INTRODUCTION

Within an ever changing strategic context, the market for armoured vehicles and
related equipment has become even more wide-ranging, as technological
advancements have seen a significant rise in the use and utility of UGVs, artificial
intelligence, virtual training and survivability equipment. Active protection
systems (APS) are being developed in lighter, cheaper and more accurate forms,
supporting their case as a popular solution for the future battlespace. Meanwhile,
the deployment of MBTs is still seen as a necessity by most in spite of climbing
demand for light protected mobility.

COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY KEY
PROGRAMMES AND REQUIREMENTS

AUSTRALIA – INDIA 3
INDIA – INDONESIA 4
JAPAN – MALAYSIA 5
NEW ZEALAND – PAKISTAN 6
REPUBLIC OF KOREA – TAIWAN 7
THAILAND – TURKEY 8

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ASIA 2019

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AUSTRALIA

Two contenders remain in this $5 billion Land 400 competition: the AMV35 CRV by BAE
Systems Australia (teaming with Patria, Saab Australia and Marand – manufacturing the
AMV35’s turret shell) and the BOXER CRV from Rheinmetall (teaming with Supacat
Australia and the Netherlands government). The winner of the contract was due to be
announced in the first half of 2018.

The Army has given bidders the flexibility to include options such as manned or unmanned
turrets and protection systems to meet the combination of survivability, mobility, and
firepower required for the CRV. Successful bidders will recommend subsystems for their
vehicles, but the DoD has the option of selecting alternative ones.

BANGLADESH

The Army is also seeking up to 680 new LAVs with a contract estimated at $1 billion
recently awarded to Turkish firm Delta Defence. The company is supplying 600 modified
Ukrainian built 4x4 DOZOR B TUR-K2 armoured vehicles and 80 6x6 TUR-K3
multipurpose APCs. The first 100 units are scheduled for delivery in 2018, followed by
another 150 in 2019 and the remainder by 2022.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Lieutenant General Md Mahfuzur Rahman, Principal Staff Office, Bangladesh Armed

Forces will share Bangladesh’s experience of the relevance of force projection in
counterterrorism and UN missions.

INDIA

The air force has approved the purchase of up to 60 new armoured vehicles. Of major
interest to the market will be the progress of India’s recently revived Future Infantry
Combat Vehicle (FICV) competition, which will award the largest ever indigenous contract
at a projected value of around $15 billion. Ten Indian companies have formed consortia to
compete to supply 2,610 of the selected vehicle. These include Tata Motors and Bharat
Forge Ltd, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), L&T and Mahindra, and several
other companies ranging through Tata Power SED, Reliance Defense, Rolta, Punj Lloyd,
Titagarh Wagons and the public sector Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

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INDIA (c’td)

The FICV will be an amphibious, armoured, tracked and air-transportable troop-carrier

than can fire four-kilometre range anti-tank missiles and will replace the Indian Army’s
Russian-made BMP II second-generation infantry fighting vehicles in use since the 1980s.
Three shortlisted consortia will develop an FICV prototype, with the MoD contributing 80
per cent of the cost.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Commander PK Bhattacharya (IN), Officer on Special Duty, Department of Defence

Production (DDP), Defence Offsets Management Wing (DOMW), India Ministry of
Defence will discuss India’s local industrial model for procuring India’s next generation of
armoured vehicles.

INDONESIA

Indonesia’s Marine Corps introduced five BTR-4M APCs in 2017, having taken delivery
from Ukraine’s SpetsTechnoExport.

Indonesia also completed delivery of a fleet of customised BLACK FOX 6x6 vehicles from
South Korea’s Hanwha Defense Systems in 2013.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Indonesia is the host nation of this year’s Armoured Vehicles Asia and the Secretary
General (Sekjen Kemhan RI), Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia will deliver
a welcome address.

Brigadier General Subagyo, S.E., M.M, Director, Army Ordnance (Dirpalad),

Indonesian Army will deliver the closing address of the first day of the conference.

Brigadier General Victor H. Simatupang, Commander, Peacekeeping Maintenance

Missions Center (PMPP TNI), Indonesian Army will discuss armour at the heart of the
Indonesian peacekeeping maintenance missions centre.

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JAPAN

The Japanese MoD unveiled a prototype 8x8 Wheeled Armoured Vehicle (Improved) at the
start of 2017, as the basis for replacing its Type 96 APCs currently in use by the Japan
Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).

As part of the new framework, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has been working with
the US and possibly other foreign customers. Latest output has seen MHI design a new
suspension for the BRADLEY fighting vehicle which, if accepted, would mark the first
Japanese component designed specifically for a foreign military to be exported in 70 years.

MALAYSIA

The Malaysian Army is preparing to receive the Armoured Engineer Nuclear, Biological and
Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle version of the AV-8 Wheeled Armoured Vehicle.
Developed by FNSS, the type features equipment and systems to detect any type of
CBRN agents, it can define and classify the hazard zone and alert other military units and
civilians.

Four vehicles are planned to be delivered in the first half of this year, while the remaining
three will arrive by 2020.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Brigadier General Dr. Kwong Fook Wen, (Royal Armoured Corps) Inspector General,
Army Inspectorate Division and Lieutenant Colonel Sharizan Bin Haji Wan Chik,
(Royal Armoured Corps) SO1 Technical, Department Of Research And Evaluation,
both from the Malaysian Army HQ will share insights into the development of Malaysian
armour.

Dr Yazid Ahmad, Director Mechanical & Aerospace Technology Division (STRIDE),

Malaysia Ministry of Defence will speak on life cycle support and maintenance of the
Malaysian armoured vehicle fleet.

Picture: FNSS
NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is planning to replace vehicles that are reaching the end of their operational
service, in order to have capabilities fit for the modern battlefield. By 2035, the Army is
expected to reach 6000 people, an increase that needs to be matched by equipment
support. A lot of projects have been laid by the nation:

• Network Enabled Army – ISR to provide the Army with digitise C2 technology,
battlefield management systems and secure satellite communications network.
• Protected Mobility to replace the army’s fleet of Pinzgauer for improved armoured,
high-mobility and tactical transport options.
• Land Force Protection to provide the nation with an enduring solution for IEDs.
• Garrison and training Support Vehicles to fulfil the army’s domestic requirements.
• Tactical Mobility to enable the ground forces to move freely around their area of
operation, through investment in modern tactical mobility capabilities, from heavy
engineering plant through to small militarised all-terrain vehicles.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan’s Military Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (MVRDE) is now

developing a light armoured vehicle called Light Armed Vehicle Assault (LAVA). The
MVRDE will also develop a medical recovery vehicle.

Recent deals under discussion have been the acquirement of General Dynamics’
DRAGOON four-wheel-drive armoured fighting vehicle and the Chinese VN1 eight-wheel-
drive AFV.

Rumoured tanks under consideration for the HAIDER programme include Turkey’s new
ALTAY vehicle, although it is likely that such a vehicle would simply augment a more
diverse range of vehicle.

Picture: Paramount Group Marauder

REPUBLIC OF KOREA (ROK)

100 6x6 KW1 (K806) and 500 8x8 (K808) wheeled armoured vehicles are to be produced
by 2023. This renews the initiative first launched in December 2012, with work being
undertaken by Hyundai Rotem. 16 low-rate initial production vehicles are to be delivered
to the ROK Army (RoKA) for field trials which were scheduled to have lasted until the end
of 2017. Production will commence from 2018.

The RoKA has also been testing newly developed HUMVEE-based tactical vehicles. Five
types of indigenous multipurpose wheeled vehicles were delivered to forward-deployed
units from January 2017 and deployed on a four-month test run before entering mass
production. The vehicles are designed to replace the military’s aged K-131 and K-311A1
vehicles.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Dr ByoungJo Youn, Director of Armoured Vehicle Project Team, Defence Acquisition

Program Administration (DAPA), Republic of Korea will speak on the Korean Army’s
long-term plan for its next generation armoured vehicle.

SINGAPORE

ST Kinetics is also hoping to expand exports of its TERREX 8x8 IFV family, which now
includes three distinct platforms with gross vehicle weight ratings ranging from 24-35
tonnes. The company has indicated that interest has been shown from countries in the
Middle East, North America (specifically, the USMC ACV 1.1 programme), Latin America,
and by those involved in the Australian Army Project Land 400 Phase 2.

TAIWAN

8x8 CM-32 YUNPAOs will continue to provide coverage to the Army, with Taiwan allocating
$175 million for new R&D into homegrown weapon systems, including those that can be
integrated into these vehicles.

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THAILAND

Initial testing of the re-engineered and upgraded Cadillac Gage V-150 COMMANDO 4x4
light armoured vehicle (HMV-150) was completed by the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) in June
2017.

If the results are agreeable, Panus will upgrade the rest of the RTN’s 24 V-150s.

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has been buying armoured cars from China since March 217
for around $1.6 million. The vehicles are the export version of the NORINCO ZBL-09
Snow LEOPARD APC, similar in structure to Ukraine’s BTR-3E1. The RTA is aiming for a
2020 delivery of the full battalion.

The RTA made an initial order of 21 units in 2012 and was rumoured to be considering a
contract for 15 more. The Thai Ministry of Justice Department of Special Investigation has
also taken delivery of 18 of the vehicles, while the Thai Police have a requirement for a
variant with a smaller engine. Chaiseri has signed an agreement with Malaysia’s DefTech
under which the FIRST WIN is being offered to meet the future operational requirements of
the Royal Malaysian Army with the local name of AV4.

AT ARMOURED VEHICLES ASIA 2019

Lieutenant General Chatchai Patranavik, Commanding General of Counter Terrorist

Operations Center, Royal Thai Army will discuss Thailand’s use of armoured vehicles in
counter-terrorist operations.

TURKEY

August 2017 saw the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) award BMC a
$350 million contract for 529 tactical wheeled armoured vehicles and an enhanced variant
of the 4x4 BMC KIRPI MRAP (YENI KIRPI) to outfit the Turkish Armed Forces. The
contract was issued under the Tactical Wheeled Vehicles-2 (TTA-2) programme.

Otokar also announced in August that it had submitted its final offer to SSM to begin serial
production of the ALTAY MBT for the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC).

The SSM has issued RfPs to Otokar, BMC and FNSS for serial production of the initial
ALTAY MBTs. SSM was scheduled to select the winner by mid-2018, while the initial
production phase, which is locally designated as DŌNEM II, involves the serial production
of an initial batch of 250 vehicles.

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TURKEY (c’td)

Earlier that year, SSM awarded FNSS (a joint venture of Turkish conglomerate Nurol
Holding and BAE Systems) a contract for the purchase of 260 self-propelled antitank
systems.

Under this contract, all design, development, and prototype qualification is to be completed
in 2018. Serial production will then begin, with all 180 tracked and 76 wheeled armoured
vehicles to be delivered to TLFC by 2020. The tracked variant will be based on the
company’s KAPLAN-20 platform, while the wheeled system will use the PARS 4x4 vehicle
as the base carrier.

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More information can be found on the next page

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SOURCES:

Words: S. Philpott
Miltech
https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2019/05/02/nrbc-av8-by-fnss-will-be-delivered-in-the-first-half-of-
this-year-to-malaysian-army/
https://www.armyrecognition.com/analysis_focus_army_defence_military_industry_army/new_ze
aland_defence_capability_plan_2019_planned_investments_in_land_forces_capabilities.html

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