Eurosatory 2014: The Next Generation of PIRANHA 3 Wheeled Armoured Vehicles

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) is displaying the new PIRANHA 3+ during EUROSATORY.

PIRANHA 5 (Photo: GDELS)

With a GVW up to 17t, the new PIRANHA 3+ will be presented in an APC configuration with dedicated seating for a crew of three (driver, gunner and vehicle commander) plus nine infantry soldiers and is fitted with a Kongsberg 12.7mm PROTECTOR Weapon Station.

The new PIRANHA 3+ was developed in response to customer requirements for increased levels of protection, off road mobility and inherent growth for the future. The new PIRANHA 3+ also incorporates lessons from over 4,500 PIRANHA 3 and LAV vehicles operated by 13 customers worldwide including in military operations and peace keeping missions.

PIRANHA 3+ Protection

The new PIRANHA 3+ offers a completely modular protection system that has been designed with the flexibility to allow modern Armed Forces to meet their current and future protection needs. The modular protection system has been developed to fully protect occupants operating within a complex threat environment, as specified in the latest protection system requirements, while being able to be tailored to meet specific theatre and mission needs.

PIRANHA 3+ Mobility

GDELS recognizes that mobility is protection and accordingly, the new PIRANHA 3+ offers an enhanced drive system with 30 % more engine power and an improved driveline that delivers the best cross country mobility for a vehicle in this weight class. The new PIRANHA 3+ can be fitted with either a conventional or a hydro-pneumatic suspension system to balance performance, comfort, maintainability, and cost as needed. The top speed has been increased to 110 km/h with a range of over 1,000 km to give the vehicle an even greater autonomy. As with all PIRANHA platforms, the new PIRANHA 3+ can be equipped with an amphibious drive to operate as a marine infantry vehicle.

PIRANHA 3+ Inherent Growth

In addition to the large internal volume, 10% payload growth, and fully modular protection system, the new PIRANHA 3+ provides reserve electrical power to meet the electrical needs of future systems and personal equipment needs and spare cooling capacity with its modular HVAC/NBC System. By allowing for inherent growth within the new PIRANHA 3+, customers will have the flexibility to operate the vehicle through-out the full service life in a constantly changing world.

PIRANHA 3+ Proven Technology Ready for Operation

The new PIRANHA 3+ has a proven heritage of over 4,500 PIRANHA 3 and LAV vehicles used by 13 customers in global military operations and peace keeping missions. The development of the new PIRANHA 3+ focused on enhancing the performance and capabilities of these existing vehicles through the integration of proven concepts and technologies. According to GDELS, the driveline which is unmatched in this class of military vehicles and has already been introduced into service in the LAV in North America. While the power pack, providing 30% more power, uses the proven Caterpillar C13 engine and the ZF 7HP902S transmission. Future customers will also be able to leverage off 37 variants of the PIRANHA 3 vehicle that are already in service including armoured personnel carrier (APC), infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), command and control (C2), ambulance,  direct fire support, recovery, and engineering vehicle.

General Dynamics European Land Systems also remains committed to support our existing customers, which is why the majority of the concepts and technologies integrated within the new PIRANHA 3+ are available as upgrades to existing PIRANHA vehicles.