KMW, L-3 Join for Future Tactical Armored Vehicle
BERLIN - Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has teamed with L-3 Communications to develop the F2US vehicle family, described as the "first scalable armored vehicle platform."
The F2US has been optimized for future U.S. tactical requirements. (KMW photo)
Building on KMW's F2 vehicles that were aimed at the German military, the F2US is optimized for the future tactical armored vehicle requirements of the U.S. forces. An example is being presented at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) exhibition in Washington.
An armored vehicle specialist, Munich-based KMW will share development and marketing of the F2US with L-3 , a prime-technology developer headquartered in New York City.
Like KMW's original F2, the U.S. version will be powered by two independent drive trains for the front and rear axles. The scalable design concept offers the potential for versions whose weight ranges from 10 to 24 tons.
Intended to be tailored for different mission requirements, the modular F2US can, for example, be fielded as a four-wheel-drive patrol vehicle with a crew of three, or a six-wheel-drive version carrying up to 11 crew. The U.S. version also will incorporate subsystems provided by L-3.
As well as using some off-the-shelf components, the air-transportable F2 and F2US have been informed by KMW's Fennek four-wheel-drive reconnaissance vehicle, conferring high levels of mobility. The F2 was originally known as the Generic Platform Future Fennek Technology (GP-F²T), and a first prototype was presented at the Eurosatory show in June.
According to Frank Haun, CEO and president of KMW, the U.S.-German cooperation unites the core competencies of both system houses.
"On the basis of the F2 platform, together with the systems from L-3 Communications, we are in a leading position to meet the future needs for new vehicles on the U.S. market," Haun said.
Charles Schafer, president of L-3's Products Group, announced that the company hopes the F2US will be fielded by the U.S. Army. L-3 Communications has produced major subsystems for previous U.S. Army armored combat vehicles, including the M1 Abrams tank, the multiple launch rocket system, the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and Stryker. Its product portfolio for armored vehicles takes in hybrid electric drives, electro-optics, driver's thermal vision and C2 integration, among others.
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