LAV III DAS Phase II

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LAV III DAS Phase II

Canadian LAV III with Laser Dazzler, Decoy and Jammer and enchanced counter measures.

History of the LAV III:

In 1991 Canada recognized that they needed a new/upgraded APC. The government created the Multi-Role Combat Vehicle project. The TH-495 was originally selected to be the result of this project, the TH-495 (Built by: Thyssen-Henschel (now named Rheinmetall Landsystems)) was to be a tracked vehicle with 3 crew and room to carry 7 additional personal. The project was later abandoned due to some political and controversial issue. However when Chrétien became prime minister, his government issued a white paper that stated:
“Most areas of defence will be cut. The relative weight of the naval, land and air establishments will be altered to allow for the transfer of more resources to where they are most needed—mainly to operational land forces. Everything is being made leaner. Everything is undergoing the closest scrutiny.”

With land now being in the focus of the Canadian Military, in 1996 the contact was given to Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada (now named General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada after General Dynamics acquired Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada). The LAV entered service in 1999 and is still in service to this day, however most have been upgraded to LAV 6.0’s.

History of the LAV DAS:
Phase I

In the late 1990’s the Canadian Forces specifically Defence R&D Canada - Valcartier started to assess and investigate the effectiveness of Defensive Aid Suite technology for use on the LAV. This was do to the lack of armor and defensive capabilities the LAV had when compared to MBT’s.

The first prototype field trails was conducted in 1995 and with a follow up trail in 1999. Both of these trails were conducted using the basic DAS Prototype’s designed and developed by the DRDC (Defence Research and Development Canada).
These trails were conducted with two main objectives: the first being to collect DAS data during a technical evaluation of the sensors and during simulated tactical LAV operations, the second objective was to evaluate the impact of the basic DAS prototypes on LAV survivability in a simulated laser threat environment.

The “countermeasures” that were included in DAS Phase I included smoke grenades, counter firing, and evasive maneuvers.


All the components that were included in Phase I were:

Phase II

In the early 2000’s The Canadian Forces specifically Defence R&D Canada - Valcartier commenced project 12rd which was nicknamed Defensive Aids Suite for Light Armoured Vehicles. Which was Phase II of the project to improve the defensive capabilities of Canada’s LAV’s and potentially this systems could be used to improve the survivability of future vehicles of the platform. This would also impact directly the potential future acquisition of the LAV MGS and MMEV (both of which were cancelled after getting funding).

Phase II main objectives were to develop an enhanced DAS demonstrator effective against laser and non-laser ATGM threats, to demonstrate the DAS on a LAV III and, to integrate in the FAVS demonstrator



The countermeasures suite could be set to automatic or manual mode.

The only photo I can find of the complete phase II vehicle can be found at the top of this suggestion. If anybody else stumbles on any photos please feel free to share.

Also during this time they tested with mounting a system that would automatically fire chaff/smoke in the direction of an incoming threat combined with the dazzler to jam and interrupt incoming threats. It would also trigger the turret to automatically slew towards the threat while dazzling the enemy gunner and allows for counter fire within 1.5 seconds of the staring array detecting enemy fire.


There were also plans within the program to fit the LAV III with an Hard Kill Active Protection System however I am unaware if any physical tests were actually completed with a Hard Kill Active Protection System.

Future of the DAS Program

To this day the Canadian Armed Forces as not fitted any standard LAV. However a research agreement has been signed between DRDC and General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada to demonstrate and rate the performance of a MAPS-compliant SK APS on a Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) 6.0. Which is a Modular based APS system with the inclusion of Advanced reactive armour tiles.

There is no indication on any results yet of this research agreement. As more information becomes public I will potentially make a follow up LAV 6.0 MAPS suggestion.

Specifications:

Crew: 3
Mass: Basic weight: 13,702 kg | Combat load: 16,958 kg *Unknown on how much these extra systems would impact weight but if anything it was probably only impacted by a small amount.
Engine: Caterpillar 3126HEUI
Top Speed: On road 100 km/h | Off-Road: 70 km/h
Horse Power: 350
Maximum grade: 60%
Side slope: 30%

Armour:

I am unable to find direct specifics but its basic armour (without any upgrades) covers the Standardization Agreement STANAG 4569 level III

More information on NATO AEP-55 STANAG 4569 can be found here

LAV’s in 2008 were kitted with a new armour kit to help protect against IED’s, explosively formed penetrators and 30 mm caliber armour piercing rounds

Can be fitted with ceramic appliqué armour (MEXAS) plates.
Can be fitted with cage armour

Weapons:

M242 25-mm Bushmaster cannon (already found in game on the M3 and M3A3 Bradley’s) [500 rounds]
I cannot find the exact ammunition it uses but the LAV II had the same gun, and used armour-piercing sabot and HE-T)

C9A2 5.56-mm LMG
C6 7.62-mm coaxial MMG

Extras:

2 - 76-mm 4-barrel smoke grenade launchers [8 smoke grenade reload stowed inside]
Has heat-absorbing filter to protect against thermals and IR
Driver, Commander, and Gunner Daytime Optical TIS (Thermal Imaging System) and Generation III Image Intensification (II) (Night Vision)
Independent Hydropneumatic suspension for each wheel
LWS (Laser Warning System)
Quiet APU (Auxiliary Power unit) for Silent watch
Laser Range Finder
Run-Flat Tires
Not amphibious (only LAV I are amphibious)
Each of the 8 wheels independently driven
Laser Dazzler
Laser Decoy
Laser Jamming
*Chaff grenades’

Sources:

2

Just got to wait for Canada

3

+1 for a Canadian TT (hopefully one day).