Leonardo-Finmeccanica has signed a contract with the Danish Armed Forces to supply mission systems that will be installed on various Army vehicles. Based on the solution developed by Leonardo in accordance with the British standard Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA), which guarantees full interoperability between the different devices of a vehicle, these systems will be mounted on various platforms including: the Piranha V for troop transport - recently entered in service - the new patrol armored vehicles, the Wisent engineers' vehicles, the Leopard II MBTs armored fighting vehicle and the CV90 IFV infantry fighting vehicle. The start of the first production lot is expected in the coming months.
Leonardo was selected after successfully completing two field tests and based on the analysis of the most competitive product life cycle costs. The systems will be configured specifically for each type of vehicle and use. This will allow the customer to choose the right combination of sensors for images according to the purpose of the mission (up to a maximum coverage of 360 color and thermal degrees), benefiting from lower maintenance costs and ease of training.
The mission system provided by Leonardo is based on the British GVA standard, which has also been progressively adopted by other allied nations. It is a design approach that uses common infrastructure and control interfaces to simplify user training, facilitate system upgrades, and reduce costs through mission-specific configurations and continuous lifecycle upgrades . The images from the sensors are available on low latency multifunction digital displays, can be shared inside the vehicle and can be viewed together on a single screen, at the user's discretion. This is to make available the best level of information according to the mission requirements.
Thanks to the GVA standard, other mission systems, such as high-power recognition sensors and remotely controlled weapon systems for local protection, can be easily integrated and controlled through displays already present on the vehicle. This makes it possible to limit the dimensions inside the vehicle and to reduce the costs of purchase, training and logistics.
Most of the solutions provided will include the DNVS4 night vision system, which is capable of providing thermal and color images allowing the driver of the vehicle to operate in total safety both day and night and in all weather conditions. In addition to the DNVS4 and the displays, Leonardo will also supply the Citadel Panoramic and Compact cameras, through the Danish partner Copenhagen Sensor Technologies.
Leader in the sector, Leonardo has been providing mission systems to the UK Ministry of Defense for vehicles such as: Mastiff, Ridgback, Wolfhound, Challenger and Warrior for many years. The company is also the reference partner of the Italian Ministry of Defense for Army digitization programs, such as Forza NEC, which provide for the development of solutions aimed at the complete integration between the various components - men, vehicles, platforms and systems - of the Armed Forces through the use of the most advanced information and communication technologies.
