Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/235053
Land vehicles L awarded a $1.064 billion contract to upgrade 550 of the LAV III vehicles in four variants, an infantry section carrier, a command post, an observation post and an engineer vehicle. That contract was modified in September 2012 to include 66 more for reconnaissance, valued at $151 million. Meeting the pillars of that perfect triangle was no small task. "The army had to add weight to get the survivability they needed, they had to carry the gear to fight the war they were fighting, and then they lost mobility. For us, it was: get the survivability where it needed to be and get the mobility back," acknowledged Andrew Service, program manager for the LAV 6.0. "We upgraded the hull for the survivability, but then we had to upgrade the drive train because of the weight," explained Matt Labord, head of production projects. In a sprawling 300,000 square-foot facility in London, Ontario, the new hull and drive train are being assembled in a series of dedicated work stations. (The final assembly of the vehicles are performed at the GDLS-C facility in Edmonton.) As he walks the London shop floor that is also producing the U.S. Army Stryker, an 8x8 wheeled vehicle derived from the Canadian LAV, Labord points out the fabrication process that welds together the major subcomponents of the lower double V hull – the floor section, lower fenders, nose and rear walls. It's a primarily manual operation that is increasingly incorporating robotic welding at the component level. The double V hull is one of the most notable differences to the LAV 6.0. During the definition phase of the project, the army explored a number of options to enhance survivability. When GDLS-C suggested the double V, the army conducted both performance and cost analysis to determine the suitability, said Garth Ray, DND project manager for the LAV UP. "The Americans were interested in that similar type of protection; after doing our analysis it looked like a pretty good solution." In addition to the new drive line and engine, a Caterpillar 450 horsepower diesel, the modernized 6.0 also features key additions to that third pillar, lethality. For its primary weapon, the LAV retains the 25mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon, capable of firing the NATO standard 25mm round, and two four-tube smoke grenade launchers. "The vehicle has a good gun, a good calibre, so we [did not] touch it," Larrivee said, though how ammunition is loaded was reconfigured to allow a more efficient and safer switch from the primary to secondary ammo bins. (Much of the turret also remains, although blast attenuating seats were incorporated to better protect the gunner and commander.) The enhancements can be found in new optics and sensors, dramatically enhancing the vehicle's sensor to shooter capability. Both the gunner sight and fire control system were upgraded to improve target DRI (detection, recognition, identification) to the maximum range of the Bushmaster. "It is much better not only for lethality but also for surveillance," Larrivee said. "You can see a man at 1.2 kilometres. And on the range at night during testing at one kilometre, you can see the flies beside the moose." With automated fire control, "now you can point, laze, get a distance, and push a button, and you have a ballistic solution a bit like a tank. That takes a lot of pressure off the gunner...and [increases] the probability of hit." That is also assisted by the upgraded navigation system, a Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver that can aid with "what we call the far target location of the vehicle. Now we are much more precise: when you point at something and laze, you get the location. The ability to look, to identify, but also to get back a more precise grid that you can send for direct fire, UAV, aircraft – it's all linked together." The LAV 6.0 will also be the first vehicle in the army's fleet to receive the Land Command Support System Life Extension, which will include a new battlefield management system, part of an ongoing effort to digitize the force. Although the original plan called for full vetronics throughout the vehicle, the cost of networking every aspect of the LAV was prohibitive. The compromise was digitization of key components such as the turret and powerpack while configuring the vehicle to readily accept upgrades as they develop. "A lot of the system is networked control," explained Service of GDLS-C. "Almost all of the powerpack and new drive train is controlled electronically through a network, which makes it a lot more simple for diagnostics and more flexible for future upgrades. We also have a comparable system running in the turret, so they can both talk to each other." "There were two factors to not going full vetronics at this time," Ray explained. "One was cost and the other was the state of development. It was new to light armoured vehicles, so there was a significant risk to go full bore. I think we have done the smart thing: build in the capability to add on to it." While it might have been easier and faster to start with a fresh design and a new production line, this approach to modernizing a vital fleet will allow the army to upgrade vehicles – approximately 10 a month – while keeping the fleet in service in each division across the country. The reuse of proven components also means less cost. The army is currently conducting initial production tests, and will begin technician and crew training early this year. The end result should be a vehicle that can meet the demands of adaptive dispersed operations through the next two decades. www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2013/JANUARY 2014 23