MARKMILES77
Active Member
It is amazing (in a good way) how our expectations have gone up.Would a Boxer or AMV35 really be up to the task from a mobility and protection standpoint though? I was under the impression that the phase 3 vehicle needed to have the mobility to keep up with the Abrams with "comparable" protection levels.
I would have thought a decked out Lynx or CV90 would boast higher all around protection levels than what was possible on either of their wheeled counterparts?
The current M113, even in AS4 version, has protection from 14.5mm AP(Stanag 4) at best and is armed with a 50 Cal gun with a pretty basic aiming system.
Pre Land 400, if the Government had offered to replace them with say a Boxer IFV, most people would have applauded the MASSIVE increase in capability.
Protection exceeding STANAG 6 (30 mm AP), armed with a 30 mm cannon with airburst capability along with hunter/killer capability, killer/killer capability, an integrated ATGM and the option of active protection.
But now with how far expectations have come , a vehicle at that level of capability, is thought of as "not good enough" as an M113 replacement!
For most likely ADF deployments I would have thought Boxer perfectly adequate and even preferable to a tracked vehicle.