Future modular multifunctional land platforms and enabling technologies, including green technologies

The outcome should contribute to:

• Address the 2023 EU Capability Development Priority “Ground Combat Capabilities”, in particular its Key Impact Areas “Next Generation Manned and Unmanned Armoured Platforms” and “Modular and Multifunctional Systems of Systems for Effective Land Capabilities”.
• Provide the EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries end users with the means to integrate the qualified and certified platforms family of system of systems to reach the Initial Operation Capability (IOC) at the end of this decade.
• Increase the EDTIB capacity to accelerate qualification and certification.
• Provide solutions that solve future system of systems needs for EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries including holistic life cycle fleet management and readiness systems and personnel training systems.
• Enhance and integrate the EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries desired technological building blocks for future vehicles and improve the performance capabilities of the in-service military vehicle fleets.
• Provide vehicle solutions to reduced environmental and logistic footprint.
• Provide opportunities to eliminate or limit environmentally toxic substances.
• Establish EU business consortia able to offer competitive solutions for global markets, maximising impacts on cost-effectiveness and scale-effects, while stimulating industrial cross border cooperation.
• Strongly reduce the dependence from non-EU technologies and products thereby increasing the EU’s Security of Supply of armoured vehicles and related systems.

The general goal of topic is to increase the maturity of enabling technologies to enhance the performance and effectiveness of armoured land platforms and especially certification of system level solutions.

Specific objective

This topic aims to further develop the technologies required to enhance the performance and effectiveness of armoured land platform systems in high-intensity operations, making them more capable, modular, multifunctional and energy efficient by maximising synergies, standardisation and interoperability of armoured land vehicle families.

Proposals must address development, qualification, certification and improving efficiency especially needed for reaching initial operational capability for newly developed vehicles.

Proposals must address the following activities:

• Further development and verification of systems and enabling technologies including green technologies.
• Increasing the maturity of systems and subsystems.
• Validating that target vehicles systems fulfil and achieve the operational requirements of the intended operational environment.
• Implementing and certifying applicable military and generic/civilian standards on sub-system level of enabling technologies.
• Identifying and analysing stakeholders’ needs and define requirements for different land platform variants (e.g., LOG, C2, EVAC, CBRN RECCE).
• Identifying necessary supportive elements (e.g., Training and maintenance systems/ functionality, and subsequent requirements) in order to support use and lifecycle management of the proposed products/systems and enabling technologies.
• Defining system architecture for different variants maximising synergies, standardisation and interoperability.
• Designing the different system variants to help ensuring that the detailed design for the variant systems under review is sufficiently mature and ready to proceed into test phase and meet stakeholders’ stated requirements.
• Testing the different system variants prototypes; identify and analyse possible security of supply bottlenecks of systems and sub-systems; study potential strategies and solutions for materials and components where high criticality is identified (including but not limited to circular approaches).

Types of activities

The following types of activities are eligible for this topic:

Accordingly, the proposals must cover at least the following tasks as part of mandatory activities:

• Studies:
  • Analyse new technological solutions to comply with capability areas of functional requirements stated in the EDF-2021-GROUND-D-FMGV call text.
  • Identify and analyse stakeholders’ needs and define requirements for different land platform variants.
  • Define and perform necessary quality assurance, configuration and risk management process during the action.
  • Identify and analyse possible Security of Supply bottlenecks of systems and sub-systems, as well as potential ways to reduce risks for subsystems/components shortage (including but not limited to circular approaches).
• Design:
  • Design technological solutions to fulfil functional requirements.
  • Design the different system variants.
• System prototyping:
  • Produce different variants prototypes.
• Testing:
  • Verify the fulfilment of different functional requirements and stakeholders’ requirements in operational environment.
• Qualification:
  • Validate the fulfilment of different functional requirements and stakeholders’ requirements in operational environment.
• Certification
  • Certify target vehicles and systems according to standardisation requirements prioritised by stakeholders.
  • Validate and qualify sufficiently mature future modular ground vehicles sub-systems and functionalities.
• Increasing efficiency
  • Develop, test and verify Life Cycle Support (LCS) and Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) solutions.
  • Increase efficiency of technological solutions based on testing activities.

The proposals must substantiate synergies and complementarity with activities in the EDIDP-2020-GCC related to Ground combat capabilities and EDF-2021-GROUND-D-FMGV on Future modular ground vehicles and enabling technologies, including green technologies. This last topic particularly addresses All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) systems and possible integration of relevant subsystems into MBTs (Main Battle Tanks) and IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles), including different variants of target vehicles.

Functional requirements

Systems engineering activities should follow ISO/IEC 15288(2023) processes or similar with tailored conformance. The proposed product and technologies should meet the following functional requirements in the following capability areas:

1. Mobility:

• Platforms mobility should provide a substantial improvement of mobility compared to current platforms including, when appropriate, in an extreme environment (e.g., sand, ice, heat and cold environmental condition with capability to move on snowy, desert, rocky, marshy terrains with the presence of obstacles), making them more capable and energy-efficient using green technologies and reducing the logistic footprint.
• Same platform should have high-level tactical and operational mobility.
• Capability of transportation of one infantry squad/team, fully equipped, plus squad/team weapons and materials.
• Platforms should also have the capability of crossing water obstacles.
• Platforms should have an excellent operative and strategic mobility and compatibility with most civilian and military bridges (e.g., dimensions and weight such as to allow transport on board of naval units, air and rail carriers provided by most of EU Member States’ and EDF Associated Countries’ forces).
• Platforms should be equipped with a winch with an adequate self-evacuation capacity.

1. Modularity and Commonality:

• Platforms should be designed in different variants to accomplish several tasks (e.g., personal carrier, combat, cargo, command post, MEDEVAC, maintenance, fuel cargo, ammunition, recce).
• Platforms should be capable of integrating several weapons systems (e.g., small and medium calibres, mortars, anti-tank) also in remote controlled configurations.

1. Drivetrains and energy systems:

• New platforms should have to export sufficient electric energy for mission and role kits. Also benefits of high voltage solutions and energy recovery capabilities should be enhanced.
• Platforms should have future mobility and power solutions to demonstrate the operational interests of green technologies like hybridisation or electrical power generation solutions and to work on the production, optimisation, and management of the energy. This should improve the operational life and the efficiency of engines and power packs.
• Platforms should be capable of integrating the most modern technologies regarding required reliability to enable increased autonomy and efficiency under degraded conditions and guarantee the use of all modern weapon, protection, ISTAR and C2 systems.

1. Survivability:

• Platforms protection should be modular by design and according to relevant standards (e.g., STANAG 4569/ AEP 55).
• Platforms variants should be capable of integrating most modern Active Protection Systems (APS), both hard and soft kill (e.g., STANAG 4686).
• Platform variants should be capable of integrating protection systems against improvised explosive devices (IED) and explosively formed penetrators (EFP).
• Platforms should be capable of performing their missions under chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) conditions and counter a variety of threats such as kinetic.
• Platforms should have counter-UAV capability to self-protect from drone attacks.
• Platforms should have low visual, thermal, electromagnetic, acoustic and radar signatures.
• Platforms should be capable of integrating multispectral mobile camouflage for several type of environments.
• Platforms should be capable of performing their missions, by day, night and in extreme environmental conditions.

1. Interoperability and C4:

• Platforms should maximise standardisation using NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA), offering growth potential and further incremental improvements possibilities, based on a System-of-Systems approach and should be also capable of integrating state of the art technologies.
• Platforms should include the integration and interoperability of manned and unmanned aerial and ground vehicles (UAV/UGV), using relevant standards (e.g., STANAG 4586, STANREC 4818).
• Mission system should act as the platform core for integrating all the subsystems and components.
• All the subsystems and components should be integrated in a modular way into the mission management system to enable continuous upgrades during system life.
• Platforms should be able to accommodate applicable radio transmitters and receivers during operation, also in silent-watch mode.
• Platforms should enable unmanned/optionally manned operations.
• Platforms should be cyber resilient and provide cybersecurity, given the increasing connectivity of systems expected.
• Platforms should be capable of ensuring the C2 functions also for classified data (up to SECRET level) and should be capable of integrating SATCOM (Satellite Communication), 5G (fifth generation technology standard for cellular networks), CNR (Combat Network Radio) data exchange technologies (and potential future developments).

1. Situational Awareness:

• Implementing emerging technologies/systems should substantially increase situational awareness of platforms compared to current versions, allowing a hemispheric 360º situational awareness, automatic threat detection, tracking and identification, real time updated and shared operational picture and information.
• Technologies should enhance the survivability by offering the crew situation awareness information. Implementing technologies/systems should minimise detection and response time toward entities/potential threats and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the APS.
• Implemented technologies/systems should remain functional in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) denied environment.
• The situational awareness system architecture should be open to facilitate integration into any armoured vehicle.
• The situational awareness system should be capable of contributing to a Common Operational Picture (COP).

1. Engagement:

• Small calibre weapon systems should be removable by the crew.
• Remotely controlled weapon stations should be considered for small and medium calibre.
• Remotely controlled weapon stations should include autonomous functions in order to support the activities of the systems operator. The functions should meet the normative and ethical requirements.
• Capable of integrating several weapons systems (e.g., small and medium calibres, mortars, anti-tank).

1. Life Cycle Support:

• Platforms should feature such a maintainability in solution design as HUMS and Digital Twin and fleet management system in order to enable greater operational availability/readiness at lower total cost of ownership compared to current platforms.
• Design-to-cost approach and simplicity should be keys to enable global affordability of candidate solutions.
• Platforms should feature maximum standardisation and commonalities in order to decrease life cycle costs and secure the supply.
• Platforms should feature modularity across different system versions.
• Training and simulation should be embedded on the platforms.