Chinese ZBD-09 – First unveiled during a 2009 parade in Beijing celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the ZBD-09 is a family of eight-wheeled armored vehicles that includes an IFV, self-propelled gun, C2, recovery, and fire-support vehicles. At about a quarter the weight of a Bradley, the ZBD-9 IFV reportedly is half again as fast with nearly twice the operational range. However, there has been no independent verification of those claims.

Egyptian Fahd 240 APC – The 240 is an upgraded APC, based on the latest Mercedes-Benz LAP 1424/32 chassis, with a more powerful engine and slight increase in armor. In addition to a standard APC, the Fahd 240 family includes a field ambulance, command vehicle, recovery and repair vehicle, and mine layer.
Italian Puma 4×4 and 6×6 Wheeled Family – Intended to complement Italy’s modern tracked Ariete MBT and Dardo IFV, the Puma family includes the 8×8 Centauro Tank Destroyer, VBM Freccia 8×8 wheeled IFV, 6×6 wheeled APC, and 4×4 wheeled reconnaissance vehicle.

Italian Puma 4×4 and 6×6 Wheeled Family– Intended to complement Italy’s modern tracked Ariete MBT and Dardo IFV, the Puma family includes the 8×8 Centauro Tank Destroyer, VBM Freccia 8×8 wheeled IFV, 6×6 wheeled APC, and 4×4 wheeled reconnaissance vehicle.

Additional FoV still on the drawing boards, in the lab, or undergoing initial testing include:

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) – A new support vehicle to replace the Army and Marine Corps’ rapidly aging and outmoded HMMWV. Unlike the Humvee, the JLTV is being specifically designed for patrol and combat operations, with greater range, payload, and passenger protection from IEDs. Benefiting from R&D on the future tactical truck system (FTTS), which was cancelled around 2006-07, the JLTV family is to include five armored versions, including utility, infantry combat, command, and reconnaissance.

Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) – With the end of M113 production in 2007, the Army looked to the AMPV as a “cost-effective and expedient” replacement, incorporating the latest M113 mission packages and Bradley M2A3-level passenger protection. To defeat advanced threats on the integrated battlefield, it is being designed to integrate current technologies to reclaim power margin, space, and survivability.

Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) – As a replacement for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System, the GCV is the first IFV designed from scratch to operate in an IED environment and deliver a nine-man infantry squad to the battlefield with increased survivability. It is envisioned with greater lethality and ballistic protection than a Bradley, greater mine protection than an MRAP, and the cross-country mobility of an Abrams.

U.K. Scout Specialist Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) – The first new family of U.K. Army armored vehicles in decades, the General Dynamics-U.K.platform includes a ground-based ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition & Reconnaissance) vehicle, providing 24-hour all-weather capability to detect and identify targets hidden in undergrowth, fast UAVs, and cloud-masked helicopters. The Scout SV provides the Common Base Platform (CBP) for a fleet of up to 17 possible variants to come online through 2015, including recovery and repair, protected mobility reconnaissance support (PMRS) troop carrier, C2 and light tank.

Australian LAND 121 (aka Project Overlander) – A replacement for Australian Defense Force (ADF) Land Rovers and medium to heavy trucks, more than 8,000 vehicles are planned, with 15 functional variants based on six basic vehicle types. ADF also is looking to buy about 18 specialist modules or shelters and nine trailer variants. Members of the new family are expected to include platforms dedicated to C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), special ops, border protection, utility, and personnel/cargo transport.

The list above is far from comprehensive; other FoV have been or are being developed by Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey, among others. With family legacies dating back to the Cold War, the extent of FoV developments clearly demonstrates the concept has won the support of the world’s militaries. That is further supported by U.S. plans to replace a wide range of existing, one-off and outmoded families of vehicles with even more comprehensive FoV.

At the same time, the number of platforms throughout the world also highlights an ongoing concern. While nation-specific FoV provide a wide range of advantages to that nation’s military, they remain largely incompatible with allied and coalition FoV. However, expected international sales of the planned U.S. JLTVs, GCVs, and AMPVs would greatly reduce logistics and maintenance costs and complexities in future multinational combat operations.

“As many systems age and are reaching the end of their service life, lessons learned from both Iraq and Afghanistan require a holistic approach to balanced vehicle design, military requirements and advanced technology,” Talbot concluded. “The FoV changed the concept of a one-for-one replacement of systems from one generation to the next.

“Instead, it became the development of a common platform that’s multimission, multi-variant. Commonality of platforms, interoperability, multiple mission variants, crew protection, and technology insertion will be the parameters of new vehicle design and production.”

This article was first published in Defense: Summer 2012 Edition.