LAND 400
“PSM decided not to pursue the Phase 3 RFT last November, due to what it said was Army’s “explicit” preference for a manned turret.”
• 30mm ATK main armament capable of firing the full suite of US munitions fitted to an EOS turret incorporating the same user interface common to the Hawkei and Bushmaster RWS interface.
• UAS and counter-UAS capable
• Integrated with Elbit BMS and Iron Vi- sion ‘See through armour’ technology allowing full 360 degree uninterrupted field of vision around the vehicle with Heads Up Display. This allows BMS overlay and slewing of the armament to the users head movements; similar to what is commonly seen in attack aviation
and fighter aircraft.
• Seating for eight dismounts in mine resis-
tant seating.
• Approximately 42 tonnes at combat weight.
“We’ve been talking extensively to Aus- tralian industry about how our bid would involve true technology transfer,” Cho con- firmed, highlighting Penske Power Systems for the MTU engine and Alison transmis- sion support.
The company aims to set up its industrial base in Geelong, leveraging off the regional
focus on defence vehicles already in place in Defence. Hanwha would transfer the ability for testing of the engine and transmission of the Redback to Australia, technology that could also be used to support the Abrams fleet, which shares similar technologies.
The potential move sees the company diversify its own industrial base and sup- ply chain, a key element of the geo strategic hedging strategy for South Korea as a whole. Sending materiel between South Korea and US (45 days at sea) or Europe (60 days at sea) vs the 20 day at sea for Australian deliveries is a driver of behaviours for South Korea as well. Given the geopolitical tensions in the region, South Korea is looking to make the most of the regional connection to Australia based on geography as well.
The next generation of IFVs for South Ko- rea is also under consideration at this time to analyse future potential requirements for approximately 1,000 IFVs. There is a good chance that the Land 400 specs will be similar to those, with Hanwha looking to exploit the commonality and economies of scale between the two nations and offer
up the Redback solution comprising Australianised Industry support to the Korean Army.
PSM
On the other side of the ledger PSM, which had originally proposed
the Puma IFV, decided not to pursue the Phase 3 RFT last November, due to what it said was Army’s “explicit” preference for a manned turret. The Puma vehicle has an unmanned turret, which PSM says saves weight and allows protection levels to po- tentially be increased as a result.
“PSM has decided, along with the par- ent companies (KMW and Rheinmetall), not to participate in the tender,” Mathias Kraus, the company’s head of sales and mar- keting, said. “The main reason was the ex- plicitly expressed preference for a manned turret. The Australian Army has stated that vehicles featuring unmanned turrets will most likely be unsuccessful.
“PSM is not prepared to forego the ad- vantages of an unmanned turret and the highest possible protection level for the entire crew by integrating a manned turret to meet a key requirement of the Austra- lian Army.”
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall intends to respond to the RFT with a solution based on the Lynx KF41 IFV, the design, development and manufacture of which the company says will be under- taken in Australia. It says this will leverage the Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence it has established near Ipswich to produce the Boxer CRV, together with an industrial net- work of SMEs across Australia.
The Ajax family is in service with the British Army.
36 | March 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au