- Reaction score
- 33
- Points
- 560
Cavalry fighting vehicle inspired by the UAE
I read in a recent edition of Jane’s Defense Weekly that the UAE is considering a wheeled fighting vehicle to add a mobile, medium weight component to their force.
The design under consideration is the Finnish Patria AMV 8X8 mounting the complete BMP 3 turret. The vehicle is somewhat larger than a LAV III, mounts a 100mm main cannon, a 30mm automatic cannon and a coaxial machine gun. In addition to the three man crew it can also carry 8 fully equipped troops. All up weight is listed as 23.5 tonnes.
While the BMP 3 turret isn’t my idea of a proper fighting platform (how much ammunition can be held, how does the gunner work in such a confined space, how much protection is there?) the combination should raise some questions with us. Do we necessarily need a separate class of fire support vehicle? Would a combat team be more effective if all the combat vehicles could provide a degree of heavy firepower? Would increasing the amount of firepower available to the dismounted infantry make Urban Ops easier to conduct?
If a proper compact turret can be designed for LAV class vehicles that can pack heavy firepower for “when needed” situations (doesn’t have to involve a large caliber cannon, a bolt on rack of “fire and forget” missiles might do) then we have the potential in theory to create a Cavalry or Mounted Rifle type of formation. Each troop (or platoon if you prefer) has organic firepower, mobility and dismounted troops to patrol a wide area and deal with a fairly broad range of threats on their own.
This is an important consideration given the wide dispersion that is often found in today’s operations; sections and platoons can operate far outside of the range of their next higher level’s support weapons, or may need to transition seamlessly from (say) a CIMIC task to blasting an enemy force out of improvised strong points. A secondary consideration for deployed ops is a single unit with these attributes will not require the same large logistic and headquarters “overhead” as current battle groups created out of multiple units and formations.
Our own LAV III has mobility, troop carrying capability and a fair amount of organic firepower. The prime lack is the ability to deal with hard point targets (which is what the 100mm cannon of the BMP 3 provides for the VDV and other members of the BMP 3 community). Western designers have a wide variety of guided missiles to choose from, such as the Javelin or the Gill/Spike family, or conceptually a mini LOSAT could do the trick as well.
The commander needs to be able to “shoot from the hip” in fire and forget mode (for example when breaking an ambush), as well as having the option to deliberately engage targets (when shooting in an attack). I am picturing a launcher box with perhaps four missiles mounted in a convenient location on the turret, and adapting the FCS to provide target information hand-off between the missiles and the gunner. In the first Persian gulf war, American pilots learned to turn on the seeker heads of their Maverick missiles and feed the information from the missile back into the cockpit while the missile was still attached, making an improvised FLIR pod, so something similar could be done with a vehicle.
This might sound like a difficult proposition, but many of the “boxes” that bedevil the turret crew are not needed with a fire and forget missile, and I would take the position that many of the “boxes” could be placed on the hull floor or against the engine bulkhead; the key thing for the turret crew is the interface and a control panel/keyboard which everything else communicates to in the manner of a CI (or using Bluetooth; no need to have a vast wiring harness inside the vehicle). For that matter, many of the functions could be re written as software and the equivalent of a CF-28 Toughbook substitutes for many different pieces of hardware to create a more open and ergonomic turret.
In terms of use, the dismounted section could be tailored for the expected task and more ammunition or other equipment could be substituted in the rear compartment as needed. In low to medium threat density environments, a Cavalry or Mounted Rifle type force can operate independently shaping the battlespace, conducting convoy escort, rear area security and other operations short of a deliberate assault against prepared positions. The combination of speed, firepower and dismounted troops also gives the ability to perform the exploitation and pursuit tasks, and both mobile and fixed defense tasks can also be done as well.
The UAE’s experimental vehicle is only the latest and perhaps best developed example of this theme; the Merkava has the ability to hold up to a section when the rear ammunition racks are removed and the Centurio can hold a half section when its rear ammunition racks are removed. The M-3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle version of the M-2 uses TOW missiles, for hard targets. The CV_CT turret carries a high pressure 105mm cannon and 16 rounds in the bustle for the autoloader, by deleting or shrinking the “wine rack” room for a half section might be found in a standard LAV III hull mounting that turret.
Food for thought.
I read in a recent edition of Jane’s Defense Weekly that the UAE is considering a wheeled fighting vehicle to add a mobile, medium weight component to their force.
The design under consideration is the Finnish Patria AMV 8X8 mounting the complete BMP 3 turret. The vehicle is somewhat larger than a LAV III, mounts a 100mm main cannon, a 30mm automatic cannon and a coaxial machine gun. In addition to the three man crew it can also carry 8 fully equipped troops. All up weight is listed as 23.5 tonnes.
While the BMP 3 turret isn’t my idea of a proper fighting platform (how much ammunition can be held, how does the gunner work in such a confined space, how much protection is there?) the combination should raise some questions with us. Do we necessarily need a separate class of fire support vehicle? Would a combat team be more effective if all the combat vehicles could provide a degree of heavy firepower? Would increasing the amount of firepower available to the dismounted infantry make Urban Ops easier to conduct?
If a proper compact turret can be designed for LAV class vehicles that can pack heavy firepower for “when needed” situations (doesn’t have to involve a large caliber cannon, a bolt on rack of “fire and forget” missiles might do) then we have the potential in theory to create a Cavalry or Mounted Rifle type of formation. Each troop (or platoon if you prefer) has organic firepower, mobility and dismounted troops to patrol a wide area and deal with a fairly broad range of threats on their own.
This is an important consideration given the wide dispersion that is often found in today’s operations; sections and platoons can operate far outside of the range of their next higher level’s support weapons, or may need to transition seamlessly from (say) a CIMIC task to blasting an enemy force out of improvised strong points. A secondary consideration for deployed ops is a single unit with these attributes will not require the same large logistic and headquarters “overhead” as current battle groups created out of multiple units and formations.
Our own LAV III has mobility, troop carrying capability and a fair amount of organic firepower. The prime lack is the ability to deal with hard point targets (which is what the 100mm cannon of the BMP 3 provides for the VDV and other members of the BMP 3 community). Western designers have a wide variety of guided missiles to choose from, such as the Javelin or the Gill/Spike family, or conceptually a mini LOSAT could do the trick as well.
The commander needs to be able to “shoot from the hip” in fire and forget mode (for example when breaking an ambush), as well as having the option to deliberately engage targets (when shooting in an attack). I am picturing a launcher box with perhaps four missiles mounted in a convenient location on the turret, and adapting the FCS to provide target information hand-off between the missiles and the gunner. In the first Persian gulf war, American pilots learned to turn on the seeker heads of their Maverick missiles and feed the information from the missile back into the cockpit while the missile was still attached, making an improvised FLIR pod, so something similar could be done with a vehicle.
This might sound like a difficult proposition, but many of the “boxes” that bedevil the turret crew are not needed with a fire and forget missile, and I would take the position that many of the “boxes” could be placed on the hull floor or against the engine bulkhead; the key thing for the turret crew is the interface and a control panel/keyboard which everything else communicates to in the manner of a CI (or using Bluetooth; no need to have a vast wiring harness inside the vehicle). For that matter, many of the functions could be re written as software and the equivalent of a CF-28 Toughbook substitutes for many different pieces of hardware to create a more open and ergonomic turret.
In terms of use, the dismounted section could be tailored for the expected task and more ammunition or other equipment could be substituted in the rear compartment as needed. In low to medium threat density environments, a Cavalry or Mounted Rifle type force can operate independently shaping the battlespace, conducting convoy escort, rear area security and other operations short of a deliberate assault against prepared positions. The combination of speed, firepower and dismounted troops also gives the ability to perform the exploitation and pursuit tasks, and both mobile and fixed defense tasks can also be done as well.
The UAE’s experimental vehicle is only the latest and perhaps best developed example of this theme; the Merkava has the ability to hold up to a section when the rear ammunition racks are removed and the Centurio can hold a half section when its rear ammunition racks are removed. The M-3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle version of the M-2 uses TOW missiles, for hard targets. The CV_CT turret carries a high pressure 105mm cannon and 16 rounds in the bustle for the autoloader, by deleting or shrinking the “wine rack” room for a half section might be found in a standard LAV III hull mounting that turret.
Food for thought.
