Military and Strategic Journal
Issued by the Directorate of Morale Guidance at the General Command of the Armed Forces
United Arab Emirates
Founded in August 1971

2018-11-08

British Warrior Becomes More Lethal

As the most widely deployed vehicles in the British army, the family of Warrior vehicles include  infantry fighting vehicles, repair & recovery vehicles and command & observation posts. A highly successful armoured fighting vehicle whose enhanced armour is being continuously updated, the British Army Warrior now has battlegroup thermal imagery fitted to increase its night-fighting capability and 40 CTAS cannon to provide superior firepower.

Having performed over 80 Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) modifications in recent campaigns, Warrior can deal with changing operating conditions and threats, with the speed and performance to accompany Challenger 2 main battle tanks over the most difficult terrain, boasting firepower, and armour sufficient to support infantry in assault. 

The Warrior family entered service in 1988 with seven variants of armoured vehicles proving highly successful in armoured infantry battlegroups during the Gulf War and conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. In providing excellent infantry mobility, lethality and survivability, the Warriors have enabled key elements from the Royal Artillery and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to operate effectively within the battlegroup.

The Warrior command and section vehicles currently with the British Army are fitted with a turret-mounted 30mm Rarden cannon striking light armoured vehicles at a range of 1500m, alongside an 8x magnification image-intensifying night sight and eight 94mm light anti-armour HEAT rockets.

 Variants include an artillery observation post vehicle (OPV), command post vehicle (CPV) and a REME recovery and repair vehicle, all equipped with a 7.62mm chain gun and Rarden cannon boasting anti-helicopter capability.

Capability Sustainment Programme 
In October 2011, the UK MoD awarded the development contract to Lockheed Martin UK with a production option. Lockheed leads a team including Ultra Electronics; the Defence Support Group; SCISYS (Electronic architecture); Rheinmetall Defence; Curtiss Wright (supplying the turret-drive servo system for the Warrior); Thales UK (optics and Battlegroup Thermal Imaging system); Moog; Meggitt; CTA International (supplying the 40 mm CTA gun); Westwire; TKE, MTL and Caterpillar UK (powerpack support).

The British Army’s Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) offers major upgrades to the armoured fighting vehicle (AFV), including a turret developed by Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK) in Ampthill together with cross-platform improvements. A fully stabilised 40mm CT40 cannon enables significantly greater firepower and fire-on-the-move capability, alongside an enhanced sighting system for raised situational awareness.

The new turret features a modular protection system allowing greater threat protection and quick change of armour. An upgraded environmental control system and decluttered, reorganised, and increased crew space supplies much greater comfort, with the 380 Warriors (five variants) included in the WCSP, so extending vehicle life up to the 2040s.

Superior 40-CTAS Firepower
The next generation weapon of choice for medium-calibre systems within Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV) and Infantry Fighting Vehicles, the 40 CTAS cannon provides firepower superior to any other Medium Calibre equivalents. The suite of associated ammunition is designed to ensure increased impact against armoured vehicles such as Main Battle Tanks, while defeating reinforce concrete, buildings and soft targets.

The 40 CTAS can incorporate unlimited ammunition natures within the same handling system giving end user capability to engage threats quickly across the modern battlefield spectrum, including those within urban environments through selection of the most pertinent nature of ammunition. 

Lockheed Martin confirmed that the upgraded warrior would enter trials in the coming year.

British Development 
The Warrior MCV-80 is an Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV) originally designed in 1977 by British company GKN Sankey to replace the tracked armoured personnel carrier FV432 in British Army service since the 1960s. By 1980, three prototypes of the MCV-80 were running and in 1984, the British Ministry of Defence announced that 10 prototypes had been built.

Highly successful demonstrations in the Middle East in 1983-84 led to the development of a Warrior Desert Fighting Vehicle configuration with 25 mm, 30 mm or 90 mm cannon and a 10-man crew. The first 290 vehicles’ production were completed by 1986, of which 170 were section vehicles with two-man 30 mm RARDEN turrets and the remaining 120 comprising of specialised variants. The first production Warrior was officially handed over to the British Army in May 1987.

The first Warrior battalion to feature in the British Army was fully operational in mid-1988, while the second and third batches have totalled 763 vehicles to bring the total British Army order to 1,053 vehicles which would be sufficient to equip 13 armoured infantry battalions. The Warrior has been upgraded with many improvements including Bowman Communications System and Thales Battle Group Thermal Imaging (BGTI) night sights, with future upgrades including a digital fire control system and improved power pack. 

The British Army’s Warrior Capability Sustainment Program (WCSP) will involve upgrading 643 of its Warriors with the Warrior Modular Protection System (WMPS) and Warrior Enhanced Electronic Architecture (WEEA) in order to extend service life to 2025. Within that group, 449 vehicles will also be fitted with a new turret and weapon system under the Warrior Fightability Lethality Improvement Program (WFLIP), while the remainder will be designated Armoured Battlefield Support Vehicles (ABSV), lacking turrets but carrying out field repair and recovery roles using winch and crane attachments.  

Designed for Protection  
The Warrior MCV-80’s all-welded aluminum hull provides protection against small arms and shell splinters. The driver sits at the front with the two-man steel turret in the centre with the troop compartment at the rear, while troops enter via a single power-operated door in the back hull with a vision block. 

The Warrior carries eight infantry with one soldier commanding the vehicle and dismounting with the infantry, while the remaining seven sit belted in separate seats. The troop compartment’s double roof hatches feature two day-rotating periscopes for infantry use.

Optimal Warrior Mobility 
The MCV-80 is powered by a Perkins Engines CV-8 TCA V-8 diesel developing 550 hp at 2,300 rpm, coupled to a Perkins Engines Company X-300-4B fully automatic transmission with torque converter and lock-up clutch, plus 4 forward and 2 reverse gears. The torsion bar suspension rests on six rubber-tyred aluminum roadwheels on either side, with the drive sprocket at the front, idler at the rear and three track-return rollers. 

The Warrior’s maximum road speed is 75 km/h with a 660 km maximum cruising range. It can negotiate 60 per cent gradients, 40 per cent side slopes and natural or engineered trenches to 2,500 mm and climbs a 0.75 m vertical obstacle and 1.3 m fording depth without preparation.

Enhanced MCV-80 Accessories 
Standard Warrior equipment has a full range of passive night vision equipment, with a stowage box including an NBC (nuclear (N), biological (B) and chemical (C)) system on either side of the rear troop doors mounted in the side hull to the left rear of the driver. 

In the AIFV, Bowman radios now replace Clansman for enhanced communications, command and control, while IR night vision sights have been replaced with Thales Optronics Battle Group Thermal Imaging (BGTI) sights to upgrade night fighting capabilities with 8x magnification.

Current Warrior Variants:  

- FV511 Infantry Command Vehicle: 84 units produced.

- FV512 Mechanised Combat Repair Vehicle: 105 units produced, operated by REME detachments in Armoured Infantry battalions, the FV512 is equipped with a 6.5 tonne crane plus power tools and can tow a trailer carrying two Warrior power packs or one Challenger power pack. 

- FV513 Mechanised Recovery Vehicle: 39 produced and operated by REME detachments in Armoured Infantry battalions, equipped with a 20 tonne winch and 6.5 tonne crane plus power tools; like the FV512, it is able to tow a trailer carrying two Warrior power packs or one Challenger power pack. 

- FV 514 Mechanised Artillery Observation Vehicle: 52 produced, operated by the Royal Artillery as an Artillery Observation Post Vehicle (OPV) and fitted with mast-mounted Man-packable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) and Position and Azimuth Determining System (PADS), with Image Intensifying and Infra Red equipment. Solely armed with the 7.62 mm machine gun, the 30 mm Rarden cannon has been replaced with a dummy weapon to allow space for the targeting and surveillance equipment while still keeping largely the same outward appearance of a standard Warrior to avoid becoming a priority target. 

- FV 515 Battery Command Vehicle: 19 produced, operated by the Royal Artillery.

- Warrior with MILAN: A conversion originally developed for Operation Desert Storm with multiple kits supplied to convert existing vehicles for this role, the European anti-tank missile MILAN ATGW (Anti Tank Guided Missile) launcher is essentially pintle-mounted on the right side of the turret roof, with racks provided internally for additional missiles. The UK MoD ordered another batch of Warriors in 1991 to carry the MILAN ATGW system in place of the FV432s which lack the cross-country mobility for Warrior vehicles and Challenger 1/2 MBTs. 

- Desert Warrior: Kuwait purchased 254 of the export version in 1993 adapted for operations in hostile desert conditions, fitted with the Delco turret used on the LAV-25 wheeled IFV and mounting a stabilised M242 Bushmaster 25 mm chain gun with coaxial 7.62 mm chain gun and 2 x Hughes TOW ATGM launchers (one mounted on each side).

Warrior is currently in service with the British Army, while the Desert Warrior is serving with the Kuwait Land Forces. 

Reference Text/Photo:www.baesystems.com,www.lockheedmartin.com,www.army.mod.uk

Add Comment

Your comment was successfully added!

Visitors Comments

No Comments

Related Topics

Boomerang Combat Platform Enters Global Market

Read More

The German Navy’s F125 frigate

Read More

F-15EX to Offer Unmatched Speed, Control, and Payload

Read More

The Multi-Variant ACV-15

Read More

Centauro II Tank Destroyer

Read More

Sentinel R1 Next-Gen ISR Support

Read More
Close

2024-02-26 Current issue
Pervious issues
2017-05-13
2014-03-16
2012-01-01
2014-01-01
2021-06-01
2021-02-21
2022-06-01
2021-09-15
.

Voting

?What about new design for our website

  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
Voting Number 1647