Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has awarded Thales a contract for the delivery of stabilized panoramic above armor gimbals (PAAG) for the German Army’s new variant of the Boxer armored vehicle.
The electronic surveillance system is being delivered for the Joint Fire Support Team, schwer (JFSTsw), a new variant of the Boxer that will be built using the Boxer A2 drive module (in service with Bundeswehr) but with a new mission module.
One of the new sub-systems that will be integrated is the PAAG, which is remotely controlled from inside the Boxer and gives users a stabilized long-range ‘detection, recognition, identification’ (DRI) and weapon aiming ability on the move during daylight and night conditions.
Equipped with a thermal imaging device and high-resolution daylight color camera, the system can identify targets in the range of up to four kilometers, depending on their size. In continuous operation, the entire hemisphere around the vehicle can be covered.
A laser rangefinder offers measuring distances of up to ten kilometers, Thales says. It can also be raised above the vehicle roof to allow the monitoring of targets from behind a ridgeline without putting the user in a direct line of sight.
An automatic video tracking (AVT) and assisted target detection (ATD) is also included in the JFST PAAG system.
Another new system that will be featured on the vehicle is the NATO generic vehicle architecture (NGVA) network, which will allow a deeper integration level of the new sub systems. NGVA is a NATO standardization agreement based on open standards to design and integrate multiple electronic sub-systems onto military vehicles – intended to create standards for land systems vehicle architecture to become more sustainable and given a longer lifespan.
The JFST program in Germany will see the delivery of two prototype JFST-heavy vehicles.
JFSTsw will be joining over 400 Boxer vehicles already in German Army service either as armored personnel carriers, medical treatment vehicles, command vehicles, or driver training vehicles.
