Dutch Prepare for Large Utility Vehicle Buy

Dutch G-Wagen, XA-188 APC

The Netherlands’ Ministerie van Defensie has announced a EUR 250+ million project to replace nearly 8,000 light, medium and heavy wheeled logistics and patrol vehicles between 2011-2018. This will not include tactical vehicles such as the Landmacht’s Fennek reconnaissance vehicles, CV90/ YPR/ BvS10 armored personnel carriers, tanks, et. al., but it will replace a significant percentage of the Dutch patrol vehicle and truck fleet.

The project is looking to acquire 7,018 vehicles (including civilian vehicles) plus 3,617 modules, trailers et. al. to adapt the vehicles for specific tasks. The project also expects to order 1,020 modular protection kits, 120 Remotely controlled weapon systems and 1,260 gun mountings.

The accompanying briefing states that the operational vehicles, as opposed to vehicles bought under this program for civilian/domestic use, should be able to operate in the upper levels of the violence/war spectrum. This includes the option of modular add-on protection that can be changed as threat levels from projectiles, shrapnel, land mines, et. al. The mounting of electronic jammers to defeat remotely-detonated IED land mines is also contemplated, and the vehicles should be able to operate in extreme high and low temperature conditions.

The ‘light freight/cargo vehicle’ should be CH-47 transportable, either in the helicopter or underslung, as well as C-130 transportable. All of the operational vehicle types should be transportable in the C-17, AN-124 and A-400M, as well as with the country’s Rotterdam Class LPD ships, by civilian transport vessels and by train. Operational life should be at least 2 years, with a total lifespan of 10-15 years. MvD announcement [Dutch language] | Many thanks to DID subscriber David Vandenberghe for his translation assistance.

Canada Investing in F-35 Related R&D

F-35A and F/A-18

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is at least as much an industrial program as it is a fighter aircraft. The commitment stages involved have been carefully designed on all fronts, from the conflating of USMC, Navy, and Air force roles, to the 3-stage industrial commitment process by program member nations, which see the JSF as the only major industrial opportunity for fighter aircraft over the next 20 years. As articles like Bill Sweetman’s “JSF Office Makes Buyers an Offer They Cannot Refuse” explain, the F-35’s seeming inevitability as a major aerospace procurement program is critical to its success. Hence the recent discussions about capping prices far below the normal high cost of low-rate initial production aircraft, in exchange for sharp financial penalties to countries who buy less than their committed number.

Recent events in Canada illustrate another aspect of the F-35’s industrial strategy: its invitation to promote and fund specialized industrial competencies that can be applied elsewhere in the aerospace sector.