Well protected: An ASLAV-PC fitted with remote weapons station and bar armour.

ASLAVs get extra steel and sting

By Cpl Damian Shovell

NINE more Kongsberg Remote Weapon Stations (RWS) and 15 Bar Armour Systems (BAS) have added to the suite of operational improvements procured for ASLAVs serving in Iraq.

The nine RWS add to the 10 RWS purchased last year, which are fitted to ASLAV-PCs serving in Iraq, and on training and replacement vehicles. The Australian designed BAS will also help protect all variants of ASLAVs from RPG attack.

Maj Kane Mangin, the RWS Project Manager from the ASLAV Program Office, said the additional RWS were purchased following the operational success of the first batch of RWS.

“We’ll start installing them in late February, so they’ll be ready in late March – early April,” he said.

Maj Mangin said the RWS was bought under a rapid acquisition to fulfil an urgent capability requirement for the ASLAV-PC. This operational support is separate from the ASLAV Phase 3 Project.

He said the RWS had received accolades from users. This successful rapid acquisition had greatly informed the capability requirement for the Behind Armour Commander’s Weapon Station (BACWS) Project.

“The US currently have basically the same as what we’ve got except we have a laser range finder fully integrated into the fire control computer.

This provides firing solutions which result in a very high percentage of first burst hit probability.

But perhaps the best endorsement for the RWS has come from the users, with CO 2 Cav Regt Lt-Col Roger Noble providing an insight into how it’s viewed within the regiment.

“Everybody thinks it’s a good thing.

It’s been used in action and it’s been used to deadly effect and we’re extremely happy with how it went,” he said.

“It massively mitigates the risk to the crew commander (who is protected by firing closed down).

It’s really made that vehicle much more lethal and safer – so it’s a big winner with us.”

The other operational improvement, the BAS, is a steel cage-style armour that surrounds the vehicle and is designed to combat the RPG threat in Iraq by disabling rounds before they strike the hull.

Capt Tim Hales, BAS Project Manager from the ASLAV Program Office, said the BAS was being built by General Dynamics Land Systems Australia in Adelaide.

It has been designed after considering the effectiveness of the Bar Armour used on the US Striker and Humvee vehicles. “We developed a light weight system based on the US humvee design,” he said.

He said, unlike the US Striker vehicle Bar Armour, the BAS was removable, and was equally effective in defeating RPG rounds.

This ongoing development is an AHQ operational initiative supported by the DMO aimed at improving survivability of deployed ADF assets.