Demonstrator of GSD LuWa technologies. Promising armored vehicle for the Bundeswehr

First published image of GSD LuWa

Currently, in the interests of the Bundeswehr, a promising airborne armored vehicle GSD LuWa is being developed. In the future, it will enter service with the airborne units and replace the outdated equipment of the Wiesel family. The new model is created with a reserve for long-term operation, and therefore curious solutions were used in its design, due to which it is planned to obtain high tactical and technical characteristics.

Technique of the future

The airborne units of the Bundeswehr still have approx. 200 Wiesel light armored vehicles of several modifications with different weapons and equipment. According to current plans, in the coming years they will undergo modernization, thanks to which they will be able to remain in service. Operation of "Wiesel" will continue until 2030, and at the end of this decade will begin the process of replacing them with new technology.

Work on a promising airborne armored vehicle began in 2019, when the Ministry of Defense of the Federal Republic of Germany opened the acceptance of bids and issued tactical and technical requirements. According to the latter, the army needs a light armored vehicle suitable for air transport in the cockpit of a CH-53 helicopter or existing military transport aircraft.

Ready technology demonstrator

Also, the customer wanted a hybrid power plant and tracked chassis with controlled suspension. In the original version of the project, it was planned to use a combat module with a small-caliber cannon. In the future, the possibility of integrating other systems and weapons is not excluded.

In April 2020, Industrieanlagen Betriebsgesellschaft MBH (IABG) was awarded a contract for project development, construction and prototype testing. It was planned to involve other German and foreign organizations as developers of individual components and assemblies. At the current stage, the project received the working designation GSD LuWs (Gesamtsystemdemonstrator für einen Luftbeweglichen Waffenträger - "Demonstrator of technologies for airborne weapons carrier").

Technology demonstration

The design took about a year, and assembly of the first "technology demonstrator" began last spring. The appearance of the car was revealed at the beginning of the year, and in August the finished prototype was shown to the customer and the general public. At the same time, some of its characteristics and features were revealed.

Components of an armored vehicle

In mid-October, at the Lichtenau test site, the customer was shown the main capabilities of the prototype. The armored vehicle passed through tank track and showed its firing capabilities. In addition, a separately built armored hull was detonated.

It is reported that the LuWa GSD project received high marks again, but its development will continue. So far, we are talking only about the layout for working out the basic solutions. If the current work is completed with the desired results, the IABG will begin to develop a full-fledged LuWa armored vehicle suitable for mass production and adoption in service in the future.

Promising solutions

The presented product GSD LuWa is a compact and light armored vehicle with the ability to install the necessary equipment or weapons. In accordance with the customer's requirements, the combat weight of the vehicle does not exceed 6,2 tons. The length is 4,2 m, the width is 2 m. The height depends on the type of combat module and the mode of operation of the suspension. The minimum height of the current prototype not on the roof of the tower is only 1,85 m.

An original armored hull with a pronounced nasal "hood", large frontal glazing and developed fenders has been developed. The hull provides all-aspect bullet / fragmentation and mine protection, but its level has not yet been reported. On the roof of the hull there is a payload seat in the form of a combat module.

Undercarriage close-up

At the request of the customer, GSD LuWa uses a hybrid powertrain that includes units from several German manufacturers. A diesel generator of unnamed power and related units are installed in the rear of the hull. Traction motors are placed in the bow casing and in the stern. Rechargeable batteries are located in other volumes of the case. On the starboard side of the hull there is a large radiator for cooling the engine and electrical systems.

Several modes of operation are reported. Most of the time, electric motors must draw power directly from a diesel generator, which will also charge the batteries. If necessary, it is possible to drive on batteries with the diesel engine turned off, which sharply reduces the noise produced. At the same time, the driving characteristics have not yet been reported.

To increase cross-country ability and obtain other advantages, an original undercarriage with two pairs of tracks has been developed. The front pair of such propellers has three road wheels per side and a front drive wheel. The rear tracks are distinguished by the aft arrangement of the drive wheels and the presence of a sloth in front. Each drive wheel is connected to its own traction motor. The rollers are equipped with a controlled hydropneumatic suspension that allows you to change the ground clearance.

Management department layout

The proposed four-track undercarriage is not inferior to traditional designs in terms of mobility and cross-country ability. At the same time, it is distinguished by increased survivability: the rupture of one tape and / or the loss of other elements does not deprive the machine of mobility. Separate drive of all tracks from electric motors allows for efficient distribution of torque and optimum performance.

The current prototype received a remotely controlled combat module ASGARD from the Slovenian company Valhalla Turrets. It carries a 27mm Mauser BK 27 cannon and an electro-optical sight. In the future, it is planned to install the EuroSpike missile system. Perhaps, in the future, GSD LuWa will be able to obtain other types of DBMS or modules with different target equipment.

The GSD LuWa crew consists of only two people. The driver is located in front of the crew compartment. Behind him is the operator's commander's workplace with instruments corresponding to the payload. Access to the interior of the prototype is provided by a hatch in the roof of the combat module.

In the process of checking

From a technical point of view, the GSD LuWa project is of great interest. Several bold ideas and solutions have been proposed to meet the rather strict requirements of the customer. It is expected that they will provide all the required technical and operational characteristics - but success is not yet guaranteed.

In its current form, the IABG project is distinguished by a high degree of novelty and, as a result, high technical risks. For this reason, the project is now at the stage of prototype testing aimed at demonstrating and testing new technologies. Only after the completion of these works and the determination of the real potential of the solutions used will it be possible to proceed to the design of a full-fledged armored vehicle for mass production and supply to the army.

As far as we know, so far the work on the LuWa GSD has been going smoothly and without any difficulties. Some of the tests have already been carried out. In addition, the layout was shown twice to the customer's representatives and received good reviews. Perhaps the developers of the project still face some difficulties, but they manage to cope with them and continue to work. At the same time, experience is being accumulated, which will be used in future projects.

Whether IABG and its subcontractors will be able to meet all the customer's requirements and bring the current bold project into service is unknown. So far, it cannot be ruled out that the GSD LuWa project will face serious problems, and this will lead to a shift in terms. In addition, fatal flaws may appear that will lead to abandonment of the project.

While the Bundeswehr and the developers of a promising armored vehicle have enough time. "Air transportable weapons carrier" should go into series no earlier than the mid-twenties, and by this time it will be possible to complete work on the current prototype without haste, bring all new technologies and then develop a full-fledged project. However, developers should not hesitate or be overly optimistic - excessive novelty and the associated risks can emerge at any time.

Comments

[Barberry25]

the car is not for war ..

[alex neym_2]

Article from 17.11.21/XNUMX/XNUMX, but only with a lot of words, and, again, without any EXACT data, but only one assumption ... in a word - water ...

[Barberry25]

well, we can already say that the machine will be very expensive, difficult to operate and combat ... one atypical caliber of 27 mm already raises a lot of questions ... it turns out that it will be necessary to abandon the standard 20 mm shells in favor of aviation 27 mm shells ... in general, the mountain gave birth to a mouse ... it would be cheaper to upgrade Wiesel ..

[vadim dok]

At the expense of the caliber - the module can be ANY! For the demonstrator they just took what they had at hand!

[Barberry25]

hardly, as I understand it, the task was to put the weapon more powerful, but given the small size, they stuck an aircraft cannon, which will create problems

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

There won't be any special problems with the caliber. We should also have used the 23mm cannon on vehicles, the fashion for 12,7 machine guns looks strange.
The transmission there is, first of all, strange.

[Barberry25]

well, how would the am-23 module be shown a couple of years ago, also 23 mm aircraft, but we have this common caliber

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

Maybe they showed it, but on all experimental machines, they mold 12,7 mm in small batches like bewitched.
On the same BMD-2, the 30mm cannon caused swaying due to the lightweight chassis weighing 8 tons. And the heavier BTR-80 had only 14,5 mm KPVT. Although both there and there the 23-mm cannon would be more appropriate.

[Barberry25]

customer requirement and unification.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

Designers are lazy, lack of understanding of the problem and the economy is unreasonable. The BMD-2 still has its own turret, single, not like the BMP-2. Like the BTR-80, the turret was tweaked compared to the BTR-70. Could have adapted a 23 mm cannon.

[Barberry25]

develop for what they say ... but this used to be, now I think that you need to put 23 mm ap-23 instead of Kord on tanks for a start

[3danimal]

Why not 30mm right away?
There is a BMPT subclass, so you can come up with the idea of ​​a multi-gun tank.
I propose an intermediate option: twin - KPV, "anti-aircraft" in a remotely controlled installation - 12,7mm
(The general idea that 7,62mm is really small on a tank is correct)

[Barberry25]

because it already exists, but its effectiveness is doubtful due to its size, and the 23 mm aircraft cannon is quite comparable in penetration with Kord, but has more effective offs

[3danimal]

But its effectiveness is questionable due to its size.

Are you talking about?

aviation 23 mm cannon is quite comparable in penetration with Kord, but has more effective offs

Strongly excessive rate of fire - 3000-4000 rounds per minute. We'll have to noticeably refine it, reducing it 10 times.
Poor ballistics of GSh-23L shells (700 m/s) compared to KPV (1000 m/s). The projectile itself is heavier: 325g versus 200g for the KPV.
Interestingly, the mass of the gun and machine gun are the same
Perhaps, 12,7mm Korda as a twin and turret on the roof will be enough. We do not have Israel (where the tank is on duty for hours and days in position), it makes no sense to hang everything and more.
Then I remembered another such supercar :

[Barberry25]

the rate of fire can always be adjusted well, and the KPVT on the tank looks like a veloquito-one and a half meters in length, this is a lot

[3danimal]

rate of fire can always be adjusted

We'll have to redo the gas engine. And Gast's scheme here becomes superfluous (the second barrel is not needed, with the required rate of fire of 200-400 rounds per minute).

KPVT on the tank looks veliko-one and a half meters in length, this is a lot

I found as many as 2m for the checkpoint
But the GSh-23l is just 1,5m.

[Barberry25]

so maybe it’s worth looking at WHAT I wrote? Did I generally indicate GSh-23 for installation somewhere? I indicated a specific AP-23 module and attached a photo

[3danimal]

it will be necessary to abandon standard 20 mm shells in favor of aviation 27 mm shells

27mm is twice as powerful, around the world, the recent trend is to enlarge the caliber (25 + mm). Unification with air guns is only a plus: more series - cheaper shells.

[madday]

In my opinion, today all this is being developed against the suppression of the demonstration, the will of the expression of the people. So it's suitable against civilians.

[Markus wolf]

The key word is "demonstrator"! Not even a layout ...

[alexmach]

IMHO the demonstrator is cooler than the layout.

[vadim dok]

A demonstrator is a FUNCTIONAL copy capable of moving, shooting, overcoming obstacles, equipped with a full range of control equipment, etc. Unlike plywood layout!

[Al_lexx]

As if everything is interesting, except for the quantitative composition of the crew. Practice has shown that the commander should command, and not play the role of a gunner, even if it is a reconnaissance patrol vehicle. Together with the carrier, you can only ride on the rear.

[Skipper]

The BMD-2 has long been ahead of this future machine ... so it floats and drops off and develops enormous speed ... and cheap and reliable ... and the caliber of the gun is greater ...

[Knell wardenheart]

The machine is pretty, even very much. I am only confused by the excessive front glazing for a light armored vehicle with a gun on the roof. On the one hand, it is convenient, on the other hand, it is a huge weak area in the front end and at far from ideal angles. The lack of an oblique angle on the bumper also confused me and will definitely play against the armor indicators of the frontal booking.
The V-shaped bottom in the pictures and photos is also invisible, so the mine resistance of such a small-sized vehicle is rather skeptical.
However, the dimensions and equipment seemed to me to be a very good solution. In the case of equipping the combat module with AI elements and enhancing frontal booking, the sample can turn out to be very worthy.

[English tarantas]

Yes, the unit is generally more like a craft. That is, to all appearances, no one was going to make the car heavy and armored, judging by the dimensions and in general the layout for the survivability of the car is also out of the question. Against this background, it looks strange some attempt to find in the typewriter any intention to make it tenacious.

quite skeptical while the mine resistance of such a small-sized vehicle is perceived

Mine protection is absent there as an idea and it can be seen, to put the V bottom means to put the concept of the car in the trash can, and then the whole project must be put in the trash can, just putting a thick bottom will not help against shaped charges in general, the car has its own "protection" from land mines in the form rather flimsy chassis. In short, both with armor and survivability, the car is from the BMD category, this is not there

[Timofey Charuta]

As for me, the weakest point is the windshield. How not to book the rest - cut in there and kapets! Or is there already a glass of armor durability? By the way, I also see glass on some other armored vehicles. I thought it was only interesting for the police ...

[vadim dok]

ARMORED glass (even large) "flashlights" are available on F-35, SU-57 fighters, on AH-64, MI-28 attack helicopters .... and nothing, fly, fight ....

[Barberry25]

only there, a hit is considered unlikely due to high speeds, but if a queue arrives at this pepelats, then the queue will not be from 23 mm zushki, but from 2a42 ... not to mention that there are doubts that these glasses hold something the largest 12,7 ..

[YOUR]

They fly, only they do not shoot at them from cannons, machine guns, machine guns, rifles and pistols, do not hit the lantern with fragments, clods of earth, stones, bricks, etc. Imagine in this glass yes from a large-caliber machine gun or from a machine gun with armor-piercing cartridges. Most likely, it will not pierce, especially a submachine gun bullet, but it will fade to full v = opacity. Question? Well, why is this showcase needed?

[Azis]

If necessary, it is possible to drive on batteries with the diesel engine off, which sharply reduces the noise produced

An interesting and useful option

[Cheerock]

Quote: Knell Wardenheart

.
The V-shaped bottom in the pictures and photos is also invisible, so the mine resistance of such a small-sized vehicle is rather skeptical.

And it is not V-shaped ...

[Alexander Chirkov-Air]

The Nazis for whom they did for 1945)))

[Cheerock]

Several modes of operation are reported. Most of the time, electric motors must draw power directly from a diesel generator, which will also charge the batteries. If necessary, it is possible to drive on batteries with the diesel engine turned off, which sharply reduces the noise produced. At the same time, the driving characteristics have not yet been reported.

And it seems to me that "w-w-w-w-w - not without reason"))))
Let's say that 4 driving rollers have 4 electric motors of 100 kW each. At the same time, in order for everything to work as it should, the power of the generator must also be at least 400 kW, and the power of the internal combustion engine must be 420 kW. And you also need to place all this inside a small compartment, plus batteries, plus tanks with diesel fuel, plus a cooling system, electrics, etc. And then with all this crap the helicopter has to take off ...

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

About 4 motors of 100kW each is a clear overkill. There is at most 50 kW for each of the four electric motors. And everything else is less than half. But the fuel should really eat more than with a manual transmission.

[Cheerock]

Quote: Sergey Alexandrovich

About 4 motors of 100kW each is a clear overkill. There is at most 50 kW for each of the four electric motors. And everything else is less than half. But the fuel should really eat more than with a manual transmission.

I say - let's say))) Ok, how much does a six-ton ​​machine with a caterpillar drive need power on the driving wheels in order to accelerate decently, have a margin of traction and a decent maximum speed? In the case of a conventional car with a gearbox and a gearbox, I would say - forces of 150-200. Let's say that 4 electric motors still work through gearboxes, otherwise there simply won't be enough moment off-road, let's say that you can use some kind of turbo / biturbo diesel from some Volkswagen, for example. But all the same - an internal combustion engine of this power is not a motor from a moped, but a 200 kW generator is a piece measuring about one meter by one meter. Plus 200 liters of diesel fuel he needs to have. How to cram all this into a rather small MO behind the shooter's back is a non-trivial task. Or everything is much simpler and there is no power reserve for the internal combustion engine and generator, and the car shows maximum dynamics exclusively on batteries.

[Alex_You]

So they also have a Wiesel, a similar car.

[Sagaidark]

history teaches Germans nothing. with such a walker ... no words)

[English tarantas]

And the device is fashionable, in the spirit of modern trends. Gender undecided: either an Arctic two-link snowmobile, or a truck, or a jeep, or an armored personnel carrier, or an infantry fighting vehicle, or an armored vehicle, and even a little tank.

[Galleon]

I was reading an article and suddenly in the last photo on the tower there is a German cross. Immediately there was a reflex, probably worked out in childhood: how badly I wanted to bang out of something at this very machine. There is certainly no bang, another verb, with the letter U, but we will not express ourselves.

[Lynx2000]

To increase cross-country ability and obtain other advantages, an original undercarriage with two pairs of tracks has been developed.

What exactly is the advantage in the cross-country ability of the equipment with two pairs of tracks on one body?
For example, a pair of geese installed on the drive axle of a combine (with steered wheels) is worse than a combine on a full track, the support area is larger and the load on the ground is evenly distributed. The trendy John Deere with two pairs of geese are good for working fields so as not to trample the cultivated plowing and not create ruts, but not for working in the forest for skidding and not on all mows. Military equipment is not only about driving in the fields.
An example is not entirely accurate, and the angle of attack (tension of the rear pair of geese) in LuVa is not like on snow groomers mounted on an ATV, however, there are cases when, when moving across a lying trunk (even diagonally), the wedge heel can lie with its belly on such an obstacle between the tracks.

The proposed four-track undercarriage is not inferior to traditional designs in terms of mobility and cross-country ability. At the same time, it is distinguished by increased survivability: the rupture of one tape and / or the loss of other elements does not deprive the machine of mobility.

Suppose there is a rupture of a link on the front left track, the wedge is moving forward by inertia. The road wheels on the left front side cut into the ground and braking occurs. On the DT-75, when the left caterpillar came off, while moving forward, when the support rollers of the carts were on the ground, the tractor spun to the left (the right caterpillar raked up).

[riwas]

To increase cross-country ability and obtain other advantages, an original undercarriage with two pairs of tracks has been developed.

I already saw this on a patrol tank in an article for 1999.
There was also an article "Tactics dictates technology" in the "Technics-Youth" magazine N5 for 2000.

https://bukren.my1.ru/publ/ware/tank_21_1/2-1-0-63

[mmaxx]

In one phrase: iron kaput.

[Andy_Ha]

One wants to shoot from such a cannon ... But the car must deliver the infantry and hide. Reservation is too weak for shooting.

[TEM]

The gloomy Teutonic genius is resting !!! Fully resting !!! This is from the field of technical obscurantism

[bk316]

Well, not a hybrid, I understand it is a tribute to fashion, the green defeated the military.
But an armored vehicle with a cannon and windows all over its face is

[Abram Ivanovich]

In short, the gloomy Teutonic genius again created something alien.

[Zaurbek]

You can change the cannon to the Blaster and you can shoot in science fiction films ...

[Menshoff_D_V]

Modern nonsense.

[DrRey]

The combat mission for this vehicle is incomprehensible - fire support for the landing - a weak cannon and light armor, reconnaissance - a small crew. Why then is she?

[Biodred]

DG? Electric motors? Reincarnating "Mouse" in any way?

[Voenoboz]

The Germans are on horseback, after all, they are trendsetters for the future.