| | От | Exeter |  |
| К | Dragoon |  |
| Дата | 15.11.2005 21:15:12 |  |
| Рубрики | Современность; |  |
Нет, именно Е-4
А когда с самого начала стало ясно, что Е-4 не удовлетворяет условиям чешского ТТЗ, то Rheinmetall начал предлагать Е-8 и Е-9, которые реально до сих пор не доведены и фактически находятся в стадии макетов. Поэтому чехи и не стали их рассматривать вообще.
А реально испытывалась на полигоне в Вышкове на AMV именно Е-4, испытания были завершены 24 октября с негативной оценкой.
Кстати, ранее из конкурса вылетела предлагавшаяся Steyr башня SP-30.
Вот, кстати, как раз нашел статейку про сие из JDW:
JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - NOVEMBER 16, 2005
Rheinmetall ruled out in Czech 8 x 8 contest
JIRI KOMINEK JDW Correspondent
Prague
Rheinmetall Landsysteme has been disqualified from the contest to supply the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) with 199 8 x 8 wheeled armoured vehicles. Company officials refused to enter their competing vehicle, a Patria Armoured Modular Vehicle (AMV) mounting Rheinmetall's E-4 turret, into the swimming test due to weight concerns.
The test, held at the Vyskov military research and testing facility on 24 October, was one of the key criteria in the tender process outlined by the Czech Ministry of Defence (MoD) and marked the end of extensive field trials.
Officials leading Rheinmetall Landsysteme's bid for the contract, worth CZK20 billion (USD800 million), said they did not enter the E-4 turret in the swimming test because of concerns that the vehicle may sink due to excessive weight.
"The MoD sent us a letter on 27 October informing us that we were disqualified and we immediately sent a letter of protest to the MoD and to Price Waterhouse Coopers; the consultant in the tender process," said Andreas Riedel, head of product management of infantry fighting vehicles and turret systems at Rheinmetall Landsysteme.
"We also requested that the MoD shift the 14 November deadline for the submission of final bids forward because we have been excluded from further participation in the tender process," said Riedel. He said other participants have also not fully complied with the tender requirements.
"We have spent a lot of money on submitting our bid. Although we are actually offering our new E-9 turret, the MoD earlier had no problem with us submitting our older and heavier E-4 turret for field testing because we were not in a position to submit the E-9 turret," said Riedel.
The key difference between the two turrets is weight. The E-4 turret weighs 3.2 tonnes, while the E-9, which makes use of modular armour as well as newer weapons and electro-optics systems and operating concepts but is currently still under development, weighs 2.3 tonnes. Riedel said that the E-4 turret combined with the Patria AMV exceeded 22.5 tonnes which, according to Patria Vehicles engineers, was too heavy to float and swim safely.
Riedel did acknowledge that the E-4 turret was entered in the field testing equipped with Level IV armour protection, despite the fact that the MoD tender criteria called for Level II protection, which would have resulted in a reduced turret/vehicle weight below the 22.5-tonne limit.
"We simply did not have enough time to reduce the armour package to Level II," Riedel said.
"We could have done other things, such as removing components from inside the turret, but chose not to because this would not have been fair," Riedel added.
The MoD refused to comment on the progress of the tender process, including the results of the extensive field trials. "We cannot disclose any information on the tender process as it is still under way," said Andrej Cirtek, spokesman for the MoD.
The Rheinmetall Landsysteme bid also had problems with the roll-on/roll-off of a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft due to the size of the turret and vehicle package.
This part of the field-testing process, however, was only a preferred feature rather than a stipulated criterion that could result in disqualification if not completed successfully.
Patria Vehicles officials have admitted they could not get their vehicle into the C-130 without removing the loading rollers situated at the rear of the aircraft used to ease the loading and off-loading of pallets.
"The gauge of the AMV's track is much wider than that of the Pandur II, for example, and the C-130's rollers interfered with the loading and unloading of the vehicle and had to be removed," said Jiri Mares, a consultant with Patria Vehicles.
Patria, however, successfully completed all qualifying parts of the field testing with both the Rafael remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS 30) and the Oto Melara Hitfist manned turret.
The third competitor in the Czech armoured vehicle tender, the Steyr Consortium Pandur II 8 x 8 vehicle, also armed with the Rafael RCWS 30, is said to have passed all field testing, including the tank portion and open water swimming test, without any problems.
"The swimming capabilities of our vehicle, including manoeuvrability and swimming reserve, was better than that of the competition," said Herwig Jedlaucnik, project manager for Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
"The Pandur II was also the only competitor to roll on/roll off the C-130 aircraft successfully without having to strip equipment from the vehicle or the turret, or remove parts of the aircraft. However, this is only a plus point and not a qualifying or disqualifying issue in the tender process," said Jedlaucnik.
Overall, Jedlaucnik said that he was satisfied with how the MoD conducted the field testing of the vehicles and that the process was fair and transparent. The two remaining participants must submit their final bids, including offset packages, vehicle prices, life cycle support and training systems costs, by 14 November.
Following this, the MoD selection committee will evaluate all remaining bids and make a recommendation to the government on which vehicle to select by mid-February 2006. The government is expected to sign a contract with the winner for 199 vehicles in April/May 2006, with deliveries to begin in early 2007.
С уважением, Exeter