Main battle tank platform systems

Topic description

Objective:

Main Battle Tanks (MBT) remain a pivotal element of land military manoeuvre, especially in a conventional warfare context, thanks to their unique combination of protection, mobility, and firepower. Nonetheless, MBTs currently numbered in the fleet inventories of the EU Member States and EDF associated countries (Norway) are either ageing or obsolete and, therefore, the latter face the compelling need to modernise their in-service platforms and replace those of them approaching the end of their operational life. Against this background, the upgrade of current and development of future main battle tank technologies capable of outstanding operational effectiveness and mission success in all possible future scenarios are highly necessary.

Specific objective

To this end, it is of key importance for future European MBT systems to:

• be designed to operate in all environments, including urban and symmetrical high intensity warfare, counter peer or near peer and asymmetrical threats, by operating dispersed in the context of multi-dimensional operations;
• have a higher level of protection, enhanced stealth capability, enhanced survivability in all environments against symmetric and asymmetric threats, and resilience against cyber- and electronic warfare-attacks;
• have a higher capability of detecting and identifying threats at greater distances;
• be operated by a smaller crew, compared to present/today’s designs, allowing the system to be lighter, more compact, and agile;
• be equipped with advanced command and control system that supports the crew with situational awareness, target acquisition, target engagements, target handover, battle space management, data- and information sharing;
• be able to cooperate with adjacent manned and unmanned robotic assets;
• rely on a superior firepower to engage and win symmetrical duels, as well as to conduct urban and asymmetrical operations successfully;
• rely on advanced mobility (e.g. higher speed, better manoeuvrability in all terrains, new operating modes such as silent mode), a lower fuel consumption, greater operational range and autonomy, and supply the increased electric demand of on-board equipment and weapons;
• be prepared to be operated unmanned in the future.

The proposals must address studies and design for the upgrade of current and development of future main battle tank technologies, including enabling and green technologies, leading to a system level, capable of outstanding operational effectiveness and mission success in all possible future scenarios. Furthermore, the proposals must take into account aspects such as mobility, deployability, autonomy, firepower, protection and cybersecurity.

Types of activities

The following table lists the types of activities which are eligible for this topic, and whether they are mandatory or optional (see Article 10(3) EDF Regulation):

The proposals must cover at least the following tasks as part of the mandatory activities:

• Studies:
  • Assist supporting Member States and EDF associated countries (Norway) in the definition of the Concept of Operation (CONOPS), feasibility study and architecture definition;
  • System Specification (SSS and SSDD) providing a detailed system and sub-systems description;
  • System Requirement Review (SRR).
• Design:
  • Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

Moreover:

• projects addressing activities referred to in point (d) above must be based on harmonised defence capability requirements jointly agreed by at least two Member States or EDF associated countries (or, if studies within the meaning of point (c) are still needed to define the requirements, at least on the joint intent to agree on them)
• projects addressing activities referred to in points (e) to (h) above, must be:
  • supported by at least two Member States or EDF associated countries that intend to procure the final product or use the technology in a coordinated manner, including through joint procurement

and

• • based on common technical specifications jointly agreed by the Member States or EDF associated countries that are to co-finance the action or that intend to jointly procure the final product or to jointly use the technology (or, if design within the meaning of point (d) is still needed to define the specifications, at least on the joint intent to agree on them).

Functional requirements

The proposed activities should focus at least on a subset of functions for MBT (e.g. among mobility, energy, observation, protection, human-machine interaction and/or firepower) and meet the following functional requirements:

• be capable of performing its missions by day, night and in adverse weather conditions, in worldwide crisis/war scenarios, with the minimum possible degradation of performance due to extreme environmental conditions and types of terrains, as defined in the relevant standards. Operations in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) conditions should be considered in the design too;
• feature a maximum speed of at least 80km/h on paved roads, at least 50km/h on smooth and rugged terrain (apart of paved roads) and an operational range of not less than 600km averaged on different types of terrains;
• feature a wading depth without preparation > 1.20m, a wading depth with snorkel> 5.00m, a trench crossing capability > 3.00m and a climbing capability > 1.10m;
• feature a high operational availability to be capable to perform the assigned mission in at least 85% of calls to duty;
• provide direct firepower to engage modern MBT at greater distances with precise “fire-on-the move” capability than current systems;
• provide firepower to engage modern MBT under BLOS conditions;
• support smart/programmable ammunition;
• automatic threat detection, identification and tracking, including ability to handle multiple threats, and target distribution across the military network enabling sensor-to-effector allocation;
• real-time and unified information and data presentation, provided by the sensors deployed on the platform and from external networks with low latency times;
• advanced Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) system in order to ensure trusted PNT for the platform even in challenging GNSS contested and denied environment;
• feature a low detectability and electromagnetic signature e.g. ultraviolet (UV), visible, infrared (IR) (from Short-Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) to Long-Wavelength Infrared (LWIR)), radar, laser, and acoustic. Detection and signature recognition by multi- and hyperspectral sensors are also to be considered;
• feature an optimised trade-off between mobility, firepower, and protection;
• provide protection against the following threats: mines and Improvised Explosive Device (IED), Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) (including those with a functionality like RPG-30), “High Explosive Anti-Tank” (HEAT) munitions, “Anti-Tank Guided Missile” (ATGM; including 3^rd generation ATGM with high angle of attack), loitering ammunition and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Electronic Warfare (EW) and cyber-attacks, and at least 125mm “Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discharging Sabot” (APFSDS) and other direct threats likely to become known over the whole duration of the project;
• feature an Active Protection System (APS) capable to counter direct threats, including ATGM and APFSDS (125mm) ammunition, also with the aim to reduce weight of passive and reactive armour;
• feature sophisticated counter-UAS (C-UAS) / counter-swarm capabilities to perform platform protection;
• be capable of reducing the reliance on fossil fuel, foster reduction of dependency on combustion engines by means of electrical or alternative propulsion systems (e.g. by using hybrid engines) and take into account other aspects of green technologies (e.g. total life CO₂ footprint, use of other materials, recycling);
• operate in silent mode and extended silent watch with low thermal signature;
• store and supply high density and power of electric energy for sensors, effectors and weapons;
• not exceed for the complete vehicle (i.e., hull and turret), in full combat order, the following maximum acceptable weight and overall dimensions: 70 tons, 2.5m (H) - 10.0m (L) - 3.8m (W) - 0.55m (ground clearance) meters (hull length: 7.0m);
• meet transportability requirements and constraints due to EU Member States and EDF associated countries (Norway) roads, railways, tunnels and bridges; air transportability/drop should also be taken into account;
• a range between 5% and 10% of growth potential without changing the assigned power/weight ratio;
• ensuring interoperability with unmanned ground platforms and Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) with adequate Level of interoperability (LOI), and interoperability with UAS;
• be equipped with technologies for enhanced Situational Awareness (SA), e.g. advanced display devices, “transparent armour” concepts, allowing visualisation of the environment around the vehicle, automatic surveillance, detection, reconnaissance, and identification;
• advanced 360° SA and decision-making systems to integrate, correlate and fuse video and data from the available sensors in the platform to provide an enhanced SA augmented reality picture of the environment of the vehicle and support the decision-making process through multimodal human-machine interfaces combining textual, vocal, acoustic, haptics, 2D and/or 3D visual information, and augmented / virtual reality devices. The system data and image processing include search and tracking, and object recognition;
• decision-making assistance: advanced crew information presentation capabilities including smart synthesis, prioritisation, and filtering, to keep the most relevant items, especially in the context of reduced crews;
• crew environment and support architectures should be adaptive, open and modular to enable the introduction of innovative technologies as soon as they become mature;
• be operated by a crew of not more than three;
• feature static or dynamic on-board simulation for training (embedded);
• reduced lifecycle costs compared to current MBT;
• be designed with crew comfort and ergonomics in mind;
• be able to perform battle damage assessment without compromising survivability;
• integrable and interoperable with a family of similar support platforms (system of systems);
• compliance with NATO requirements and standards.

The outcome should contribute to:

• the defence and security interests of the EU and its Member States;
• the EU level of ambition in terms of strategic autonomy;
• EU resilience and technological sovereignty;
• EU industrial autonomy;
• excellence with the demonstration of a significant advantage over existing products or technologies.