Danish Army Selects Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s Vehicle Mission Systems

Leonardo-Finmeccanica has signed a contract with the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) to provide Vehicle Mission Systems for the Danish Army’s land vehicles.

Based on the Leonardo solution, developed to be fully compliant to the very latest Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA) technology, systems will be fitted on several platforms including the newly procured Piranha V APC, new Armoured Patrol Vehicles, Wisent engineering vehicles, Leopard II MBTs and CV90 IFVs, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The first production order under the framework contract is expected. Leonardo was selected as the chosen supplier after two competitive user field trials and comprehensive through-life cost and supportability analyses.

Modular mission systems will be tailored to each vehicle type and role, with DALO able to select the mix of rugged imaging sensors best suited to the job (up to full 360° colour and thermal imaging coverage), while benefitting from the lower maintenance costs and ease of training inherent to modular systems with common elements.

The mission system provided by Leonardo is based on the UK-led Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA) standard. GVA is an approach to vehicle mission system design that uses standard infrastructure and system control interfaces to train users, more straightforward to upgrade a vehicle’s systems and reduces the cost of ownership by allowing mission-specific configurations and through-life upgrades.

The images from the mission system’s sensors are hosted on GVA multi-functional digital displays, providing low-latency digital video. Images from all sensors can be shared around the vehicle and multiple images can be displayed on screen at the user’s discretion to provide maximum information to suit functional requirements. Because of the GVA design, other mission systems such as high powered mast mounted sensors for reconnaissance and remote weapon stations for local protection can be readily integrated into the system and controlled through the existing displays, saving vital space and reducing costs for procurement, training and logistics.

Most mission systems will include Leonardo’s Drivers Night Vision System (DNVS4), which offers both daylight colour and thermal images to enable the driver and crew of the vehicle to operate safely and in confidence both day and night and in all weather conditions. In addition to DNVS4 and the display screens Leonardo is also providing the Citadel Panoramic and Compact cameras from its partner, Copenhagen Sensor Technologies.