Page 78 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

78 LAND WARFARE LAND 400
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
The 900 litre-plus fuel tanks are located in the sponsons with an additional large reserve tank in the engine bay. The exhaust and the engine cooling system are routed to the rear of the hull to reduce the vehicle’s thermal and acoustic signature to the front.
65 km/h on its one-piece low vibration rubber tracks, fea- tures a maximum range of 520 km, a crew of three, and can carry up to eight dismounts in mine-resistant seating.
The running gear comprises seven road wheels and an advanced in-arm independent suspension system (ISU) that allows individual control of each bogey on the track and dispenses with torsion bars, providing more space for effective blast mitigation and removing dependence on sus- pended footrests and other design constraints.
Powered by a 1,000 hp MTU eight-cylinder diesel simi- lar to that equipping the Boxer CRV being acquired under Land 400 Phase 2, the Redback also uses the same Ali- son automatic transmission as Army’s M1A1 Abrams main battle tank.
The platform features the new T2000 two-man modu- lar medium calibre turret developed by Canberra company EOS Defence Systems in collaboration with Israel’s Elbit Systems.
This is based on Elbit’s in-production MT30 Mk.2 turret and has been tailored by EOS to meet Land 400’s require- ments, specifically in the areas of systems integration, situ- ational awareness and on-board training.
The T2000 combines the structure and electric drive hardware of the MT30, integrated by EOS with the fire control system, electro-optics and common user interface from the company’s R400S Mk 2 remote weapon station.
BELOW: Valued at between $18.1 billion and $27.1 billion, Land 400 Phase 3 is the largest acquisition project
in the Australian Army’s history
Lynx features a high power-to-weight ratio and can tra- verse gradients of up to 60 degrees and lateral inclines of more than 30 degrees. It can also cross ditches up to 2.5 metres wide, surmount one-metre vertical obsta- cles and ford bodies of water up to
“THE ORIGINAL PHASE 3 REQUIREMENT INVOLVED 281 TURRETED PLATFORMS MOUNTING A 30MM CANNON AND 119 NON-TURRETED MULTI- PURPOSE VARIANTS”
AS21 REDBACK
1.5 metres deep.
As emphasised by Rheinmetall,
the drive modules share common drive systems, the majority of com- ponents, and sub-systems. The addi- tion of interchangeable role-specific kits therefore allows an operator to reconfigure vehicles to meet specific threats without changing fleet size or altering maintenance schedules.
For its part, the Hanwha Redback has been specifically de- signed for the current operating environment whilst draw- ing on the lessons and technology associated with the com- pany’s K21 IFV that has been in service with the Republic of Korea Army since 2009. The Redback is however larger, heavier, more survivable and more lethal in order to com- bat recent advances in Russian armoured vehicles.
The platform weighs 42 tons, can reach speeds of up to
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