Munich, 27 May 2008. At the International Aerospace Exhibition Berlin (ILA), the leading trade fair for the aerospace industry in Germany, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann will present its new family of modular scalable tactical vehicles to specialists and the public.

The generic platform Future FENNEK Technology (GP-F²T) is based on the FENNEK armoured reconnaissance vehicle. This is already being used successfully by the Bundeswehr and Dutch armed forces in a number of variants and has proven itself in daily use in Afghanistan.

“With the development of the GP-F²T vehicle family we want to offer the Bundeswehr and later other international customers a new dimension in mobility, modularity and protective technology for their

current deployments, taking the constantly changing deployment conditions into account,” explained Frank Haun, Chairman of the KMW Board of Management, at the presentation of the new vehicle. “For this, the GP-F²T family represents a weapons system tailored to both the current and future requirements of the armed forces,” Haun went on to say. A first prototype of the twin-engined system will be presented in June 2008 at the world’s biggest trade fair for land systems, the EUROSATORY in Paris.

In developing the GP-F²T, great store was set on the survivability and assertiveness of crew and system. For this reason, an innovative concept has been realised, characterised by the redundancy of vital components, such as independent drive trains for the front and rear axles. This concept permits a closed, highly protected useful volume between the vehicle axles, in which modular and mission-specific vehicle cells can be integrated. As a result, modular equipment of the GP-F²T family is possible for various deployments.

The vehicle family comprises two basic types, resulting from the scaling of the support structure, with the essential components and sub-systems of both systems being identical. This approach permits the realisation of deployment-specific crew and mission compartments for three to six crew members.

The highly protected vehicle cell protects the occupants against ballistic, mine and IED threats, as well as against the potential risks of ABC contamination. Furthermore, extra reinforcement of the vehicle cell provides protection against handheld anti-tank weapons. Depending on the scenario, adaptive modules guarantee the ballistic protective level for the particular vehicle version. In addition, the GP-F²T family has a very low silhouette and consequently an extraordinarily low infrared and radar signature.

The engine output of over 20 kW per ton vehicle weight allows the vehicle to effortlessly negotiate 60 percent forward slopes and up to 30 percent side slopes. In combination with a range of over 1,000 km,

the crew can operate for up to five days autonomously. Since the vehicles are air-transportable too, they can be transferred to distant deployment areas quickly and easily.

The new concept also adopts the suspension characteristics and consequently unique mobility of the FENNEK. Thanks to the redundant drive components, the vehicle also possesses extraordinary “residual mobility.” This means that even in the case of a sub-system failure, such as the front axle drive train, the vehicle still remains mobile as a result of the second sub-system (rear axle drive train).

Sergyi Way
02.06.2008