Terrex

The Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) is an armoured fighting vehicle developed by ST Engineering and Timoney Technology Ltd, and produced under license by Turkish automaker Otokar and ST Kinetics (a subset of ST Engineering) as the Yavuz. It weighs an estimated 25 to 30 tonnes on an 8x8 wheeled chassis with modern armour. Multiple weapon platforms are supported, including both the remote and overhead weapons stations.

Production History and Development

The Terrex started off as a private venture between Singapore Technologies Engineering and Timoney Technology, intended for export sales. The prototype Terrex AV81 armoured fighting vehicle that was exhibited for the first time at DSEi 2001.^[2] The initial AV-81 design utilised conventional coil springs shock absorbers but later variants have seen the introduction of hydro-pneumatic struts with real-time damping control. An electric-hybrid drive system was also developed.

In mid-2004, one prototype and one pre-production model had been built and was evaluated throughout Asia and Europe, where the vehicle was offered for a number of emerging wheeled armoured vehicle requirements. This was further influenced by the emerging United States' Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) concept, which calls for the need of wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) as opposed to tracked AFVs.

The Terrex AV-82 was developed in 2005 equipped with a more advanced driveline and hydro-pneumatic suspension system, and a number of changes from the AV81 including a flat underbody instead of a V-shaped hull and revised rear suspension.

The Singapore Armed Forces will acquire at least 135 Terrex ICVs to replace its V-200 armoured vehicles, with all active Infantry and Guards battalions to begin training to operate from the vehicle in February 2010.^[3] The Second Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment, recently acquired the Terrex as part of its shift into a motorised infantry battalion.^[4] The Indonesian Army has plans to purchase 420 units and has also expressed intent to produce the Terrex locally under license. Turkish automaker Otokar has also joined with ST Kinetics to produce the Terrex AV-82 (renamed Yavuz) for the Turkish Armed Forces.^[5][6]

MPC/ACV

In August 2012, the U.S. Marine Corps awarded SAIC a developmental contract for the Terrex for the Marine Personnel Carrier program.^[7]

On 18 July 2013, SAIC, along with ST Kinetics and Armatec Survivability Corporation, successfully completed two weeks of evaluations for the Terrex at Camp Pendleton. The tests included a series of water performance demonstrations in various sea conditions and an evaluation of human factors and stowage capacity. The Terrex completed all required surf transit and ocean swim maneuverability tests at its fully loaded combat weight. It demonstrated load capabilities through successful stowage of gear and supplies that Marines would require for three days of operations, with space available for additional equipment. The human factors evaluation demonstrated the spacious interior by accommodating the specified number of combat-equipped Marines and enabling rapid tactical and emergency egress through a quick-release hatch. The Terrex repeated ocean swim and maneuverability results achieved in a March 2013 rehearsal event. SAIC began ballistic and blast tests at the Nevada Automotive Test Center in May 2013, and was scheduled to complete all ballistic and mine blast demonstrations in July.^[8]

The Marine Personnel Carrier was put on hold in June 2013,^[9] restarted in February 2014,^[10] and then restructured as Phase 1 of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) program,^[11] which includes the previous MPC competitor entries.^[12]

On 24 November 2015, the Marines selected the SAIC Terrex, along with the BAE Systems/Iveco SuperAV, to move on to the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the ACV 1.1 program. SAIC was awarded a $121.5 million contract to build 16 vehicles by late 2016 for testing, which will begin in early 2017 and last one year. The Terrex submitted for the ACV program, called the Terrex 2, is designed to enhance situational awareness, with the troop commander's station equipped with a screen viewing all sides outside the vehicle, also visible to the squad to see what they would be exiting to. The driver’s station is equipped with several screens with obstacle avoidance, situational awareness sensor feeds, and other features. It is emphasized for ground operations, where it would spend most of its time, so it meets the minimum requirements for safe sea operation. The Terrex has a V-over-V hull that creates a crush zone to reduce the impact of a blast on the floor; this creates a spacious interior but Marines cannot keep their feet on the ground during transit and have to put their feet on footrests attached to seats across the aisle from them, which keeps their feet from absorbing blast energy. The vehicle uses a central tire inflation system, can swim 7 mph (11 km/h; 6.1 kn) in water, and has excess buoyancy of 23 percent. It weighs 32.5 tons (65,000 lb (29,000 kg)), carries three crew and 11 embarked Marines, and can reach 55 mph (89 km/h) on paved roads. A final winner is planned to be chosen in 2018 to build 204 vehicles, with the first entering service in 2020 and all delivered by 2023.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Design

As with a number of other recent wheeled armoured vehicles, the Terrex is of modular design with various levels of armour protection and weapon systems being marketed up to a gross vehicle weight of 24,000 kg. Along with its size, the Terrex is air portable by C-130s or other similar cargo aircraft.

The Terrex's layout is conventional: the driver sits front left and the power pack is to the right.^[17] This leaves the rest of the vehicle clear for the troop compartment, which is provided with a power-operated ramp and roof hatches.^[17]

Various weapon systems can be fitted on the roof, including a remote weapon station armed with a 40mm automatic grenade launcher and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun or a complete stabilized turret armed with a 25mm M242 Bushmaster cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. Additional 7.62mm machine guns can be mounted over the rear troop compartment. In addition, the vehicle can be configured to carry varying combat payloads - from turreted weapon stations (including 105 mm tank guns) to rocket launchers. The modular top deck allows for quick configuration change.

The Terrex AV-81 uses a patented independent double wishbone suspension, which greatly improves ground mobility and ride comfort over the roughest terrain. The use of automatic traction control and the capacity for large footprint off-road tires enables it to traverse at unprecedented speeds in soft ground conditions.

The vehicle has a double hull with an external V-hull that improves mine blast survivability.^[18] Add-on armour provides further protection for troops.^[1] It is also capable of providing full Nuclear, Biological and Chemical protection in extreme operational conditions.^[18]

Standard equipment includes powered steering on the front four wheels, central tyre-pressure inflation system, anti-lock braking system and nuclear, biological and chemical defensive system, but there are numerous other options.

In its baseline configuration, the AV-81 Terrex is fully amphibious: two water jets mounted on either side at the back of the hull propel the vehicle through water at 10 km/h.

Variants

The following are known variants made in service:^[19]

• Command Variant
• 40mm AGL/7.62mm Coaxial MG Variant
• .50 calibre HMG Variant
• SPIKE ATGM Variant
• Pioneer Variant
• Medical Variant
• Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Variant
• STORM Variant

See also

• CM-32 Armoured Vehicle (雲豹裝甲車/Clouded Leopard/Yunpao) designed by Timoney Technology
• Mowag Piranha
• LAV III
• Stryker
• Patria AMV
• KTO Rosomak
• Pandur II
• Boxer
• VBCI
• Freccia
• Lazar 2
• Saur 1
• FNSS Pars
• Otokar Arma
• K806/K808
• VBTP-MR Guarani
• Pindad Panser
• DefTech AV8
• ZBL08
• TATA Kestrel
• Bumerang

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Terrex.

• Official Site
• Otokar Yavuz online catalogue
• TERREX 2: From Ship to Shore - SAIC
• One35th.com with specifications

Video links

• Terrex AV81 Infantry Fighting Vehicle video clip on YouTube