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Jane's International Defence Review

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On the mend: British Army looks to refreshed AFVs

After many years of underinvestment, the UK is injecting significant funding into its land forces over the

next decade, most of it being spent on the British Army's Ground Manoeuvre capability. Christopher F

Foss reports on the three major programmes

Over the last few years the United Kingdom has had many false starts in its efforts to replace or upgrade a

major part of its armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) fleet.

Many of the current vehicles were designed over 30 years ago and some are much older, soldiering on as a

succession of projects - the Future Family of Light Armoured Vehicles (FFLAV), Tactical Reconnaissance

Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER), the Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) and

most recently the Future Rapid Effect System Utility Vehicle (FRES UV) - all fell by the wayside. Some were

cancelled as operational requirements changed, some died as partner countries fell out, and others as

funding was reprioritised elsewhere.

Things are looking up, however, as today two key British Army programmes are well underway in the shape

of the General Dynamics UK (GDUK) Scout - Specialist Vehicle (SV) and the Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK)

Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP). In addition, work is also firming up on a competition

for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme (LEP), a resurrected UV requirement, an Armoured

Battlegroup Support Vehicle (ABSV), and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)-type vehicles, which

were urgently procured for operations and are now being modified and standardised to be brought into

the core British Army equipment programme.

Of all these, the biggest and most far-reaching is arguably the Scout SV. GDUK scooped the prize of a

GBP500 million (USD775.35 million) contract (including taxes) in July 2010, funding a demonstration and

qualification phase of a vehicle project to replace the remaining members of Alvis Vehicles' Combat Vehicle

Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. The latter includes the Scimitar reconnaissance vehicle, which was

accepted for service with the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) in 1973.

Scout SV has evolved and GDUK is currently building a total of seven prototype SVs for trials and

evaluation, all of which should be running in 2016.

In support of this, a representative mule known as the Mobile Test Rig (MTR) was completed at the

General Dynamics European Land Systems - Steyr (GDELS - Steyr) facility in Vienna, Austria, in May 2012,

providing a platform to de-risk the programme, in parallel with suspension and powerpack rigs.

The MTR conducted shakedown trials in Austria and then headed to Spain for a comprehensive suite of

durability trials, pounding around GDELS' off road circuit near Seville with growing weights and loads. Since

then, the MTR has undergone a whole battery of testing, including cold weather and Operational and

Tactical (O&T) mobility trials.

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LMUK is developing the two-person turret for the vehicles, under contract to GDUK, alongside a separate

project to develop a new turret under the WCSP. Both turret types are armed with the CTA International

40 mm Case Telescoped Cannon (CTC) provided as government furnished equipment (GFE).


Scouting for performance

Once in service, the Scouts should offer a step change in tracked reconnaissance capability over the old

CVR(T)s. The size of Scout SV raised the eyebrows of some more used to the petite dimensions and

cramped interior of Scimitar, but it will offer far greater protection than the legacy platform and its new

sensor system is a world away, promising seamless distribution of video and data around the vehicle's own

network and across the battlefield, or beyond.

It is essentially a further development of the ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Co-Operative Development) to meet

specific UK requirements and the baseline welded-steel armour hull weighs about 22.3 tonnes without its

advanced armour package (GDUK and the MoD are very sensitive about the exact classification of the

vehicles' protection levels and have refused to specify them in open source, saying only that it is high). The

family of vehicles is spun off a Common Base Platform (CBP) to reduce through-life costs, all sharing the

same baseline hull design, powerpack, final drive, suspension and running gear, driver's station, CBRN and

Environmental Control System, main and secondary fuel tanks, and battery box.

All of the vehicles are also outfitted with GDUK's generic vehicle architecture (GVA)-compliant Electronic

Architecture, easing upgrades and maintenance, as well as distributing control and management of all

platform systems and maximising common components.

Mindful of operational experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, the MoD specified the vehicle with uprated

protection against mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Scout SV features a concave

homogenous hull floor, with integral composite panels adding lightweight protection, and all crew

members are provided with roof-mounted blast-attenuating seats.

The standard Scout SV's overall layout is conventional, with the driver on the front left and the powerpack

to the front right, the two-person turret in the middle and additional space at the rear, though the other

role specific versions vary slightly.

The powerpack comprises MTU's 8V199 diesel engine as used in the 8x8 Boxer MRAV, but in an uprated

configuration with an improved intake and two-stage pulse jet air cleaner enabling it to develop 600 kW

(800 hp), 70 kW more than the German installation. Power is delivered to the tracks through a Renk 256B

fully automatic transmission, affording the driver a relatively easy carlike interface. Based on the vehicle's

stated gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 38 tonnes, the Scout's power-to-weight ratio of 21 hp/tonne is

sufficient for a maximum road speed of up to 70 km/h.

More power is available with further tuning to account for inevitable hikes in combat weight. As it stands,

Scout SV will have a combat weight of 34 tonnes but will be rated at 38 tonnes with a clearly defined

stretch potential to 42 tonnes.

GDELS SBS recently awarded an EUR80 million contract to Rolls-Royce Power Systems covering the supply

of 569 MTU engines (20 engines shy of the full vehicle-production contract) for the Scout programme

between 2016 and 2022. The contract also includes the cooling system and two generators per set, with a

total capacity of 550 Amps.

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As well as the extra power, Scout SV has a significantly upgraded dual-rate suspension system over the

original ASCOD design, combining torsion bars and hydraulic dampers to provide an improved ride for the

crew and a more stable firing platform over rough terrain.

Most of the Scout's actual performance is resident in the turret, of course, and LMUK's design has a

relatively traditional layout, at least regarding the crew, with the commander seated on the right and the

gunner on the left. Each location has a roof hatch and access into the hull via the lower part of the turret

basket.

Like the hull, the turret is made of all-welded steel with ballistic protection to match, and attachment

points for passive appliqué plate. It sits on a large turret ring with a diameter of 1.7 m, which can be

expanded to 1.9 m, enabling it to take a turret armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun.

The Scout's standard 40 mm CTC configuration enables the gun to be mounted externally, providing more

space in the turret than is possible with a traditional cannon. Extensive firing trials are exploring its

capabilities, but the advanced fire-control system (FCS) and stabilisation should enable the cannon to

accurately engage stationary and moving targets, whilst on the move, in almost all weather conditions.


Warriors' rise

GKN Defence's (now BAE Systems Combat Vehicles UK) Warrior infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) has been the

mainstay of the British Army's mechanized forces since 1988, with 789 vehicles delivered. It has seen

service in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, undergoing a range of upgrade programmes and theatre entry

modifications over the 20 years since the last Warrior was handed over to the army.

The final Warrior urgent operational requirement (UOR) upgrade saw 70 vehicles grafted with equipment

to Theatre Entry Standard (Herrick) by the then-Defence Support Group (today Babcock International)

under BAE Systems Combat Vehicle UK as the overall design authority. As a result of these spiral and

theatre-specific upgrades, the MoD now has a mixed force of vehicles and has decided to rebaseline them

all on a common standard under the WCSP, extending their operational lives to keep them in service until

2035/2040.

Following a hard-fought competition LMUK beat BAE Systems to selection and was awarded a WCSP

Demonstration contract in November 2011, which also includes an option for manufacture. Work is well

underway on the demonstration phase, but as of August 2015, a production decision had yet to be made

and the project could still therefore theoretically dissolve, though the army would then need to urgently

address shortcomings in the platform and plot a new route to provide its mechanised infantry with

protected mobility and firepower.

The demonstration contract was initially worth around GBP200 million and production was estimated at

GBP642 million (excluding taxes), but as a result of contract amendments the value of the demonstration

phase has now increased to around GBP225 million and the value of the still to be awarded manufacturing

contract could also increase in the future. The total value of the WCSP - including MoD costs and GFE - is

currently hovering at around GBP1 billion, though the National Audit Office has cited expectations that it

may rise by around a third.

Production of the new WCSP turret will be undertaken at a new GBP5.5 million facility currently being built

at LMUK's facility at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, where research, development and prototype facilities have

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been operational for two years, and where the first turrets were built. This facility will be completed early

in 2016 and bring the total invested by LMUK at Ampthill - near the Millbrook Proving Ground - up to

around GBP23 million over the last 10 years.

The Warrior hulls will be upgraded under WCSP when they go through their base overhaul at the Babcock

International facility at Donnington, which has extensive experience in Warrior maintenance, support and

upgrade work. Plans have changed over the years (with the sale of Defence Support Group in particular

adding some ambiguity), but as of July 2015 LMUK is planning to integrate the hull and turret at Babcock

International in Donnington.

While the programme has been subject to change and movement of schedule, additional vehicles and

turrets have been added to further de-risk the programme as much as possible and LMUK is confident that

the latest in-service date of 2020 will still be met.

WCSP is a holistic project encompassing the Warrior Fightability & Lethality Improvement Programme

(WFLIP), Warrior Enhanced Electronic Architecture (WEEA) and the Warrior Modular Protection System

(WMPS).

If all goes to plan, it is expected that 380 Warrior IFVs and variants will be upgraded through WCSP with

around 285 fitted with the new turret.

In the early private venture development phase LMUK planned to reuse the original Warrior IFV two-

person turret, designed and built by then-Vickers Defence Systems to house the unstabilised and slow-

firing L21A1 30 mm RARDEN cannon, but modified for the new 40 mm CTC. However, that turret's size

proved ultimately too constraining and the company ended up designing a brand new two-person turret

offering more volume and easier integration of all of the sub-systems, along with greater stretch potential.


Clinging on

For an army that pioneered the use of tanks, the British Army has not been overly precious about

protecting its once-vaunted Challenger 2s' operational edge.

Perhaps more than any other British AFV, the Challengers have suffered from under-investment and a lack

of direct operational requirement for main battle tanks (MBTs) after the initial invasion of Iraq saw their

numbers cut and capability dwindle. A situation not helped by the development cul-de-sac of the L30A1

rifled gun, which limits their reach and lethality, leaving them theoretically outmatched by many other

tanks on the battlefield.

The lethality of the gun firing the CHARM 3 armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding (APFSD) round with a

depleted uranium penetrator against some potential armour threats must now be in question, a situation

compounded by a lack of interoperability with other allied MBTs armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun.

After a series of fits and starts, however, it appears that the army is poised to commit to a Challenger life-

extension project, albeit in a lesser form than a full capability upgrade as being developed for Warrior.

Vickers Defence Systems built a total of 386 Challenger 2 MBTs for the British Army at its Leeds and

Newcastle-upon-Tyne facilities, with final deliveries made in April 2002. Both of these facilities have now

closed, but BAE Systems Combat Vehicles UK retains a core Challenger 2 post-services team in Newcastle

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and Telford, which also provides support to the Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery vehicle, Titan

AVLB, and the Trojan engineer vehicle.

The Challenger 2s were expected to have been upgraded under the Capability Sustainment Programme

(CSP) in the mid-2000s - including a Challenger Lethality Improvement Programme (CLIP) to install

Rheinmetall's L/55 120 mm smoothbore gun - but the programme slipped and disappeared from view.

The CLIP principle was actually tested in a Challenger 2 by the Armoured Trials and Development Unit

(ATDU) at Bovington in 2005/2006 under the 120 mm smoothbore Technology Demonstrator Programme

(TDP), but there are no current plans for this to be backfitted into the remaining Challenger 2 MBT fleet.

While discussions were going on to enhance and sustain the tanks, about 120 of them had been deployed

to Kuwait ahead of the invasion of Iraq, and like the Warriors, these vehicles went through a series of

upgrades with BAE Systems in the Kuwaiti desert to counter anticipated - and then experienced - threats.

The force was slimmed down to one squadron in Basra throughout operation 'Telic', but those tanks were

continually upgraded as a series of in-country UORs by BAE Systems.

This UOR package covered additional armour (including underbelly plates after one tank was damaged by

an RPG as it climbed a ramp and another was penetrated by an IED), a Selex Enforcer roof-mounted

remote weapon station (RWS) armed with 7.62 mm machine gun to enable the crews to fire from under

armour, wire cutters, upgraded cooling, a modified air cleaner for the powerpack, new driver night-vision

devices, reverse cameras, and electronic devices to counter IEDs.

Together, these systems steadily pushed the GVW of the Challenger 2 up from just over 60 tonnes to

around 75 tonnes. As a result, the Challenger 2's power-to-weight ratio compares poorly to other MBTs

deployed by NATO, such as the Leopard 2, Leclerc, and M1A1/M1A2 Abrams.

As with the Warrior project, the upgrade work and mothballing resulted in a mixed fleet of Challenger 2s

and in mid-2013, the MoD confirmed that it was working on a Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme (LEP)

- as the name suggests a more austere project, with less ambitious scope than the CSP - that would

standardise the remaining vehicles in a more cohesive configuration. This coincided with a significant

reduction in strength, with the number of available vehicles now reduced to 227, with 58 nominally issued

to each of the three Royal Armoured Corps regiments. However, under the Joint Asset Management and

Engineering Solutions (JAMES) scheme, they normally only have one squadron for day-to-day training with

the rest kept in reserve for units deploying on operations.

As well as the standardisation and maintenance elements, the project aims to replace obsolete sub-

systems such as optronics and GCE. Many of those sub-systems were designed over 25 years ago - as

design work on the Challenger 2 can be traced to 1987 under private venture funding by Vickers Defence

Systems - along with all of the attendant computing limitations and pitfalls that this implies.

As Vickers was absorbed into BAE Systems Combat Vehicles UK, the company retains the overall design

authority for Challenger 2, but the MoD stated to IHS Jane's that the ministry "has the capacity to meet all

future upgrade requirements", which is being interpreted as a plan to possibly award the work elsewhere

with no involvement for BAE Systems. In line with this, the Defence Equipment and Support organisation is

to hold a competition for the LEP and there are expected to be at least three bidders in addition to BAE

Systems: GDUK, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and LMUK.

Requests for information (RfI) were issued to industry in 2014 with a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire

expected later in 2015 and an Assessment Phase Invitation to Tender in 2016.

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The original out-of-service date of Challenger 2 was expected in 2028, but this has been progressively

pushed to the right and is now around 2035 (pending the LEP work).


The CBP is the baseline for all versions of the Scout SV family. This drawing shows the position of all of the main sub-systems. (GDUK)

1423353

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Mobile Test Rig for the GDUK Scout SV was rolled out at the facilities of GDELS – Steyr in mid-2012 and has been used to de-risk the programme. (GDUK)

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A Challenger 2 upgraded under UOR funding showing the new armour package and roof-mounted Selex Enforcer RWS armed with 7.62 mm machine gun. (IHS/Rupert Pengelley)

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British Army Warrior IFV to Theatre Entry Standard (Herrick) complete with latest appliqué passive armour package. (Christopher F Foss)

1527237

Latest artists impression of the Scout SV in the reconnaissance configuration and fitted with an LMUK two-person turret armed with a 40 mm Case Telescoped Canon and 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun. (GDUK)

1631191

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British Army Warrior fitted with the latest LMUK two-person turret armed with 40 mm Case Telescoped Cannon and 7.62 mm L94A1 co-axial machine gun. (Lockheed Martin UK)

1642334

Overview of the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme showing key elements. (Lockheed Martin UK)

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The GDUK PMRS was completed in June 2014 and is shown here fitted with the Kongsberg Protector RWS armed with a stabilised .50 calibre M2 HB machine gun. (GDUK)

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BAE Systems Combat Vehicles UK is still the overall design authority for Challenger 2 and variants, examples of which are retained at its Telford facility. These are used on an ongoing basis for in-service support and updates. (Christopher F Foss)

1642337

Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2015

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