South Koreans from Hanwha set their sights on Romania. The infantry fighting vehicle program, the big stakes. Part II

I spoke in Part I of this article about the proposal of the South Koreans from Hanwha Aerospace for Romania within the program of providing 155 mm self-propelled howitzers. The contract would be signed in the coming weeks. But the South Koreans also want to offer Romania the Redback infantry fighting vehicles. This is also the big stake for the company, as we are talking about a bigger contract and a more consistent involvement on the part of Hanwha Aerospace in the defense of Romania.

The “Tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle – MLI” procurement program consists of the acquisition of 298 complete MLIs, in the basic version and derivatives, including the strategic and operational stock. The MLI will enter the equipment of the mechanized infantry structures within the Land Forces. The total value of the endowment program is estimated at 2.99 billion euros.

The endowment program, with the related payments, will take place in two stages. In stage I, the acquisition of 246 MLI sets, including training simulators and initial logistic support, is considered. The stage was to be initiated in 2023 and run for a period of 9 years, until 2031. The estimated value of the purchase contracts from stage I is 2.545 billion euros.

For the second stage, the acquisition of 52 complete MLI for the strategic and operational stock is considered, starting after 2031. The estimated value of the purchase contracts from this stage is 450 million euros.

The Romanian Army has taken the decision to equip three brigades with infantry fighting vehicles, an important move, taking into account that, at the moment, only the 282nd Mechanized Brigade, based in Focşani, is equipped with the oldest MLI Jderul. It was built under license after Soviet armored vehicles, but was upgraded with a 25mm Oerlikon gun and Spike missiles.

Among the options of the Romanian Army in the MLI program are, however, other large companies with well-known products: General Land Dynamics, with the ASCOD vehicle, Rheinmetall, with the Lynx, and BAE Systems, with the CV90.

ASCOD

General Land Dynamics offers the Romanian Army the ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Cooperation Development) infantry fighting vehicle, a product made by the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG in cooperation with the Spaniards from General Dynamics. This armored vehicle was also present at the technical exhibition in Bucharest BSDA 2022 and at the Defense Exhibition in Madrid (FEINDEF), where the Defense Monitor was present last year.

The ASCOD is armed with a 30mm gun turret produced entirely in Romania by Elbit and which we find on Piranha 5, the 8×8 armored personnel carrier that GDELS, in a joint venture with Uzina Mecanică Bucharest (UMB), is building to Bucharest. The turret on the ASCOD also comes with integrated Spike anti-tank guided missile launchers, the same missiles used by the Romanian Army.

ASCOD can also be transformed into a medium battle tank, with a 120 mm cannon. At the base of the presented ASCOD is a common platform through which numerous other derived vehicles can be built, from technical vehicles to ambulances, mobile bridges, mortars and even medium battle tanks. A 120mm cannon can also be mounted and the vehicle turns into a medium battle tank with a subtle silhouette and low weight.

Photo: Andreea Soare/ MAS

Carlos Gil, an engineer within GDELS, told MAS in 2023 that the biggest advantage of the ASCOD is that it has a “common platform, that is from halfway down (vehicle number) we have the same low structure with protection, the same power. From half up, we build any variant the customer wants. We can make an infantry vehicle, we can put a turret – which is usually 30 mm, but it can reach 40 – and it can be automatic or not. This is the general configuration. Then we have the vehicle ready to be integrated to run any mission system. It has an open architecture, that is, it is ready to connect the turret, the combat system, the navigation system, the radio system, etc. (…) This is the infantry vehicle”.

“When it comes to electronics and electrical, we have the same things as at Piranha. We can have the same system of patrolling, connection, PMS, etc.,” said Gil, for the Defense and Security Monitor.

“We are now proud to say that we have delivered around 1,000 ASCOD vehicles. We delivered to the army of Spain, the army of Austria – for both especially infantry vehicles – we have contracts with the British army (…) and, in addition, we delivered 26 ASCODs to the army of the Philippines”, said Gil, last year.

Carlos Gil also claimed that the ASCOD vehicles are, unlike the Soviet infantry vehicles currently owned by Romania (BMP), much better protected, comfortable and have in mind, first of all, the safety of the soldiers who use them. The vehicles are protected against large machine guns, mines and 30 mm cannons, said Gil, who specified that a higher level of protection would have reduced their mobility. The ASCOD infantry fighting vehicles can have integrated Spike or Javelin anti-tank missiles, he also specified, or Euro Trophy protection systems.

LYNX

Another option for Romania would be Lynx vehicles, produced by Rheinmetall, the German company that already cooperates with the defense industry for powder production. The Lynx comes in several variants, of which the Lynx KF31, as an infantry fighting vehicle, was presented for the first time at Eurosatory in 2016. It weighs 38 tons and can carry six soldiers, along with three other crew members. The Lynx vehicle is based on a modular design concept, allowing the integration of several special mission kits to produce specific variants.

Photo source: Rheinmetall

It has a Rheinmetall LANCE turret with a 30 or 35mm automatic cannon. The turret allows the crew to target targets at a distance of 3 km. The Lynx can also be armed with an anti-tank guided missile launcher and a remote-controlled combat system integrated with a 7.62 mm machine gun.

It has ballistic armor that protects the crew from anti-tank weapons, medium-caliber ammunition, shrapnel and IEDs. It has a COTS diesel engine with 750 horsepower for the KF 31 variant and 1050 horsepower for the KF41 variant.

However, it was also written about these vehicles that their engine would produce vibrations and noises that are hard to bear in the passenger compartment of the car. Moreover, if we consider that Australia chose the latter between the Lynx and the Redback, one might think that there is something about these vehicles that pushed the Australians to choose a company like Hanwha over Rheinmetall, with whom they already had a contract for the delivery of 100 Boxer vehicles.

CV90

The CV90 is a vehicle whose production began in 1984. The CV90 can have integrated turrets with 30, 35 and 40 mm automatic cannons, as well as 105 or 120 mm cannons. It is in the service of several countries, such as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, under various variants.

It can carry up to 8 soldiers, plus a crew of three. It has a Scania DI 14 diesel engine, which has 550 horsepower. It can reach a speed of 70 km. It weighs up to 38 tons and has a length of 6.47 m, a width of 3.18 m and a height of 2.5 m.

Photo source: BAE Systems

Photo: Andreea Soare/ MAS