הרכב החדש " Eagle IV" מתוצרת חברת Mowag השוויצרית שוקל 8.5 טון וממוגן בפני ירי נק"ל ומטעני צד ישמש את הצבא הגרמני באפגניסטן. משרד הביטחון הגרמני חתם הסכם רכישה של 198 רכבים מאותו סוג שיותקן עליהם עמדת ירי הנשלטת מתוך הרכב "FLW 100/200" של חברת KMW ...
German Armed Forces deploy new protected vehicles to Afghanistan
12:57 GMT, May 15, 2009 On May 13 the first three vehicles of the Bundeswehr’s (German Armed Forces) new Eagle IV 4x4 protected Command and Function Vehicles, produced by the Swiss company Mowag, have been transferred from Rostock-Laage, Germany, to Afghanistan. The delivery process of a total of 198 ordered vehicles for the Bundeswehr’s first batch of new protected vehicles is under way. The deployment of eleven Eagle IVs by air transport to Camp Marmal, the Bundeswehr’s largest forward operating base in Afghanistan near Mazari Sharif, is scheduled to be completed by May 18. All procured Eagle vehicles are to be in service with the German Armed Force until late 2010. The German Ministry of Defence refers to the purchase of the Eagle as a “good example for a fast, effective and profitable procurement.”
A Russian Il-76, which is being chartered by the Bundeswehr for its military airlift to Afghanistan, picked up the first three protected vehicles – each weighing eight tons – at the Rostock-Laage airfield. The vehicles are being strongly required for the German Armed Forces’ activities in their largest military operation abroad. They will provide protection against multiple threats such as IEDs, mines, direct fire or NBC agents.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the newest vehicle of the Bundeswehr’s fleet, procured within the framework of the GFF Klasse 2 programme (protected Command and Function vehicles), fully meets these high demands. The Eagle, or “Adler” as it is being called in Germany, is to complement or replace older unprotected vehicles currently used by the German Armed Forces. Furthermore, the decision in favour of the Eagle procurement is also based on the fact that its drive stand and chassis correspond to those of the vehicles YAK and DURO III. Thus, the introduction of this vehicle allows substantial savings in the maintenance and training. These advantages have already been experienced by the Danish Army, having procured 85 Eagle IVs in mid 2005 and thereby complementing its vehicle fleet in service.
“The Eagle seems very superior”
Lieutenant Lothar Kasten of the Bundeswehr’s air transport platoon has had the opportunity to drive the Eagle and states: “One has a downright safe feeling, when inside of the vehicle; the Eagle seems very superior.” Kasten refers to the size of the vehicle and to its armour. According to the Bundeswehr, the Allison 5-speed automatic transmission and the engine are perfectly designed for the tasks awaiting the vehicles in Afghanistan. “You can control the vehicle in any situation. The support devices as for instance the tyre pressure control system, the cockpit’s layout and a functional comfort make the handling of the vehicle very easy,” says Kasten. The drivers for the Eagle have been trained at the Logistic School of the Bundeswehr during preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.
The Eagle, with a length of 5.40 m, a height of 2.4 m and a width of 2.16 m, has a protected cabin as large as five square metres and 245 hp, provided by a turbocharged diesel engine with a cubic capacity of just less than 5.9 litre. According to Mowag, it reaches a top speed of 110 km/h on the road and manages gradients of up to 60%. For self-protection, all vehicles are being equipped with a remotely controlled weapon station of the KMW FLW 100/200 type.
The procurement of the entire number of Eagle vehicles at a total price of € 105.7 million has been decided by the German government in November 2008, following an agreement early that year on the delivery of a first batch of 25 vehicles. The Eagle was first manufactured in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, and then shifted to General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
The competition goes on
The national industry was not very delighted about the government’s decision. As defpro.com reported last August, two of Germany’s leading military equipment suppliers, Munich based Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defence of Düsseldorf, have launched a joint venture to develop a highly protected new vehicle family in the 5 to 9 tons weight class, scheduled for serial delivery by 2011.
After the Bundeswehr opted for the initial small order of Mowag’s Eagle IV, the two German defence contractors financed the development on their own, hoping to convince the procurement operators for the order of the second batch.
Germany is expected to have a structural need for up to 1,000 vehicles. Time will show what the Bundeswehr’s fleet of vehicles will be composed of and which solution will best protect the soldiers from the various threats in their mission areas.
Eagle IV
עמדת ירי נשלטת מתוך הרכב FLW 100
ראשי
צ'אט
16-05-2009, 16:22
מצב כלאיים
