The first day of the Conference and Exhibition “International Armoured Vehicles 2010” was devoted to talks on various systems and methodologies of drive by the use of technologies of video simulator and the integration of the applications of video games. In order to reduce the costs of real drives, mainly for the armoured units, several armies of the world call upon companies of the field of video simulation to produce applications 3D which reproduce the various possibilities of control and shootings of a combat armored vehicle. The use of this type of technology makes it possible to reproduce in a virtual form, the new zones of combat in order to apply standards procedures and to prepare the troops with new the threats of the battle field. These programs are developed on the basis of experiment of the troops in combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to the power of the modern computers, and the possibility of reproducing in digital form, the ground and all the human factors and equipment/vehicles of the civil and military field, it is possible to reproduce today with exactitude a whole a series of scenarios make it possible to prepare the soldiers, since the individual level up to a level of army corps to different situations from the current combat. The use of these means will never replace the experiment of the combat, but makes it possible to formalize and apply military procedures standards.

The guest’s speaker, 01 February 2010:
- Paul Wade, CEO and President, of Training and Simulation Dynamics Group LLC (TSDG) of Austin, Texas working in a subcontract role for SAIC to develop new marketing and customer development activities worldwide. Paul Wade has forty (40) years of experience creating, implementing and marketing innovative training and operational support programs for Training Companies, Aircraft Manufacturers, Air Carriers, US & Foreign Military and Universities & Vocational Technology Schools.
- Mike Kerrigan is the product line manager for the Common Driver Trainer (CDT), serving in that position since the inception of the program six years ago. During that time, the CDT’s architecture has allowed the delivery of the Stryker variant, four different MRAP simulators (RG31, RG33L, MaxxPro, Caiman) to include a mobile version and is currently delivering the All-Terrain M-ATV variant. The SAIC CDT Team is also under contract to deliver trainer for the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams tank variant, the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) and the Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV).
- Colonel Tim Hyams was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards (now the Royal Dragoon Guards) in 1986. He has served in variety of appointments as Regimental duty: as Troop Leader, Reconnaissance Troop Leader, Adjutant, Squadron Leader,and, from 2005-2008, as Commanding Officer. His most recent operational tour has been commanding his Regimental Battleground, deployed to Iraq in 2007-2008. Tim Hyams was promoted to Colonel in July 2008. Tim Hyams is now Command, Staff and Tactical Training Group, Land Warfare Center of British army. As commander of the Command, Staff and Tactical Training Group, he is responsible for the delivery of the British Army’s command and staff collective training, together with tactical training in the constructive environment.
- Thomas Lasch, Chief of the Models & Simulation Branch at the Joint Multinational Simulation Center, 7th U.S. Army Joint Multinational Training Command, Grafenwoehr, Germany. He was formerly assigned as Project Director at the Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) in Orlando, Florida and as the Director, Training Analysis Computer Support & Simulation, Joint Multinational readiness Center (JMRC), Hofenfels, Germany.
- Nils Hinrichsen, eSim Games’ Director of Customer Relations since its foundation. Since 2003 the “Steel Beasts Professional” product has been adapted to customer requirements in Australia, Europe, and the America.
- Major Henrik Kolding Kristensen, Chief, Research & Development Branch, Danish Army Combat Centre. It is in charge of the development and the integration of a simulation program of control and combat for the armoured troops of the Danish army.

Oshkosh SandCat Light Multirole protected wheeled vehicle

Oshkosh Defence will showcase their vehicle armouring capabilities at International Armoured Vehicles taking place on the 1st to the 5th February, at the ExCel Centre, London. As calls across the globe for improved equipment to be provided to troops in Afghanistan, Oshkosh have received significant praise from the U.S Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, who claims that Oshkosh’s rapid build up of a new class of military vehicles designed for specifically for Afghanistan, is one of the most remarkable efforts in the defence industry since World War II.With recorded statistics indicating that eight American troops have died in combat through attacks on armoured military vehicles, and forty more wounded, there is the sense of a growing need to hasten global efforts to upgrade armoured vehicle military capabilities. Exhibiting their new SandCat, the high-speed, highly-protected, highly-manoeuvrable vehicle can be specifically configured to fulfil a variety of roles in any type of mission. The SandCat is tailored to meet operational environments, giving the perfect balance of mission performance, protection and payload to meet rigorous demands.

About the Oshkosh SandCat:

Built on a commercial Ford 550 commercial chassis, the 9-ton Oshkosh SANDCAT protected vehicle is designed for potential mass production. The Oshkosh SandCat is a protected multirole vehicle built to offer high performance and payload capacities for challenging missions. The SandCat is new concept of light multi-role protected vehicle, especialy designed to conduct urban operations and security missions with a totally new vehicle capability. This high-speed, higly-protected, highly-maneuverable vehicle can be specificaly designed for a wide variety of roles. It can be reconfigured to fit a wide variety of missions: military, homeland defense, global war on terror, law enforcement and security, special operations, disaster aid and peace-keeping missions. All while meeting the rigorous demands needed for crew and vehicle protection, reliability, versatility, payload capacity and affordability. The Oshlkosh SandCat multi-role vehicle concept, with use of a commercial chassis and kitted hull, allows for rapid and efficient manufacturing. It also enables customization of the survivability technologies to fit the mission. Adaptations can be made based on the relevant threat levels and enhanced on demand while optimizing the vehicle for weight, space, payload, cost and assembly.

Since development started on the LMV in 1999, Iveco Defence Vehicles Engineers have always recognised that the vehicle’s design could not stand still. If it was to continue to meet the evolving needs of the disparate user community, it was clear that the vehicle design team would have to anticipate how requirements would develop and put in place plans to meet them.In order to achieve this goal, two prerequisites needed to be put in place: firstly, the basic vehicle design would have to be sufficiently robust and adaptable to accommodate significant design changes, and, secondly, the design team would have to be capable of making reasoned forecasts as to the likely direction in which the user’s requirements would move. The first of these goals was achieved through the original LMV design which adopted a modular approach to ballistic and mine protection, and incorporated a crew cell mounted on to a purpose designed chassis. Both the roof and the stowage pod are modular, enabling the vehicle to be configured to meet the demands of different users without altering the base design. The design team had conceived the highly successful short wheel base (3220 mm) /four man cab as only the first of a family of vehicles, and it was here, in anticipating the likely growth paths of the user’s requirements, that the second prerequisite was put in place. The design team anticipated not just the inevitable demands for more payload, greater capacity and higher levels of protection, but also foresaw the need for a light protected utility design, and all the variants which might derive from it.

As a result, although the majority of the 2,000 + LMVs sold to date are short wheel base vehicles in the original configuration, the evolving demands of the user are increasingly influencing the design team to focus on variants of the longer 3520 mm wheelbase design. Besides enabling more room to be provided in the crew cell, this variant can also incorporate a longer stowage pod, substantially increasing the vehicle’s capacity. The inevitable corollary of providing greater capacity is that the vehicle has to support a higher usable payload than was originally envisaged, and yet the move to a longer wheelbase with a larger crew cell and higher levels of protection inevitably pushes the kerb weight of the vehicle up. To counter this, the design team has undertaken a series of design exercises to both enable the GVW of the vehicle to be increased and to take weight out of the vehicle design. As a result of such expedients as incorporating an integral hard top in place of a roll cage, altering the roof hatch design, incorporating new seats and changing the design of the transparent armour, the kerb weight of the vehicle has been reduced by some 350 kgs. At the same time, the allowable GVW of the vehicle has been increased from 7,000 to 7,500 kgs through developments on the frame, brakes and suspension. The design team has thus succeeded in delivering to the user a vehicle which, whilst retaining extensive commonality with the earlier models, nonetheless provides greatly increased capacity, payload and, if required, protection.

These design developments have allowed the LMV to move beyond its established role as a protected liaison and patrol vehicle, and provide the potential to the user of a more flexible and capable family of vehicles, as had originally been intended. The Spanish and Italian armies have already taken delivery of long wheel base LMVs configured as casualty evacuation vehicles, whilst the majority of Iveco’s current offerings are now based on the 7.5 tonne GVW long wheel base platform. This has also provided the basis for the development of solutions for such programmes as the UK’s OUVS and LPPV programmes, in both of which the LMV has provided the platform for solutions which closely match the requirement. As the vehicle is used in an increasing number of roles, so the engineering challenges posed by adapting the base design to match the customer needs become more demanding. Often, it is just those design features which make the vehicle particularly desirable for a given role, such as low weight, narrow wheel track and high terrain accessibility, which also add to the design challenge. A case in point is the increasing requirement for heavier roof mounted systems, including 12.7 mm overhead weapon stations and other weapon systems. Whilst a relatively narrow vehicle undoubtedly has excellent terrain accessibility and utility in built up areas, the addition of weapon mounts beyond a given weight can compromise stability. To counter this, the design team have now developed hydropneumatic suspension which substantially improves vehicle road-holding when the vehicle has a relatively high centre of gravity.

One of the most pressing design requirements which is now being encountered is the almost insatiable demand for ever greater levels of on-board electrical power. This is driven principally by the need to power communications and onboard ECM equipment and is very significantly in excess of original planning assumptions. Where once a 200 A alternator might have been sufficient, even generous, now 300 A is the threshold level, and there is no doubt that this will rise further in the future. Although much can be achieved with the most recent generation of high efficiency alternators, it appears likely that a more radical approach may be required in the future. Here, too, Iveco’s engineers are well positioned because the LMV engine already provides the basis for a commercially available hybrid electric drive system. This promises to provide the opportunity to deliver high levels of electrical power in the future, and presents limited technical risk as the system is already in commercial use.