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The Luxembourg Army’s Protected Reconnaissance Vehicle (PRV) contract called for a tactical reconnaissance vehicle “that is particularly well suited to allied operations” such as NATO’s ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The winner would have to balance interoperability, mobility, protection, and observation needs. With mine-resistant vehicles emerging as a basic requirement for all international deployments, and neighbors Belgium and Germany already committed to KMW’s Dingo 2, it’s hardly surprising that competition manager NAMSA (NATO’s Maintenance & Supply Agency) selected the Dingo 2 as the platform, and European defense electronics giant Thales Group as the prime contractor. Thales and KMW will deliver 48 vehicles and their electronics by the end of 2010.
The vehicles will carry an array of Thales communication equipment (PR4G, TRC 3700 HF), a tactical situation awareness system (T-BMS) “blue force tracker” type system, an extensible mast with a small reconnaissance turret, a dismounted surveillance system with Sophie MF handheld thermal cameras, and Kongsberg’s Protector remotely-operated machine-gun turret. Thales’ Open Information Communication System will serve as the underlying tie that connects these systems together.
Tiny Luxembourg is now the Dingo-2’s 5th customer, after Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Thales release | KMW release [Deutsch].