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Executive Summary

Armoured vehicle requirements over the next decade will centre around being modular, mobile and adaptable. The demand for light armoured vehicles will outstrip all other variants, meaning the supply chain and end-user must traverse the delicate balance between protection and manoeuvrability during this age of economic austerity.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were identified by survey respondents as being the most potent and important threat to protect against over the next ten years. In Iraq and Afghanistan IEDs have posed the greatest threat to the lives of serving personnel; their rapid dissemination on the battlefield caught government and industry alike off-guard. Ensuring military forces are equipped with vehicles that are fit for purpose means they must be designed to mitigate the effects of an IED blast and its fallout.
In order to achieve this, and to safeguard continual innovation in the industry, keeping research and development budgets on track will be one of the key challenges as the economic crunch looms. Next generation armoured vehicle programmes are already facing delays and cancellation. Finding new ways to combat threats on a shoestring budget is the military’s target, and industry’s mission.

However, not every government is faced with the same fiscal constraint. Countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East are all investing in their future capabilities, with India being the most important and hopeful among these. It will be these emerging economies with maturing militaries that will fuel growth for the armoured vehicle market in the future, or at least sustain it at a tolerable level until the global economy recovers.

Members of the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard drill team perform a maneuver during the 11th Wing commander’s call on Joint Base Andrews, Md., Nov. 2, 2010. The commander’s call highlighted the unique assets of the 11th WG through demonstrations by the 1st Helicopter Squadron, the Air Force Honor Guard and the Air Force Band. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Melissa Brownstein.

Post your suggestions in the comment box at the bottom of this page, or tweet them to @DefenceIQ (and use the hashtag #DefenceIQcaption), or email andrew.elwell@iqpc.co.uk. You can submit as many captions as you like! (….but please, keep them clean)

The winner will be announced at the end of the day.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Melissa Brownstein

Charity name: Soldier On!

Charity Number: 1136567

Contact: Nicholas Harrison (Founder and Managing Director)

Catchphrase: Helping medically discharged service personnel prosper in civilian careers.

Speaking to Defence IQ recently, Nicholas Harrison, the Founder and Managing Director of Soldier On!, explained that service personnel are given good support on leaving the armed forces, but it can sometimes be one dimensional.

“The concentration of effort is amazing, but it is purely focused on rehabilitation,” Harrison said.

The aim of Soldier On! is to support those individuals beyond this period of convalescence and help them get back into the work-place. But Harrison was quick to differentiate Soldier On! from the work other charities are doing by noting two key points: first, it is for medically discharged individuals, which is not necessarily just those wounded in battle, but also includes soldiers suffering from genetic diseases for example; second, Soldier On! does not look to put candidates into “the first available job” but rather seeks to place them on the path to a meaningful, lifelong career. It achieves this by fully understanding what the candidate has to offer and then approaches relevant potential recruiters on the candidates’ behalf.

“Our focus is on helping individuals who have been medically discharged, so it is not just the limbless, it is equally for someone who may have a degenerative spinal disease for example … it’s the medical discharge that is the important thing,” said Harrison.

Among the support Soldier On! provides during the process of finding the ideal career for ex-service personnel is coaching seminars, hands-on CV assistance and interview training.

Last year was the charity’s first operational year and it has already helped a number of individuals find their dream career. Not least is Corporal Stuart Parker, who was injured when a 500lb bomb dropped from a USAF F-15 fighter bomber hit his position while serving in Afghanistan in 2007. Stuart sustained massive lung damage, lost his spleen and part of his pancreas, suffered severe burns and lost his hearing in his left ear while also rupturing his stomach, bowl and bladder. But because of Soldier On!’s help and guidance – which worked hand-in-hand with Stuart’s tenacity, skill-set, attitude and ambition – he is now a Logistics Manager for the Athlete’s Village on the Olympic site. You can see a video of Corporal Parker’s story by clicking this link.

The charity is working with a number of recruitment bodies including Job Centre Plus, HR Magazine, The Recruiter Magazine, and Michael Page recruiters. However, it is interest and support from industry that will really drive Soldier On! forward and help it get more soldiers into new careers. Thames Water, Lend Lease and the National Grid have all been forthcoming to-date but Harrison is keen to talk with many more companies – in any sector, it is in no way restricted to the defence industry – to improve the charity’s network and reach.

“We need to connect with as many companies as possible,” says Harrison. With the Army “medically discharging around 1,000 soldiers per year,” that’s a significant number of highly trained individuals who have a plethora of desirable skills relevant for the work-place.

Soldier On! needs £9,000 a month to keep going. Harrison explained that in the future he expects to step-away from operational control of the charity and let it be run “by the very people that it was set-up to support in the first place.” A medically discharged member of the Grenadier Guards is starting as the charity’s Candidate Manager at the end of this month.

Soldier On! has the backing of MoD officials and has Lieutenant General Gary Coward CB OBE, and current Director of Materiel (Land) and Quartermaster-General to the Forces, among its patrons.

How can we help? Well, getting in contact is the best place to start! Here are the details you need:

Website: www.soldieron.org.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/soldieronorg

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/groups/soldieron

Twitter: @soldieroncharity

Phone: 020 7193 0492 / 01904 211048

Email: nicholas@soldieron.org.uk

The Indian Navy has 132 ships under its command, 14 of which are submarines. As we speak India has commissioned 49 ships and submarines which are under construction in country and abroad.

“49 ships and submarines, which are under construction, would be inducted in the next five years. Out of these, 45 are being built indigenously at the Indian shipyards, while four are being built outside India,” Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command, told IBN.

With India doing an admirable job on coastal security and anti-piracy operations recently, and with the induction of this new fleet, the Navy seems well placed to increase efficiency and tackle future threats. But is it?
Relations with neighbouring Pakistan and China remain frosty; if India is to secure its borders and maintain its influence in the region, it must invest further in its naval presence. Challenges from terrorism, piracy and Pakistan and China’s growing sea power will force it to.

According to the Deccan Chronicle by 2025 Pakistan will have acquired four frigates, six submarines, and a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from China.

Robert Knapp outlined China’s increasing naval power in his Review of 2011 article recently. “China, India, Japan, Australia and virtually all of the middle ranking regional powers are all currently engaged in dramatically expanding or modernising their navies. China has spearheaded this naval arms race, feeling that it should have naval capabilities to match its economic might. During the past year the most significant development has been the commissioning of China’s first aircraft carrier – the ex-Russian Varyag. While the limitations of this vessel have been much discussed it serves much more as a symbol of China’s ambitions; by the end of the decade there is the intention to have three carrier battle groups in service. The arrival of the Varyag has overshadowed the continuing expansion of both the large (and increasingly capable) surface fleet and what is expected to soon be the largest submarine fleet in the world.”

Delays, overruns and bureaucracy aside, India does have plans to continue growing its Navy in the future, as Chopra went on to state: “Other ships to be inducted include, three Shivalik class stealth frigates, four Kamorta class ASW corvettes, three Kolkata class project 15A, four project 15B ships, seven project 17A ships, three follow on 1135.6 ships, nine offshore patrol vessels, two cadet training ships.”

Consistent with India’s growth strategy in other parts of its defence industry, as well as its economy as a whole, the government wants to build and invest in its own infrastructure, rather than relying on imports.

“Since imported platforms are expensive and make us dependent on imported spare parts, India needs a home-built Navy, which can protect India’s seas and borders while providing the nation with strategic second-strike capability,” reports the Deccan Chronicle.

It’s not just the mainland where India must improve its naval infrastructure though. To protect against the threat from China Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, Chief of the Naval Staff for the Indian Navy, explained to India Today that strategic outposts in the surrounding region must be established.

“We are creating infrastructure in the Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands which form our country’s strategic outposts,” Admiral Verma told IT. “They enhance our country’s forward operating capability.”

With lead times reaching 15 years from the original RFP to order completion and delivery, India is under pressure to hurry this process along. Or at least it ought to be. To achieve this though there must first be more cooperation between the public and private sectors, and more specifically the drawing up of joint ventures between public and private shipyards. The red tape dogging India’s rapid ascent is no less apparent in its naval infrastructure as it is in any other part of its defence industry. This has to change.

Want to learn more about this subject? Join us at the Offshore Paqtrol Vessels Asia-Pacific conference from 20 – 22 March 2012 at Swissôtel Merchant Court in Singapore (www.offshorepatrolasia.com)

“It might look like a state of the art theme park ride,” says Saeid Nahavandi, Director of the CISR, “but the Universal Motion Simulator will take trainee pilots and drivers through their paces in a safer, cheaper and more realistic training environment than currently available elsewhere in the world.”

In an interview with Defence IQ, Professor Nahavandi, explained how the Centre is developing advanced technologies for military flight training and simulation purposes.

“With funding from the Australian Research Council, The Department of Defence, and numerous industry partners, CISR has been able to equip five research labs with state of the art equipment, including mobile robots, industrial robots, haptic devices (the largest number of devices in the Southern hemisphere), thermal imaging systems, optical imaging systems, rapid prototyping machines, super computers and suites of process simulation software.”

So how’s it different to other simulators?

“Standard simulators replicate the flying or driving experience by merely tilting from side-to-side and providing the ‘real life’ sensation through visual cues. What sets the UMS apart from standard simulators is the integration of haptics technology, which provides a sense of touch and feel to virtual or remote objects, and its ability move at high speed and in any direction. Combined with a high resolution 3D display mounted inside a headset, the user is totally immersed in the set training environment and has a “real” experience – both visually and physically.”

Sound good? I think so too. But wait, there’s more…

“While suited for training pilots, the UMS is also the perfect platform for simulating land based vehicles including tanks and other armoured vehicles, trucks, race cars and motorbikes. Its training capabilities are endless.”

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the progress made at CISR, it’s likely they’ll be further developments to report in the new year.

Read more from the interview with Professor Nahavandi by clicking here.

Just spray on 12 microns of the stuff and you can protect against anything including water ingress, corrosion, bacteria. Anything….even Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (see video below).

So what applications does this have in defence?

In an interview with DefenceIQ Andrew Jones, President of Ross Nanotechnology, which is the company behind NeverWet, revealed that “there are many, many defence applications for this” technology.

Although Jones admitted that defence had not been a priority market for the company at this early stage in its go-to-market strategy, it was an area in which he feels the nanotechnology could gain a lot of traction in the future.

The most applicable use for NeverWet according to Jones would be for the Navy, specifically for use on submarines and submarines structures.

“I was a nuclear submarine officer for five years. I’ve served in these markets. We used to have these giant AC/DC motors all over the submarine … I think it would be fabulous to coat those pumps so that the frequent water spray that happens in submarines would not be an issue.”

But it’s not just a bog standard waterproof coating that NeverWet offers though, it is also provides anti-corrosion and anti-icing protection. Anti-corrosion is where Jones thinks NeverWet can offer the most value for military applications by extending the through-life of equipment.

“We haven’t had a lot of exposure in corrosion, but the technology is terrific against corrosion,” said Jones. Indicating that Navy applications will be considered more in the future Jones explained that, “We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire at the moment and corrosion hasn’t been a priority market but it is a terrific application for this stuff.”

Jones explained that he has been in contact with Navy officials regarding the technology but at this time cost is a prohibitive factor.  Jones told Defence IQ that “NeverWet’s performance greatly exceeds their (the Navy’s) needs and specified standards” in terms of anti-corrosion requirements. He went on to state that “If I can be the cheapest solution then I’ll win.” It’s not a matter of capability but a matter of affordability.

Although price is a concern currently, Jones said that NeverWet isn’t necessarily required for a large-scale coating, but can be very effective at targeting the specific areas most exposed to rusting and corrosion.

“In our military infrastructure you will always have that one joint which rots. You don’t have to coat the whole vehicle with it but in small applications Neverwet can be of critical use and importance.”

Jones is far from ruling out the technology for use in the future as it becomes more price competitive. Added to that, the Navy is making moves towards new, clean, innovative technology demonstrated in the $12 million procurement of biofuel last week and its commitment to creating a Green Green Fleet by 2016. The U.S Navy, it seems, is not against spending money for the right technology.

Further to its submarine applications Jones foresees a number of other uses for NeverWet in the military. High altitude aircraft could potentially use the technology in the future to prevent icing, although this isn’t something that is available just yet. “We cannot prevent wings from icing just yet, but we’re working on that,” said Jones. With the increasing numbers of mobile electronic equipment now carried by troops on the ground, NeverWet also has undeniable applications here to protect all of the expensive and mission-critical devices from the elements.

NeverWet is still in its infancy but it could have many applications for the military in the future, not least for protecting and maintaining submarines and its equipment and technology.

This week, the UK Ministry of Defence gave the all-clear on allowing female officers to serve aboard its Royal Navy submarines in a change that will be implemented from 2013.

Officially, the reason behind the blockade stemmed from a belief that higher levels of carbon dioxide on the vessels carried much greater health risks for women. This conclusion has now been overruled after research conducted by the Institute of Naval Medicine.

Vanguard-class subs will be the first to benefit from women submariners

While this development has been hailed a triumph for equality by some – and one of scientific reason by others – the decision brings into question the real reason behind the u-turn, as well as the real reason behind the initial ban.

It is far from a state secret that the MoD is struggling to control its budget and remain operational. Every service – Army, Navy, and Air Force – has suffered deep cuts to personnel numbers and platform acquisition. A shift that allows women officers to take to the underwater battlespace is undeniably helpful in spreading fewer resources to cover more ground – reflecting the SDSR’s “more with less” ethos.

At the same time, new Defence Minister Philip Hammond will be revelling in the opportunity to mark his stamp on the role, placing a positive emphasis on his ministry at a time when it has been blighted with dark cloud headlines. As Liam Fox learned to his detriment, there is no UOR contract available for good PR.

At the same time, it is a worrying thought that bans such as this could be made without proper research or justification. Either MoD decision-makers have been guilty of complacency, or they are guilty of jeopardising operations in efforts to avoid potential scandal. Should there now be an enquiry into all similar restrictions?

One year ago, the US Navy made the same amendment to its rulebook, following on the heels ofNorway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Canada and Spain, all of which permitted female submariners at some point between 1985 to present.

However, serving British female soldiers still remain barred from close-combat frontline duties. Will we see this decision also overturned in light of dwindling infantry numbers and a few more months of news tickers berating MoD failings?

Mr. Hammond will be sure to let us know.

In the meantime, Defence IQ welcomes your thoughts.

In an interview with NAVAIR, Rear Admiral Bill Shannon, Program Executive Officer of Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, explained the deployment of the K-Max, commenting that the “K-Max has the capability to quickly deliver cargo, thus getting troops off the roads and allowing them to focus on other missions.”

Source: Wikimedia

Shannon went on to add that the office is “very excited to deploy a system that will keep our Marines and Sailors out of harm’s way and ultimately save lives.”

According to mission commander Marine Captain Caleb Joiner, the majority of the K-Max “missions will be conducted at night and at higher altitudes […] allow[ing] us to keep out of small arms range.”

Unmanned Resupply

The K-Max is a remarkable, unorthodox aircraft with counter-rotating, intermeshing side by side blades. Originally a piloted helicopter used for a variety of industrial roles, such as log transportation for the timber industry, it has been modified so that it can be controlled remotely, while retaining its manual control capacity. This unmanned ability offers the potential ability to remove the risk to its pilots as well as freeing up aircraft to perform other tasks.

From the vantage point of the K-Max manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and Kaman, its “twin counter-rotating, intermeshing main rotors eliminate the need for a tail rotor drive system”, meaning that “all engine power goes directly to the main rotors for significantly improved lift performance, [which is] critical to maintaining power and performance at high altitudes and high temperatures.”

The lack of a tail rotor reduces the distinct audio footprint traditionally associated with rotary assets. This reduced footprint will reportedly give the K-Max UAS and the warfighter a “tactical advantage during cargo delivery.” This cargo delivery is performed by a carousel, featuring four hooks which can be activated individually. The aircraft can reportedly be pre-programmed to release a load at four separate destinations during a single flight.

Glancing over the stats, the K-Max can carry a load of 6,855 lb., exceeding the 6,000 lb. US Marine and Navy requirements. The unmanned vehicle is also capable of a speed of 148.2 kph while carrying a load, with an endurance of over 12 hours. It also reportedly offers the “most efficient lift-to-fuel ratio of any helicopter in its class”, using an average of 85 gallons of fuel per hour.

Resupply Capability

In an interview with remote systems journal ‘Unmanned’, Eric Pratson, the project lead for the Unmanned Helicopter at NAVAIR, explained the potential impact of the unmanned K-Max on operations.

“A single K-Max helicopter could reduce reliance on convoys to resupply forward operating bases in Afghanistan by 6 percent. At that volume, a fleet of 16 to 20 aircraft theoretically could handle 100 percent of the resupply mission in Afghanistan.”

In simple terms, as air vehicle operator Corporal Ryan Venem summarised: “every time this aircraft delivers a payload, we’re taking one more truck off the road.”

Along with removing the threat to convoys on the ground and to pilots, an unmanned logistics platform would provide other advantages, such as allowing pilots to not use their limited flight hours flying resupply missions.

The introduction of unmanned logistical support offers many advantages, but it does potentially come with some problems, the primary of which is financial. In the current economic climate, is it cost effective to invest in a platform which is limited to one role?

Other helicopter assets which perform logistical resupply, such as the Chinook and Black Hawk, also have the capability to perform multiple roles, such as medevac or troop movement. While the K-Max and other unmanned logistical aircraft will provide a beneficial addition to the aerial logistics fleet, they should not completely replace manned aircraft.

The K-Max is not the only unmanned system designed for logistical operations with various countries – including Israel – developing alternate systems. The development of unmanned vehicles to perform logistical operations marks a continuation of the global trend of the integration of unmanned technology into modern warfare.

DSEi 2011 was a fantastic place to do business for all those interested in the defence industry. But with all those stands, all the space to cover and all those contacts to meet, it does get a bit tiring sometimes. And that’s when a certain childish enthusiasm takes hold and one can’t help but wander around some of the stands, getting hands on with the displays and playing with all the cool military hardware on display.

So then, as a testament to utter frivolity, and in the hope that our MD doesn’t spot that there was some blatant skiving going on last week, here is Defence IQ’s list of cool toys at DSEi 2011.

First off is the Noptel IRM Training Programme for military marksmanship. Any stand that features a gun that you can pick up and fire invariably proves popular at an arms fair. Noptel’s stand just proved the rule. With a gas powered recoil system, the action feels real. But with many militaries already operating similar systems (e.g. the British Army’s Dismounted Close Combat Trainer), what’s the advantage of this bit of kit? Well that comes from the “traffic light” evaluation of each phase of the shot that analyses the hold, aim, trigger control and result for each “round” fired. It means that, rather than relying upon the instructor’s perception of how the trainee shooter is performing, the software provides an instantaneous and visually appealing deconstruction for each element of the shot.

Perhaps it was just flattery, having mistaken me for someone important, but the Noptel representative was very complimentary about my shooting. Either that or all that time where they drilled the marksmanship principles into my head has started to pay off. Note, the shooting represented in the image is not mine.

Next is Aimpoint’s MICRO-T1 shoot-round-corners gun sight. The ability to shoot round corners would obviously be popular in urban warfare scenarios and various solutions, including a folding gun, have been offered in the past. Aimpoint has taken an altogether more stripped down approach to the problem and used… well, some mirrors.

This sight as shown below enables the shooter to peer around corners whilst exposing the minimum amount of soft pink flesh for the bad guy to aim at. It’s fully adjustable and, with just a flick of the thumb, can sit to the left or the right of the weapon. Then, when you’re not using it, its simple twist-on/twist-off design allows you to stow it easily and aim using the conventional, fore-mounted weapon sight.

It’s camouflage; it’s sleek and scary at the same time – it’s a grappling hook that fires out of the barrel of a rifle-like device. It’s the ResQMax Tactical, a line thrower that can deploy a 34m climbing line, allowing otherwise inaccessible points to be breached “with ease”. For budding ninjas it’s a dream come true. For us, it just looks cool. End of.

This Ruger pistol is predominantly made of a polymer material with just a handful of metal parts, including the barrel, hammer and chamber. So, when you pick it up, it feels incredibly light. That makes it ideal as a back-up weapon as its small, unobtrusive design makes it ideal to stash away somewhere discreet, yet easy to reach. Getting hands on with this weapon, I notice something is missing. “Where’s the safety catch” I ask a company representative. “If you need this thing, you’re in a sticky situation, so the last thing you want is any delay in getting your rounds away” is the answer. Quite so.

Jez Hermer OBE, a former Royal Marine, has always been interested in bringing new and innovative solutions to the market. This time, however, he and his company OVIK Specialist Vehicles are bringing old and innovative solutions to the market. Estimates on how CVR-T hulls have been produced world-wide vary, but Hermer believes it’s in the region of about 4,000 when all the various derivatives are taken into account. The problem is that many of these are now reaching the end of their useful life. Traditionally, such hulls wind up on the scrap heap. OVIK’s plan is to examine these hulls to establish structural integrity and give them a whole new lease of life. Enter the Meerkat.

The process is simple, but rigorous. Once the hull has been found to be free of cracks and damage, it’s stripped and salvaged for components. Then the original aluminium armour is upgraded with further protection – typically appliqué armour. An engine always comes in handy in an armoured vehicle and the standard fit is a Cummins 6.7 litre diesel engine – petrol variants are also available. After that, the interior layout, weapons specification and electronic systems are all up to the customers’ specification. The only major design restriction is that OVIK wants to keep the weight down to 9 tonnes ensuring the design’s legendary low ground pressure is maintained. This lightweight ethic is further supported by the potential to integrate rubber band tracks as distinct from the current spec of Diehl double-pin tracks.

OVIK’s plan is to equip potential customers with the skills to complete the relatively simple engineering work themselves. So, the economic benefits of an upgrade are shared between customer and supplier. Current CVR-T owning nations that have not upgraded for several years include the Philippines, Nigeria, Indonesia and Ireland.

The best part of the Meerkat is the cost. I couldn’t persuade anyone from OVIK to tell me exactly how much the recycled vehicle cost, but after a little bit of sniffing around the show, one source suggested that the reconditioning process could be completed for well under half a million pounds – a bargain by today’s standards.

Extensively profiled before the show, Supacat displayed the Wildcat vehicle – based upon the sports platform designed to compete in the Paris – Dakar rally. It is surprisingly dinky once you see it in real life, but Dave Marsh, Managing Director of Qt Services who create the vehicle, sees it as being particularly useful for special forces or for long range recce/patrol operations. The 375cl fuel cell enables a range of 1,500 miles unrefueled.

The version shown at DSEi did not feature any additional armour or protection although this could be added. In many respects however, armour runs against the very concept of this vehicle that could very well find its niche in its enhanced mobility – going where other vehicles simply couldn’t. Its bonkers top speed of 170 km/h is matched by its ability to take on gradients of 45 degrees and side slopes of 40 degrees.

What the DSEi Wildcat version did feature was Kongsberg’s Super Lite remote weapons station, making it look pretty mean. But, for extra cool factor (sorry, make that operational effectiveness) the RWS could be retractable into the rear cab making this vehicle the envy of anyone who’s ever thought about blasting their way through rush hour traffic.

Speaking of retractable weapons, probably the top-prize in cool went to the XSR Interceptor  from XSMG Defence. This super-sleek patrol craft was strutting its stuff during the waterborne demonstrations where it performed a “low speed pass” of 35 to 40 knots!

Designed as an interdiction and patrol craft, it can operate at speeds of 60 knots in conditions of up to Sea State 6. The hull can also be adapted to fit a water-jet propulsion system allowing the craft to operate in the littorals, delivering special forces troops onto beaches via a specially designed forward ramp.

The real party piece was the retractable bow-hidden remote weapons station that popped up to reveal a sinister looking .50 calibre machine gun. To anyone who ever harboured ambitions of owning a Bat-Boat during their childhood years, this feature pretty much secured the XSR Interceptor’s top spot on their Christmas wish-list.