Thales has signed a contract with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann for the delivery of four stabilized Panoramic Above Armor Gimbals (PAAGs) to the German Armed Forces to equip the BOXER armored vehicle as part of the Joint Fire Support Team (JFST) contract.
The PAAG, built at Thales, Glasgow, UK, is an electronic surveillance system that is remotely controlled from inside the BOXER and gives users a stabilized long-range Detection, Recognition, Identification (DRI) and weapon aiming ability on the move during daylight and night conditions.
The system with thermal imaging device and high-resolution daylight color camera enables targets to be identified in the range of up to four kilometers, depending on size. In continuous operation, the entire hemisphere around the vehicle can be covered. A laser rangefinder offers measuring distances of up to ten kilometers. It can also be raised above the vehicle roof to allow the monitoring of targets from behind a ridgeline without putting the user in a direct line of sight, which greatly reduces operational risk.
The JFST program in Germany will see the delivery of two prototype JFST-heavy vehicles based on the BOXER 8×8 Armored Vehicle coupled with a new JFST Mission Module integrating Thales PAAG.
An Automatic Video Tracking (AVT) and Assisted Target Detection (ATD) is also included in the JFST PAAG system. Combined with an artillery command and control system, PAAG will contribute significantly to the capability being fielded.
The BOXER Program, managed by the European armament’s agency OCCAr, provides the German, Netherland, Lithuanian and the United Kingdom Armies with a new generation of all terrain armored utility vehicles on the basis of balanced capabilities of transport capacity, mobility, protection, survivability, growth potential and efficient life cycle costs.
The BOXER is an 8×8 all-terrain heavily armored utility vehicle with a unique modular concept of a common drive module and an exchangeable mission module, making it a flexible military vehicle, ensuring maximum strategic and tactical mobility in a wide range of operational scenarios.
“We are delighted that the German Armed Forces and our long-standing partner Krauss-Maffei Wegmann have chosen most advanced optronics from Thales for its BOXER JFST,” said Oliver Dörre, CEO and Country Director Thales in Germany. “This means that the German Armed Forces are now one of the 50 armies worldwide that rely on our trusted solutions for their vehicle optronic.”
