The United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is developing new protection systems for Next-Generation Combat Vehicles that could supports infantry units in 21st century combat environments.

The U.S. Army’s current capital fleet of main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are not optimized for the future operational environment, in connection with which the Army needs new combat vehicles.

The new vehicles will exceed the Army’s current lethality and survivability requirements and include technologies—like autonomy and robotics—and be lighter and more fuel efficient.

The TARDEC issued a report regarding the conception of the development of advanced protection systems which will be installed at the Next-Generation Combat Vehicles (NGCV). According to the report, the NGCV will receive agile layered protection for evolving vehicle protection needs.

In particular, the NGCV will be eqquiped with new modern Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) kits which works on a completely different principle than conventional protection system. The new modern armor kits designed to be installed on armor-capable vehicles such as medium and main battle tanks or infantry combat vehicles.

The kit includes special layered ERA modules in combination with V cross-section cassette installed at an angle to the main module. The reactive tiles prevent penetration of various weapon systems, such as RPG (rocket-propelled grenades).

In a construction of new modern ERA kits were will be leverage current armor mechanisms, with new materials and design approaches to achieve a weight reduction in integrated vehicle armor protection. In addition, designers focus on reduction of integration burden to minimize cost impact while reducing overall system weight.

New modules are specifically designed to eliminate or minimize damage to adjacent modules, thus allowing increased effectiveness and services throughout the ground domain lifecycle.

The Next Generation Combat Vehicle is designed to eventually replace current fighting vehicles, such as the M1 Abrams tank and M2 Bradley.

 Boeing will build the first unmanned aircraft to be a permanent part of the U.S. Navy’s carrier air wing, Navy officials announced August 30.

Under the $805-million contract, Boeing will “provide the design, development, fabrication, test, verification, certification, delivery, and support of four MQ-25A unmanned air vehicles, including integration into the carrier air wing to provide an initial operational capability to the Navy,” according to the contract announcement.

The Navy plans for the first four Stingrays to achieve initial operational capability on carrier decks in 2024, an acceleration compared to previous IOC estimates. The first airframes should be flying by 2021, and the Navy will then have to conduct carrier suitability testing, modify aircraft carriers to support the control station, train the maintainers and pilots, build a sufficient logistics chain, and other criteria to support the 2024 IOC, Navy acquisition chief James Geurts told reporters today at the Pentagon, in announcing Boeing as the winner of the Stingray competition.

Some pics about Russia's T-90M main battle tank demonstration at Army-2018 forum.
Source: Vitalykuzmin.net

Several new pics about Gepard 3.9 frigate Vietnam in Novorossiysk port 17.2.2017
Source: http://sites.wrk.ru

Vietnam wants to modernize its aging fleet of tanks or replace them with modern ones. Sputnik discussed the issue with editor-in-chief of journal Arsenal of the Motherland and former tank battalion commander Viktor Murakhovsky.

T-72B3 tank

Soviet-made tanks are the backbone of Vietnam’s armored forces, but they are old and need to be replaced with new and more advanced fighting vehicles.

The cost of a radical renewal of the country’s entire tank fleet is prohibitively high though. Fully aware of this the Vietnamese are now thinking of buying a limited number of modern tanks from Russia and upgrading their old ones to bring them up to speed with the demands of modern warfare.

“Vietnam has about 1,500 medium tanks and around 1,000 light ones. All of them were developed shortly after WWII and are no match for what Vietnam’s neighbors, above all China, now have. Keeping them in good shape is not easy as spare parts for them are increasingly hard to get these days,” Murakhovsly said.

He added that even in Russia, modernized T-72 and T-72B3 tanks sell at around $1.3 million apiece and even with minimum export overheads the price would climb to $1.5 million.

“As for the T-55 and T-62 tanks, they will cost at least half a million dollars and twice as much with dynamic protection, a modern fire control system, a thermal sight and a system to fire antitank missiles through the cannon,” Murakhovsky added.

He noted that the Vietnamese have to choose between repairing their old tanks and buying limited number of modern T-72B3s or their analogues, to deploy on potentially dangerous strategic areas or to radically upgrade what they have now.

“It is up to the Vietnamese side to decide, of course, but I think that buying modern tanks and getting rid of some of their outdated ones would be the right way to go,” Viktor Murakhovsky said in conclusion.

Source

The Ukrainian defence companies can produce new heavy infantry fighting vehicle based on the Oplot main battle tank.

The project of new heavy infantry fighting vehicle has working title Berserk, a source told Defence Blog on 30 January.

The Berserk is a heavy infantry fighting vehicle is designed and produced on the basis of Oplot main battle tank (MBT). Also, the fighting vehicle has cannonproof armor and forward located engine-transmission compartment, the bottom of which contains additional anti-mine protection.

The vehicle is equipped with brand new multiple protection systems:

•  diversity, multi-layered combined stationary armor with elements of composite materials;
• ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour);
• Active protection system.

Crew has a possibility to 360 degrees range operation view.

http://defence-blog.com/army/exclusive-ukraine-can-produce-infantry-fighting-vehicle-based-on-oplot-tank-chassis.html