The American Future Scout and Cavalry System ( FSCS ) and British Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement ( TRACER ) were a joint U.S.–British reconnaissance vehicle program.
32-493: The program was begun to replace the UK's Sabre and Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles. The U.S. joined later and sought to replace their M3 Bradley . The future scout concept was conceived at a November 1995 meeting of senior armor officials. At this meeting, officials decided a future scout and main battle tank would be the centerpiece of the Army's armor modernization plan. In March 1996,
64-533: A $ 147 million contract for the 42-month-long advanced technology demonstration (ATD) phase of the project. In a January 1999 report, an Office of the Secretary of Defense official called for a Defense Acquisition Board review of the FSCS program. The OSD official criticized the vehicle's proposed $ 3–5 million unit cost versus the $ 3.6 million M3A3 Bradley. The report said that while the Army mission need statement specified
96-682: A belt-fed machine gun. The UK initiated the Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER) to replace the Sabre and Scimitar . In 1996 the U.S. joined in on the project. In 2001, both the UK and U.S. dropped out of the joint program. The marriage of the Fox turret and Scorpion chassis was not successful, and Sabre was withdrawn from British Army service in 2004. Future Rapid Effect System The Future Rapid Effect System ( FRES )
128-818: A future Utility Vehicle (UV). The General Dynamics Ajax was selected to fulfill the SV requirement in 2016. The total FRES fleet was to be divided into two main parts, the Utility Variant (FRES UV) and the Specialist Variant (FRES SV). These types were broken down into families of vehicles: The Utility Variant comprises protected mobility, command and control, light armoured support, repair and recovery and medical. The Specialist Variant comprises RECCE Block 1 (Scout, armoured personnel carrier, repair, recovery and Common Base Platform) and RECCE Block 2 (Joint Fires Direction, Command Post and Engineer Recce). Despite long delays in
160-413: A future scout vehicle. Developing the program with British cooperation was expected to save the U.S. Army 30 percent to 40 percent through the engineering and manufacturing development phase. The UK was given contracting authority for phase one (called the project definition phase in the UK, and the advanced technology demonstration phase in the U.S.). Phase two (engineering and manufacturing development in
192-518: A lightly armored vehicle, the vehicle specified in the requirements was more like a "medium tank" comparable to the canceled M8 Armored Gun System . In February, the U.S. Army began working with the UK to revise the requirements of the joint program to resolve the OSD's concerns. The new requirements, which went into effect in March, pacified the OSD. Many requirements were loosened at the OSD's request: for example,
224-547: A range of vehicles including reconnaissance, engineering and battlefield medical variants, based on a tracked chassis. The CV90 , offered by BAE Systems , and the ASCOD SV , offered by General Dynamics UK , were put forward as potential reconnaissance vehicles. In November 2008, they were awarded assessment-phase contracts . In July 2009, the MoD invited BAE Systems and General Dynamics UK to help it develop new reconnaissance vehicles for
256-725: The French Army may purchase the British Watchkeeper WK450 unmanned aerial vehicle if the British Army buys the VBCI. The British Army is testing the VBCI as part of the future utility vehicle programme, intended to start replacing the current fleet of protected mobility vehicles by 2022. FRES UV has now been renamed as the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme. The Specialist Vehicles (SV) procurement will provide
288-751: The ATD phase. The Pentagon persuaded Congress to restore funding in October 2000. In October 2001, the U.S. and British Army mutually canceled the program. The U.S. hoped to leverage the technologies developed with FSCS in the Future Combat Systems program. The British were expected to do the same with the Future Rapid Effect System . Sabre (tank) Sabre is a variation of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) , featuring
320-696: The Army Armor Center at Fort Knox recommended that the Army develop a future scout vehicle to be ready for production around 2004 to 2006. The Army considered the M8 Armored Gun System and the M113 as the basis for the chassis. The group projected that the future scout program would cost $ 1 billion. The Armor Center recommended that the Army forgo the M3A3 Bradley upgrade, and instead upgrade 278 M3A2s with Operation Desert Storm fixes. The Armor Center concluded
352-607: The Bradley was approaching its design limit and had many disadvantages as a scout—namely, it lacked stealth and its 25 mm cannon lacked "growth potential against future threats." The Armor Center also suggested the Army consider a joint project with the Marine Corps, which was drafting requirements for the Future Light Combat Vehicle. In October 1996 the U.S. and British armies signed a letter of intent to jointly work on
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#1732851895039384-614: The British Army as part of the FRES Scout Vehicles programme. In March 2010, the MoD awarded General Dynamics UK a development contract to build the SCOUT SV. BAE Systems fought to reverse the decision by announcing it would move manufacturing from Sweden to its Newcastle factory. The £500M contract for the demonstration phase of 7 prototype vehicles was announced in July 2010. Trials were expected to start in 2013. The PMRS version of Scout
416-542: The FRES SOSI contract was awarded to a joint team of Thales and Boeing. The SOSI team was contracted to act as an independent, honest broker between industry and the MoD to co-ordinate the procurement of more than 3,000 vehicles which were expected to be acquired under FRES. Six main elements of the SOSI role were: programme management; systems of systems engineering and integration; alliance development and management; development of
448-479: The IAV, the U.S. Army decided to terminate FSCS. In December 1999 the Army said it would end its participation in the joint program after the completion of the advanced technology demonstration (ATD) phase. At the time, the UK was still very much committed to its participation in the project. Congress, believing that continued development of the program was unnecessary given the Army's disinterest, deleted funding for completing
480-559: The Ministry of Defence decided to restructure the programme. The utility vehicle programme was scheduled to restart towards the end of 2010. The UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support agency focused its attention on the tracked variants of the FRES programme, most notably the Specialist Vehicle. The FRES Integrated Project Team, based at MoD Abbey Wood, disbanded, and the SV was joined with
512-503: The MoD's SOSI competence; through-life capability management; and through-life technology management. The SOSI role was scrapped when the programme was restructured following the failure to progress with the UV procurement. The first family of vehicles, known as the Utility Vehicles (UV) were expected to enter service in the 2010s. FRES UV was to have replaced the Army's Saxon wheeled APC ,
544-613: The U.S. and full-scale development in the UK) would proceed with the phase one participants. One contractor would be downselected for low-rate production. In November 1996, the U.S. Army updated its future scout mission need statement. As of January 1998, the U.S. Army sought to acquire 1095 of the vehicles, and the British Army sought 235. In January 1999, the UK awarded SIKA International (a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems ) and LANCER (a consortium led by GEC Marconi ), each
576-589: The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) in a new procurement team named Medium Armoured Tracks Team (MATT). The two programmes share the Common Cannon and Ammunition Programme, whereby a new 40mm Cannon from CTAI will be the main armament to both the upgraded Warriors and the new Specialist Vehicle. With the demise of the UV procurement, the supporting roles of SOSI and VI were no longer required, and were not pursued as part of
608-401: The level of protection the Army need. In FRES UV it was envisaged that a further role, that of the "vehicle integrator", would be required to ensure that the vehicles are customised to meet British Army requirements and be supported and upgraded through their life. A number of companies positioned for this role, including BAE Systems and General Dynamics. When the programme was restructured this
640-508: The new requirements clarified that the primary armament need not be an autocannon. In October, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki laid out his vision for a lighter, more transportable armored force. The Army launched the Interim Armored Vehicle acquisition program, and began investing in "leap-ahead" technologies for Shinseki's "objective force" Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicles program. In order to help pay for
672-410: The overall procurement scheme. FRES as an overarching programme effectively no longer exists, with future UV and SV projects being separate armored vehicle procurements. In February 2014, France agreed to lend a few VBCIs to the British Army for testing. French military sources report that the British Army is interested in purchasing the vehicle. The French Ministry of Defense has indicated that
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#1732851895039704-495: The procurement process, exacerbated by a budget shortfall at the MoD, the FRES programme is moving ahead with the award of the Specialist Vehicle contract to General Dynamics UK for the ASCOD AFV tracked vehicle in March 2010. Due to the complexity of the FRES programme, a "System of Systems" Integrator (SOSI) was appointed to assist the MoD in the selection of the vehicles and cross-vehicle electronic architecture. In October 2007,
736-631: The project in 2003, stating that the Boxer did not fulfill requirements. The British Ministry of Defence decided to pursue a replacement, with a specification that it could be airlifted by Airbus A400M and smaller C-130 Hercules transport aircraft . The new "Future Rapid Effect System" project was established in May 2004, with an assessment period of two years. Since then, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has been researching electric armour , with
768-452: The standard off-the-shelf version of any of these vehicles: They are designs which are currently in development to provide new models within existing families of vehicles. I am sure you agree that it would make no sense to invent a new vehicle from scratch. The designs we will look at in the trials this summer take proven vehicles, and evolve them to the next level to have the capacity, mobility, ability to upgrade through life, and, above all,
800-524: The tracked FV432 , and some of the CVR(T) vehicle family. The design is planned to follow the philosophy of "medium weight" forces that balance ease of transportability ("light") with armour ("heavy"). In 1999, Germany and United Kingdom began development of the Boxer Multi Role Armoured Vehicle , which was intended to assume different roles via switchable modules. The UK withdrew from
832-443: The turret from a wheeled Fox Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle mounted on the hull of a tracked FV101 Scorpion . This UK hybrid vehicle was introduced as a less expensive way of producing a similar vehicle to the 30mm cannon armed FV107 Scimitar tracked reconnaissance vehicle, but with a slightly lower profile turret . It was brought into service in 1995. During initial combat exercises, several flaws were identified. In particular,
864-447: The vehicle lacked defensive capabilities. As such, modifications were made to the turret of the Sabre to include redesigned smoke grenade launchers and the L94A1 7.62 mm chain gun replacing the standard 7.62 mm FN MAG general-purpose machine gun , for anti-personnel use. An ammunition hopper sits on the side of the machine gun allowing the weapon to be more quickly reloaded than
896-458: The view of ultimately integrating it into the FRES design. Plans for FRES vehicles to be carried by C-130 were dropped for being unworkable. In June 2007, the then Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support , Lord Drayson , announced that three vehicles had been selected for trials to determine the utility vehicle design for FRES UV. These were: In a defence briefing on 14 June 2007, Lord Drayson made it clear that FRES UV would not be
928-526: Was no longer envisaged as a separate role. The announcement of the winning design was initially planned for November 2007. The selection was announced in May 2008. The winning design provisionally selected for the FRES Utility Vehicle contract was the Mowag Piranha V , manufactured by General Dynamics. This decision had been expected, with speculation from February 2008 onwards that General Dynamics
960-578: Was revealed during the 2014 exhibition. In September 2014, the British Ministry of Defence will sign a £3.5 billion (US $ 5.8 billion) deal with General Dynamics UK for 589 Scout SV platforms. These will include Reconnaissance and Strike variants, Joint Fire Control variants, Ground Based Surveillance variants, Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) variants, Command and Control (C2) variants, Formation Reconnaissance Overwatch variants, Engineer Reconnaissance variants, Recovery and Repair variants. The Scout SV
992-514: Was the name for the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) programme to deliver a fleet of more than 4,000 armoured fighting vehicles for the British Army . The vehicles were to be rapidly deployable, network-enabled, capable of operating across the spectrum of operations, and protected against current threats. The programme has now been split into two separate procurement projects for a reconnaissance Specialist Vehicle (SV) and an aspiration for
Future Scout and Cavalry System/TRACER - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-534: Was the preferred contractor for the deal. However, as no production order was announced, various sources "feared that the FRES programme had fallen victim to the UK defence "budget crunch". This was borne out in December 2008, when General Dynamics' status as preferred contractor for the Utility Vehicle contract was rescinded. After General Dynamics had its preferred bidder status for UV withdrawn in December 2008,
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